The All Purpose Advice Thread

Heck, start with Sonarworks True-Fi (free) on your HD600:
http://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/sonarworks-true-fi-is-live.4736/

 

HI guys,
so I just sold my th-x00 and an akg-712 that i had for a short stint. I'm currently headphoneless but thot i'd use this opportunity to REALLY get something i LOVE. THe last few mths have really been an eye opener for me so:

• Closed would be a PLUS, that way i CAN wear them around other people if need be.
• Don't worry about price, as long as it's not priced higher than a 1 week vacation for family to disneyland.
• Please put some consideration for 'build' and related items. Between two headphones if they're close enough in sound i may NOT pick the better one if it's not build to last, or has nonremovable cables etc. This is the one reason I avoid sennheiser or Shure (i had 3 shures ALL of which broke in 2 months). Anything below hd700 or so, to me, are NOT built to last. Good example of build: AKG, even their cheap stuff you can REALLY abuse them.
• I have M2/M2 stack so driving should not be a problem.
• Sound:
  • Detail, imaging, seperation. OFC this includes soundstage (less important) and imaging (most important). I LOVED that for e.g. akg k712 i could HEAR ALL the guitars in Kansas songs like 'dust in the wind' and 'carry on my wayward son'. it was amazing to me that i could actually seperate out the individual guitars.
  • Upper mids and lower highs are EXTREMELY important. I listen to a lot of early prog rock and pre-prog music (like folk rock and psychadelic rock). One thing I LOVED about th-x00 is that to me they made acoustic guitars REALLY BITE. and i loved that, that TWANG of guitar...wow.
    • too much can cause sibilance ofc, and theres the trick here. to me th-x00 WAS a bit sibilant, esp in the mid and upper highs. (like cymbal crashes).
  • controlled and tight sub bass and full upper bass: it's important to not go overboard on bass here, as I hate the usual "basshead" head phones (yes, I know th-x00 but i don't mind th-x00's bass anymore). I do like hearing and appreciating bassline on songs as well as drums. that intro drum sequence from 'money for nothing' i REALLY want to hear the drums hit.
    • Too much bass is as bad or worse than too sibilant. In fact, even headphones like LCD, which are REALLY expensive and amazing, if listened to for more than a few hours will actually make me physically throw up. I listened to DT880 250ohm for a while and that was worse actually, that "boom boom boom" made me sick.
  • Not "boring", this is one of the reasons i hated k712..it was just so 'blah' to me. esp. after th-x00 on traffic and RHCP songs..again not sure why.
• artists i love: (or use for testing headphones) and some comments Tl;DR=Prog Rock
  • King Crimson
  • Traffic: esp. 'low spark' this is one of the reasons i got rid of the akg 712. Somehow to me, compared to th-x00 'low spark' sounded REALLY dull and boring whereas on th-x00 i really enjoyed it and got engaged in the song. To me i love to be engaged
  • Pink Floyd: esp. 'the wall'. OMG, k712 was REALLY REALLY boring here. again, not sure why but i LOVED the wall with my th-x00 but when i put on my k712 i was bored and just turned it off and started watching TV.
  • Jethro Tull
  • Dire Straits: really ALL the songs here esp. ones where Omar Hakim is drumming...i wanna HEAR that drumming. Frankly Th-x00 is what made me fall in love with Dire Straits all over again. IDK why.
  • U2
  • Kansas: i didn't realise this before but they actually haev 2-4 guitars, so really good for imaging.
    
  • RHCP
  • Lindsey Stirling: her songs are GREAT to test out highs IMO, all that violin...
• The k712s were too boring and th-x00, while good (not TOO much bass, and GOOD bass too, plus a good amount of upper mids and highs) weren't perfect. the BIGGEST problem with them was that it was TOO sibilant esp. in mid/upper highs like cymbal crashes and high violin notes.
• I have tried the entire LCD line. The best to me was LCD-3 (iirc). Whiel they ALL had AMAZING details and soundstage ofc, it had WAY too much bass (or is it subbass? not sure). Anyway, it just overpowered the rest of the sound with deep rumbling on songs. I'm a bit sensetive to bass so that immediately threw me off.
  • Frankly i wanna buy the LCD-XC JUST because they look SO DAMNED ludicrious..can you imagine like going on a subway or wearing that to work..HILARIOUS!

 

@TjH Based on your preference for sparkle and need for high durability, maybe a closed Beyerdynamic? There's the DT150 (neutral, ugly, replaceable cable), the DT770 and T70p (V-shaped), and the DT1770 and T5p (I haven't heard, but probably similar V tonality).

 

dt770 really? isn't that a little bass heavy? I tried 990 and its were both WAY too much bass, warm: sure, i love warm but they had too much of that "low rumbling noise" (i think that'd be sub bass), i couldn't hear anything else, it felt like that time there was construction going on outside my house. NO Neutral...nuetral=boring.

also: my pref. is really for upper mids, not highs exactly. I don't particularly like too much brightness either (as it can end up sounding sibilant and such).

and lastly, the FIRST thing for me is detail, imaging etc. That's paramount to me.

 

Hmm, how about Audio Technica MSR7?

 

Why not HD800? Pretty neutral but has less bass than treble and is highly resolving with excellent imaging.

