Best headphones/amps? Recommendations?

joeinid said:
That’s what I’m afraid of too. I’ll have to start listening to my old pair of Sennheiser HD650 (?) and see how it goes.
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Good idea, they might sound good to you now. I have a pair of HD650s, brand new. I have about 2 hours on them. At first, I thought, "christ, these are the worst cans I ever heard, where did the bass go"?!! However, I understand they get better with more time and should sound better than my HD518s, which have too much bottom-end and near zero top-end. (They drop off a cliff at 9kHz).
My most balanced headphones are a pair of Status Audio CB-1s, believe it or not. They are closed back and well under $100 and yet have the right amount of everything through the frequency range. Staging is a bit on the narrow side, but not real bad, they are closed back after all.
I have never heard a headphone with great dynamics, that is why I like speakers.

As for IEMs, no thanks, those scare the crap out of me, but that's just me, you may like them.
 
Too bad the NYC CanJam already happened otherwise I would have suggested you make a travel to that. (We have one coming here in Cal in June, it will be the last or second to last one for California). No loss for me since headphones and related aren't my thing though it is the last audio type show in California left and soon there was none.
 
Joe,
The best headphones are the ones you use the most and can live with the easiest.

For me, this means
Eliminate ones that are heavy, like the Abyss 1266. Too bad, they sound great.
Eliminate IEM's which I think are great for travel but difficult to deal with at home.
Eliminate pretty much every closed back headphone - they make my ears sweat.

For you, it may mean a different set of characteristics - zeroing in on them is actually a lot of fun. Once you know generally what you are looking for you can find the sound quality you are after.

There are a lot of great sounding headphones sitting on the shelf, unloved for other reasons.

As far as amps, find the 'phones you love first and then get a complementary amp.
 
Thank you Tom. I’m still debating the style and if I want a matching amp, etc.
 
I may be Mr Obvious, the Senn's require a good break in time. I usually will let mine play over night with a constant source. I find they begin to reach their sound around 24 hours of play.

Audiophobiac said:
Good idea, they might sound good to you now. I have a pair of HD650s, brand new. I have about 2 hours on them. At first, I thought, "christ, these are the worst cans I ever heard, where did the bass go"?!! However, I understand they get better with more time and should sound better than my HD518s, which have too much bottom-end and near zero top-end. (They drop off a cliff at 9kHz).
My most balanced headphones are a pair of Status Audio CB-1s, believe it or not. They are closed back and well under $100 and yet have the right amount of everything through the frequency range. Staging is a bit on the narrow side, but not real bad, they are closed back after all.
I have never heard a headphone with great dynamics, that is why I like speakers.

As for IEMs, no thanks, those scare the crap out of me, but that's just me, you may like them.
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I have a strong preference for Audeze, but they do provide a specific sound character which needs to match your personal taste. There are many good options for headphones these days. I would say don't underestimate the importance of a good headphone amplifier to match, especially with some headphones where the impact can be greater.

For tube headphone amplifiers, there's a small outfit Donald North Audio that I really like.
 
Mr Peabody said:
I may be Mr Obvious, the Senn's require a good break in time. I usually will let mine play over night with a constant source. I find they begin to reach their sound around 24 hours of play.
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Yes, totally agree. I know that, that's why I mentioned that I only have a couple of hours on them. I prefer to let gear that requires "break-in" (anything mechanical = speakers, headphones, phono carts, tubes) to do so naturally rather than forced. Nothing wrong with forced break-in, it is just personal preference.
For me headphones take the longest because I rarely use them. For me and headphones 24 hours takes at least a month or two.
 
I don't know if I'd call constant play "forced break in. I do understand what you are saying though. I just don't want to listen to the less than target sound quality. :)

Audiophobiac said:
Yes, totally agree. I know that, that's why I mentioned that I only have a couple of hours on them. I prefer to let gear that requires "break-in" (anything mechanical = speakers, headphones, phono carts, tubes) to do so naturally rather than forced. Nothing wrong with forced break-in, it is just personal preference.
For me headphones take the longest because I rarely use them. For me and headphones 24 hours takes at least a month or two.
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Joe, you should consider custom molded high end ear buds if you have problems wearing headphones for more than 30 minutes.

