headphone for portables

[gluglu]

*Hello, recommended headphones for portables (ipod/iphone especially) between PSB M4u 2 and Sennheiser Momentum for sound quality mainly?? Tx

*also can the GRADOS be used with portables or not at all? ..

Regards

 

[dalethorn]

Grados, yes, but they are "open" so people hear what you play and you hear all the external noise. The Momentum is a beautiful headphone, visually and sonically - highly recommended. It's also extremely well made and durable, and very light and comfortable. I looked into the M4U at one point and decided against it for a few reasons, but don't have my research handy. If you google for reviews and skip the house reviews in favor of independent reviews, you should find what you need.

 

[gluglu]

thank you for the advice, though the review about the PSbs is really encouraging.

all in all, with a budget of around 300-400 USD what is the best headphone to get for use with ipod/iphone.

thank you very much

 

[dalethorn]

thank you for the advice, though the review about the PSbs is really encouraging. all in all, with a budget of around 300-400 USD what is the best headphone to get for use with ipod/iphone. thank you very much

The Momentum is the best in terms of portability, but the Soundmagic HP200 wins on sound quality. The HP200 is only $250 and sounds better than anything I know of below $400. But the Momentum is close on sound and much better on portability for size and for noise blocking.

 

[gluglu]

noted. are you an expert from the site? im just curious bcoz its my first interaction with people on this web. regards.

 

[dalethorn]

noted. are you an expert from the site? im just curious bcoz its my first interaction with people on this web. regards.

My advice is free, so take it for whatever you can get from it. It really isn't my opinions that count anyway - what really counts is just whatever tips I can give people so they can use that as a starting point in their own research.

 

[gluglu]

Hello Dale Thorn;

thank you for your advice. much appreciated. i have felt though that you have been offended by my previous comment. please reconsider it because it simply isnt an offense, but a simple question to know if you were one of the reviews who rate the devices on this web.thats it thanks.

in the same token , i just want to make sure i understood you well and that the grados sr125 and sr325 can be used(driven) with portables. and also u dont recommend the PSBs very much? ... thank you.

i want to buy a great pair of headphones even if its open back, bcoz i own the B&W P5 and P3 and i wasn't very much satisfied. (i also bought the AKDG k451, love them for the price by still not Wow)

regards.

 

[dalethorn]

Hello Dale Thorn; thank you for your advice. much appreciated. i have felt though that you have been offended by my previous comment. please reconsider it because it simply isnt an offense, but a simple question to know if you were one of the reviews who rate the devices on this web.thats it thanks. in the same token , i just want to make sure i understood you well and that the grados sr125 and sr325 can be used(driven) with portables. and also u dont recommend the PSBs very much? ... thank you. i want to buy a great pair of headphones even if its open back, bcoz i own the B&W P5 and P3 and i wasn't very much satisfied. (i also bought the AKDG k451, love them for the price by still not Wow) regards.

Not offended at all. If I am ever mistaken for an expert I would be flattered. You should know too that if you don't get a completely satisfactory answer in order to plan or make a purchase, you can get more specific purchase assistance from the people who run the site. Just ask for them. In the meantime, I did look up the PSB again yesterday and once again, was not satisfied with what I found. Maybe the best thing is to check at Amazon U.S. and U.K. both, and read all the user reviews. I always click on "Latest first", since those have the juciest tidbits as a rule. The Grados are very efficient and work well with ipods and iphones, and I presume other portable music players. I gave away one P5 and 2 P3's, and have one P5 remaining as a backup to my wife's ATH ESW9a. The P5 isn't bad, it's just bland and lacks the sparkle I expect of a good hi-fi headphone. But people who listen to music that contains a lot of strong treble or sibilants might prefer it. I have 5 headphones now I will stick with that I think cover all the bases for me. The Soundmagic HP200 at $250 USD is overall the best regular headphone - a really wonderful sound top to bottom that you should hear. Various problems I've had with Sennheisers and Grados and many others, I don't have with the HP200. Next is the Beyerdynamic DT770LE (a.k.a. Anniversary Edition). In spite of some hollowness in the mids and a slight peak in the treble I found a cure for, it's very satisfying and very comfortable. Third is the v-moda M100 - often cited as having too much bass, I play my most demanding tracks with i-device Bass Reducer and enjoy fantastic sound quality top to bottom. A very snug fit, though. Fourth is the ATH ESW9a - a soft treble that benefits from a slight boost, but otherwise very good top to bottom, a special warm sound due to the wood earcups - a quirky on-ear fit though. Lastly is the Sennheiser IE800 IEM. For that you could look up my Amazon or youtube reviews.