 

@TjH LFF's Paradox Slants? Slightly warmer than neutral, apparently. I'm saving up for a pair at the moment, or maybe a used HD800 if I can find one at a good price.

 

Have you looked at the Mr Speakers headphones?

These things should be of interest I believe:

https://www.mrspeakers.com/ether-24/ether-c-flow.html

https://www.mrspeakers.com/aeon/on-closed-back-headphone.html

 

Used 800 is a good idea i'll consider actually.

From other forums the suggestions I've gotten also include mrspeakers Aeon. so that's my #1 contender right now.

 

Ok, just some advice. HE560 or Focal ELEAR?

 

HE560 by far. Elear just has too much suckout in the vital 4-6kHz area to be considered neutral or have correct timbre.

I also recommend getting the Focus A pads. The ones WITHOUT the perforated leather inner fabric, just plain fabric inside and out. They smooth out the 4kHz bump and fix the treble.

 

Has anyone tried the Marantz HD-DAC1? What is the general opinion on it? I'm asking since I have not seen many reviews.

 

My friend has been a recording engineer in Ontario since the 1980's. He uses M40x for various reasons including monitoring. He likes the detail and bass extension.

I have a pair. I like them in general but for my home listening they are a bit uncomfortable for longer periods due to the headband and shallow cups. I dislike the treble that is a bit too sharp. I modded them with a bit of felt to dampen the treble and that helped a fair bit but the comfort is still an issue for my giant head.

They are sensitive and they can be very loud. That may work for you.

Overall they are pretty good for the price. Try them out.

 

Hello

Right now am listening from PC-> nfb 11.28 then mostly dt990pro and k712pro (rarely). Am listening to variety of music large part of it is quite noisy and badly recorded .So shame on me but i like the beyer sound and planing to buy dt1990 or Amiron Home and eventually upgrade the nfb 11.28 with something better .
Right now am staying intentionally away from hd600/hd800 way cos i have a feeling that this is not my way - for now On the other hand am quite sure sometime in the future things can change so i want the upgrade to be kinda future proof - i want too much eh . It would be nice if its a combo dac/amp and have a balanced outs .On top of that i live in messy Eastern European country and testing and buying stuff is almost impossible task.

So far so good These days read a review of ADI 2 Pro and kinda liked it so i started to read more and found the SBAF thread. I know that the ADI is kinda professional and using it as dac/amp is overkill yet i really like the geeky stuff you can do with it. Now the questions

1. ADI 2 Pro as upgrade with look at the future ?
2. Alternatives ?! Not interested in second hand. ~ 1500 euro budget.

 

@daka242

The headphone is arguably the part of any setup which has the most influence on sound. There is no way that I would recommend using a Euro 150 headphone with a Euro 1500 DAC/AMP. Get some more headphones and learn better what you want before dropping that kind of money on a DAC/AMP. The HD600/650 are recommended often for a reason. The HD800 is my personal favorite but mine is modded quite heavily and with a DAC and AMP to bring out the best from it.

I think the best way to get the sound that you want is to find the headphone which is your favorite and then pick an AMP/DAC to bring out the best from it. Often if you start with upgrading the DAC/AMP you end up changing the DAC/AMP later anyway.

 

Good points Lets talk about headphones . It may sound strange but where i live there is no such thing as specialized shop for headphones. We have a few "high end" shops which sell some really expensive stuff and thats it. The only way to listen is to buy stuff from abroad. I started with hd 558 and Xonar U7 then bought k712pro then dt990pro. I really like dt990 and thats my every day headphone. I like the punchy bass and dont mind the sparkling trebles. Most of the music i listen is not recorded well - old school metal, industrial, punk etc. and at least for me it sounds best with dt990. 712pro sounds boring to me. its okey but nothing special. hd558 is the worst - sometimes i think this thing is broken - lows are booming almost no treble . That's on nfb 11.28

So what is your advise about upgrading headphones? To be honest am kinda afraid to try 600/650 - from what i read they are not a good choice for the music i like. Next thing i want to try is 1990/Amiron - from what i read they are like "upgraded" 990 - not so much bass and treble wide scene etc.

 

@TjH I would audition T5p.2 - they are not V shaped like DT770, and if closed is not a "must have"maybe try HD800S with Sonarworks True-fi.

 

@daka242

I think you might like something along the lines of Hifiman HE-500, HE-560, HE-400S or the Focus Elear. Look at a few reviews of those and see what you think. Keep in mind that the Hifiman headphones leak sound like crazy (basically no sound isolation) so this could be a factor.

Have a look here and on their youtube channel for a start: https://www.innerfidelity.com

 

It's shite.

The usual, lifeless, sterile, output so typical of CS4398 based designs.

So many better options for the money ... Pro-Ject Pre-Box S2, Jotunheim + DAC Module (or raw + Modi MB), Modi MB + Magni 2 Uber/Vali 2/Agard/Valhalla, Oppo Sonica + Vali 2/Magni 2 Uber, GoV2+, iFi iDSD BL, WA7 ...

 

What headphones did you use to listen to it?


I will have a look at alternatives you mentioned. Thanks.

Have you tried a DacMagic Plus?