NwAvGuy Posted March 24, 2011 Author Report Posted March 24, 2011 When I was churning through all of those DACs, I found myself wishing that I had an ATH-AD2000. That headphone always struck me as kind of relentless in terms of detail. That's an interesting thought. I have to be careful which "D2000" we're talking about... AH-D2000 or ATH-AD2000. I considered the AT-900's and DT-770's before I bought the Denons. I should probably give the DT-880's more consideration too. So what did you find most useful in churning through all the DACs?
atothex Posted March 24, 2011 Report Posted March 24, 2011 The >$400 ATHs are very good, from what I've heard (VTG, W5000, AD2000). But I would budget for an amp for any headphone over $100.
The Monkey Posted March 24, 2011 Report Posted March 24, 2011 When I attempt to listen for differences in components, the most important tool for me is familiarity. So I don't necessarily care about or want a revealing system or "neutral" (whatever that means) system. Rather, I want a pair of phones, an amp, and tunes with which I am very familiar in terms of strengths and weaknesses. So for my purposes, the O2 and KGSS worked well.
NwAvGuy Posted March 24, 2011 Author Report Posted March 24, 2011 So for my purposes, the O2 and KGSS worked well. Thanks. In many ways, budget aside, that would probably be a great combo for me as well.
digger945 Posted March 24, 2011 Report Posted March 24, 2011 The Denon D2000 is a bit of a bright bitch, but measures pretty good for the price. I can't seem to hear detail as well with anything else I've owned, as with the D2000. I'm gonna get me a pair and work on tweaks for it to publish. I think it's almost there and with a little change in padding or something it might be really cool. A very simple mod is to swop out the foam ring around the driver with a Grado L-cush pad. I'm still kicking myself for not asking you to test them last year in Chicago.
Dreadhead Posted March 24, 2011 Report Posted March 24, 2011 Thanks. In many ways, budget aside, that would probably be a great combo for me as well. If you want revealing go with KGSS + 4070 instead. Those things rule. If I could have found a pair of 4070 for a reasonable price I think I may have kept my KGSS but for me the O2s weren't it. For me the 800s + GS-X are pure nirvana, I think they are as close to a wire with gain as anything I have ever heard. I love them, I don't even do any wild ass math or equalization on them. That said if you really want to hear the differences between dacs something with a hotter (rather than neutral) high end is probably in order.
NwAvGuy Posted March 25, 2011 Author Report Posted March 25, 2011 Thanks again to all... Looks like used HD 800's are in the $1100 range... I'll keep thinking about the options and, in the meantime, see how far the Denon's will take me.
Dusty Chalk Posted March 25, 2011 Report Posted March 25, 2011 You should also get a pair of Sony MDR-V6/-7506 for comparison.
Filburt Posted March 25, 2011 Report Posted March 25, 2011 HD800 is good for this purpose but, in my experience, I find the K701 to be comparable in terms of adequacy for this task. Not a fan of the Denon for this sort of thing although I thought it sounded OKish when I last heard it.
morphsci Posted March 25, 2011 Report Posted March 25, 2011 Thanks again to all... Looks like used HD 800's are in the $1100 range... I'll keep thinking about the options and, in the meantime, see how far the Denon's will take me. I'm in the minority here but I quite like the Denon D2000, for a closed can with all that entails. And Dusty is correct, give the sony v6/7506 a shot.
NwAvGuy Posted March 25, 2011 Author Report Posted March 25, 2011 (edited) I never expected to already own 3 of the suggestions. On top of the Etys and Denons, I already own the Sony's as well. I've had them the longest but don't listen to them much anymore. The pads are dying and the shallow earcups cause me some grief for long listening. But I'll drag them out for the fun of it. It's been a while. As for K701's... the AKG's always seemed so old school to me. But I have heard they sound better than they feel, look, or fit. Still, it's good to get suggestions that are relatively affordable. Edited March 25, 2011 by NwAvGuy
morphsci Posted March 25, 2011 Report Posted March 25, 2011 The 701's IMO need a bit of power to perform their best so you need a good amp with them. They are not far behind the K340's in their power requirements IMO.
Clarkmc2 Posted March 25, 2011 Report Posted March 25, 2011 The Stax SRX-Mk3. The non pro version is fine. Relentlessly neutral, just bass light enough to get WAY into the mix. They are thirty years old and don't cost very much. Terrible phones for noisy rock, but they reveal everything upstream with ease. Real truth machines. They were pretty expensive when they came out and were for professional monitoring. Too much bass gets in the way in that application.