 

[quadpatch]

The Soundmagic HP200 at $250 USD is overall the best regular headphone - a really wonderful sound top to bottom that you should hear. Various problems I've had with Sennheisers and Grados and many others, I don't have with the HP200. Next is the Beyerdynamic DT770LE (a.k.a. Anniversary Edition). In spite of some hollowness in the mids and a slight peak in the treble I found a cure for, it's very satisfying and very comfortable. Third is the v-moda M100 - often cited as having too much bass, I play my most demanding tracks with i-device Bass Reducer and enjoy fantastic sound quality top to bottom. A very snug fit, though. Fourth is the ATH ESW9a - a soft treble that benefits from a slight boost, but otherwise very good top to bottom, a special warm sound due to the wood earcups - a quirky on-ear fit though. Lastly is the Sennheiser IE800 IEM. For that you could look up my Amazon or youtube reviews.

Nice write up Dale! I have most of these and feel very similarly about them. I would ask (for the OP) for a brief explanation of how you compare the Momentum to V-Moda M-100, since you mentioned the Momentum first, but not this time. I should say that I love the Momentum too and personally I prefer it over the M-100 as it doesn't need as much (or any) EQ to be enjoyed as much. Comfort is similar on both, but I love the look and engineering on the M-100 - it's the best looking headphone for me and the folding mechanism is genius!! I was hard on it in my review because of the mis-representation of the presentation (too much bass), but it is a good headphone if you're willing to play with EQ, or straight for some music on the move (Electronic or possibly classical).

I would also say that as much as I love the SoundMAGIC HP200 (it is an amazing headphone and even better on price), but I do prefer the Sennheiser HD600/650, the signature, soundstage and the comfort is more impressive to me. Whether it's worth the extra cash and whether it would be worth putting the difference towards an amp is debatable though.

 

[dalethorn]

Nice write up Dale! I have most of these and feel very similarly about them. I would ask (for the OP) for a brief explanation of how you compare the Momentum to V-Moda M-100, since you mentioned the Momentum first, but not this time. I should say that I love the Momentum too and personally I prefer it over the M-100 as it doesn't need as much (or any) EQ to be enjoyed as much. Comfort is similar on both, but I love the look and engineering on the M-100 - it's the best looking headphone for me and the folding mechanism is genius!! I was hard on it in my review because of the mis-representation of the presentation (too much bass), but it is a good headphone if you're willing to play with EQ, or straight for some music on the move (Electronic or possibly classical). I would also say that as much as I love the SoundMAGIC HP200 (it is an amazing headphone and even better on price), but I do prefer the Sennheiser HD600/650, the signature, soundstage and the comfort is more impressive to me. Whether it's worth the extra cash and whether it would be worth putting the difference towards an amp is debatable though.

The main reasons I have preferred the M100 over the Momentum are the fact that simple bass EQ on i-devices, played only on the i-device or with an analog amp attached, makes the M100 bass perfect. The lower treble is not ideal in the presence area, but the higher treble is. With the Momentum, the bass is OK without EQ, but the lower mid/upper bass emphasis and the lower treble emphasis combine to push back the mids, which may be OK for instrumental music, but not for vocals. Then with the Momentum, the upper treble rolloff is simply not fixable with i-devices, and worse yet, I haven't found EQ settings that improve the overall Momentum experience on a computer. So I regard the Momentum as portable/non-critical only. The M100 fares even better on desktop than i-device, where I use Foobar EQ of -1 at 311, -2 at 220, -3 at 156, -4 at 110 and 77, and -3 at 55 hz. This modest EQ and the various computer amping options makes the M100 nearly ideal, with only a slight lack of "liveliness" in the presence area. I downloaded a 96k copy of an Otto Olsson organ piece ("Jul") recorded by John Marks of Stereophile and played it on my five headphones, and the M100 gave the most realistic sense of the sound of a large organ in a large space. But with all of the foregoing, I'll turn to the HP200 most often. Why HP200? It's more lively, bass is decent, mids are just right, comfort is superior, .... the only thing that would make me toss all the other headphones is if they could produce the exact sound of the HP200 in a format that's more portable, i.e. wear around neck comfortably when not in use. BTW, there's a *new* review of the Senn 650 at headfonia.

EDIT: I got copies of Lux Urumque from several sources, including an audiophile quality version by Cantus that apparently was recorded by John Atkinson of Stereophile, plus a 2000-person "Virtual choir" version put together by the composer a couple years ago. It's great music, but the Cantus version particularly has the kind of clarity and evenness and vocal range that makes a great test of headphone midranges. This piece only confirms what I already knew about the HP200 - it's the best balanced headphone I have outside of the Senn IE800, which I rarely use.

