Headphone Suggestions

[manny9]

Hello Everyone,

I live in Singapore and recently got into the (expensive/addictive) audiophile game did some research and bought the following items,

- Drop THX 798 AAA AMP
- SMSL SU-8 DAC
- Sennheiser HD6xx

All of the gear is brilliant and really enjoying them. Now, I am thinking of getting another headphone to have a variety. Budget is around USD 500. I like listening to pop (guilty), female vocals, jazz, alternate rocks, country and looking for some headphone which is different from Sennheiser. I thought of buying hifiman Sundara but heard lot of quality issues. Really curious about Planar...Giving the budget i am not sure if i can get headphone with good imaging and sound stage, I am not a bass head, but decent bass is always great for the music...

Requesting the expert's suggestion Please stay safe...thanks

My fav bands : Linkin park, Diana krall, David Gray, Dido, Tamil songs, Leonard Cohen, Sigrid, LSD, rag n bone...

 

[docharsha89]

Hi,
First let me give you a thumbs up, on your Amp and DAC choice .
Coming to choosing your headphones, dynamic and planar magnetic headphones have benefits of their own. Usually, dynamic headphone are lighter due to the light weight components like the diaphragm and drivers being made of flexible, light weight metals. This in turn, will provide a quick freq. Response and a dynamic character to the sound. Furthermore, tonality of sound can be tuned easily in dynamic headphones.
In comparison, a planar magnetic headphone, has a thin diaphragm between a set of magnets on either side. The movement of the film is ultra quick, which results in stupendous speed and transient response. Which type you prefer, would be based on your own, personal listening experience with either.
Coming to your headphone options, The Hifiman Sundara is an excellent headphone in the sub $500 price range. It has a few short comings, like the sub par-for-the-price build quality and its sharp treble. But overall, it is a solid recommendation in the planar category. In dynamic headphones, under 500$, the Beyerdynamic DT1990 and the Amiron. Both are great headphones, and in my opinion, the DT1990 would suit to your taste.
So, Good luck in finding your choice.
---
Dr. Harsha

 

[manny9]

Thank you Dr. Harsha for taking the time and for the wonderful suggestions. I was very interested in DT1990 but since I am still a novice don't want anything too analytical, want something fun to listen to, I heard 1990 is used by serious professional at studio settings, how good is it for home listening?...appreciate the background on planar... didn't know about Amiron, I will do some research on it...

If I go for Planar would you suggest Monolith M1060 with a Mod?

thanks again for the suggestions....

 

[muralimmreddy]

Just go to adelphi mall (jaben etc) and audition what ever you can in your budget

You may want to try to explore Stax for different experiance

 

[docharsha89]

Thank you Dr. Harsha for taking the time and for the wonderful suggestions. I was very interested in DT1990 but since I am still a novice don't want anything too analytical, want something fun to listen to, I heard 1990 is used by serious professional at studio settings, how good is it for home listening?...appreciate the background on planar... didn't know about Amiron, I will do some research on it...

If I go for Planar would you suggest Monolith M1060 with a Mod?

thanks again for the suggestions....

Hello,
You're welcome. The Beyer DT1990 has an extended treble response, in order to easily perceive details in a sound mix. Which is why, it is well regarded by sound engineers/professionals. If you want a smoother sound, I would suggest the amiron, it has an overall balanced sound signature. Also, as a slightly expensive alternative, may I suggest the Hifiman Ananda ? You can find the Ananda on a discounted price of about $699. It has a very smooth tonality, very much like your Sennheiser 6xxand also will sound next level to the Sundara. Regarding Monolith M1060, I haven'theard much about it, but I personally dont have a good impression regarding mods. Either it has to be done right on the factory, or else it wont be.
My suggestion would be to stick to the big companies initially, then once you get the hang of what sort of sound sig, you prefer, you can branch out to the smaller boutique brands (Dan Clark Audio, ZMF). The Amiron is a safe choice. You cant go wrong, and hey, What Hifi has given it a 5 star rating.
Regards,
Dr. Harsha

 

[fLUX]

Hello Everyone,

I live in Singapore and recently got into the (expensive/addictive) audiophile game did some research and bought the following items,

- Drop THX 798 AAA AMP
- SMSL SU-8 DAC
- Sennheiser HD6xx

All of the gear is brilliant and really enjoying them. Now, I am thinking of getting another headphone to have a variety. Budget is around USD 500. I like listening to pop (guilty), female vocals, jazz, alternate rocks, country and looking for some headphone which is different from Sennheiser. I thought of buying hifiman Sundara but heard lot of quality issues. Really curious about Planar...Giving the budget i am not sure if i can get headphone with good imaging and sound stage, I am not a bass head, but decent bass is always great for the music...

Requesting the expert's suggestion Please stay safe...thanks

My fav bands : Linkin park, Diana krall, David Gray, Dido, Tamil songs, Leonard Cohen, Sigrid, LSD, rag n bone...

I think for genres you have mentioned Hifiman Ananda would fit in well. It has a very good on the face presentation with forward vocals , lively but not overly sharp treble and i find the bass to be sufficient for my needs. They are relatively easy to drive , but looking at your current desktop setup i doubt that is going to be a problem for harder to drive headphones either. Overall they are quiet opposite to the HD6XX presentation and will serve as a good addition to your collection. I have auditioned the Beyedynaic DT1990 pro as well but prefer the Ananda for my music tastes. There are alternatives from Audeze at similar price range but i have not had the chance to listen to their lineup till date.

