Recommend me a headphone amplifier (and headphones) for home use

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Dale_tem

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Dale
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I am after a headphone amplifier and a pair of headphones.

I like a nice deep rich sound.

My current headphones are....

Panasonic RP-HTX7AE-K closed over the ears (love these)
Beyerdynamic DTX101 iE in-ear headphones, love these, but starting to get less use as I love the panasonics.
Sennheiser CX 300ii in-ear headphones. Too bright for me.


I also have a FiiO E6 portable headphone amplifier which I use with my iPod, great at giving the treble more control and more depth.

I am after over the ear big headphones, and more importantly a mains powered headphone amplifier.

My source will generally be my PC or iPod, or might be my Cambridge Audio cd transport and DAC.

I am not after ultimate performance as the majority of the time will be mp3s through my PC. i am after deep warm bass (25Hz deep). Not bloated bass, not tight dry bass.
 
I presume you have this bookmarked already - http://www.head-fi.org/

I am probably less audiophile than you, I run a bravo mk2 and grado sr60's. my theory is that my can listening tends to be mp3 or wav so decent is good enough when it comes to kit.

The bravo suffers with shielding however and the open back grados do annoy the wife at times.
 
I wouldn't swap my Sennheiser HD-25 MK II's for all the tea in China!

For a good headphone amp (and if you have money to burn), check out the M900 range from Grace Design!
 
Well after various reading of reviews and browsing the FiiO site, I have just ordered an E10.

A USB DAC headphone amplifier. Will find out on Monday how good it is when it arrives :)

Marc, the M900 range is only a tad out of my price range!! lol

Ebilpirate - I have been looking at the Grados, but unsure about open back headphones and the sound leakage.
 
If you think you may disturb others then don't get Grados, but if there is anyway at all you can work around it, then do it.

I haven't found any that, for me, even come close to Grado SR80s.

Dave
 
Tringa said:
If you think you may disturb others then don't get Grados, but if there is anyway at all you can work around it, then do it.

I haven't found any that, for me, even come close to Grado SR80s.

Dave
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Yes, very good point. The leakage is quite high. I would say about the same as those cheap earbuds that come free with phones. It's annoying for other people.

But grados are good, great for the kick pedal squeaks on "since I've been loving you" by Zep.
 
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Top of the list at the moment are AKG K550s which are £133 on Amazon, but got 5 stars when they were £250.
 
Too bright and lack warmth. I keep trying sennheisers, but they never appeal.
 
Dale_tem said:
Too bright and lack warmth. I keep trying sennheisers, but they never appeal.
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Have you tried the 650s?

http://en-uk.sennheiser.com/high-quality-headphones-around-ear-audio-surround-hd-650

Very comfortable, with an accurate, neutral, unfatiguing sound - I regularly wear them for much of the day, and frankly, but for the cables, soon forget they're there, since they allow such involvement in whatever I'm listening to that they disappear. Their slightly less expensive forbears, the 600s, are still available: same comfort, but with a warmer balance.

http://en-uk.sennheiser.com/best-audio-headphones-high-end-stereo-hifi-hd-600

Like all high-end audio equipment, they do need a couple of days play-in before they sound their best, which is worth remembering if you're auditioning them at a shop - a pair that are already on demonstration will always give a truer impression than a set fresh out of the box.
 
I don't like the Sennheisers sound. If you know Car Audio, I liked them to Focal. They sound great, everyone raves about them, but they aren't for me. I like a richer, warmer, smoother sound which they can't give. (DLS or Rainbow as a car audio comparison).
 
I have a pair of classic 70's Micro Seiki MX1 elecrostatics...lovely silky sound :)
 
Dale_tem said:
Too bright and lack warmth. I keep trying sennheisers, but they never appeal.
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Exactly the reason that only you can choose headphones that are suitable for YOU!

There's far too much subjectivity involved and what may be good for some, may be unlistenable to others.

A case on point is that you find that Senheisers 'lack warmth'. By this, people are normally referring to the effect of accentuating the low and low-mid frequencies. I personally find them very pleasing to listen to and comfortable to wear.

By design, the Senheiser HD-25's are designed to have an as flat as possible frequency response, in other words, they are meant to faithfully reproduce what the recording, mixing and mastering engineers intended, hence their popular use in broadcast and recording studios over many years. If they lack warmth, I would suggest it is likely to be more to do with the source material, encoding (MP3 etc), or the equipment playing the music.

In a nutshell, you should really ignore our opinion and marketing BS and take a trip down to your nearest HIFI or pro-audio store (the few that remain is business) and try out as many sets of 'cans' as possible, until you find a pair that is right for you.
 
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E10 and AKGs are here and I love them.

Much wider soundstage compared to my other headphones and overall everything seems more subtle. When it needs to be hard it is, but when it isn't, it just sound right Everything seems to gel together better.

(sorry for the poor use of English, I know what I mean)
 
I use sennheiser hd 598's, usually with a sansa clip. Not felt the need for and amp yet, but will try one at some point.
But really all you can do is try some yourself. Unfortunately there seems to be very few places with much range to try.
I also rather like the momentums for something slightly less faithful but a bit more engaging.
Would quite fancy some grados too at some point, they have a very 'fun' sound.

It's hard enough finding a pair of headphones for a particular type of music and mood you are in at any given time, let alone throwing personal preference into the mix.
 
Worse than car audio ;)

(Madmax_tta)

Amplifer really helps. I use a FiiO E6 when out and about, just adds more control to the treble and more depth and control to the bass.
 
Ahhh hello stranger, hope all is well.
I was going to try a fiio, or make my own. But a change of jobs means I very rarely get an opportunity to walk anywhere these days hence my cans are collecting dust. :-(
 
Hi mate, life is good, but busy.

I stay away a lot and use the headphones in hotels and restaurants.

I will still use my Panasonics for that though, the AKGs are huge.
 
I also have a pair of the HD 650`s. I was originally looking at getting a standalone headphone amp. At the time it was between a Graham slee or a Musical Fidelity unit, cannot remember why I changed from either of them :shrug: but I now have the cans plugged into a Beresford Caiman Gatorized DAC. More than happy with them. I was thinking of buying some Carda replacement cable, but the Stefan Audio Art - Equinox seems to get a good review as well, and slightly cheaper from what I can see.
 
Never been keen on Sennheisser myself.

Use the Beyerdyamics DTX-80 and now the 101s for jogging...and B&W P3s for general use in the office/commute as they don't bleed much noise.

For home listening i have Grado SR80s. Over ear is just more comfortable than on-ear for extended periods.
 
Again that's subjective, I don't find my senn on ears uncomfortable at all. Even hours at a time.

I think all this thread shows is how much personal preference comes in to choosing headphones.
 
neil_g said:
Again that's subjective, I don't find my senn on ears uncomfortable at all. Even hours at a time.

I think all this thread shows is how much personal preference comes in to choosing headphones.
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Ear!! Ear!! :thumbs:
 
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