I have a friend that has high end headphones and switched to custom molded (to his ear shape) ear buds and prefers the sound from them.

The Hugo chord is a great headphone amp/dac and its portable. It is worth looking at if you want portability. It is also built like a tank.

I have a friend that just bought a pair of Focal Utopia cans, they are over ear and open back. He loves them.
 
I don’t think over the ear headphones is not out of the question but I am curious about the molded ones.

I think Mike recommended the Focal/Chord combo as well.


Mechnutt said:
Joe, you should consider custom molded high end ear buds if you have problems wearing headphones for more than 30 minutes.

I have a friend that has high end headphones and switched to custom molded (to his ear shape) ear buds and prefers the sound from them.

The Hugo chord is a great headphone amp/dac and its portable. It is worth looking at if you want portability. It is also built like a tank.

I have a friend that just bought a pair of Focal Utopia cans, they are over ear and open back. He loves them.
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I had around 7 pairs of headphones. They are like speakers all with their own flavor.
My remaining pair was a Fostex Th-900 which was my best all rounder.
That said headphones were ruining my hearing because you can crank it up so much without bothering anyone. It’s just too tempting to do. I find my spouse and neighbors are good deterrents to damaging dbs when running speakers.
So......getting a motorcycle next Joe? :rolleyes:
 
Ohhh forgot to say that Eddie Current 445 tube amp was my destination amp which I absolutely loved. My Chord Dave is an awesome headamp also.
 
Dguitarnut said:
I had around 7 pairs of headphones. They are like speakers all with their own flavor.
My remaining pair was a Fostex Th-900 which was my best all rounder.
That said headphones were ruining my hearing because you can crank it up so much without bothering anyone. It’s just too tempting to do. I find my spouse and neighbors are good deterrents to damaging dbs when running speakers.
So......getting a motorcycle next Joe? :rolleyes:
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Ha!

I’ve had more than my share of motorcycles. While I dearly miss riding, I’m no where near as flexible as I used to be and have seen too many fatalities in my line of work. Maybe a convertible but no more motorcycles. ;)
 
I have tried several headphones. Comfort along with good sound is essential for me. I do not like ear buds, they tend to irritate me pretty quickly. We also had our own CanJam at our audio club :).

We had a few Audeze, a very nice HiFi Man model, Mr Speakers Ether, etc. The Focal Clear ran away as the overwhelming favorite.

I have owned McIntosh, Audeze EL8, Mr. Speakers Ether, KEF M500, Bose (who cares which model), Sennheiser HD800S, and Focal Clear. The Focal are my favorite....

Most comfortable, Mr. Speakers, Sennheiser, Focal... most uncomfortable, Audeze, McIntosh, and anything in ear.

Amps I have had a mid level Woo, a Bryston, and a Dennis Had... I also have had several DAC Headphone amps... NuPrime, Benchmark, T+A. Dedicated amp, my favorite was probably the Bryston and the Dennis Had was very good also, but the T+A seems to do really good, and I have not used headphones as much lately. Mostly use the cans with my portable Pono player. It drives the Focal perfectly. I also love the Focal package. Nice case and very good cabling, all types from 1/4", 4-pin balanced, and 1/8" for the portable. None of the others except the McIntosh came close in package.
 
Check out the recommended list from the site below. Find a few in your price range and then head over to a few shops to try them out with your collection of favorite tracks.

https ://diyaudioheaven.wordpress.com/headphones/recommended-ones/ (gah, not enough posts to post a link)

The site also has measurements.
 
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Went through a whole phase of various headphones and headphone amps including the Focal Utopia, Audeze LCD3, and about a dozen others... In the end I am extremely pleased and have trimmed my collection down to the my trusty Sennheiser HD600 and Woo Audio WA6 amp as my computer/desktop combo and ZMF Auteur Blackwood with PrimaLuna HP for more serious listening chair sessions. Tubes and high impedance headphones are the most pleasing combo to my ears.
 
Best combo i would recommend is Hifiman HE-1000SE with Dana Lazuli Reference cabling paired with Chord Hugo TT2 and Chord Mscaler.
 
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