Headphones

Oops, I mean $40k. But it has to be a complete system. I've been thinking about downsizing. Any advice? Newbie here. Things seem a little turned upside down here. It might take me a while to adjust and get myself turned right side up, but I'll try. So that's it for my first post. Oh, except to say "Hi, all you mother fuckers and pond scum lickers!" I can say that here, can't I? It was nice talking to some of you at CanJam.

Hello It's a very interesting headphone, to say the least. Now, i never thought i would actually do it, but it was tempting. any idea what i could expect form this headphone?

When I went to bozebuttons's house for a mini-meet, I got to spend a lot of time with the high end grados (the vintage RS-1 and the HP-1/2/3 especially) and I realized that the 225s doesn't have the sound that I want nor can it scale the same way that the other two phones can. So, I'm trying to get less shrill treble, a more fuller sound (esp in the low end) with better extension in the lows and a slightly bigger soundstage that keeps the grado sound. Does that sound like the MS-2i's? PS. and my 225s are woodied, which does fix the problem (with the bass and the soundstage) a small amount but not enough to my liking.

Got a package from Israel today: Its hard to capture the beauty of the wood with my limited photography skills, but they really are gorgeous to look at. First impressions: yeeeeeouch! Man that is a loud upper midrange. \ Which is a shame because a) that is where a lot of my favorite vocals are, and obviously my preference for Grados shows I love a silky warm midrange, and because these cans get so much else right. Midbass (bass guitar) is wonderfully textured and natural sounding, drums have amazing snap & crack and are very lifelike. And actually the highest highs are sweet, not overly bright like the upper midrange/lower highs. The AT fitting syst…

Hi everyone: I'm thinking of getting a pair of these: Stereo microphones, USB Microphones, Preamplifiers, Digital Recorders, Cables and more at Rock Bottom Prices from The Sound Professionals - Great deals on Microphone, Preamplifier, Digital Recorder, Cable and more! and then using the convolver plugin for Foobar to turn a pair of headphones (say HD650s) into a pair of R10s (if I can get a measurement on a pair). I can sort of do the same thing already with my equalizer but a convolution based method would capture a lot more of the intricacies than my method would. I think it's likely that it could even capture the effects of the tubes in the line etc which woul…

So I sold some stuff and want to use the money to hardwire my K1000s. Should I go Equinox as tried and true, or explore other options. I've only heard a Mogami hardwire,which offered minimal improvements to my ears and made the highs a little too much for me (I'm overly sensitive in this area), and the Equinox, which I liked very much, but heard it on a system very different than my own, so can't really compare. What have you guys heard that you could recommend? I'm using an Exemplar modded Denon 2900 > Extreme Platinum > FirstWatt F1. If I can't decide soon, I know I'm going to blow my money on that dang TakeT group buy, so help me out here.

OK - putting the neck on the chopping block here! I have the SRD-7 with the Spritzer Professional bias board, so, in effect, an SRD-7 Pro. Love the sound with the Sigma/404 and driven by a Studer A68. The bottom end is nicely in control (as Birgir has said happens with upscale amplification ala Blue Hawaii SE or that ilk), and there is more of the power that these earspeakers have in spades. They seem to convey the "oomph" of the performance much better than any other Stax I've heard. Although the Lambda Nova Signature/SRM-Monitor is probably more technically neutral, this combination seems to get a natural sound out of most recordings, just as Naotake Hayashi mentioned.…

Hey guys, At the last meet, I really enjoyed the k340's. They sounded great out of various setups, especially the zana. The bass was quite full and deep, I personally did not hear any issues or lack of. It was a headphile modded version though. I would really love to pick up a set. I have no idea though what I should be looking for. I have read about different versions. There seems to be an assortment of mods that can be done to improve performance, which I haven't quite grasped on. Ideally I would love to pick up a used set modded by a reputable user, just need to know what to look for and/or what questions I should be asking. Thanks guys.

It's not always easy to get information about the headphone industry. Feel free to use this thread to post informative articles, market research, etc. I'll post some links here. - Here's an article on trends from Dealerscope. - NPD Group on premium headphones. - NPD Group on celebrity endorsements (Tyll mentioned this in a piece at InnerFidelity.com.) - HiFi retailers focusing more on headphones. - Beats and Monster breakup article. Contains some interesting data.

Have read repeatedly the HD650 shows one of the largest gains in going balanced. Just curious what cable (DIY, Mobius, Blacksilver, etc.) people are going with when moving balanced? Especially curious if you have any thoughts of synergy direct from DA10. Thanks.

