Headphones for PONO

I am Traveling quite a bit these days and miss being able to hear my favorite well mastered red book and hi res recordings I have been collecting.

I want to buy a PONO and headphones that are a good match for it. The headphones need to be able to fold up into a compact shape, they must have very good low end and they should be closed back so they don't annoy fellow travelers. My budget is up to $400.

At home my favorite phones are Denon AH-D2000' and I also have some Beyer DT 770's and some AKG

Any suggestions?

 

NAD HP50 ?

 

sorry those don't fold up

 

Would you be willing to use IEMs instead of over-ear or 0n-ear headphones? IEMs are the style of in-ear earphones that you stick all the way into the ear canal like an ear plug.

IEMs are very portable. They block out external noise and don't leak out noise to others around you. The downside is that I haven't heard one yet that is able to present the style of 3D depth style soundstage that the Pono is capable of when using really good full size headphones. But I've only tried a couple of IEMs with the Pono. There may be one that does the magic I like.

 

Check out Noble. They do some good work over there.

 

I know I've touted these in so many headphone threads around here, but I like the Audio Technica ATH-M50x. They are collapsable and also come with a carrying case, they have good bottom end without being too overbearing and keeping the headphones natural sounding. They are closed back and block outside sound quite well. They cost me less than $200, and are considered by many to be amongst the best headphones in the market currently.

 

The AT headphones are tempting........$160 on Amazon

They want $188 for the cooler looking blue version. Why?

 

They're blue.

And cooler looking.

 

Oppo PM-3?

 

Ohhhh.

In that case they are worth the extra money!

 

I have the M50s. Love them. Very durable as well.

 

I tried the Oppo PM-3 with my Pono last weekend. They'd need to be converted to balanced to get enough power. I was only able to try them single-ended and wasn't impressed by the sound. They're lacking the ability to adequately do the 3D depth thing that the Pono is capable of. The PM-3 isn't bad. I just have high standards and was expecting more.

 

I use Denon AH-D2000's at home and am looking for something with a similar sound but more portable for use on planes, trains, hotels, and sometimes at home too.

It might help if you narrowed your preferences - do you want to use them while actually travelling, or just in hotels etc.

I recently bought, but returned some Bose QC25s. They sounded fine in a noisy shop. But I never even got as far as trying them on the train and took them back after just a few days. The sound was muffled enough with an over-egged bass I just couldn't get over it. Plus in a quiet room there was that "swimming pool" effect. If you just want music while you're moving/commuting etc they may be just the thing as the noise cancelling is meant to be the bee's knees. But for appreciative listening they don't cut it.

So, since sound quality is what matters to me I'm looking at 'phones with good passive noise cancellation (nice big pads that cover my ears and earpieces that insulate well). My budget for this is near same as yours. From reviews I'm also looking at the ATH-M50x, or maybe Sennheiser Momentum 2.o's. The sennheisers seem to fold well but not flat and reputedly have large ear cushions, which for me is a must. I'd suggest trying to audition at least these 2 (3?) possibilities. Trial and error is the only way to tell what'll work for you.

I can't use IEMs as my ears gum up.

If I make any progress with my choice before you decide I'll post again - waiting to audition the momentums when the come to my local shops.

Good luck!

 

You know,

thanks

I also have the same Denon headphones at home and I think they are excellent. They are very revealing with I consider present bass end without being boomy. In all honesty, hi res well mastered music is more appreciated with these cans than my conventional loudspeaker set up.

If I could get same quality in a more portable package I would be very happy.

My use is going to be while on flights, maybe some in the hotel

 

Tyll from Inner Fidelity has some thoughts on which headphones he thinks would work well with Pono's output impedance

http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/pono-player-and-promises-fulfilled-page-2

The section is a good deal down that second page (whole review is worth a read)

 

Personally I think in the under $400 price range the NAD HP50 is hard to beat. They do fold flat in the carry bag, they just won't collapse.

 

There are third party cables for the PM-3 that convert the connection to a single end balanced plug, though I have to yet to see a Pono balanced cable that features a jack for the 4-pole plug featured here.

 

• New style (2nd generation) Sennheiser Momentum over-ear.
• http://en-us.sennheiser.com/momentum-m2

 

This is somewhat unresponsive to your question, but I was also looking for a Pono headphone. I was looking more for something I could use in the hotel room and for now settled on the Sennheiser 650. Nice combo, but the bass is not all I wanted it to be. Based on my research to date, though, an upgrade with good bass would be well over your budget.

 

Get a balanced cable for Sennheiser 600 or 650 Big improvement with the Pono. For a foldable portable headphone I like the Sennheiser PX-100II

 

For IEM some at Headfi brought up the Zens.

 

I fully agree for classical. But when I listened to popular balanced, the singer moved to the background and was often muffled by the instruments.

 

"The headphones need to be able to fold up into a compact shape"

A lot of replies here have overlooked the above important qualification which is why I offered up the Zen.
I'm sure others had the first thought too of Koss Porta Pros but I wouldn't recommend those to anyone.
BTW, I haven't heard the Zen myself.

 

I've been reading up on the Oppo PM-3 headphone and it is wired for balanced connection. For some reason, Oppo decided not to produce the required cable but it involves standard hardware anyway.

The internal 3.5mm jack on the left earpiece is cabled internally for balanced mode if you connect a TRRS (four segment) cable instead of the included one. The cable Sony sells for use with its MDR-1A would evidently do the trick, but of course there are other options.

 

Oppo did make the PM-3 balanced capable. They just opted not to make their own balanced cable for it.

To try the PM-3 balanced it looks like I'm going to have to buy a balanced cable myself and bring that cable and my Pono to an Oppo dealer or a head-fi meet to try the headphones in balanced mode. I still want to try the PM-3 balanced. Just debating whether it's worth putting up about $100 for a cable just to try it.