[VintageEnthusiast]

Hi guys, I'm new here so hello I'm from Poland so English is not my native language - I'm sorry for any silly mistakes and whatnot. And a wall of text obviously : ).

Anyways, let's get right to the point my old headphones, that is Superlux HD-681, died a while ago and I'm kind of in the need of new headphones - can't really listen late at night on loudspeakers and gaming is not immersive at all without headphones and Superlux is from what I've read has gotten worse.

So far I've listened to (besides HD-681 that is):
- Ultrasone Pro 900i - those where awesome, I'm a basshead so I liked them instantly but they are too expensive for me. The soundstage was just right, s logic is amazing.

- Beyerdynamic DT-770 80ohm version - weird headphones really, sometimes they sound just right with a lot of sub-bass like mini woofers and whatnot and sometimes they lack bass that my loudspeakers have and they drop only to 60Hz... (was disappointed with them). And those weird mids, soundstage sounded so artificially wide to me, I sometimes like to listen to really old rock or blues/jazz with reverb and they absolutely multiplied that effect to infinity and beyond butchering everything, so that was a miss for me. Also if I remember correctly right driver was peaking/clipping like hell in songs with huge bass, and left was just fine with plenty of power going into it and nothing was wrong there ._.

- Sennheiser Momentum M2 AEI IVORY - sounded good to me, bass heavy, a little tighter soundstage than my Superlux headphones back in the day and I really didn't want to upgrade back then since I didn't saw the need there.

What I want from sound:
So here I'm not knowing what to buy now. I obviously like bass and more fun and entertaining sound. I drive headphones with an vintage Yamaha Natural Sound amp it adds punch and dynamics and doesn't colorize sound much beyond that, it likes headphones from 32 to 80 ohms - and can drive 100 to 150 ohms headphones tops, so no 250 or 600 ohm Pro versions and whatnot. But it has an EQ and loudness option so it can build some nice dynamic sound. So I'm either looking for nice V shaped characteristics or a nice flat/natural sounding headphones that I can boost with my amp (if their drivers will allow it). As for soundstage obviously I will take tight/close soundstage any day than DTs-770 weird effect but s logic sounded awesome to me.

What I listen to:
As I mentioned before: old rock, jazz, blues, funk a bunch of electronic music, metal even death metal - a bunch of stuff really. So maybe something versatile enough to play it all but still pack a punch in electronic music/funk?

Anyways I'm looking forward to some recommendations, maybe some cheaper Ultrasone? What about other Sennheiser headphones? Is AKG any good for me? Maybe Yamaha? They still make headphones and I'm huge Yamaha fan (obviously).

Thanks in advance!

 

[PurpleAngel]

Chances are the Yamaha Natural Sound amp (like most speaker amplifiers or A/V receivers, with a headphone jack) has a headphone jack with a high output impedance (Ohm).
So headphones in the 250-Ohm to 600-Ohm work best, plugged into an A/V receiver or stereo amplifier.
Surprised your having better luck with lower Ohm headphones.
Check out the Massdrop/Sennheiser HD58X (150-Ohm) headphones.
https://www.massdrop.com/buy/massdrop-x-sennheiser-hd-58x-jubilee-headphones#overview

 

[VintageEnthusiast]

I have Yamaha A-960II from 1983, 100wpc@8ohms (for loudspeakers) monster. But the manual says something something like this "headphones output is 82mV at 8 ohms and 7.64V at 100 ohms". So I couldn't understand why this stuff was in mV and not mW. I asked around audiokarma and got answer that I have to use ohms law to calculate that, and that one helpful guy there helped me a bit and it's apparently at 100 ohms the amp is pushing 583.7mW of power through the headphones output. So am I understanding it wrong? The higher the impedance the better? What would happen if I plugged in Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro, those have 250ohms someone said on Polish forum that these are better and do not have this weird soundstage effect as DTs 770.

 

[PurpleAngel]

I have Yamaha A-960II from 1983, 100wpc@8ohms (for loudspeakers) monster. But the manual says something something like this "headphones output is 82mV at 8 ohms and 7.64V at 100 ohms". So I couldn't understand why this stuff was in mV and not mW. I asked around audiokarma and got answer that I have to use ohms law to calculate that, and that one helpful guy there helped me a bit and it's apparently at 100 ohms the amp is pushing 583.7mW of power through the headphones output. So am I understanding it wrong? The higher the impedance the better? What would happen if I plugged in Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro, those have 250-Ohms someone said on Polish forum that these are better and do not have this weird soundstage effect as DTs 770.