On a side note have you tried any other amps , how do you rate the THX 798 amp ?

 

[manny9]

Hello,
You're welcome. The Beyer DT1990 has an extended treble response, in order to easily perceive details in a sound mix. Which is why, it is well regarded by sound engineers/professionals. If you want a smoother sound, I would suggest the amiron, it has an overall balanced sound signature. Also, as a slightly expensive alternative, may I suggest the Hifiman Ananda ? You can find the Ananda on a discounted price of about $699. It has a very smooth tonality, very much like your Sennheiser 6xxand also will sound next level to the Sundara. Regarding Monolith M1060, I haven'theard much about it, but I personally dont have a good impression regarding mods. Either it has to be done right on the factory, or else it wont be.
My suggestion would be to stick to the big companies initially, then once you get the hang of what sort of sound sig, you prefer, you can branch out to the smaller boutique brands (Dan Clark Audio, ZMF). The Amiron is a safe choice. You cant go wrong, and hey, What Hifi has given it a 5 star rating.
Regards,
Dr. Harsha

Thanks, yeah make sense to stick the big companies and not get into mod since this my early stages of my audiophile journey. When researched about planar sub $500 M1060 and 1070 kept coming up. But people suggested out of the box M1060 is terrible but has very capable driver so with mod it looks like it opens up. Sure let me look at Ananda , its more than the budget my wife has approved, so got to file a plea

 

[manny9]

Just go to adelphi mall (jaben etc) and audition what ever you can in your budget

You may want to try to explore Stax for different experiance

Thanks, Singapore has extended the shutdown till June, so had to wait...picked this hobby during shutdown, now can't wait for this virus to go away and businesses to resume

 

[manny9]

I think for genres you have mentioned Hifiman Ananda would fit in well. It has a very good on the face presentation with forward vocals , lively but not overly sharp treble and i find the bass to be sufficient for my needs. They are relatively easy to drive , but looking at your current desktop setup i doubt that is going to be a problem for harder to drive headphones either. Overall they are quiet opposite to the HD6XX presentation and will serve as a good addition to your collection. I have auditioned the Beyedynaic DT1990 pro as well but prefer the Ananda for my music tastes. There are alternatives from Audeze at similar price range but i have not had the chance to listen to their lineup till date.

On a side note have you tried any other amps , how do you rate the THX 798 amp ?

Awesome, guess Ananda checks all i am looking for. My genre fits and a good alternative to 6xx. Thanks

Sorry this is my first purchase before the average music from airpods and bose now i know what I have been missing all along. So really don't know how 789 does compares to other Amps.

But I am really impressed with this amp, it has tons of power and even for less impedance headphones it makes a considerable difference. Me and my friend ordered together in drop and he ordered Beyerdynamics 177x which came early. Since the delivery address was mine I was using it directly with PC. Its a great all rounder with no need for AMP and it was quite good directly from PC. But with THX 789 I can feel the difference, can feel the base more and vocal improved, i felt the sound separation improved but maybe its me. This amp packs plenty of power and i love that they have both balanced and SE connection. Its not truly balanced but it provides more power in the balanced out for 6xx, I got a balanced cable along with the headphones. For the first amp I am really loving it, highly recommend it....best thing is they have reduced $100 and now available at $299...

 

[fLUX]

Good to know that , amps certainly do improve the soundstage, details and the separation and with a hugely noticeable difference against playing right out of your PC sound card. Welcome to the hobby , you have now entered the rabbit hole

 

[manny9]

haha so true, have to control myself with so many choices of good headphones....

 

[kartikay]

For mentioned genre, Focal elex would be a good fit.. Its not as wide sounding as Arya or HD800 but tonally very similar to HD650 but better extension at both ends and more linear.

 

[captainsubtext]

Try going to zeppelin and co in simlim square when lockdown is lifted. Kristy (the owner) is very helpful and has a wide range of headphones to try out and offers very competitive pricing.
As for recommendations, try the ananda and see if it floats your boat. Another option if you’re ok going for used gear is to try the lcd 2 pre fazor 2.2

 

[manny9]

Try going to zeppelin and co in simlim square when lockdown is lifted. Kristy (the owner) is very helpful and has a wide range of headphones to try out and offers very competitive pricing.
As for recommendations, try the ananda and see if it floats your boat. Another option if you’re ok going for used gear is to try the lcd 2 pre fazor 2.2

Thank you for recommendation, will visit after the circuit breaker is over in June

 

[ajaipuriyar]

Adelphi is a heaven for us.

Wish we had something like that here.

 

[sound and music]

Adelphi is a heaven for us.

Wish we had something like that here.

I agree.

I have been visiting Adelphi for the past 2 decades or so. Till the early 2000s, it was dominated by shops selling mostly two-channel audio stuff. Thereafter, I saw a growing number of shops (some exclusively) selling video and headphones/earphones stuff. Simultaneously, beauty parlors and massage shops also sprung up in Adelphi.

I always prefer to buy audio/video/camera stuff in SG (Adelphi/SLS), Hong Kong, and China than in New Delhi because of better customer service. The manner in which treat customers something Indian retailers should learn. In Delhi, some retailers talk rudely and others convey a message that they are doing a great favor by talking to me.