[Bench]

Hello,
 
I've been using my Denon AH-1100 for a few months now.
Before I bought them I was looking for a headset but decided to rather buy a pair of headphones for around 50€ and a seperate microphone.
Now I have ordered the ASUS Xonar DX from Amazon to try out whether the sound will improve by a lot as I am currently using my onboard soundchip.
 
However, I have been wondering if buying a more expensive pair of headphones will make a big difference, too.
I am especially interested in the products from Beyerdynamic as they are, according to countless reviews, very durable and sounding great.
So far I have not had the chance to try any pair of more expensive headphones (150-200€) and do not know what to expect.
Will there be a big difference between my Denon AH-1100s and for example BD COPs or BD DT990s?
I want to use them mainly at home but the portability of the BD Custom One Pros is also very appealing (Smartphone).
 
I know that I wrote a lot and hopefully this will not confuse anyone.
Also please excuse possible mistakes as I am neither a native English speaker nor experienced when it comes to audio equipment.
 
Thank you in advance!

 

[Sonic7381]

There will be a huge difference, not so much in cops, they are very similar, but better sounding. However, even though again, the 990s have a similar sound signature, but are open backed. I am not sure how much you know about this, but open backed means that they have almost no isolation, leak sound(everyone near you can hear what you are listening to) and have a much larger soundstage. They are completely different than closed headphones, such as the denons you have been using

 

[Bench]

I mainly listen to progressive metal / metalcore but I also like Daft Punk for example. What kind of headphone would you recommend?
I've heard that the DT-880s are not really suited for metal, is that true?
I am not sure whether I'd like an open or closed design. Guess I'll have to try both out and decide.

 

[Bench]

bump

I did a lot of research during the past few days and am more and more confused.

I think about buying open headphones as I do not want to be too isolated when listening to music / gaming on my pc.
The models that I want to test are the BD DT-880s, the 990s and the Fidelio X1.
In addition I thought about buying the Asus Xonar U7 as I heard that the Asus DX is bad for headpones.
 
Can anyone tell me which headphones would be best for my taste of music (metalcore mostly but also other genres)?
And is there an alternative for the often recommended FiiO E10? Would the Asus U7 be ok?

 

[davidsh]

You don't want u7 if you are getting the DX. Rather get a nice amp, perhaps something like schiit Magni.
The dt880 is definitely very good with some metal, it really sings with something like Children of Bodom - follow the reaper.
I'll go ahead and recommend Hifiman HE-400 by the way

 

[Bench]

The DX hasn't arrived yet due to some issues with the deliverer but as I am not sure whether it will fit into my PC also because there is no headphone amp i thought about getting the U7 instead. Would the Xonar Essence STX be much better? 
And the hifiman are a bit too expensive as I do not really want to spend more than about 200€ for the headphones unless there is really a huge sound difference.

 

[davidsh]

  The DX hasn't arrived yet due to some issues with the deliverer but as I am not sure whether it will fit into my PC also because there is no headphone amp i thought about getting the U7 instead. Would the Xonar Essence STX be much better? 
And the hifiman are a bit too expensive as I do not really want to spend more than about 200€ for the headphones unless there is really a huge sound difference.

I think you''ll like DX + external amp more than u7. U7 has a lot of effects and stuff that are hard to turn off or something like that. Not too sure about that one.
 
Personally, I'd think there's a huge sound difference. No way to know whether you'd agree except to try. If I was in your stead, I'd likely get DX + schiit magni + hifiman HE-400. But that's me. Probably best to stick to your original budget. 
 
The dt990 has very prominent treble from what I hear, some really dislike it. HE-400 to some degree too. dt880 sound slightly cold or clinical to some, else very neutral. The HE-400 is technically superior, though. Sounds much faster and less blurry.

 

[Bench]

Probably I'll just try the Essence STX as it has an integrated headphone amp because neither the e10 nor the Shiit Magni are available in Germany. 

 

[davidsh]

Probably I'll just try the Essence STX as it has an integrated headphone amp because neither the e10 nor the Shiit Magni are available in Germany. 

Sounds like a good solution unless you want to drive 600 ohm's or low sensitivity planars.

 

[Bench]

The DX that I've ordered more than a week ago finally arrived but I have to admit that I do not really hear a difference with my Denon AH-1100s.
Is that normal? I tried switching between the onboard sound and the DX and listening to the same song but I just can't really say that the DX is clearly better. 
On my speakers however I think that there is more of a difference even though they were pretty cheap (below 100€).
Might the high output impedance of the DX cause problems with my headphones or am I just not able to hear the difference?

 

[davidsh]

Well, some onboard sound solutions are decent already, others are rubbish. Yours might be decent.
But I don't really know, dude. There's a lot of hyperbole in the audiophile community, some simply choose to take the stance that as long as the sound card/amp/DACs measure well enough they are audibly transparent.