Headphone Audiophiles - Page 23

Originally Posted by pbarach

All of these have their rabid admirers and detractors, but I would want to know more information before sending somebody "shopping" with only this list. For example:
---what kind of music do you listen to?
---what is your budget?
---what amplification are you planning to use?
---any need for noise isolation for yourself or those around you?
---any interest in in-ear monitors?

Originally Posted by pbarach


All of these have their rabid admirers and detractors, but I would want to know more information before sending somebody "shopping" with only this list. For example:
---what kind of music do you listen to?
---what is your budget?
---what amplification are you planning to use?
---any need for noise isolation for yourself or those around you?
---any interest in in-ear monitors?

Originally Posted by chashint

Oh yeah, I forgot to say thanks for the quick replies.

Originally Posted by chashint

Budget is flexible, but I did not realize just how expensive some of these headphones are.
My 5.1 / AVR powered sound system cost about 6k and the headphones would be plugged directly into the AVR.
They will be used for late night movies and music.
I like Pink Floyd, Alan Parsons, Supertramp, Enya, Abba, Neil Young, America, Bon Jovi, Blondie, Pretenders, Patti Smyth, Adel, Scorpions..... that should give you a pretty good cross section.
Right now I have a pair of Creative Labs over the ear headphones that cost about 100 five years ago that were bought for PC gaming.
Just recently have started listening to music at night and thought I would look into new headphones.
AVR is Pioneer VSX-23, front speakers are Klipsch RF83s.

Originally Posted by palmfish

What model Creative Labs are they and do you like the way they sound?

Originally Posted by chashint

Aurvana Live is printed on the head band.
I took a look at the Creative website and they are still listed in the store for $69.99 at this time.

I used to have a pair of Pioneer headphones circa 1978, I thought they were pretty nice. Old age eventually caught up with them and they sorta just fell apart.
After using multiple $5 variey foam headphones for a few years my wife told me to pick out a new pair for my birthday and her budget was $100, so we went to Fry's and I listened to what they had available and I picked these.
So yes I think they sound good and they are a significant step up from the no name generic headphones that come packaged with various gadgets.
I thought the Creative headphones were well worth the $100 we paid at the time.

I have been using them more lately and was just wondering if I might want to look into getting something better or maybe even just more comfortable for longer listening sessions.

After giving my current budget more thought I have decided I would not want to spend more than $500 on new headphones.

If $500 is not enough of a budget to get a significant improvement over what I have that is cool.

Originally Posted by chashint

^^^
Interesting.
Thanks.

Are there any other rebadges where buying the lower tier brand represents a true bang for the buck home run ?

My budget is still flexible, $500 is more of a target than a hard limit.
Considering the price bracket my other gear is in $500 just seems like 'enough' to spend on headphones.

Originally Posted by chashint

My budget is still flexible, $500 is more of a target than a hard limit.
Considering the price bracket my other gear is in $500 just seems like 'enough' to spend on headphones.

Originally Posted by chashint

I don't want to start a Bose bash but I am wondering if you headphone guys hate Bose as much as the speaker guys do ?

Originally Posted by glangford

Yes, I did. Don't forget the OPA 627 opamp upgrade! Music to my ears. As I stated in that post, I didn't do a dac and upgraded to the Oppo BDP-95 as my source. Music to my ears.

On another note, it appears that audiophileproducts.com is out of business. There is no website and headfi.org reports a few people with outstanding orders that never got filled and an email address no longer accepting email. Still available from audioadvisor, the opa upgrade can be had on ebay.

Originally Posted by OtherSongs

I was wondering if you still read this thread.

Meaning, very nice to see you posting here.

When I did that search on amazon, a few hours ago, it appeared that the Cute Beyond might be discontinued? But I see per your comment that audioadvisor still has it new at $187.

