Headphone for Aune X1 DAC

[admin_exported]

Evening. I recently bought an Aune X1 DAC for late night PC listening and am most surprised by both the quality of the detail and volume. I also recently bought some used Goldring DR150 headphones - love 'em, superb sound. However, as ever, I'm think I could do better with the DAC, so was reading about the AKG K550. Does anyone have any thoughts as I'm quite the basshead.

I read Quad's review of the K550s and that put me off because of the perceived leanness. Budget to £150 so grateful for any comments please. Thanks.

 

[dalethorn]

I haven't finished my Sol Republic Master Tracks review yet, but as of now my most favorite headphones for everyday listening are the SRMT, Beats Mixr, v-moda M100, and Marshall Monitor.The Marshall doesn't have quite the boosted bass of the other 3, but it has a definite treble recess, so I compensate that. The other 3 have strong bass, but what's unusual about all 3 is the lower bass stays strong even when I use bass reducer EQ. The M100 and Beats Mixr have a somewhat brighter tone or midrange emphasis, while the Marshall and SRMT are quite dark. Last night I downloaded the 96k WAV tracks of Mahler's 2nd symphony with Michael TilsonThomas and the S.F. symphony - the one Blue Coast now issues on download.

It's an exceptional recording, and I listened all the way through with the SRMT headphone, with bass reducer enabled playing the iPod through the FiiO E07k 'Aux' port, but I had to convert the 96k WAV's to 44 khz just to load onto the iPod Touch. Still, a very detailed and extremely enjoyable listen. I have no doubts about using bass reduction on iPods now, but I have to say I've never had a satisfactory experience using a bass booster EQ with bass-light headphones. Too much distortion or something, where the reduction usually sounds very clean.

 

[caesar44]

If you are craving for bass the K550 are not a good option.

Have you considered any ultrasone model, such as the HFI-680? bass is incredible, and they benefit from a good dac.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks dale, I was wanting something for home not portable use though. Closed back for late night listening.

caesar, I tried some HFI 580 some time ago when I was going through a 'phase' of headphones. Horrid, grating treble I thought. In hindsight, it may have been the Arcam rPAC I was using (also gone the journey, low volume and poor sound with various kit - AT ATH M50, BeyerDynamic DT770 Pro 80 ohm - Iove the sound of the latter no volume - at the time). So now I'm not sure what to get. I may have found the perfect sound now but you know what we're like, always looking for that little bit extra.....

Thanks. Grateful for other suggestions please.

 

[dalethorn]

Thanks dale, I was wanting something for home not portable use though. Closed back for late night listening. caesar, I tried some HFI 580 some time ago when I was going through a 'phase' of headphones. Horrid, grating treble I thought. In hindsight, it may have.... Thanks. Grateful for other suggestions please.

This sounds like a real tough one - I think the original Sennheiser Momentum is very close, definitely when it comes to a pleasant treble. I'm trying to get one of the new smaller on-ear Momentums now, hoping for a good sound. The on-ear closed design looks to be very comfortable with the new type of earpads they're using. The first-edition colors look good too. And the price is reasonable.

 

[Anonymous]

I think the original Sennheiser Momentum is very close, definitely when it comes to a pleasant treble. I'm trying to get one of the new smaller on-ear Momentums now, hoping for a good sound. The on-ear closed design looks to be very comfortable with the new type of earpads they're using. The first-edition colors look good too. And the price is reasonable.

Oh, I forgot to say I tried the Senn Amperiors too. Not suited to me. Not for home use either and a bit beyond my strict budget the Momentums (I've imposed my budget due to diminishing returns, I feel).

 

[dalethorn]

Oh, I forgot to say I tried the Senn Amperiors too. Not suited to me. Not for home use either and a bit beyond my strict budget the Momentums (I've imposed my budget due to diminishing returns, I feel).

The Amperior is a way different thing than the first Momentum, let alone what I'm expecting the new Momentum to sound like. The Amperior is like having a big brick strapped to my head, and I'm not talking about anything physical with the headphone - I'm talking about that solid wall of lower mids to upper bass emphasis. The Amperior is the only headphone I know of that has such an emphasis that still sounds good and relatively hi-fi, but I gave up eventually because of the constant pressure of that sound.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks dale. Think I can eke out a bass response by EQ an AKG K550?

 

[dalethorn]

Thanks dale. Think I can eke out a bass response by EQ an AKG K550?

I've used bass reduction with great results on 4 or 5 headphones, but never had good results with a bass boost. For some reason, bass light headphones like the Shure 1840 and a few others are that way because of a genuine deficiency somewhere, and increasing the bass level increases the muddiness just enough that the bass no longer seems to have proper detail. The Shure 1840 is a particularly egregious example, with a really weird response at 30 hz and essentially nothing at all at 20 hz. A really strong headphone like the Sennheiser HD800 might be able to pull it off, but I don't recall anyone mentioning that they had success with it. It probably depends a lot on the amp.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Dale, any more suggestions please anyone?

 

[quadpatch]

Hey there, well you know where I stand on the bass of the k550. I can confirm Dale's thoughts on eq'ing up the bass, it rarely works and didn't on the k550 either. The only bass boost I've thought worked well so far is on the ifi iCan. That actually did a good job with the k701, which is more lean than the k550, but I didn't have the k550 when the iCan was around so can't confirm if that is a great match for a bass head.

