Stepping into headphones

I want to get my feet wet in the area of headphones. All of my listening to cans is done with a iPhone and a pair of sol republic hd headphones. What I want to do is incorporate my main system that includes vinyl with headphone listening.
Where do I even begin? My budget is $800 for amp and HP. My local store where I buy gear from has virtually no headphone gear.
What would you experts do?

 

I love my Sennheiser 650's and my OppoHA-2. Granted I have not hooked it up to my to my main system and I don't have vinyl set up, but it has made my iPhone, iPod and especially the MacBook sound incredible.

 

Headphones tend to offer pretty varied interpretations of bass/mid/treble frequencies. Do you like music to sound bright? Do you need more low-end? Do you want the midrange to be the star? All worth knowing first.

I recently upgraded from a grado sr225e to a rs2e and im loving it all over again. That first grado was awesome, but this one? Stunning.

For amps, id look into Schiit. Great entry level stuff for cheap. Ive been using Vali for months and its been great.

 

Sennheiser 600, look no further.

If you need closed-cans for some reason B&W P7 is a great choice!

You can pair either with a Vioelecctric V200 and it will sound fantastic. Plenty of juice!

 

+1 on Sennheiser 600's. They're highly praised and sold today but have been around a long time (mine are 12 yrs old!), truly classic all-rounder, listening to 'em as I type!. Head-fi.org is the definitive site for all things headphone-related.

 

There are thousands of options and no good ways to audition.

First, if you are going to play from a phone, get a low impedance headphone. It will play louder.

If you prefer lots of low end, and want isolation, go closed back.

I have several headphones and I can tell you what my favorite is. ATH-M50X. Audio Technica.

Great sounding, incredibly well made, comfortable and under $200

Do some research as suggested at Head Fi

 

Headphones are difficult to decide on if you're not already familiar with all of the flavors and the available amps. There aren't stores to properly audition the vast variety of headphones and even fewer that have proper audiophile quality headphones amps to audition. I've been following headphones for 15 years. And more seriously following headphones for the past 5 years. Yet there are many headphones I've never heard and have no proper idea about. And many amps that I have no idea about. Audio dealers are even more clueless about headphones. Very few carry a good headphone selection or a good headphone amp selection.

The best opportunity to hear some (most?) headphones or amps is to attend a headphone meet or a large audio meet like RMAF or similar meet that has a headphone vendor section. You just aren't going to get a similar opportunity by visiting local audio dealers, even in a large city like Seattle. I'm no longer very familiar with audio dealers in the Seattle are since I moved away from Seattle. I don't know what dealers currently have a good headphone selection or good headphone amp selection. Likely not many.

The good news is that there are regular headphone meets in the Seattle area. About 4 or so public meets a year. There is a Head-Fi forum for meets that you can watch to find out when the next meet is scheduled. And the Seattle group has a Facebook group to announce local meets.

For your vinyl preferences, and I assume you're planning to listen at home rather than have headphones that are mobile friendly, a starting point would be looking at something like the Sennheiser HD600 or HD650 along with an amp like the Schiit Valhalla 2 or Bottlehead Crack. Or one of the lower cost HiFiMan orthodynamic headphones (like the HE400S) along with an amp like the Schiit Lyr 2. Bottlehead is located on Bainbridge Island. If you call ahead you can schedule an audition if you're curious. Their amps are good. And Bainbridge Island is a fun place to visit for a day. They're sold as kits but you can also buy them pre-built. A Sennheiser HD600/HD650 and a Bottlehead Crack is a nice setup. Schiit does some good amps too. But neither will be found at audio dealers. And that's the big challenge with headphones. Much of what's available isn't sold at traditional audio dealers.

 

Head-Fi.org, and I'll say it now...sorry about your wallet.

 

Audeze EL-8, balanced planar mags, $600, best bang for the buck audiophile headphone under $1K. You won't need a headphone amp but sounds better if you have one and don't pass up trying out the balanced mode. It's like night and day.

 

AKG K712 & Schiit Lyr

 

I have the HD650 and Schiit Valhalla 2 combo. Works really well and will fit nicely into the $800 budget of the OP.

 

Interestingly, InnerFidelity posted a very favorable review of the HiFiMan HE400S today: The Terrific HiFiMAN HE400S Planar Magnetic Headphones

I haven't heard them. I've heard other HiFiMan headphones, and I own the HE560 headphones. I'm not sure the HE400S is really worth declaring as the king over the HD600 or HD650. I'd have to listen to it to decide. I'm not optimistic though because I don't consider my HE560 to actually be better than the HD600 or HD650.