As I said recently: a search at amazon for "Firestone audio cute beyond headphone amp" turns up both the Cute Beyond (used at $150) and also Firestone Audio Cute CURVE Headphone Amp (new at $199)

The Cute CURVE looks a lot like the Cute Beyond. Seems to me that the Cute CURVE is either a small upgrade or a replacement to the Cute Beyond. Do you have any info on the new Cute CURVE?

Originally Posted by palmfish

I also agree with pbarach - the Sennheisers are excellent but they are harder to drive well. I tried mine from my portables and AVR and, while acceptable, they don't really shine unless properly amped.

Originally Posted by palmfish

Description for the Cute Beyond says it's a Class A design. The Curve is listed as Class B. Specs for them are sketchy though. FR: 40 - 15kHz and no output impedance listed.

I picked up an Objective2 a few weeks ago and am thoroughly pleased with it. $150 from JDS Labs.

Originally Posted by domino92024


I just refurbished my Sennheiser HD580 headphones. Although they always sounded good plugged into my Sony ES AVR, they sound better now that I plug them directly into the internal headphone amp on the Marantz CD6004 CD player. "Cleaner" is the best word I can think of to describe the difference.

Originally Posted by OtherSongs

I was wondering if you still read this thread.

Meaning, very nice to see you posting here.

Originally Posted by glangford

Thanks, I always read this thread. Nobody ever has a question that I feel qualified to answer!! My foray into headphones consists of the Senn 650hd and the cute beyond headphone amp with op amp upgrade so most of the posters questions leave me in the dust.

My next purchase for headphones may be to buy a couple of burson audio discreet op amps which have been fit into a cute beyond headphone amp and give that a whirl. Another option is to dabble in another amp, like the burson audio. The oppo also has balanced outputs so I've toyed with the idea of a headphone amp with balance inputs and recabling the 650s for balanced operations. Any recommendations?

Originally Posted by glangford

Yes, class a on the beyond, class b (push/pull circuitry) on the curve.

Originally Posted by OtherSongs

A few recommendations/thoughts:

1. Stay with your 650's as there's no such thing as a "perfect" high end headphone. Different music will sometimes be unbearable with one good headphone and excellent on a different good headphone.

2. Don't spend your time/money on balanced cables for headphone use. I've done it for my home speaker/amps/preamp and it was less than my RCA interconnect cables.

Balanced cables are intended for the pro biz where cables take a beating (foot traffic, carts, etc.) and cable lengths of 100+ feet are common.

3. A better headphone amp... probably yes at some point. I don't have much real experience with headphone amps, so can't advise on that.

4. At best, I'd think futzing around with different op-amps for your Cute Beyond would have limited value. Likely better to just bite the bullet with a better headphone amp.

5. Maybe using that same Canare wire that you bought from e-bay for your headphone extension cable might be the thing to try for rewiring your 650 cable? Gave some thought to it and decided not to go there, so can't advise if it has any merit. markertek is one place (good prices and excellent 800 phone service) to check the number at, and of course google it. Or if you can use one of the connectors, maybe buy another of those extension cables from e-bay?

The one word of caution is that in my own home system experience cables do make a difference, but it tends to be subtle. I hate to say even that in this headphone thread coz the next thing that'll become the topic of discussion and not the main subject which is headphones.

6. Two of the more interesting "recent" posts in this thread were #553 by Nosferatu at http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...6#post21504666

Since I've both the 650 and the 600, I agree with him that the 600 is slightly better, but if I were to do it again I wouldn't bother with spending money on the 600, but I'm not unhappy with having the 600.

Post #571 by Nosferatu gave a ref to http://www.head-fi.org/t/561108/deno...600-comparison

AFAIK the Denon 7000 is over the ear and has very different sound from the Sennheiser 600. That shows up with different recordings in his above review where with one he prefers the 7000 and with another he prefers the 600.

Amazon show Denon 7000 5000 and 2000 as all current, all getting great real user reviews, at about $700 $500 $300 respectively. If you want an alternative headphone to the Sennheiser 650 that you have, maybe one of those is the thing to try? Buy it from a place that has a no hassle return (maybe amazon (?) but not one of their 3rd party dealers).

