Need Advice: Headphones 6k-12k

adithya

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Hi everyone, this is my first thread here, this year.
I have a high end system with X-Fi Titanium. Is my sound card enough to drive headphones in my price range? I might occasionally connect it to my phone during bus rides in company bus (i will have a seat) or car. I don't care about portability or if quality drops due to lack of amp in mobile. I don't mind if the sound leaks and or if it lacks noise isolation. But I would prefer it.
I am planning to purchase headphones for the following in descending order of requirements,
1. Gaming with positional audio with CMSS Headphone. Mostly FPS with EAX and GTA4.
2. Metal music- Slayer, Metallica, Black Sabbath, Soundgarden, Iron Maiden, Led Zeppelin, and other genres like Dr Dre.
3. Videos on comp. 20% are HD with DTS 5.1 which my soundcard can simulate surround in headphone very well. ( I tested with HD280Pro and I am satisfied.)

Please mention headphones I can find in Bangalore or else in hyderabad. I want them to be durable , so that it doesn't become useless in less than 2 years.

I have HD595 in mind. I don't know whether they are good for metal. The previous headphone I used to borrow from my friend was HD280 Pro from senn and they were terrible for metal and even worse for gaming and so I am skeptical about senn. I read in foreign forums about Grado, but I doubt its availability and price in India.

My price range is not rigid. If there is some headphone which is damn awesome but is 16k, do tell me.
 
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in that price range goldring dr150 is good ($125)...it is quite good for metal and movies- good highs, bass and ok mid. goldring is availble in india but dunno who is dealing with them and whther they have dr150...check head-fi for opinions
 
Adithya,
Given that you are in Hyd just give me a ping and drop down to listen to my Denon AH D2000. They might fit your bill very good I would say. Its up for sale. So, I do not want myself to say good about it. You listen and decide for yourself.
 
HD280's are not the best of what Sennheiser has to offer. The 595's are way better, however see if you could listen to them before buying. Also they don't need an amp to sound good which also means that it won't improve much if you add an amp. I have heard good things about the D2000 but have not heard it personally.
 
mridul goel is one guy here who sells headphones. One forum member prakasse purchased from him. Maybe you can get in touch with both of them.
 
Adithya,
Given that you are in Hyd just give me a ping and drop down to listen to my Denon AH D2000. They might fit your bill very good I would say. Its up for sale. So, I do not want myself to say good about it. You listen and decide for yourself.

I will call you at around 5:30 PM. I am in Bangalore right now.
 
welcome to the forum.try the Grado SR60.had the opportunity to listen to them a while ago and my word,...excellent!!!dunno about pricing and stuff tho.all the best.cheers
 
I am using Senn HD515 bought about 3 years ago. I use with Asus Xonar Essence sound card. I am fully satisfied. Ofcourse I am not a metal lover. I listen to Lionel Richie, Fleetwood Mac, Roy Orbison, Carpenter, Celine Dion, Eagle, Beegees, Dire Straits, Pink Floyd, Leonard Cohen, Supertramp, Vienna Tang, Andre Boceli, Diana Ross etc... Lots of vocal and soft music. I didn't try it with Jazz (I am yet to develop taste for it).
 
You can look at the Alessandro MS-1 which is $99 w/ free w/wide shipping.
There is now a newer version at $109 also.

Cheers
PbR
 
You can look at the Alessandro MS-1 which is $99 w/ free w/wide shipping.
There is now a newer version at $109 also.

Cheers
PbR

I heard they break too soon. I am BTech student and don't have money to buy anything that might not last for 2 years atleast. I am purchasing these with my scholarship money.

@all

I guess only Bose, Creative, Sony, Phillips and Sennheiser are available in India. I think I have no choice but to purchase one good headphone for gaming movies and one earphone set for music from portable devices in my budget.

