Headphones under 10K for a Basshead

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H

hahahari

Discoverer
Source: Ipod Classic 7G

AMP: Got a Hippo Amp, will upgrade after a while or if lucky soon enough if money permits

Music:

Likes: Hip-Hop, RnB, Rock, Alternative rock, some 80's & 90's, Hindi, tamil and Malayalam, starting to get into 70's rock and roll and Jazz. Love vocals and deep bass and less of guitars, not much of a difference though. I dont want the bass to over shadow the Highs or mids.

Hates: Death metal(never saw the point in screaming and sticking out your tongue), indian classical nd Karnatic.

Sound Signature prefered: NEVER analytical. I do not have the patience nor the time to sit and analyse a song. I like fun sounding that pumps me up to work, or ride on my long bike rides(Not gonna use the HP while on bikes much)

History of IEM/HP: Never owned a HP. IEM's are EP630 to current Brainwavz M2

PS: I am not an audiophile and do not worry about the lost 2% detail if it saves me 5k. So my budget is a modest 8 to 12 k. Also pls do mention if it can be sourced from another country for a cheaper price.

Thnx for ALL the help guys, hopefully I have given enough info for you guys to make a good judgement to my listening profile.
 
Re: HP Under 10K for a Basshead

Good budget like that, your options are Sennheiser HD25-1 II, Audio Technica A900, Denon D2000, D5000 (if you can get a good used deal), Beyerdynamic DT880 / DT990 from what I can remember and your sound preference (non-analytical fun sounding).

Since you haven't mentioned whether you need it strictly for home usage or no i'm assuming this is a portable and home usage both setup cause your source is an ipod rather than a full desktop rig.

Outta the above mentioned, only the HD25-1 II is a truly portable one. The others, I wouldn't advice you to carry them around being heavier and less sturdy.

Also mention which amp it is since hippo has many amps.

In the grand scheme of things, probably after getting the headphones, switch to a slightly better amplifier than a hippo. Hippo amps are not really good in terms of SQ and build quality. Jaben manufactures them himself and gives them away as free gifts when you purchase and good headphone or iem from him. You will need something which would handle the above mentioned cans with more authority and something with a decent battery life. Check out, ALO Rx, TTVJ, RSA, Meier's amongst others. Lets keep amps for a separate discussion.
 
Re: HP Under 10K for a Basshead

Mostly for home usage, but I will be running around my room when working, crazy working hours and stressful days when working from home, so helps to get up and walk while listening to music. I do not need it to be highly portable. Just portable enough to listen with in a hotel room or my parents place when I visit.

Yes I will be switching to a better Amps and leave the hippo out of the discussing. Its a pretty much useless thing. I find the quality goes down a bit when I use it with my M2, no point pairing with a D2K or something. I have gone through Faheems D2K vs D5K, but have no idea about reliable review of others.

Also do I need to spend this much or a budget of 6k give me good enough audio quality to feel like a worthy upgrade? Like I said I am ot much of an audiophile as I dont have the patience.
 
Re: HP Under 10K for a Basshead

When you said your not much of an audiophile, I just remembered an instance, I gave my friend(someone who doesn't know how to even use an ipod properly, by far not an audiophile) the D5000 to listen at office the other day. He gave it back to me after 4hours of continuous listening (and he's someone who doesn't listen to music for more than 15mins at office) after me asking for them back cause it was EOD. And his reaction was that he has never heard anything where he could hear the lyrics so clearly and with such proper pronunciation, that every word would just stop for a moment and continue after being precisely said. I know this sounds like the D5000's are analytical sounding headphones but trust me, its just that the detailing is just that good.

If you ask me technically, I would say there are technically perfect and analytical headphones out there which if I would've given this guy, he would've still enjoyed the D5000 more. The D5000 is a perfect blend between fun sounding and detailed headphones which are neither analytical nor laid back sounding. If you have the budget, I'd say they're worth it. Anywhere between 15k-20k is a good price for them. If you can get it for cheaper, kudos to you.

YMMV, of course. D5k's are my fav headphones so i'm a little biased towards it. What can I say, they simply suit my taste.
 
Have you tried the ATH-M50 from Audio Technica. If you can reach out a little more I can strongly recommend you ATH-A900.
 
Guys would you mind giving me the specific charecterestics of the headphones and the price along with it? And is there ANY way I can listen to them? Any member from Bangalore who would let me hear them and see which one suits my taste?

--- Updated Post - Automerged ---

Ishan, you own both M2 and M50, can you comment oon the quality of the bass and how well the music is textured?
 
Well, M2 has more bass quantity, as in more boom, sometimes shadows the vocals...but the quality of the bass in the M50 is much better...the thump is there when necessary..hell, they can rattle your head if u eq them like that...

Considering vocals, they are much more forward than the M2...the treble is better too...a much livelier presentation i would say

Soundstage is better too...i would suggest you go for them as they seem to be perfect for your budget..
 
i cant compare clip+ an fuze+ but i have earlier used Clip and now fuze+. fuze + definitely offers u a rich sound quality and i am really happy with it
 
I'm using them currently with a Nuforce udac...but they sound pretty good straight out of my Zune80 too...

I see that you have a Hippo amp...should be good enough i think...
 
Re: HP Under 10K for a Basshead

bennysachdev said:
... he has never heard anything where he could hear the lyrics so clearly and with such proper pronunciation, that every word would just stop for a moment and continue after being precisely said. I know this sounds like the D5000's are analytical sounding headphones but trust me, its just that the detailing is just that good...
Click to expand...
@benny: Slightly offtopic, but could u compare TF10 with D5000? Coz I couldnt get such fairytale like lyrics out of TF10. How much worse are TF10 to D5k ?
 
Re: HP Under 10K for a Basshead

I am using denon d1100, i can recommend these, d1100 has plenty of bass and nice sound and big soundstage.
 
TF10's aren't really known for the lyrics/vocals/mids. They're better with the bass and the treble section of the spectrum. The D5000's aren't really phenomenal with detailing(compared to the headphones in its league like the Grados and the AKG's), but they can hold their ground by keeping a balance throughout the spectrum. Good clean mids, really good vocals, airy non-sibilant treble and amazing bass quality. Some users find the bass of the D5000 a little overwhelming, thus leading to the Lawton mod for the D5000 (faheem has done it to his D5000). Some users like me like it just the way it is. The lawton mod makes the bass more controlled and increases the soundstage. I haven't heard it personally so wouldn't comment much on it, faheem can share some light on this. Basically the mids and treble are really beautiful, the bass, well thats upto a person's individual taste, and since it can be fixed if need be, I'd say the D5000 is an excellent bet. If your sure you don't want much bass and don't wanna mod such an expensive headphones, take a look at others like the HD650, Grado line up, or even the orthodynamic line-up from Yamaha/Fostex. If you really don't mind trying something new and amazing and have deep pockets, take a look at the Koss ESP950 Electrostats.
Mind boggling detailing and speed on these babies!
 
OP if your are total bass head then only D2000 will satisfy you and nothing else.I know they are over your budget but they are worth it and have perfect bass,after modding the story is totally different.
 
bennysachdev said:
The Audio-Technica A900 has more bass than the D2000. Just an FYI since i've A/B'ed both of them. :)
Click to expand...
@benny, any review that details the characteristics of it well? Also how much does it cost in India and in US?
Metalspree said:
OP if your are total bass head then only D2000 will satisfy you and nothing else.I know they are over your budget but they are worth it and have perfect bass,after modding the story is totally different.
Click to expand...
@metalspree, same question as above
 
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