The one open question is how comfortable they are.

Nosferatu posts in this thread. Odds are he's still reading. Ask him.

Originally Posted by pbarach

I have the same Marantz player, and it has a pretty decent headphone amp. So I wonder if the improvement you notice is due to the refurb or to the better amp in the Marantz.

Originally Posted by OtherSongs

A few recommendations/thoughts:

1. Stay with your 650's as there's no such thing as a "perfect" high end headphone. Different music will sometimes be unbearable with one good headphone and excellent on a different good headphone.

2. Don't spend your time/money on balanced cables for headphone use. I've done it for my home speaker/amps/preamp and it was less than my RCA interconnect cables.

Balanced cables are intended for the pro biz where cables take a beating (foot traffic, carts, etc.) and cable lengths of 100+ feet are common.

3. A better headphone amp... probably yes at some point. I don't have much real experience with headphone amps, so can't advise on that.

4. At best, I'd think futzing around with different op-amps for your Cute Beyond would have limited value. Likely better to just bite the bullet with a better headphone amp.

5. Maybe using that same Canare wire that you bought from e-bay for your headphone extension cable might be the thing to try for rewiring your 650 cable? Gave some thought to it and decided not to go there, so can't advise if it has any merit. markertek is one place (good prices and excellent 800 phone service) to check the number at, and of course google it. Or if you can use one of the connectors, maybe buy another of those extension cables from e-bay?

The one word of caution is that in my own home system experience cables do make a difference, but it tends to be subtle. I hate to say even that in this headphone thread coz the next thing that'll become the topic of discussion and not the main subject which is headphones.

6. Two of the more interesting "recent" posts in this thread were #553 by Nosferatu at http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...6#post21504666

Since I've both the 650 and the 600, I agree with him that the 600 is slightly better, but if I were to do it again I wouldn't bother with spending money on the 600, but I'm not unhappy with having the 600.

Post #571 by Nosferatu gave a ref to http://www.head-fi.org/t/561108/deno...600-comparison

AFAIK the Denon 7000 is over the ear and has very different sound from the Sennheiser 600. That shows up with different recordings in his above review where with one he prefers the 7000 and with another he prefers the 600.

Amazon show Denon 7000 5000 and 2000 as all current, all getting great real user reviews, at about $700 $500 $300 respectively. If you want an alternative headphone to the Sennheiser 650 that you have, maybe one of those is the thing to try? Buy it from a place that has a no hassle return (maybe amazon (?) but not one of their 3rd party dealers).

The one open question is how comfortable they are.

Nosferatu posts in this thread. Odds are he's still reading. Ask him.

Originally Posted by glangford

I don't see any need for upgrades except for upgraditis.

Originally Posted by glangford

Thanks, I always read this thread. Nobody ever has a question that I feel qualified to answer!! My foray into headphones consists of the Senn 650hd and the cute beyond headphone amp with op amp upgrade so most of the posters questions leave me in the dust.

My next purchase for headphones may be to buy a couple of burson audio discreet op amps which have been fit into a cute beyond headphone amp and give that a whirl. Another option is to dabble in another amp, like the burson audio. The oppo also has balanced outputs so I've toyed with the idea of a headphone amp with balance inputs and recabling the 650s for balanced operations. Any recommendations?

Originally Posted by sillysally

I wouldn't think that running balanced out of your Oppo would be worth getting a new amp and re-cabling for use with your HD650's.
For home use the two advantages that balanced has is, 1. Louder (higher volt output) 2. For use with a very high end headphone system and well mastered audio.

Originally Posted by glangford

Yea, I'll leave well enough alone. I may still try the burson audio discreet op amp in the cute beyond, just to experiment. Later this year I plan to upgrade my paradigm studio bookshelves to Salk Songtowers. I might consider an integrated at that point with balanced inputs. Not sure I understand your def of well mastered audio, but I listen to alot of sacds and high rez flac downloads from hd tracks.