Please tell me if HD595 can handle the following sounds well by rating the following sound when heard using it.
1. Violent Gun sounds like AK47 in CSS, Combine rifle in HL2.
2. Ambience sounds like in forest or factory or space station.
3. Glass breaking and car engine sounds. (on HD280 pro I could hear only treble part of car engines and that was very horrible)

I would rather end up buying Rs150 headphone if sennhesier won't provide any improvement in the above.
I am being offered 11990 as the price for it. I think its too high. How far can I bargain easily?

For music which earphone would you recommend under 2k. I have Creative EP630 in mind because I only know that. I will use it to listen to: Iron Maiden, Slayer, Black Sabbath, Soundgarden, godsmack, pink floyd, metallica and led zeppelin.
 
Please talk to your closest dealer and see if you could actually listen to the 595s and see what you feel. That might work out better than having someone comment on the sound of rifle-fire through the 595s
 
Please talk to your closest dealer and see if you could actually listen to the 595s and see what you feel. That might work out better than having someone comment on the sound of rifle-fire through the 595s

I talked to a shop guy and a dealer. Both said If the seal is opened by my I have to purchase it. No demos will be provided. I already tried it. If I ask around people who only listened to HD595 in quality range and the rest they used in the past were crap like Intex, I can't take their word either. Thats the reason I am asking people here who have listened to multiple headphones in this price range. I wouldn't want to buy 12k headphone when it gives the quality of 4-5k headphones for my type of use.
 
I talked to a shop guy and a dealer. Both said If the seal is opened by my I have to purchase it...

Bummer! I'm sorry about that but the distributor in Chennai was willing to let me listen to the cans before I could buy them. Are there any other dealer or distributor in your area?

Also, I'm not sure if you've tried this already but have you searched the head-fi.org site? There are a number of threads pertaining to the HD595 with very detailed impressions. If I'm to select a pair of headphones based purely on reviews and impressions (which I actually did), head-fi.org is the place I'd head to
 
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I would rather end up buying Rs150 headphone if sennhesier won't provide any improvement in the above.
I am being offered 11990 as the price for it. I think its too high. How far can I bargain easily?


for games, movies and metal 12k is a lot of money....you might be find it difficult to appreciate the value of the headphone if thats your first purchase...on the other hand, someone who already used a mid-fi level will be able to appreciate it better because he went for the upgrade to fill the gaps he found missing on the earlier one.....just a word of caution so that you may not regret your investment later

BTB 595 is a safe bet...the kind of stuff that has universal acceptance...
 
for games, movies and metal 12k is a lot of money....you might be find it difficult to appreciate the value of the headphone if thats your first purchase...on the other hand, someone who already used a mid-fi level will be able to appreciate it better because he went for the upgrade to fill the gaps he found missing on the earlier one.....just a word of caution so that you may not regret your investment later

BTB 595 is a safe bet...the kind of stuff that has universal acceptance...


I have used HD280 Pro. I know its strengths are Dr Dre, Mostly HD movies with DTS 5.1 and voice in TV. It completely sucks when shooting scene starts in Heat movie or while playing CSS. In CSS ak47 bullets sounded like rocks were being thrown on a wooden door. I used to fill the gap with Creative t6060 speakers. But now speakers are no longer an option, because I am living in a religious community which wants peace and quiet and won't tolerate atheist using assault rifles in GTA4 on t6060. Before buying these speakers I used Bose Wave Music System ( Clock radio) which produced awesome audio in games and metal especially Rammstein but lacked 5.1 positioning and couldn't handle metallica's Four Horsemen that well.

A guy in Mumbai told me that no headphone under 50k can get as good bass as 5k speakers like t6060. Is this true?
 
I know this still wouldn't help your predicament of not being able to listen to a pair before buying but I just discovered these. They use the same drivers as the 595s but are closed and come with an attached boom mic. They are available on Amazon for about $150 so they should be around 12K in India. They also seem to garner pretty good reviews for themselves...
 
A beautiful, well-constructed speaker with class-leading soundstage, imaging and bass that is fast, deep, and precise.
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