How to get proper sound on headphones ?

What Schiit model number , I don't know which one to get and do they sell them on amazon ?

 

I would get the Modi2Uber and either the Magni or the Vali. I’m not sure if they sell them on Amazon or not.

 

What about If I just used it for my pc , which Schiit ? Thank you .

 

The Modi 2 Uber DAC ($149) has a USB input on the back along with optical and coax SPDIF inputs. Use a USB cable to connect to your PC to the DAC. The Modi 2 DAC has only a USB input. No SPDIF inputs. The basic Modi 2 DAC would also work. But the Modi 2 Uber is a slightly better DAC and the SPDIF inputs give it more flexibility for future use (for example the SPDIF inputs will allow you to connect the DAC to a DVD player).

The Modi 3 amp ($99) and Vali 2 amp ($149) are both good low cost amps. I'm not sure which one to recommend over the other for the headphones you're looking at. A lot comes down to personal sonic preference, and some comes down to headphone synergy with certain amps.

 

Yes, the amp choice of Magni 3 or Vali 2 is mainly about if you’d like to play with tubes or not, which is personal preference.

 

I'm not really sure what tubes are , I know there in high quality amps for vinyl playing and other applications . Maybe a simple device like the audio quest should work fine . I'll give it a try with the NAD headphones .

 

The Nad HP50 are hard to find , I missed getting them new from a couple what looked like reputable amazon sellers and fulfilled by amazon so no problem free returns . Not sure where to get them online without a hassle if I happen not to like them . anyone have any good option for a new set ? They were $179 shipped.

 

If you can you might wish to bump up your budget. As mentioned by Ham Sandwich the Sennheiser HD600 is a giant killer but, as he mentioned, with a decent amp. You can get them new for $234 bucks shipped on eBay right now. Or wait for certain ones to show up on Massdrop. Or wait for a sale to come around. Massdrop has their custom HD6XX, based on the HD650, available now for $199 bucks shipped to the US. They have sold 50,000 of them so far.

It saves you upgrade step down the line and you won't have a set of user ones to have to sell off. Aiming too low to begin with can leave with used gear sell off down the line.

I have the Beyer DT880 (250 OHM) and they are not bad at all but have been surpassed by others for me.

 

I agree with Jim. The Sennheiser HD600 sounds great and is soooo comfortable. No fatigue with these headphones.

 

audioadvisor.com

Excellent seller. 30 day satisfaction.

 

I second Audio Advisor. I have bought a few things from them and never had a problem.

 

Hi I need closed cans so the NAD are the ones I really want .

 

free returns and no big hassle ,rma required ?

 

rma is going over my head at the moment, but definitely no hassle. I've only returned one thing over the years, but they couldn't have been nicer about it. They wanna keep you as a customer.

 

I have to agree. I believe the MDR-7506 are the headphone equivalent of the Yamaha NS-10 monitor. They seem to be a favorite of broadcast engineers. I have a pair that I keep on the test bench and use for evaluating design / component changes but can't say that I enjoy listening to music with them.

 

Just put them on...

 

The V6 and 6506 are good headphones for studio and field monitoring and good headphones for use at a test bench. But I wouldn't use them for evaluating equipment design and component changes. The Sony V6 and 7506 are not very revealing of differences in amps and DACs. The Sony's are good for hearing differences that sound like EQ, but are not good for hearing differences in imaging, soundstage size, soundstage depth, or anything that involves hearing a sense of space or room. If you're evaluating a new component and that new component has better imaging and soundstage depth you are not going to hear that difference using the V6 or 7506.

 

I have a set of Sennheiser HD380 Pro which I use at work. They are OK but they are not giant killers and they certainly can't compete with the HD600 or HD650, which I also own. The HD380 Pro have enormous closed ear cups so they are very suitable for prolong critical listening in noisy surrounding and while they have this "Sennheiser signature sound", they lack the fluidity and comfort of the HD600/650. I like them but would not recommend them to someone searching for closed earphones for using at home.