In any event, I'm sure the HE400S is a worthy headphone to consider as an entry to headphone listening. And the HE400S will be easier to match an amp to and will play well with more amps than the Sennheiser HD600 or HD650. The Senn headphones can get you into some specialized amp territory, like tube OTL amps, that will work magic with the Senns but won't be suitable for most other headphones you might get in the future. For example, the Bottlehead Crack and the Schiit Valhallia 2 will work great with the Senns but wouldn't be ideal for an orthodynamic headpone like the HiFiMan headphones or Audeze headphones.

 

Would be nice to know what headphones are better for different ranges of music. Rock and reggae ?

 

I'll add the Audioquest Nighthawks as another one to try. It is efficient enought to drive right from your phone so no need for an amp. The NH has a more speaker like presentation than most other phones and are arguably the most comfortables phones you will put on your head. Between the incredible sound and incredible comfort they can be listened to for hours without fatigue of any kind.

 

I will defiantly need a headphone amp.

 

There isn't an easy answer to that quest. It depends on personal preference, what aspects of the sound you tend to listen for most, the amp used, and the source used. All will affect the headphone choice that one might consider better for rock or reggae. The only way to find out what works best for rock or reggae for you is to listen to a bunch of headphones with a variety of amps and sources and find the answer yourself. And the answer you find at first will likely change as you get more experience with headphone listening.

I just put on some reggae and my HD600. Admittedly it is giving me an audiophile style presentation of reggae. Could do with a little more bass and a little more punch. But the overall sound and listening is awesome to me. I could get a little more bass by getting a HD650. I could get a little more punch by getting an amp that has more punch (my amp is on the smooth and liquid side of the sonic spectrum). My personal solution though was to get the Audeze LCD-2 and use it for rock and reggae instead of the Senns.

 

I have the previous model to the HE400S, the HE400, I consider this an excellent headphone. Amazon is currently offering both models for $299.

Both of the Senns are excellent sounding headphones. The 600 is a tadd more linear and the 650 is a touch richer and has more bass.

 

Mojo and HD600

 

For $800 your best option is probably the HE560.

If you can find the Sennheiser HD600 user for around $200 you also have around $600 for Amp+DAC and that could be even better choice. Check the Audio-DG NFB-29H, should be pretty good for that price

 

Just found this website recently. They provide on the fly comparisons of different headphones using the same music. I don't know how accurate it is, but it's pretty cool:
https://soundcloud.com/sonic-sense-pro-audio/sets/headphones-test

 

It's pretty cool. But not very useful for choosing a headphone.

I listened to the LCD-2 with my LCD-2 and what I heard was a poorly performing LCD-2'ed LCD-2. It didn't sound like an LCD-2. I tried the LCD-2 sample with my HD600 and it didn't sound like an LCD-2. Not very useful except for entertainment and curiosity value.

One thing that isn't going to be captured in recordings of headphones like that is the soundstage shape and presentation of the headphones. And that part, to me, is an important part of the headphone sound. For example, an AKG K701 soundstage has a sort of sideways hourglass shape. An HD600 has a rounder shape (especially when used with a very good amp) and a denser imaging density that is able to fill in the middle better. That is something that this listening test won't demonstrate when trying the different headphones.

 

Living in Seattle, there should be places where you can listen to the various cans under consideration, including those recommended in this thread, all of which are worthy candidates. Because one's preferences for headphones are inherently subjective, I strongly urge that you take this step before buying anything. If you can't find locally all of the models in which you are interested, many Internet retailers, like Amazon and Audio Advisor, offer hassle-free returns. Please try before you buy. Your budget should get you a fine set of phones and amp.
Good luck!

 

I was into headphones pretty heavy for many years. There is some incredible gear and cans out there but seriously, check out head-fi and get to a meet. The community there is terrific and I had a lot of fun hanging out listing to many combinations of gear over the years. You'll be able to make a much more informed purchase after trying out many options. Just be ready to spend more than you planned - headphones done right sound amazing!

 

Well, reading thru the thread it's clear that the Sennheiseer HD600 gets more mentions than any other, this should tell you something. Someone mentioned something about the 600's needing a 'specialized' amp. I disagree. I use mine with an old tube amp when listening thru the big rig, and a portable fiio E12 that only cost a $100 bucks, coupled with my iPod, sounds great!

 

They need plenty of juice!!!