Best Closed Headphones?

[Paulq]

Am looking to get myself a really decent set of closed back cans to listen to mainly rock music. I have a pair of Grado SR80i's which I love but leak sound. I am also tempted to upgrade these to SR325i's .

However, for private listening what are the best closed back cans? Budget to £300, like bass as long as it's controlled. Tried the Audio Technica ATH-M50 which were good but would like to know which are better.

Thank you.

 

[eggontoast]

Denon AH-D2000 or even better if you can stretch your budget slightly are the AH-D5000's IMO they are excellent cans. You could be forgiven for thinking that you have a pair of open backed cans on. They have a good strong well controlled bass lovely crystal clear mids and top end, my opinion is they are one of the best all rounders.

 

[Paulq]

Thanks for the reply - I hadn't really considered Denon's so I will have a squiz at them and see what I think.

One that I had considered was the Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro as (from the reviews at least) they seem to offer a fair degree of bass weight which, as someone who mainly listens to rock music, is important. As I use the SR80i's more than anything I probably need to allow for the fact that closed back cans will inevitably sound different to the Grado's and make allowances accordingly.

As I said I did try the ATH-M50's and, whilst excellent, they didn't really suit as the bass seemed a bit boomy - again though that just may be my ears being used to the Grados.

A final question (as I am no techie). They DT770's come with a range of impedance options. I tend to listen to my music from my ipod or iMac or directly from my Linn Classik/Majik 2100 set up. Am I correct that the 250 ohm version is less demanding on source than the 80 ohm and would the 80 ohm suffer being used with any of the above?

Thanks again.

 

[eggontoast]

I have a pair of DT770 pro's they wouldn't be my first choice for rock music, the mids are a bit recessed and coming from a pair of Grado's you will find the bass a bit over blown. But give them a try for yourself they are very comfortable and they are not bad by any stretch, IMO though they are best with hip-hop, dance etc.

The lower the impedance the more current is required to drive them. The higher the impedance the larger the voltage swing needs to be to drive them to the same volume. This is where portable players and soundcards fall down they don't have this voltage swing. My DT770's are 80 ohms and they are just about adequate from an iPhone but sound muddy so I always use a Fiio E7 which makes them much more pleasurable to listen to. They are now available in 32 ohm versions which would be the one to get if you are going to use them straight from a laptop etc. Alternatively you could always buy a little portable amp like a Fiio E10 to use on portable devices then get a higher impedance pair which would be better suited to your home kit. BTW I think the Denon's are 25 ohms.

 

[Paulq]

Thanks again for the reply and also the explanation - that makes sense now.

Aside from the Denons then what would be your choice for rock music? I saw a pair of Sennheiser HD280 and HD380 Pro's at a very reasonable price earlier today but I won't but anything until I try them and see how they sound to me. Are they decent?

I'd love to get a set of the Beyer T1's as well but now I am being silly......

 

[eggontoast]

Aside from the Denons then what would be your choice for rock music? I saw a pair of Sennheiser HD280 and HD380 Pro's at a very reasonable price earlier today but I won't but anything until I try them and see how they sound to me. Are they decent?

Sorry I'm all out of suggestions for decent closed back headphones, I personally don't like the HD280's I think they sound awful but that's just my opinion, I haven't heard the HD380's so can't comment.

Something else to consider might be the Shure SRH 940's, I haven't heard them either but they get well reviewed.

SRH940 Vs HD650

 

[Jason36]

Paulq, for your information and if you are interested there is a pair of AH-D5000's on a well known auction site. Buy it now price of £270.00. If you don't mind looking second hand then these are within budget and could fulfill your requirements.

 

[eggontoast]

Paulq, for your information and if you are interested there is a pair of AH-D5000's on a well known auction site. Buy it now price of £270.00. If you don't mind looking second hand then these are within budget and could fulfill your requirements.

Are you not tempted yourself ?