On the basshead side, I got the Wesc Chambers RZA Premium the other day and I've been pretty impressed by it. It's bass stands up to a little reduction in the eq if you want a more hifi sound and when doing this it is beating my Sennheiser Momentum, Amperior and Beyer DT770 LE. It was probably a bit over priced at its original £250, but it's £50 on Amazon uk at the moment. Considering the build is decent, it comes with two cables, has a hard case and active noise cancelling it's the biggest headphone bargain I've seen in a long time!!

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks quad, I think I'll try and forget the K550s. I've already got the K451s and those Wesc Chambers RZA Premium look like a portable 'type', though your glowing review is really interesting.....hmmm. I was really looking for a large closed back home listening set, but think I may just keep my Goldring DR150s to be honest if there's nothing worth upgrading to outside of my previous headphone journey.

 

[quadpatch]

You're welcome. If you could stretch your budget another £20, how about the SoundMAGIC HP100? They are the best sound quality I've found in a closed headphone under £300. The general response is pretty flat, but the standout feature is the quality of the bass and it's smoothness. I gave my first set to my Dad a couple of moths ago, but I am going to have to buy some more at the end of the month because they are just so damn good!

The WeSC Chanmbers are not quite a portable type. They are a bit bigger than the Sennheiser Momentum and they would be a bit more comfortable if their ear-pads and headband were a bit more spongy, but the comfort isn't too bad. Mostly I would recommend them for their sound quality and I would say they are worth £200 on sound alone because they are better than the Amperior by quite a but and the Momentum just (I would say the Momentum is worth about £175 ish).

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks quad. I'm on an enforced hiatus at the minute as my PC packed in! Until that gets fixed I'm snookered.

 

[sweering]

I will check the review of earphones before I buy a earphone, although most of the reviews are object, some people just prefer to a certain brand,so ,see more and think more before you make a decision

 

[Anonymous]

quad, back online so are those WeSC Chambers circumaural? Thanks.

 

[quadpatch]

Hey welcome back! I hope that didn't cost too much...

The WeSC Chambers are... how do I best describe this?... Semi-Circumaural? The ear cushions are a little bit bigger than the original Sennheiser Momentum (not the new tiny one). So if you position them carefully and you don't have glasses on they can almost entirely avoid your ears and are pretty comfortable. My major reservation in the comfort is the headband, they've made it a little hard (like the AKG K/Q701).

If you have an HMV nearby you might be able to find some to try.

 

[dalethorn]

Well, if you're into extra bass, you wouldn't likely like the B&O H6.

 

[Anonymous]

Hey welcome back! I hope that didn't cost too much...

The WeSC Chambers are... how do I best describe this?... Semi-Circumaural? The ear cushions are a little bit bigger than the original Sennheiser Momentum (not the new tiny one). So if you position them carefully and you don't have glasses on they can almost entirely avoid your ears and are pretty comfortable. My major reservation in the comfort is the headband, they've made it a little hard (like the AKG K/Q701).

If you have an HMV nearby you might be able to find some to try.

PC mended but since cream-crackered again and a new HDD required. However, for £50 and with glasses I'm going to take the punt with no HMV near me (it closed down in the administration phase) and the fact I wear glasses. Watch this space pending PC repairs and phones. Thanks guys.

 

[Anonymous]

I'm going to take the punt with no HMV near me (it closed down in the administration phase) and the fact I wear glasses. Watch this space pending PC repairs and phones. Thanks guys.

quad, just before I pinch the buy button, what is sound leakage like please? I travel by train a lot and do not want to disturb my fellow travellers

unlike some people. Thanks,

 

[quadpatch]

Sound isolation / leakage is very good on these, they will not annoy anyone on a train unless you kill your own hearing first. The ANC works a little bit, but more on the lower frequencies so when you turn it on you'll notice a relative brightening shift to the remaining background noise. It gives a little tunnel effect but only when not listening to anything and I like what the ANC it does to the sound sig. It adds a bit to the bass, but more to the upper mids and thus it sounds better balanced by comparison. EQ will be very personal of course, I tend to EQ the bass down a bit, but only when inside because outside noise tends to kill the bass effect anyway. I wouldn't hate these if I couldn't EQ them, as long as I wasn't comparing them to a particularly analytical pair of headphones.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks again quad, buy button 'pinched' - it was a typo of course and I meant punched. :doh:

 

[Anonymous]

Judging by the noise levels from my fellow passengers on my trip back from London tonight by train, I'd wished I had a set of open-backed full size headphones with Rammstein blasting to annoy them! Who allows kids on trains, or annoying business people saying 'in terms of x' and 'in terms of y' all the time and talking as loud as they can into their mobiles?

 

[quadpatch]

Ha! I know what you mean, I often get annoyed at people on trains. So far I haven't told anyone to turn their horrible music down on their stupid leaky ear-phones (usually Apple), but I've seen someone else do it.

Hey did you get the WeSC Chambers yet? You 'pinched' the buy button a couple of days ago now right?

Out of curiosity are you prepared to use EQ with them, or are you interested in the fact that they're quite warm/bassy?

 

[dalethorn]

I'm on day no. 2 now with the Beyer Custom One Pro. Wonderful headphone. My take: Better than Beyer DT770-LE 32 ohm - sounds "lighter" and much less hollow in the mids, has a better presence in the lower treble, has less energy in the upper treble (no HF peak like the 770 LE), and the bass is better. I'm still toggling between position 2 and 3 for the bass port switch - position 3 is stronger than the DT770-LE, but not in any bad way. Very enjoyable. Others have described it as a "fun" sound, but I would describe it as more musical.