Who know about headphones

dhart86

Conditions are changing at home and my listening habits may be by way of headphones. I am a complete novice to the headphone game. I need help! Any input you guys can give would help.

I would like to find audio-phile like headphones with good quality drivers. Sound quality is the most important consideration. Open or Closed......over or on ear.....not as important as sound quality.

I am considering the Hifiman 400i since it is right at my $300 budget.

Down the line, I would like a tube headphone amp.....maybe? I have a Rogue Metis pre with a headphone jack, but don't know how good it is, because I have no headphones.

Looking to spend around $300 on said amp ......to fund this I may have put my PrimaLuna Prologue One intergrated tube amp up for sale. Cash is tight. I love the PrimaLuna, but I can't keep it all.

Any advice on cans for the rookie?

voltz

Hey Darren

I have the Hifi -mans HE 400 and the Grado RS2 and the Senn HD598's & HD650's

I think the HD650's steal the show...dont like the fit of the HE400's my heads is big but my ears must be to high up my head to fit correctly..love the SENN's..my favorite is the 650's but I seen the 700's cheaper on amazon.

If you like I'd send you my HE 400s & Grado to try out can send them back or if you like one let me know.. also I can send you 2 headphone amps a WOO WA3 and a hifiman EF5 both cost over $500 but I give you a sweet deal if you wanted either ... try all of them to see what you like ..then send them all back too no problem no rush

I built a Bottlehead crack and it is all I use now but it does not work with the grado or Hifi headset's as the ohms is best for 600 ohms like the Sennheisers

voltz

I had a Schiit also I sold to ED! those are the best for price point!

dhart86

Voltz.......thank you for the kind offer man. I will take you up on it! I'm interested in trying both sets of cans and both amps. Send me a pm so that I know what to do to move forward. Thank you!

sucks2beme

Hard to beat hd600's and bottlehead crack.
Other cheaper options are a AKG Q701 and a tube amp
other than the crack. I'm running an older OTL MG-head
with runs OTL mode for Senns and and normal transformer output
for Grados and the AKG. A good NOS 5751 and it makes my
Grado ps500's and Q701 sound pretty good.
I also have Stax headphones and a adapter box so I can run them
off any speaker output.

voltz

I forgot that the WOO WA3 is not a good match for the 'Grado's" or "HiFi-Mans HE 400 as they are both 32 ohms...they HiFiMan EF-5 is good with them...

The Woo would only be good for cans around 300-600 ohms. the newer Version has a high/low switch for both like do all the new Schitt are.

check out these Schiit amps also as the Asgard2 & Valhalla 2 are $250 and $350 the latter one has tubes..

http://schiit.com/products

pm sent

I always wondered about those Stax cans

sucks2beme

The number of great headphone options has exploded in the last few years.
The Grados and HIFIMAN 400i both should sound pretty good off a headphone jack.
Senns really shine off a good amp. And any headphone can sound better with
the right amp. If you can borrow a set, that is always the best way to see
what works for you. Next best is to go over to head-fi and look for a headphone meet in driving distance. I used to go check out the forums for reviews, but
there is so much chatter it's become useless. Try this site for reliable reviews.
http://www.innerfidelity.com/
They aren't afraid to pan a product either.

george daniel

My old school headphone rigs consists of an old Singlepower PTP wired PPX 3 and Senn 600 and 650's

dhart86

george daniel wrote: »

My old school headphone rigs consists of an old Singlepower PTP wired PPX 3 and Senn 600 and 650's

Nice! It's starting to sound like the Senn 600 and 650 are the cans to have.


Thank you everyone for you input ......I am still gathering information, so all input is welcomed

dhart86

Voltz.....thanks for all your help and for allowing me to demo some equip

MrBuhl

voltz wrote: »

I had a Schiit also I sold to ED! those are the best for price point!

I can say, that's some good Schitt too man! I love that setup with my Fidelio X1's!

dhart86

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I ended up paying a premium for a Bottlehead Crack (speedball mod) amp. Now I'm trying to lock down a pair of Senn HD600. But I was wondering about a couple of things:

1. Is it Ok to tube roll with the bottlehead amp?
2. If I needed an extension cable, anyone know of a quality cable that would not
degrade the signal or lose sonic quality?
3. Can I use my regular DAC or do I need to get a specific type Dac

Thanks again and HAPPY NEW YEAR to all

sucks2beme

Any quality DAC should do. I was fortunate enough to get a 20 ft Cardas cable
when I bought my hd-650's. It needed new connections on the headphone side.
I've now got the same Cardas on the Q701's. Grado sells a quality extension,
or you can buy some good cable and put your own ends on it. Some guys
like using canare cable for this.