I too prefer the DT990, over the DT770.
Not sure what to say on the other stuff.

 

[Mephit]

The DT 990s and DT 770s do come in a 32ohm version. I have the DT 990s (250ohm) and like them.

I also have a pair of Grados that I really like that have a low ohm rating. The ones I have are the SR60e, which go for around $80. These emphasis the mids and have some good bass. More expensive Grado headphones are suppose to have a lot of highs present. My only complaint with the Grados is that they are bit uncomfortable to wear, and it doesn't get better with the higher end models.

 

[VintageEnthusiast]

I did have DT770s 80 Ohms and I did not like them. Too weird soundstage for me, I'm not mixing in studio . But maybe I wil try DT990s if they don't do that (could you confirm that please?) but only Pro's are speaking to me in terms of design, Edition is ugly imho. Maybe I will buy them in some online shop and return them if they will not work with my amp? It's always a thought.

 

[JediMa70]

Hi guys, I'm new here so hello I'm from Poland so English is not my native language - I'm sorry for any silly mistakes and whatnot. And a wall of text obviously : ).

Anyways, let's get right to the point my old headphones, that is Superlux HD-681, died a while ago and I'm kind of in the need of new headphones - can't really listen late at night on loudspeakers and gaming is not immersive at all without headphones and Superlux is from what I've read has gotten worse.

So far I've listened to (besides HD-681 that is):
- Ultrasone Pro 900i - those where awesome, I'm a basshead so I liked them instantly but they are too expensive for me. The soundstage was just right, s logic is amazing.

- Beyerdynamic DT-770 80ohm version - weird headphones really, sometimes they sound just right with a lot of sub-bass like mini woofers and whatnot and sometimes they lack bass that my loudspeakers have and they drop only to 60Hz... (was disappointed with them). And those weird mids, soundstage sounded so artificially wide to me, I sometimes like to listen to really old rock or blues/jazz with reverb and they absolutely multiplied that effect to infinity and beyond butchering everything, so that was a miss for me. Also if I remember correctly right driver was peaking/clipping like hell in songs with huge bass, and left was just fine with plenty of power going into it and nothing was wrong there ._.

- Sennheiser Momentum M2 AEI IVORY - sounded good to me, bass heavy, a little tighter soundstage than my Superlux headphones back in the day and I really didn't want to upgrade back then since I didn't saw the need there.

What I want from sound:
So here I'm not knowing what to buy now. I obviously like bass and more fun and entertaining sound. I drive headphones with an vintage Yamaha Natural Sound amp it adds punch and dynamics and doesn't colorize sound much beyond that, it likes headphones from 32 to 80 ohms - and can drive 100 to 150 ohms headphones tops, so no 250 or 600 ohm Pro versions and whatnot. But it has an EQ and loudness option so it can build some nice dynamic sound. So I'm either looking for nice V shaped characteristics or a nice flat/natural sounding headphones that I can boost with my amp (if their drivers will allow it). As for soundstage obviously I will take tight/close soundstage any day than DTs-770 weird effect but s logic sounded awesome to me.

What I listen to:
As I mentioned before: old rock, jazz, blues, funk a bunch of electronic music, metal even death metal - a bunch of stuff really. So maybe something versatile enough to play it all but still pack a punch in electronic music/funk?

Anyways I'm looking forward to some recommendations, maybe some cheaper Ultrasone? What about other Sennheiser headphones? Is AKG any good for me? Maybe Yamaha? They still make headphones and I'm huge Yamaha fan (obviously).

Thanks in advance!

Did you consider Philips Fidelio X2? They could be a nice option for you, very comfortable, nice build, good bass and excellent soundstage. Another good choice could be AKG K712 pro, here in Europe have a very good price and it would suits perfectly the music you listen

 

[Mhog55]

If you want an open back, I also highly recommend the 58X. Should fit your needs quite nicely.

 

[JediMa70]

If you want an open back, I also highly recommend the 58X. Should fit your needs quite nicely.

it's a shame that's so "inconvinient" to get them here in italy, i really wanted to own one of them