Hello all. First post on this great site...

I just got an Apogee Duet that I'll be connecting to my Macbook Pro. Right now, all I have is the MBP, Duet, & a pair of AudioEngine A5's (powered speakers). I got powered speakers because I wanted to avoid having to buy an amp (for now--I'll upgrade speaker system & maybe get an amp months down the road).

Let's assume that I do not want to add any additional hardware: what headphones can be driven by the Duet's headphone amp ( & sound "good" in the process)? Can I get, say, Sennheiser HD600 (or 650) & be o.k. w/ how the Duet amp drives them? For example, I've read somewhere else that cans like Grados (not that those would suit me anyway) need more clean power than can be provided by the Duet amp..

My thinking is that I want to get the "best" headphones I can now, and later on I'll consider a separate amp. They don't have to be over-the-ear--I'll also consider IEMs. I'm just asking for some suggestions to get me started in my hunt. I'm pretty flexible on price; I'd probably spend anywhere between $200-$500 USD.

BTW, my musical tastes are relatively ecelectic; I mostly listen to a lot of jazz, blues & alt rock. But I'll also go through phases when I'll listen to electronic, ambient or even wanna crank up some metal (meaning a band like Tool)....

If you made it this far, thanks for taking a look.

The grado hf1s and 225s sound pretty good directly out of the duet, as does the senn hd600.

My Altec Lansing iM616s don't sound particularly good out of the duet.

Do my headphones sound better out of my balanced m3 than out of the duet? Of course. But the duet is fine.

That said, if you've got $500 to spend, I'd probably get a single ended m3 or millett max and whichever headphone you prefer (senn or grado). You should be able to pull that off. Or just get both headphones, and use the duet out.

Hello all. First post on this great site...

I just got an Apogee Duet that I'll be connecting to my Macbook Pro. Right now, all I have is the MBP, Duet, & a pair of AudioEngine A5's (powered speakers). I got powered speakers because I wanted to avoid having to buy an amp (for now--I'll upgrade speaker system & maybe get an amp months down the road).

Let's assume that I do not want to add any additional hardware: what headphones can be driven by the Duet's headphone amp ( & sound "good" in the process)? Can I get, say, Sennheiser HD600 (or 650) & be o.k. w/ how the Duet amp drives them? For example, I've read somewhere else that cans like Grados (not that those would suit me anyway) need more clean power than can be provided by the Duet amp..

My thinking is that I want to get the "best" headphones I can now, and later on I'll consider a separate amp. They don't have to be over-the-ear--I'll also consider IEMs. I'm just asking for some suggestions to get me started in my hunt. I'm pretty flexible on price; I'd probably spend anywhere between $200-$500 USD.

BTW, my musical tastes are relatively ecelectic; I mostly listen to a lot of jazz, blues & alt rock. But I'll also go through phases when I'll listen to electronic, ambient or even wanna crank up some metal (meaning a band like Tool)....

If you made it this far, thanks for taking a look.

Closed or open?

Closed: Audio-Technica ATH-A950LTD are the ones I find myself coming back to on a daily basis.

Open: Meh, I don't know, you're on your own.

Slightly off topic but how much does the A950LTD isolate?

Pretty good, better than the DT880 & the MDR-7506/-V6, not as good as the DT770 or any IEM. Probably close to the CD3000, but not quite that much (I don't have it with me, so can't compare).

But DT880's are open...

I think he meant the 770s

No, I meant the 880's -- I mention the 770's elsewhere in the same post.

Which would explain why a closed headphone isolates better.

Wow, really. I cannot read. Stupid homework. Gotta get away from the comp for a little while

Well, after quite a bit of looking around, I decided to get a pair of Audio Technica ATH-AD900's. I figure this will be a good entree for me into the headphone world. Even though my self-imposed budget would've allowed me to "reach higher", I decided that sub-$300 for my first real headphones is a large enough of a jump initially.