Hey there, I have read pretty much all of the thread and want to thank everyone who contributed, I learned quite a few things, but as always, its never enough.
I am on the look for some closed headphones mostly due the the game MGS4 on the PS3 but also planning to use them with movies and different kinds of music. Since this game supports 5.1 surround sound I have been thinking about pairing the headphones with a JVC SU-DH1. At one point I considered the Astro Mixamp but it does not support DTS for movies, right?
Anyhow, I have read that open headphones provide more sound stage then closed headphones and so choosing closed headphones would impair the surround experience to some degree, am I right?
Thing is, I would really love to have some closed phones since the isolation is pretty important for me. I might sacrifice the isolation for sound stage if it really makes that much of a difference, but its not my preferred choice.
Whats the best closed headphones that I can find that have decent or great sound stage?
My recent research has led me to the Denon AH-D2000 and then to its big brother, the D5000 and its supposedly superior cable. Then THAT lead me to find out about the markl mod for it.
These are the things improved with the markl mod:
Quote:
"Advantages Of This Mod Over Stock:
--Remarkable tightening of bass response, to the point it actually sounds coherent and no longer intrudes into the rest of the sound.
--Slight attenuation of bass volume, allowing the previously recessed mids and highs to bloom a little more, improving resolution, and restoring balance to the frequency response. But don't panic! You lose none of the Denon's remarkable bass depth, it will still plumb the nether regions like no other phone. You are only removing the extra false resonances of the assembly and ear cups. This is not real bass information.
--Removal of most of the vibration in the assembly, which yields a much less “farty” bass sound and less blurry image. Your mind's eye is now free to wander the soundstage/headstage as your brain is not being reminded of the twin little drivers vibrating away on your skull. No more bass headaches!
--Midrange allowed to bloom and come forward with the lower midrange no longer muddied by overwhelming bass.
--Thanks to the mods to the pads, you get a bigger soundstage left-to-right and up and down, plus signicantly greater soundstage depth.
--Partial closure of the gap in the center of the image.
--Blacker background.
--Slightly improved isolation."
This is all madness. So much info, so many opinions, so much confusion and the one that matters the most...SO MUCH MONEY!
I initially thought about using max 400-500 bucks in total, headphone, headphone amp and the JVC and now this comes up.
Can anybody tell me if all the hassle and money spent on the Denon AH-D5000+markl mod is worth it? Does it pair well with the JVC SU-DH1? If so, what headphone amp should I pair it with, obviously one that doesn't put the last finishing moves on my wallet, just a decent one.
Thanks for any suggestions!
Now I want to get a headphone amp to use as a pre amp for the reciever to increase the quality of DH, if I can't bypass the internal amp all together with my DAC1, which also includes a dedicated headphone amp.. & might get a upsampler too..My plan as of now is, PS3/headphone with pre amp capabilities.. & maybe a upsampler & stax system.. The Koss 950 sells for around 600.. & a few people think it blows the 650's out of the water which intrigues me since they are my fav headphone that I own..