 

[Jason36]

Paulq, for your information and if you are interested there is a pair of AH-D5000's on a well known auction site. Buy it now price of £270.00. If you don't mind looking second hand then these are within budget and could fulfill your requirements.

Are you not tempted yourself ?

Yep very tempted eggontoast....but I've also got my eyes on a pair of AH-D200's......I'm just trying to justify to myself the difference in price between the 2000's and 5000's.

Having just returned from a holiday, car MoT tomorrow and imminent Tax Bill.....I'm not sure whether I should or not. Especially bearing in mind two weeks ago I bought myself a pair of Sennhiser IE6's and also a NuForce Icon uDAC2 for my PC listening :roll:

They do seem like too good a price to pass on though....and apparantely in good condition.

How are you getting on with your 5000's? What's your opinion now you've had them for a while?

 

[eggontoast]

Having just returned from a holiday, car MoT tomorrow and imminent Tax Bill.....I'm not sure whether I should or not. Especially bearing in mind two weeks ago I bought myself a pair of Sennhiser IE6's and also a NuForce Icon uDAC2 for my PC listening :roll:

Hey but it is Xmas soon

How are you getting on with your 5000's? What's your opinion now you've had them for a while?

Still loving them, I probably do 85% of my listening on them at the moment. I find them really good for all kinds of music (maybe not classical so much) and I haven't found that with many cans. I have tried them through my X-Cans V3, meier corda cantate.2, Fiio E9&E7, my vintage Pioneer SA-7800 a couple of Arcams and a Marantz PM66KI and they sound really good from all of them. They are really easy to drive the only thing I haven't tried them from is my pod thingy.

I would thoroughly recommend them

 

[Jason36]

Cheers Eggontoast,

They could always be a Xmas pressie to myself

If I do get them, they will be predominantly used with my Laptop via the NuForce DAC & HP Amp, for a combination of Apple Lossless in iTunes, Spotifiy and a few Hi Res files at 96kHz - 24 bits. They will also get used directly from my iPad.

Do you not think the 5000's would be a bit of an overkill used in this way? Or would you say I would be impressed with the sound they reproduce used in this way??

 

[eggontoast]

Cheers Eggontoast,

They could always be a Xmas pressie to myself

If I do get them, they will be predominantly used with my Laptop via the NuForce DAC & HP Amp, for a combination of Apple Lossless in iTunes, Spotifiy and a few Hi Res files at 96kHz - 24 bits. They will also get used directly from my iPad.

Do you not think the 5000's would be a bit of an overkill used in this way? Or would you say I would be impressed with the sound they reproduce used in this way??

Like I said I haven't tried them with any idevices but they are only 25ohm impedance so should be OK.

Lets put it this way you could buy them at that price, try them out, if you don't like them sell them on for very little if any loss 8)

 

[Jason36]

Well I have taken the plunge and purchased a pair of Denon AH-D2000 headphones.....open box pair from a dealer, so virtually brand new. These will be used mainly with my Laptop and NuForce DAC / iPad.

I will post my review on these headphones once they have been delivered and I have had a chance to listen with them compared against my Grado SR80i's.

 

[eggontoast]

Well I have taken the plunge and purchased a pair of Denon AH-D2000 headphones.....open box pair from a dealer, so virtually brand new. These will be used mainly with my Laptop and NuForce DAC / iPad.

I will post my review on these headphones once they have been delivered and I have had a chance to listen with them compared against my Grado SR80i's.

Congratulations, you buy yourself more presents than I buy myself.......and that's something according to the misses Now how about picking yourself up some STAX

They are going to sound completely different to your Grado's so be sure to give them some extensive headtime before making any decisions on there sound.

 

[Anonymous]

has anyone had a shot at the AKG K 550s i am currently looking at them dont know if i should go for the K702 or the K550s

 

[Anonymous]

has anyone had a shot at the AKG K 550s i am currently looking at them dont know if i should go for the K702 or the K550s

 

[Anonymous]

the bass on the AudioTechnica M50 gets better with time