Recommend me a Headphone setup

[goobernoodles]

I've been recently looking around for a nice pair of bookshelf speakers to put into my tiny ass finished attic computer room, but the more I think about it... it's just pointless. The room is tiny, and is an acoustic nightmare of epic proportions. I have my 5.1 setup in the living room to satisfy the need for visceral sound. Besides, I mainly listen to music when I'm at my computer.

I'm currently using the digital out from my motherboard going to a 2.1 z-5500 setup.

1) Recommend me a good pair of cans for mainly rock music. I have no real preference as to open or closed - whatever sounds better. I'm thinking of a budget of $2-400
2) What are some recommended headphone amps?
3) Should I invest in a "musical" sound card?

 

[Anteaus]

Grado SR60s. They have amazing sound, confortable, go for a good price and you don't need a special amp. There are better sets out there formuch moremoney, but in my opinion these are the way to go in your case. They are open ear, but I prefer those. My .02. Good luck.

 

[goobernoodles]

How would the Grado's compare to Sennheiser HD595/598's?

 

[HendrixFan]

You should try before you buy. Grados have a distinct sound that you will either love or hate. They are more colored than Sennheisers.

The kind of music you mostly listen to should influence your decision too. I have the Grado HF-2s, which are known to be the most bass heavy of the Grado line. I don't listen to much hip hop so it works out well for me as most the music I listen to can use a little low end boost.

If you are thinking about soundcard/amp/headphones then $200 to $400 is fairly low end. That really isn't a problem, but at that price range it is probably worth just getting a nice set of headphones and worrying about the soundcard or amp down the road if you feel the need to upgrade. Build a cheap CMOY amp yourself for $20 and get the best headphones in your price range.

What is your source material? If you are going to be playing a bunch of MP3s that aren't LAME v0 then a better soundcard likely wouldn't make any difference.

 

[DaveJ]

Grado SR60s. They have amazing sound, confortable, go for a good price and you don't need a special amp. There are better sets out there formuch moremoney, but in my opinion these are the way to go in your case. They are open ear, but I prefer those. My .02. Good luck.

If you want a good pair of Grados for rock I'd recommend the SR225s as they have better bass response than the SR60s. I would also argue about them being comfortable, mine start to get uncomfortable after a few hours. Having said that, my SR225s fuckin' rawk.

 

[goobernoodles]

You should try before you buy. Grados have a distinct sound that you will either love or hate. They are more colored than Sennheisers.

The kind of music you mostly listen to should influence your decision too. I have the Grado HF-2s, which are known to be the most bass heavy of the Grado line. I don't listen to much hip hop so it works out well for me as most the music I listen to can use a little low end boost.

If you are thinking about soundcard/amp/headphones then $200 to $400 is fairly low end. That really isn't a problem, but at that price range it is probably worth just getting a nice set of headphones and worrying about the soundcard or amp down the road if you feel the need to upgrade. Build a cheap CMOY amp yourself for $20 and get the best headphones in your price range.

What is your source material? If you are going to be playing a bunch of MP3s that aren't LAME v0 then a better soundcard likely wouldn't make any difference.

I was really just throwing the $200-400 out there as a flexible range of what I feel I should spend on headphones. Soundcard/Amp would be another thing. I was thinking ~$100 for an amp, then whatever is worth it for a soundcard. I'm not quite sure where I can find high end headphones locally... That's the toughie. I'll look around.

edit: Also, most of my source material is variable bitrate mp3's. Wasn't aware of whatever LAME v0 is.

 

[uhohs]

a $20-30 well made cmoy would be a fine cheap amp for grados since that's what their RA-1 amp basically is.

though I use my grados primarily with the gilmore lite/dynalo. :~

 

[hans030390]

You have several options for headphones. The HD598 is fantastic, though there's a chance you might think it lacks bass. They do benefit from burn in, and the lack of bass is more dependent on the recording than the headphone itself. Very balanced, though. Natural sounding, great mids, great soundstage. Very comfortable and easy to listen to.

There's also the Denon D2000. There is a really popular mod for them (Markl mod) that fixes many of their issues. They sound great stock, though. I preferred the HD598 over the stock D2000, though. D2000s had more recessed mids, and the bass was comparatively boomy. Soundstage wasn't as good either. I have since then modded my D2000s into open-backed headphones, and I sold the HD598s after that. They just weren't as good. I don't expect you to go to those lengths, though!