Some years ago I bought a Micro Seiki MX-1 with energizer. The problem with those is that the material that was originally used for the diaphragms deteriorates. As a result it is impossible to find a pair that still works unless the diaphragms have been replaced. The pair that I bought had a new pair of diaphragms but they were not mounted correctly so I finished the job and got them to work. The problem with them is that because of incorrect mounting of the membrane on one of the mounting rings, which has insufficient tension, one of the two sides has a bit less volume and sounds a little less dynamic. Despite that fact they are still a pleasure to listen to. They sound …

We've created this tool called a Piki to help people find the headphones that are right for them, based on their preferences and priorities. We're trying to make the tool comprehensive so that people seeking info on headphones can get all the facts about the things they're looking into. You can check out lists already made by contributors or customize your own settings to get things just right. Check out our headphones Piki here: http://headphones.pikimal.com/ We'd really like it if any of the regulars here could check out our tool and let us know if you have any ideas to make it better. We know using the right pair of headphones is essential to a good listening exp…

Anyone? They're closed, so I am, of course, curious. Stereophile has a review of the MS 400 in the current issue. The red makes it moar bettar. But I, of course, am interested in the moar black PS 500.

Sennheiser UK had some in this morning - so it looks as if the HD 700 is now starting to ship.

Hello my fellow HCers, I had the MDR-CD3000 and ATH-W11JPN side by side for about 2 weeks so I thought I’d do a mini review/impressions thread for you guys. Its more towards a CD3000 though. I have owned the W11jpn for a couple of months now and have purchased the CD3000 recently. Gears used with the headphones are my Creative MoVo2FM 5GB, early ‘90s vintage(?) Samsung Z98G CDP, MicroShar u107B amp and some silver and copper interconnects. My iBasso D1 is out for repairs, so I had no chance to test with it. It will be back in a few days time though. The MuVo is quite neutral sounding player while the Samsung CDP has a slightly aggressive sound to it + quite detailed…

http://turntablelab.com/collections/daily-arrivals/products/grado-the-bushmills-x-grado-labs-headphone

Suggestions for closed headphones Please~? I am looking for "airy*" sounding closed cans to use at work. I have heard the A900, 950LTD and did not quite like'em. I owned the L3K and liked them, but those are somewhat out of budget for this project. W5000 are maybe a possibility (although the last time I heard them was so long ago that my recollection may be completely wrong....). Any other closed cans that should be considered? Suggestions and comments are sought and most welcomed! Thanks! *by this I mean clean highs and sweet midrange

I've been into mid hi-fi the last few years. I used to think my Logitech Z-5500's were the best things on the planet. Now, that I've gotten into decent headphones, I know the difference. Would it be a fair assessment to say that cheap / entry level headphones turn everything into a blended / muddy mess? I've found with going up a little bit in the scale of equipment that my music listening experience has greatly increased, mainly because the you can pick out where the sounds come from, and it's separation etc. (as opposed to a grinded blend of sound) How do you explain this to a friend that rocks ipod buds?

Grado SR-60. Still one of my favorite headphones. Hella uncomfortable when new. Works well out of a DAP (won't kill the battery). Sennheiser HD580 Nice all around headphones, also great for movies. Sound great with simple amps (cmoy, Govibe, etc). If I was ever in a major financial rut I could probably sell everything for just those two.

Ok, I need help buying some headphones as I am undecided on which ones I should buy. I would like some headphones (pref.) under ~$400 USD. I will be listening to music (mostly) from my iPhone 4 or Mac. But I also have a high-end Vinyl player, and a Les Paul (which I can plug in my headphones). Those two might be considered audiophile but that is not the primary use (though I will use them) of my headphones, so I don't know if I should get audiophile headphones. I will be listening mostly to Classic Rock/Rock. Pink Floyd (Dark Side of the Moon), Led Zep, etc. I really like listening to high quality music, but not sure if the headphones would make a big difference sin…

https://techcrunch.com/2023/08/24/sony-is-buying-gaming-headphone-maker-audeze/ This should be interesting…

Anybody own these? $158 recable for a set of $25 cans. I'm not being skeptical or facetious, I really am curious on the differences.

To the best of my knowledge, first hand and from other fellow users, it seems that some headphones benefit more from going into a balance configuration than others. I thought it could be helpfull to have a thread where we can cross-reference personal experience with cans that you have had the chance to seriously evaluate in single ended mode and also in balanced mode. The ease of cable switching in the Sennheiser makes them an ideal cable rolling headphone. Should we bother to try to balance a specific headphone? This is were your input becomes valuable. I just asked whether it makes a similar difference in sound to balace the HD600 vs balance HD650. From the res…

Looking to upgrade from MS-2i. I've heard the RS-1 and I like it alot. Never heard the MS-Pro. Any information on the difference in sound signature would be appreciated. All recommendations would be welcome. Renato

My first impression of the K-701 was that it was an improvement over K-340, sounding much like what I suspect a modded K-340 would sound like. However, the longer I owned the K-701, the less I liked the sound. Odd, but there it is. The final blow came in a listening session where a friend and I were comparing K-340, K-701, and K-1000 (just for the heck of it). Bad luck for the K-701 was that I discovered that the Wheatfield HA-2 is a very good K-1000 amp. The K-1000 is simply better than either of the others if the amp has the power for it, and the Wheatfield does. However, I was able to alter the relationship of the K-701 and K-340 simply by changing the gain tube of the…