Audio Headphones required! Budget = Around 6000

H

hatter

Skilled
Please pitch in with whatever suggestions and recommendations you have.

It will be used for:

1- Music (mostly trance+metal+pop)

2- Films

3- Gaming (don't require a microphone)

Has to be circumaural, should not leak much sound and isolation should be good, has to be comfortable for long durations and should have very good build quality. I am not a bass head but won't mind some nice deep bass.

Budget is Rs 6000 but I don't want to spend money just for the sake of it. If there is a headphone that costs 2K and is 80% as good as that of the one costing Rs 6K, I will choose the cheaper one.

So far I am eying:

Sony ZX700 SONY Urban DJ / Monitor Headphones MDR-ZX700 | eBay

Audio Technica ATH M30: Audio Technica ATH-M35 | eBay

Audio Technica ATH T500 Audio Technica ATH-T500 | eBay

Sennheiser HD 518 Sennheiser HD 518 Headphone Headset open circumaural Eargonomic +Bill 2 Yr. Wty | eBay

Philips SHP 8900 Philips SHP 8900 HiFi Headphone 50mm Flexible +Bill | eBay

Sennheiser 280 Pro SENNHEISER HD280 PRO HEADPHONES "CLOSED""CIRCUM-AURAL" BILL + 2 YEAR WRT | eBay

Of course, the list is not exhaustive. As I said, I am open to suggestions

PS: Will appreciate quick inputs. I am gonna pull the trigger tomorrow.
 
^^ Way outta my budget... Going by Brandon's impressions, bought ATH M35. Cans should reach me in some days. I think I will like what Brandon calls 'neutral dark' and 'fatigue free sound *fingers crossed* :-|

And yes, also bought Xonar DG. I thought apart from being my first sound card it should also give, a little 'brightness' -- as how Brandon refers to it -- to M35 if I need it :p
 
Hey glad to know you got the M35. :)

I found them reasonably comfy and their smooth sound enabled me to listen to music for hours on end. Very good VFM at their price.
 
^^ Already bought M35. I considered RP HTF600 but was put off by three things -- Below average build quality, need to change pads and reports of massive sound leak.

Also I FEEL that these cans have been hyped by a few people on Head Fi for some strange reasons because whatever reviews I found through Testfreak were not so glowing.
 
Build quality is not that bad.

I have not changed the pads,sounds fun even without those Velour pads.

Yes,the sound leak can be bothersome.

Overall comfortable,and much better VFM than most Audio Technicas(don`t know why,but can not tolerate the sound signature of M50)
 
The M50 is a bit tuned for bass and a dark sound signature. Such signatures can cause a very strong reaction for or a very strong reaction against the sound. Since you didn't like the sound signature I would wager you prefer a more brighter sounding headphone.

I haven't heard your Panasonics but judging from the review on head-fi they are a brighter can. Someone who finds a well amped HD650 boring can only prefer a brighter sound signature which the Panasonics seems to have.

The M35 is a very neutral can with slight tilt towards the dark. I found them very nice to listen to even though I love my HD650s.

They don't have a very energetic/bright sound signature like a Grado or even a Sennheiser HD25 so someone looking out for a bright sound signature won't appreciate the M35. However I seriously enjoyed the sound even though I love my HD650.

All the 6 Audio Technica headphones I have heard were VFM (in varying degrees) and the M35 (to me) was the most VFM of the lot. :)
 
I was looking at the Panasonics HTF600s but then gave up on that as I don't think they are available locally. Should be quite vfm if some dealer manages to get them here though and they look decent too.
 
Received the headphones and sound card today. Peculiarly, the cans are not working with PC front or rear panel slots. So I have hooked it to VS4121 headphone jack. I will be installing the card tomorrow and also try to find out what's the issue with audio panels.

So, far I was using SHP 2700, which are open cans. Initial impression of M35 compared to SHP 2700. Disclaimer: I am not strictly an audiophile. These are just my impressions with MP3. there is no burn in so far.

1- SHP 2700 are lot more, what Brandon calls, brighter. I feel that is also because they are open cans. M35 are, well, sound little closed. And naturally more neutral because these are monitoring headphones. If I adjust treble through VS 4121, I can mitigate it somewhat but still the music doesn't feel that vibrancy & sparkle that SHP 2700 has.

2- M35 has lot lot more better bass than SHP 2700. There is no thump but the bass is tight and nice. It's a pleasant surprise cause I wasn't expecting this much bass.

3- M35 has lot more clarity and detail. After listening to it for 15 odd minutes, when I listened to SHP 2700 I realised how much clarity is lacking. SHP 2700 also sounds a little jumbled. This means at times it seems as if various sounds are put together in a mishmash. They sound nice, warm & bright but mishmash all the same.

4- SHP 2700 are more comfortable because the pads are large enough to completely engulf my ears. M35 pads sit over my earlobes. Also clamping force is little more than what I feel with SHP 2700. There is virtually no sound leakage and noise sealing is pretty good.

5- With impedance of 65, M35 are pretty tougher to drive compared to SHP 2700 that has impedance of just 32. For example on Galaxy S even on full volume I wanted more volume. I hope with Xonar DG I won't have any issues on PC because the results with VS4121 are fine.

More later...
 
chiron said:
I was looking at the Panasonics HTF600s but then gave up on that as I don't think they are available locally. Should be quite vfm if some dealer manages to get them here though and they look decent too.
Click to expand...

Available with Infibeam.
 
Congrats on the purchase!! I was going through this thread and noticed that you have exactly the same setup as mine (VS4121 and SHP-2700!). And guess what, I am also on an upgrade path. I have beefed up the source part with a uDAC and boy, does it make a difference! the shp2700 is 100x better than what it used to be with the crappy on-board as source. For a 600rs headphone, it sounds awesome. Anyway, I have ordered the Fischer audio FA-011, its on its way, will post my impressions once it arrives.
 
red dragon said:
Available with Infibeam.
Click to expand...

Panosonic Pro/digital Monitor Headphone - Rp Htf600 : FerrariVideo <--[strike] seems like a better deal at 2.5k for a hp that supposedly sells for $30. Anyway I went with the t500 already; had I seen the deal earlier I'd have gone for it even if the site isn't one people here have used much. 1.5k less than the infibeam/official site though the dealer is supposed to be official distributor :O[/strike]

Site doesn't work apparently.
 
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