One REALLY popular headphone on Head-Fi right now is the Fostex T50RP. They use orthodynamic drivers compared to standard dynamic drivers. Apparently they aren't great stock, but there are many people modding them and claiming they can compete with headphones costing many times more. Some people say they rival another orthodynamic headphone, the LCD2 (costs $900+ I think) after mods. The mods basically include dampening the cups and driver baffle, using dynamat, plasticine, etc. They also use adhesive acoustic foam heavily. They're hard to find, though...people snatch them up very quickly! But they only cost $75 usually.

As for a source, I'd recommend the higher end Asus or Auzentech sound cards. I'm not too experienced with external DACs/Amps, but I know those higher end sound cards are generally highly reviewed and can power about any headphone.

 

[hans030390]

Also, I don't really like Grados. They have a strange frequency response. Too many peaks in the upper mids and treble, and the bass is often times too rolled off. Soundstage is minimal...very in-your-face sound. They hurt my ears, plain and simple. I prefer smooth, natural, accurate sound with a large soundstage and great imaging. Grados do not offer that in the slightest.

 

[goobernoodles]

Grado's just don't look very comfortable to me. Is there something that is in the $150-300 range that is a competitor to the HD595/598's with better bass output without being boomy or muddy?

 

[hans030390]

Grado's just don't look very comfortable to me. Is there something that is in the $150-300 range that is a competitor to the HD595/598's with better bass output without being boomy or muddy?

HD598s are really some of the best headphones you can get for around $200. The D2000s have better bass output and are more sparkly in the treble, but the mids aren't as good and the soundstage isn't as large. If you pair them up with a good DAC/Amp, though, that really helps the slightly boomy bass. Honestly, I never noticed that the bass was a bit boomy until I compared them to my HD598. If you mod the D2000, that should fix almost all of their problems. It's not too hard, really, though you'll void your warranty.

You might also want to consider the HD600/650. The HD600 is supposed to be more neutral, while the HD650 is more lush (better bass). I believe Sennheiser slightly modified them. Older pairs apparently sound more veiled, while newer pair sound brighter (though smooth and non-fatiguing). Do keep in mind that you'll need a powerful amp for either of these, but something like a Xonar STX or one of the higher end Auzentech sound cards with a dedicated headphone amp should power them without issue.

 

[biostud]

If you re-consider speakers then I can highly recommend Dali mentor Menuet. They are build to be mounted close to the wall or placed in a bookshelf.

If you buy a DAC then it can work as an external sound card if it's connected through USB, and a music sound card wouldn't be needed. But if you connect a DAC through coax or optical, then the sound card will play a role. But depending on how compressed the mp3's are, they might be the limiting factor in sound quality, no matter how good an audio setup you decide to get.

I've just recently bought the setup in my sig, and I could hear a difference between 192kbps mp3's and 256kbps AAC files. The mp3 files where more muddy and dull compared to the 256kbps AAC files.

 

[momeNt]

Grado's just don't look very comfortable to me. Is there something that is in the $150-300 range that is a competitor to the HD595/598's with better bass output without being boomy or muddy?

Maybe you should consider something from Audio Technica, the A-500 or A-900 are comfortable, have good bass without being boomy. Some people describe them as "fun" to listen to but that is user preference, sometimes with my A-500s the music sounds like its coming from different places inside my head, so if you have music that is ripped, or ripped poorly, it can be annoying because it just feels off.

I don't own the A-900s but I got my A-500s for music and gaming. They are lower impedance cans and take to lower power sources nicely.

 

[tyanni]

I love my Denon D5000s. They don't have the same issues the D2000s have, and I paid about as much as the D2000s were going for when I bought mine from amazon during a nice sale.

Tim

 

[goobernoodles]

Thanks for all of the suggestions. Ended up finding a local seller of a barely used HD598 for $180. I'll report back next week if anyone is interested.

 

[hans030390]

Thanks for all of the suggestions. Ended up finding a local seller of a barely used HD598 for $180. I'll report back next week if anyone is interested.

I'm always interested in peoples' impressions of headphones.

 

[blotto]

I almost upgraded my modded 555's to the 598 last week but I went with the D2000 instead. Bass output was a huge increase but so were brighter, harsher highs. I'm finally settling into a place where I think these are spectacular but it required some dynamat, polyfil, and acoustic foam to achieve.