NwAvGuy Posted March 25, 2011 Author Report Posted March 25, 2011 So, out of curiosity and given all the Denon comments, anyone following this thread own (or used to own) the Fischer FA-003's? Many have heaped praise on them elsewhere. And they have nice deep earcups which I like for comfort. I don't expect them to be "reference grade" but I wonder if they're better overall than my current closed reference, the Denon's? They're eternally out of stock or I probably would have ordered some by now. Their north american distribution (kind of like Stax) is really weak.
spritzer Posted March 25, 2011 Report Posted March 25, 2011 The Stax monitor headphones do take ruthlessly revealing to the n-th degree. The SR-X Mk3 Pro is very rare but the normal bias version is in great supply and with some simple mods you can get a bit more bass out of them. Properly seal the baffle and install new earpads will do the trick. For amps, I'm sure you know which end of a soldering iron to hold so why not build a KGSSHV? It's cheaper than the 323 and far outstrips it in performance.
NwAvGuy Posted March 25, 2011 Author Report Posted March 25, 2011 The Stax monitor headphones do take ruthlessly revealing to the n-th degree. The SR-X Mk3 Pro is very rare but the normal bias version is in great supply and with some simple mods you can get a bit more bass out of them. Properly seal the baffle and install new earpads will do the trick. For amps, I'm sure you know which end of a soldering iron to hold so why not build a KGSSHV? It's cheaper than the 323 and far outstrips it in performance. Thanks. That's an interesting idea. In what ways is the good Mr Gilmore making life easier for DIYers? I found this thread: I'd be happy to give him some of my money rather than Elusive Disc if it made sense to do so. Such a project from scratch would be more time than I have to spare at the moment but the right shortcuts could make it worthwhile. I'll PM him. How does the old SR-X compare to the new 307/407/507? And how would those of you who've spent time with both compare the 307/407/507 to the HD 800?
mypasswordis Posted March 25, 2011 Report Posted March 25, 2011 The SR-X and pro versions are ruthlessly revealing but the 4070 is ruthlessly revealing about how bad it sounds. /thread crap
limp Posted March 25, 2011 Report Posted March 25, 2011 The pads are dying and the shallow earcups cause me some grief for long listening. Beyer DT250 velour pads fit the V6s like a charm. And the're super comfy.
K3cT Posted March 25, 2011 Report Posted March 25, 2011 (edited) Etymotic ER4P. Thin, fast and colorless. Perfect for testing systems. Edited March 25, 2011 by K3cT
HiWire Posted March 25, 2011 Report Posted March 25, 2011 The Grado HP-1000's are great for checking tonality and things like timing and pitch, but they're only so-so for 3-D aural imaging.
spritzer Posted March 25, 2011 Report Posted March 25, 2011 The Lambdas (any of them really) are very good but they have always been more about generating a speaker like soundstage rather than absolute transparency. There is also some mild bass boom (though the new ones are much better here) while the SR-X is pretty much at a Grado level for soundstage but don't sound like poo (bar the HP-1000 though)... The KGSSHV is still in prototype phase but you can get the board files to have some made. The amp does work just fine and it is a screaming bargain given how advanced it is. The SR-X and pro versions are ruthlessly revealing but the 4070 is ruthlessly revealing about how bad it sounds. /thread crap First you don't like the SR-202 (probably the only one) and now the 4070? You need moar booze...
mypasswordis Posted March 25, 2011 Report Posted March 25, 2011 (edited) I don't like the SR-202, 404LE, and the 4070. The 404, normal bias Lambda, Lambda Pro, Lambda Sig are pretty good and the Lambda Nova Basic is okay. Haven't heard LNS... Edit: Haven't heard the new Lambdas that end in 7 either. Edited March 25, 2011 by mypasswordis
Filburt Posted March 25, 2011 Report Posted March 25, 2011 (edited) I never expected to already own 3 of the suggestions. On top of the Etys and Denons, I already own the Sony's as well. I've had them the longest but don't listen to them much anymore. The pads are dying and the shallow earcups cause me some grief for long listening. But I'll drag them out for the fun of it. It's been a while. As for K701's... the AKG's always seemed so old school to me. But I have heard they sound better than they feel, look, or fit. Still, it's good to get suggestions that are relatively affordable. I don't think they're antiquated technologically when looking at the driver design but I know the physical build isn't for everyone. I've used a lot of headphones over the past several years for listening tests. There are some suitable headphones for this purpose other than the 701, but many are considerably more expensive (especially when factoring in amplification). I'm not sure you're really gaining anything by writing them off. Edited March 25, 2011 by Filburt
Duggeh Posted March 26, 2011 Report Posted March 26, 2011 I love the ER-4. It is a king for this. And a God per £. Which is why I'm pissed off that my pair just died.
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