 

OP,
The HP50 is a great headphone (I have one) but not the same as an open headphone for the same price.
I like to listen to my music late at night and often use open headphones. My wife sleeps about 10' away in the same room and the slight sound leaking from them doesn't affect her sleep.
Can you borrow some open headphones? Depending the model of 'phone, type of music, ambient noise and how loud you like to listen, you may be ok using an open type. If there is a Sennheiser dealer with a decent return policy nearby, you could try an HD600 or HD650 and hear why Ham Sandwich recommended that HD6XX series.

 

Isn't that character of sound you describe referred to as reverb?

Mastering and recording engineers record individual instruments and layer them together in a mix to place instruments so they sound on headphones as if in a circular pocket front/back/center/left/right, some position vocals and lead instruments top center of head, left/right, back of head as in some '70's funk. But this is more caused by the nature of listening to headphones over speakers.

On the CD of the Count Basie song below there is no room presence or widened sound stage but the link below is the identical recording but played through custom speakers made by the person on the second link. He records similar jazz songs through these speakers and posts them on YouTube.

I can hear the character of sound you describe on my Sony V6's, but when I record that YouTube Basie song on my computer through Sound Flower, burn to CD and play on my '72 Sansui amp and Norman Lab two way speakers, it sounds like it was recorded in an echo-y garage. I've never heard headphones that deliver the sound you describe. What music are you listening to that delivers that kind of stereo reverb effect within the headphones? What do you hear on your headphones of the Basie piece? Echo-y garage or room presence, widened stereo imaging?



sv ka

 

The Audeze headphones combined with a good amp allow me to hear things like recording room ambiance, the size of the recording room, natural vs. artificial reverb, and other things that are about space and ambiance. The Sennheiser HD600/HD650 with a good amp can also allow you to hear those things, but not as well as the Audeze headphones. The Sennheiser HD800 also do well. Better than the HD600/HD650. But I also think the Audeze headphones do this better than the HD800.

 

So what do you hear in the Count Basie video on any of those models of headphones you have on hand?

 

I'm traveling this week and don't have my headphones. I'll listen to the two Count Basie videos when I get back.

In general I find that the Audeze headphones do really well (for a headphone) at allowing you to hear things like the room where an instrument or vocal was recorded, hear the size of the recording space, if instruments or vocals are recorded in a different space than the rest you'll be able to hear. The Audeze headphones are also very good at layering and keeping those layers from getting all mushed together. The Audeze headphones do all that better than almost all other headphones I've tried, except for possibly some Stax headphones. The Audeze headphones have their sonic faults. The soundstage size is more constrained, tonality is a bit off or colored, and some other issues. But one of the things they do really well is space and ambiance, and that can make up for their faults.

Good headphones paired with a good amp and source should present imaging that is in line and forward of the centerline between your ears. With the good headphone gear the front of the soundstage can be near the forehead, or even in front of the forehead. Stereo recordings shouldn't be imaging sounds at the back of your head, except for specially created sound effects like QSound. If the headphones are imaging standard stereo towards the back of your head or top of your head then something is wrong with the headphones. The Sony V6 and 7506 sometimes image towards the back of the head or top of your head.

 

The sort of low volume bass line plays toward the back of my head in the linked Herbie Hancock video, where the lead Roland piano is dead center in my head on the Sony V6's. And the drums are on the far right with intermittent dropouts on the left from other instruments filling in which is typical of the way they mixed funk music back in the '70's. Sly and the Family Stone sounds the same way but I can't tell if it is due to my Sony cans or the way it was mixed in the studio. Playing the CD I have of this song through amplified speakers has the same stereo imaging but the bass sounds like it's way in the back of the room.

 

I was able to buy the NAD at $179 from audio advisers through Amazon . They won't ship for awhile but I'm ok waiting . The HD600 or HD650 almost 2 times the price so I think it should be ok for now . Now I'm just trying to pick out the headphone amp/dac for my desktop , I just want to spend $100 for that . Monoprice ,Audioquest etc... The IFI nano is $200 so that's out . But I really do like the idea of a nice volume knob then messing around with the pc. The Schiit stuff looks good but little confused on what to get , I don't really want 2 devices . Is there a headphone dac/amp they make that will do the trick ?

Thanks for everyone help