 

[quadpatch]

Thanks for that Dale. I will be trying to heck out some of those audio recommendations soon. The EQ adjustment for the M100s in Foobar I will try this afternoon while I test the Oppo BDP-105EU (testing some HD downloads + SACD + DVD-A). Speaking of EQ and the HP200, I think I remember you saying that you were experimenting with the EQ settings on these, did you settle on a setting? Any chance of a Foobar figure for those?

 

[dalethorn]

Thanks for that Dale. I will be trying to heck out some of those audio recommendations soon. The EQ adjustment for the M100s in Foobar I will try this afternoon while I test the Oppo BDP-105EU (testing some HD downloads + SACD + DVD-A). Speaking of EQ and the HP200, I think I remember you saying that you were experimenting with the EQ settings on these, did you settle on a setting? Any chance of a Foobar figure for those?

I use -1 at 3.5, -2 at 5, -3 at 7, -4 at 10, -3 at 14, and -2 at 20 khz. Rather than represent a perfect or near-perfect solution for brightness/sibilants etc., that's the curve I settled on to trim back the treble just enough to cut some of the harshness without really eliminating it. The recorded quality should make up the difference. That way I don't feel the need to have one setting for some music and not for others. But some users would probably do that anyway. The reason the curve is graduated in 1 db steps is I found after hundreds of hours of listening that these lever/slider-based equalizers just muck things up otherwise. And if the settings prove to be too much of a cut, the best solution in my opinion is to raise each slider by one db.

These are the results I find best with Dragonfly, Microstreamer etc. I haven't experimented with top-end amps, but since my EQ's are relatively small and gentle, they probably would apply for those as well. I find this brightness cut also works well with the DT770LE to reduce its brightness peak. Then when using the HP200 or 770LE direct from ipod etc, or from ipod to analog amp, I use the 'piano' EQ in the player. The 'piano' curve looks weird in iTunes, and I never expected it to work, but again after long listens and comparisons, it makes a subtle (just enough) trim to the brightness/sibilants area, and produces no effect on the bass, mids or anything else. There probably is an effect, but not enough to get my attention, and after all, with the lower quality amplification, just trimming off that harshness area slightly is all I need. I'm pretty flexible with bass, slightly flexible with the presence area, not flexible with upper treble, and maybe a tad flexible in the mids as long as a coloration doesn't call my attention once I settle in to the sound.

 

[gluglu]

Hello guys:

i will be moving to a new house soon, i will need your advice since i am investing in a proper hi-fi and tv surround system and plu ray and a TV

i will need to carefully choose every item from cables to speakers etc... within a certain budget of course. i am willing to have something really nice - audophile level nice. i dont know who to turn to ,(i dont have much knowledge, though i am always reading about speakers and all...) so i am guessing ur advices might come in handy.

i will let u guys know more about the budget i will allocate to my system, and any other necessary details.

looking forward for your advices and your comments.

feel free to propose anything you feel is a really good combo..hehe

tx 🙂

 

[dalethorn]

You plan to buy all of those things one piece at a time mailorder, or consult an experienced dealer who can make sure you're satisfied that everything works well together? Because if I had to advise on a complete system like that I would need a hefty down payment.

 

[gluglu]

Hi, i live in Lebanon and no , i wont be ordering them online. i will go to the dealer of several well known brands (b"&w, marantz, jamo,classe,tannoy..) he's one of the few available in my country. however, i do not know how knowledgeable he is abt the subject. i only read read reviews about items one at a time ..

i didn't know you would take money for that though; i thought forums were for sharing ideas and stuff. what do u mean by hefty downpayement anws?

my dealer is supposed to be experienced about it, but i would only reinforce his opinion by checking online for review abt his suggestions. i however, wouldnt know how to build a system from scratch , do you understand?

regards.

also y do u have this below your replies? :

SoundMagic HP200, V-Moda M100, Sennheiser IE800, Beyer DT770LE, ATH ESW11Ltd, MicroStreamer/DragonFly/Audioengine D1 DAC/amps, PA2V2 amp.

 

[dalethorn]

i didn't know you would take money for that though; i thought forums were for sharing ideas and stuff. what do u mean by hefty downpayement anws

This forum is for sharing ideas, yes. But your original post indicated that you needed extensive consulting on an entire system. So my recommendation is when you go to the dealer, if the dealer is not knowledgable enough to satisfy all or nearly all of your questions, then you should take someone with you who is experienced enough to answer those questions.

One of the problems with a forum is that you can get just as much bad advice as good advice, and many conflicting opinions. This is not insurmountable when dealing with just one item purchase, one component. But given what you're after, the complexities can be astronomical. And so only experienced persons who can make sure each component works with the other components will help you. I know some components, but I don't know how those components work with all other components. I used to sell computers retail, and so I know how difficult it can be to buy or sell a complete system.