I am looking to buy new headphones and wanted your opinion on which headphones to buy. In my country, I can buy the He400 Se at 128 USD, SHP9600 at 135 USD and SHP9500 at 100 USD. My preference for sound is:
- Good soundstage and imaging
- Neutral but has a little bit of punch
- Nice Vocal body
- Non sibilant (zero listening fatigue)
So, which of the headphones will be suitable for me? Thanks!
- Good soundstage and imaging
- Neutral but has a little bit of punch
- Nice Vocal body
- Non sibilant (zero listening fatigue)
So, which of the headphones will be suitable for me? Thanks!
What would you reccomend for under $200? The hyped Sennheiser HD58X in my country will set me back around $263 USD.
It's difficult. I'm using Sennheiser HD 558 at home, and HD 280 Pro with camera on the street. If you want Sennheiser, exists HD560S. You should try to listen other marks like AKG, Audio-Technica, Beyerdynamic, KOSS... 😉
And it's all need amplifier. 🙂
And it's all need amplifier. 🙂
As headphones are minimum phase devices, up to the point where non lineair distortions become audible, you can eq them to sound neutral or to your own preference.
So get one that is comfortable to you, then eq. Result amazing soundquality for about €100, no need to spend more money.
So get one that is comfortable to you, then eq. Result amazing soundquality for about €100, no need to spend more money.
In my country, AKG are hard to come by, AT has only AD500X to offer at below $200, Beyerdynamic will be north of $240 and for KOSS only the Porta Pro
I know eq-ing the headphones will result in better frequency response, but I believe each driver types has it's own unique sound. I have heard the Martin Logan ESL once and immediately fell in love with it.
Does the sound suffer more on cheap planar headphones than on cheap dynamic driver headphones?
If did I understand right.., all have been reduced to comparing Sennheiser vs. Philips?.. 😱😀
Of cause each driver has its own unique sound, that is the result of its frequency response, non linear distortion, noise level and noise spectrum. At normal listening levels, noise and non linear distortion are not audible so frequency response is the dominating factor of sound quality. Therefore eq works very well here.
Well, for more than $200 USD I think I might be better off buying a good quality speakers. I am using headphones for non critical listening anyway. I took the plunge and went for the HE400se since I quite like planars and electrostats in speakers.
Also, what DIY headphone amp do you recommend? I already built the Roggom 12AU7 Headphone Amplifier (NP-100v12: DIY 12AU7 (ECC82) Tube / IRF510 MOSFET Headphone Amplifier) and are looking for an upgrade. Thanks!
Also, what DIY headphone amp do you recommend? I already built the Roggom 12AU7 Headphone Amplifier (NP-100v12: DIY 12AU7 (ECC82) Tube / IRF510 MOSFET Headphone Amplifier) and are looking for an upgrade. Thanks!
Headphones amp
Regarding that design, in my opinion you can do a lot better. A friend of mine built it and had lots of problems, receiving FM station in particular. I did some analysis and curve tracing of 12au7 @ low voltage and found a lot of variability making proper biasing difficult. Distortion is excessive. Demodulating on the grid is very sensitive to RF.
I am interested in your experience with this amp. You might like the sound of the particular distortion it produces. Did you have an overall good experience.
My apologies if this is considered a thread hijack.
Regarding that design, in my opinion you can do a lot better. A friend of mine built it and had lots of problems, receiving FM station in particular. I did some analysis and curve tracing of 12au7 @ low voltage and found a lot of variability making proper biasing difficult. Distortion is excessive. Demodulating on the grid is very sensitive to RF.
I am interested in your experience with this amp. You might like the sound of the particular distortion it produces. Did you have an overall good experience.
My apologies if this is considered a thread hijack.