The Headphone Lookout

[holdened 0]

Hi guys, I have posted on headphonehaven just recently but I thought I could post on here as well as I see the community is pretty big and lively down here, with many dedicated audiophiles so perhaps I could get more user opinions as well. Maybe some of you might be familiar with my thread but well anyways, I m considering to purchase finally a pretty decent and good sounding headphones with nice for mainly listening purposes and traktor mixing (don't got any equipment yet..maybe a decent mixer in the future...am just trying to start bedroom mixing for now haa)

Targeting a budget of <$150 if possible but won't mind topping up additional $20 or so. (Perhaps I go with a <$200 budget)

 

this is my setup and types of music I listen to to suit my needs so that I can get the perfect one I need

 

Sound card: Creative X-FI XtremeMusic Card (the <$200 one)

 

Main selection of music I listen: mainly at least 192-320kbps music..My daily dosage are Progressive house, techno, prog trance, downtempo etc (sasha,zabiela,holden,howells,dirtysouth,umek etc) (Intend to do house and trance mixes on traktor) Aside from electronic dance music, I also do listen to rock and metal (especially from likes of rammstein, black rebel motorcycle club n coldplay just to name a few)..

 

Purposes and needs: Mostly going to use phones at home from sound card port (got mylarx3s to power my d2) (won't really be using phones for travelling around unless needed for long trips overseas)

 

Not intending to amp the headphones up (but I don't think I should rule out a possibility as well )

 

Been researching around and I think I have sort of considered some of the headphones in the market along the likes of Grado SR80s, Alessandro MS-1, Beyer DT770, Sennheiser HD555, AT A9000 mainly, would like a pretty estimate of the prices in the market for these headphones and would like to hear more user based opinions on the headphones or perhaps better ones out there for better bucks. Hopefully you guys could help me out in recommendations based on my needs and the price range of the products.

 

Cheers.

[sHaRkKaE 0]

You might wanna try out ATH-M50, meant for mixing. but best would be for you to try it out yourself.

[holdened 0]

the ATH-M50? I will check it out but how much will it cost around? Dont have to consider DJ headphones..just capable of some mixing would do for now..Btw are there any closed-can headphones like the DT770 that is within my range? Am not so sure whether I should go with super aural ones like SR80s n MS-1.. afraid they might cause discomfort to my ears in the long run.

[feesh 0]

actually, imho, grado headphones are one of the most "fatigue-less" cans.

[nofing 0]

For a budget of $200 and less, the DT770 is out for sure. You could try the Audio Technica M40 which is/was available at Jaben but there's limited stocks.

[erwin 0]

just to let you know theres a noticeable sound quality difference from using the 1/8" jack of the X-fi versus the 1/4" headphone jack of the x-fi plat pro version.

 

You may need to use a headamp for 1/8" output....

[holdened 0]

ok I guess I will top up my budget to around $250...and I think I have referred to one of the threads earlier and theres a DT770Pro going for under $250 but its the 250ohm version though. Considering the HD-555s now and how much are the AT M40 and M50 going for and how does it compare to the HD-555 or the DT770Pro

[feesh 0]

i just realised that you're gonna be mixing music. haha. bear in mind that all headphones have a certain characteristic and will "add" flavour to the music that you hear. the same goes for headphone amps.

 

so if you're gonna be mixing music, i suggest getting "monitor" headphones and not using headphone amps. cause if you're gonna share your music, its gonna sound different on other peoples audio setup. what appears to be audio nirvana to you, may sound horrible to others.