New headphones

bigaudiofanatic

As much as I love my Klipsch S4's and bose in ear headphones, I still feel the need for a good around ear headphone, even noise canceling maybe.

Budget is between 150-450 with a little wiggle room.

Klipsch
Bose
Focal
Sennheiser
Bowers & Wilkins

Are the brands I am looking at.

Must sound good on a ipod, laptop, and on the system.

Drenis

These are new but you may consider trying a pair?

http://www.polkaudio.com/headphones/ultrafocus/

nwohlford

I would look at Denon as well. I have the AH-D2000 which I love. Although I usually use a headphone amp, these are fairly easy to drive. I really like Sennheiser as well. I have the HD 555 with the foam mod which are great for the price, but I like the Denons better (probably not surprising given the price).

chumlie

You may wanna take a look at Grado headphones too. Good bang for your buck.

cdn5003

I also have a pair of Denon AH-D2000's. They are easy enough to drive with an ipod and are very comfortable. The sound is pretty balanced, similar to my Sony MDR-7506's with a little more bass. The Denon's do sound more open though, more like listening to speakers instead of headphones.

I will caution you here though. The cord is quite long and it is wrapped in a shrink wrap material that is durable but not easy to manage on the go.

If you have a store like a guitar center near you to demo headphones it would definitely be worth checking out. I had to buy these without a demo and just looked at reviews. The only comparable ones I have heard were Sennheisers at bestbuy that sounded great for their price. Maybe look at Sennheiser HD 558's (open back though).

Denon's can be had for $215, pm me for info

DeadFeat1

chumlie wrote: »

You may wanna take a look at Grado headphones too. Good bang for your buck.

I agree...great headphones for the $$$$. Also,the Alessandro line manufactured by Grado. These are not noise canceling. I would suggest noise canceling only if needed. Non-noise canceling, in general, sound better. You might want to look at closed backed headphones such as Audio Technica if you want some noise isolation, but not noise canceling.

newrival

DeadFeat1 wrote: »

I agree...great headphones for the $$$$. Also,the Alessandro line manufactured by Grado. These are not noise canceling. I would suggest noise canceling only if needed. Non-noise canceling, in general, sound better. You might want to look at closed backed headphones such as Audio Technica if you want some noise isolation, but not noise canceling.

+1
Alessandros are very nice. They are produced by Grado, but tuned by Alessandro to be a little less in your face. I owned the MS-2 after owning the MS-1 and Grado SR-125 and SR-80

Personally, I would only consider the MS-2 , Grado SR325 (or better), Audio Technica ATH-W5000 (my current cans) or ATH-AD5000 or 3000, Beyerdynamic dt-990 or 770, AKG K701 or 601, Sennheiser HD 600 (or better yet, the HD800).

I've heard great things about the Denon AHDx000 series, but haven't ever heard them personally

Make sure you set aside some cash for a headphone amp. Once you get to this level of headphone, you really need to have one, even if it is something inexpensive like a used Grado RA-1. Portable can amps are best due to them running on battery TTMJ makes a great one, or check out some seriously nice ones here: http://www.raysamuelsaudio.com

coolsax

I would look at Denons as well you may even be able to find the woodied D5000 since they have been discontinued and are currently discounted on Amazon. under 450 for a 700 dollar phone.
also if you're looking at closed i would look at the new AKG K550
I really enjoy my B&W P5s but i got them under $200 used. I wouldn't pay the full asking price for them

I guess the big thing is are looking for open or closed back b/c i would also highly recommend the sennheiser HD 650as a nice open can.. but it wouldn't work, very good w/o a separate amp.

skrol

I have personally never experienced (yet) but have read good things about Ultrasone HFI-780 for a closed back headphone.

I do have a pair of Denon AH-C751 IEM's that I really like.

Ern Dog

I got my first set of cans about 6 months ago and settled on Senn HD-600's. They are Very comfortable and sound great. They do sound a lot better with an external amp. Right now I'm in the middle of trying to decide which amp I like better. I have a Headamp Pico amp/dac and a Ray Samuel's SR-71A. Right now I'm thinking the Pico has the edge because it has the usb dac and so it bypasses the dac in my Macbook Pro. The Pico sounds more open and revealing. The SR-71A has this really nice natural warmth that I like.

bigaudiofanatic

Interesting, never thought to look at Denon

bigaudiofanatic

For some strange reason I can not find either pair of in ear headphones. "S4 and bose in ear"

So today I did replace them with a set of Klipsch one's let me say very good set for the price. Better than the s4's I would say.

Now back to the looking for a high quality set.

Am I wrong for being concerned that I may need a external amp to drive a larger pair properly?

brunk

+1 on the denons, and they are closed cans too.

nwohlford wrote: »

I would look at Denon as well. I have the AH-D2000 which I love. Although I usually use a headphone amp, these are fairly easy to drive. I really like Sennheiser as well. I have the HD 555 with the foam mod which are great for the price, but I like the Denons better (probably not surprising given the price).

EndersShadow

bigaudiofanatic wrote: »

For some strange reason I can not find either pair of in ear headphones. "S4 and bose in ear"

So today I did replace them with a set of Klipsch one's let me say very good set for the price. Better than the s4's I would say.

Now back to the looking for a high quality set.

Am I wrong for being concerned that I may need a external amp to drive a larger pair properly?

You shouldnt need it for most pairs in your price range however a decent headphone amp can be found for 100-150ish. Look at headfonia.com for some good models. I like the jdslabs CMOY in the altoid can, the objective2 amp and the other one he showed that sells for like 40 bucks.

I have an o2 amp I bought but the person who made it didn't do a good job but I have a guy hopefully fixing it for me.

Pm me if you want more info. It a pita to type replies on my iPhone lol

zingo

Check out the Klipsch M40. It's a unique design as it has two drivers per ear with a crossover, just like a pair of speakers. They have a great look, and detachable cables depending on whether you want Apple controls or not.

jaritta

Hey, incase you are intrested i have 2 pairs of denon headphones brand new in box that i would be willing to sell.

For the 7000's i am asking 725. shipped anywhere in the lower 48

For the 5000's i am asking 400. shipping anywhere in the lower 48

Let me know if you would be intrested

The denon headphones are friggin fantastic, i cant say enough good things about them.

I also have a pair of byerdynamic t1's that I would be willing to let go, but havent determined a price

Thanks, and good luck finding headphones; even if you choose not to buy mine

ESavinon

cdn5003 wrote: »

I also have a pair of Denon AH-D2000's. They are easy enough to drive with an ipod and are very comfortable. The sound is pretty balanced, similar to my Sony MDR-7506's with a little more bass. The Denon's do sound more open though, more like listening to speakers instead of headphones.

I will caution you here though. The cord is quite long and it is wrapped in a shrink wrap material that is durable but not easy to manage on the go.

If you have a store like a guitar center near you to demo headphones it would definitely be worth checking out. I had to buy these without a demo and just looked at reviews. The only comparable ones I have heard were Sennheisers at bestbuy that sounded great for their price. Maybe look at Sennheiser HD 558's (open back though).

Denon's can be had for $215, pm me for info

Interested in doing some type of trade for the denons? I have other headphones or audio gear available.

KYFHO

I have the new PSB headphones - They are phenominal! PSB only makes one model so it should be easy for you to research. Best cans I have ever heard!