Need a pair of Headphones upto 12K

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Hi,

I am residing in UK right now and I need for a pair of headphones under the price of 12K (~ £150). I never had headphones till now and I have been using IEMs only. I have owned EP 630, RE2, Brainwavz Pro Alphas, Brainwavz M4 and the glorious SE530 till now. I need headphones for movies and music mainly. I listen to almost all genres of music. I am looking for headphones which can cover ears fully (no sound leaking also). My main reason for headphones is to experience a bit of a open sound as except SE530 to an extent all other IEMs were of closed sound. Can anyone please share their experience and suggest me a good pair. Thanks in advance.
 
headphones in that price range would require you to get a good amp and dac to enjoy to the fullest. are you willing to take a plunge on that as well? just asking.
 
I can go for an amp but can you tell me how much that going to cost me and what type of Amp and DAC will be required for that. I'm getting HD 598 for £168 on amazon.co.uk which fairly equal to above link.
 
By reading some reviews I found that HD558 and HD598 are using the same drivers. By modding (removing the Inner foam) the HD558, their sound matches 95% to that of stock HD598 and also they dont much amp. On Amazon UK, HD558 is priced at £100 and HD598 is at £170. Is HD598 is worth of paying £70 more?
 
ok first of alll i would like to know what kind of sound signature do u like? are you looking for very accurate sounding headphones are you would prefer a bassy fun soundinfg and exciting one....the senheiser 555 does sound as good as the 598 with that mod, but let me tell you, the 598 is way more accurate sounding and a LOT more comfortable to wear for longer hours (2+ hours ) ..if you are a basshead, you woul not love the 598's....(i wouldnt say they lack bass...theres is plenty of bass but not great enough , not very punchy and impactful like the audio technica ath 50) if you like fun sounding ones and dont wanna invest in a amp, then go for the audio technica ath m5o which retails for 150 $..its got great bass , great mids (not as good as the 598 but will satisfy the needs ) but its not very neutral and accurate.....the ath m50 is a top 4 contender in the sub 200 $ studio monitoring headphones....it all depends on how much you wanna spend...since you said 12 k INR, i suggested the 598...

would like to addd that the 598 does leak a lot of sound...so if isolation is of importance to you, dont get the 598...the advantage with these open type of cans is that they have a great soundstage....the ath m50 does have decent sound stage as well but since its a clsoed back headphone (unlike the 598, the soundstage is not as wide as airy as the 598)..i personaaly use the audio technica ath m50 and can vouch for it...i bought these cause noise isolation was of upmost important to me.. but if that was not the case, i wwould prefer the 598 with fiio e7 anyday for the sole reason that they sound very accurate, looks wise they are beautiful and are very comfy to wear...
 
Thanks for you reply, its very helpful. As I said I love listening to almost all type of genres of music but having said that I do like tight and punchy bass. But I dont want that bass to be overpowering the overall sound signature, I dont want to sacrifice details and soundstage for that type of bass. I havent listened to the open and closed cans but I think before making my decision I should have a demo of both open and closed headphones to know the difference in the qualities. As for isolation, I'm not that much concerned because I want these headphones for indoor use and I live in a very quiet area but still if 598's are very leaky then I might have to think again for open headphones.
 
Have a listen to a nicely modded vintage Yamaha ortho. You'll then have a large set of dynamic headphones eliminated from your wish list.
 
I went for a demo of closed and open headphones in my nearest HMV store. There I listened to the HD558, HD598, HD 25-1 II, Beats Solo, Beats Pro and some JVCs. I absolutely loved 558s and 598s, wide soundstage and deep bass. 598s were a little more fun sounding than the 558s which were a little dark sounding. They were very good in classical, trance, hip-hop etc Although while playing classic rock and metal like Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Black Sabbath etc they weren't that much good (actually they were quite poor in those areas). Somehow I decided to go for 598s, while walking out of the store another headphone caught my attention, Denon AH-D2000. As soon as I put them on my ears, they blew me away with their monstrous bass and superb mids. They were playing everything absolutely amazing including Heavy Metal and Classic Rock. I forgot about the 598s after that. I ordered D2000 by taking a plunge of extra £40 but they are absolutely worth the amount. After burning them for about 60hrs I'm sort of discovering music. I'm listening to the details which I never noticed before. Monstrous bass, superb details and good soundstage. Sometimes bass is a little overpowering but the good thing is you can EQ out some of it and you loose nothing in terms of overall sound quality. I'm using them with FiiO E5 right now which is pretty satisfying the need for amplifying the sound a little bit (Without amp the sound is quite low from these headphones. I'll let you know about more developments when they will be over 120-150hrs of burn-in period.
 
I would've told ya that the D2k are much better than the Senns of that range. Good you made the right choice on your own after auditioning.
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Thanks for you suggestions
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. It really helped me a lot. Its good that I made my decision quickly and got myself these cans in £190 because their price is £260 now
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. Now I'm just waiting for MP4Nation to get the stock of FiiO E17.

After 100hrs of burning now the bass has become more tight and punchy, mids have also improved. The only annoying thing is that in some cases the highs are a bit harsh but as I said earlier with you can eq out anything and you lose nothing.
 
I own a E17 since almost a month now. I use it at my office with my HD25-1 II but i'm starting to feel that althought the amplification and the SNR is really good, the sound signature isn't that good. It kinda makes the bass sound muddy and bloated. Probably get a Audinst MX1 for the same price.
 
I was looking forward for E17 because of many positive reviews from Headfonia and headfi. Those guys were saying that E17 is an ultimate package in a very good amount and its miles ahead from E7 and E10.

And unlike D2K there is no way that I'll get any chance to have a demo of E17 here.

I'm trying to get Audinst MX1 here but till now no luck. I was also looking for J$ pads for d2k but it seems that J$ website doesn't exist anymore.

Actually found the official seller itself by the name of Audinst on ebay UK selling it in £115.
 
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