Yep...

Good deal on those. They only cost an arm, not an arm and a leg.

It's no fun if you don't tell us what you've got there... and do mini-reviews!

That's not the picture I was expecting given the thread title and that it's coming from a college student.

Good one peter. :-)

I think you should be looking here: Beer Thread

Quick overview of headphones, from left to right.

Beyerdynamic DT 770s: Comfy closed 'phones. Awesome for techno. Have a spiked high end and a punchy bass line with most amps. Mid range is a little lacking, but these are my choice headphones for watching TV shows and jamming to techno music.
Sennheiser HD 595's: Open Headphones. Luxuriously warm and fuzzy. Both in sound and feel.
Alessandro MS-2 (Made by Grado): Open Headphones. Aggressive, in your face, amazing for rock.
Sennheiser HD 25-I II's: Closed Portable Headphones. Laid back, dark, fun-loving rock out phones.

I've been meaning to do a full review considering my investment...I'll post that on Head-Fi and here when I get around to it. Probably will end up being today/tomorrow.

I am in the process of designing an audio review website...that's really revolutionary in terms of the way headphones/amps are compared and reviewed. So, I'm working up to that with this review :-)

I can't wait to see the website.

cool!

What kind of techno music do you listen to?

Right now, Crystal Method, Daft Punk, Justice, and a few others. I love the really cool sounds Crystal Method throws in.

I may have to get a recommendation from you so I have another showcase CD.

Headphone Porn incoming...


The Lineup


Down the line...


The UHA-3 DAC/AMP, and a friend's iBasso D2 DAC/AMP. My iRiver H120 on top.


Beyerdynamic DT770's


Sennheiser HD 595's


Alessandro MS-2's


Sennheiser HD 25-I II's


Now for some dramatic shots...

I'm listening to them now, I'll give you a recommendation. I also have a kinda new car audio system with a nice 10" sub. I LOVE listening to crystal method in the car on that setup...if you like to show off bass and rattle the car (or walls) it's certainly the way to do it.

Edit: Infected Mushroom is also amazing. For a single album, I probably would choose them. Most of the Crystal Method songs I like are spread out through a few other albums.

Re-Edit: Get Infected Mushroom's "Vicious Delicious" album. It's funky, groovy, has organic stuff mixed in with techno goodness. It's a trip from the first song to the last. It *can* get a bit repetitive after a while. It just pushes the envelope on creativity... "Classical Mushroom" is also a great album.

Thanks, Dan. I'll check that out!

Are you sure I'm not supposed to get Converting Vegetarians? Someone's review of Vicious Delicious kept mentioning that album as CV.

While we are on the subject of Tehcno I highly recommend you check out the BT album "Emotional Technology"

One of my fav. songs on that album here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osWofdNdyfk
Please ignore the crappy dancing the the video though. This song has some pretty good bass.

All the songs can be previewed here:
http://www.amazon.com/Emotional-Technolo...28845840&sr=8-4

Thanks, David. I'll look at that one, too.

Nice pics of some very nice Headphones. It sure looks like you caught the bug.

I've read somewhere that it's possible to use your headphones on the speaker terminals of some amps, like my spare Sophia Baby tube amp.

Does anyone know how this is wired up?

Is there an off the shelf adapter?

My particular amp doesn't have a headphone section but I figured I might be able to 'convert' it.

Not that I am aware of.

Dan you! Idle fingers on ebay/audiogon/CL are dangerous. Got some DT770's for $100.

I also found this, which I will probably try. Yes, I could probably build it myself but I'm just that lazy...

http://www.hawthorneaudio.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1600

I actually sold my DT770's, just had too many cans. What ohm and version are they? It makes a pretty big differnce. Mine were 250 ohm. They also make an older 250 ohm version and a 80 ohm version.

Great deal on the 770's, let me know what you think. I have my own impressions but I'd like to hear yours first

BTW, if anyone is waiting for my full review (I also have a thread on head-fi) I am waiting for my tube amp. I ordered it 3 weeks ago and it "apparently" should be done in a week and ready to ship. I hate waiting so long, but oh well.

250 ohms with only 1 week of use. I put in the lone bid at the lowest price and won. I was trying to find a local guy on CL that was selling some AKG701's but he never responded.

Nice find, I never did get a chance to try any Beyerdynamics. I'd be interested in your thoughts also.

If you don't have a headphone amp, they may not sound very good, just a warning, since they are 250 ohm. Out of a receiver you should be fine, though.

Dan, I have two regular headphone amps. A Creek OBH 11 with an upgraded power supply and a Soha with upgraded buffers. Then a couple of portables. I know about the higher ohm and the need for a dedicated amp.

I'm considering the Denon AHD2000's. They appear to be highly regarded. Have you heard them Dan (or anyone)?

Cool, my friend just built a SOHA II. He's dealing with some distortion issues right now, but so far he likes it. We'll see what oldschool ends up plugging the 770's into.



Yes, I've heard they are very nice closed cans. I almost bought them to try them out. I still might in the near future because of a headphone website project I'm working on. Plenty of opinions over at head fi...go ahead and get lost in them :-)

You mean it won't sound good on my USB 128MB Muvo MP3 player? HA.

I've got my Pio 45TX and Rotel 1050 (?) stereo pre-amp to test them out. My Ah! Njoeb 4000 tube CD player has a headphone output that I've never tried. Maybe I'll test it w/ my Superfi 5 EB's for comparison, though that's probably not fair.

I don't have a dedicated headphone amp, but I am considering the Hawthorne adapter for my Sophia Baby, considering that I got the cans for cheap.

Yeah, my Superfi's have a bit too much bass, as expected. Not as open and warm as the Von Schwiekert VR1's on the same system. We'll see how the DT770's do.

OS, if you have the Rotel RC1070 it has a very good headphone section. If I didn't already have the other amps I could see myself using the Rotel and being quite satisfied.

Cool. That's good to know. I do have the RC1070 and really like it. I'll pass judgement when I actually spend some time on the DT770's. I'll also make sure to burn them in.

I tried on both the Ah! and 1070 output w/ my Super.fi's. I wasn't impressed. But I can't say if it's just the Superfi's or the amp output. I'll reserve judgement for now.

Those Super.Fi's really don't do well amped. I had the 3s and tried to use my portable amps, the end result was not very impressive. On their own the sounded great.

Good observation. They do sound great on my iPod and Macbook. But not so good on an amp.

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f5/woo-audio-6-pdps-photos-initial-impressions-update-397449/

My Tube amp got in...read that for pictures and impressions.

Teaser pic...

Thanks for sharing your impressions. When I have money again, I'll see where you are with your headphone setup and just get what you recommend.

Great write up, Dan. There are lots of choices for headphone amps and Woo Audio has always been high on my list.

Why Woo???

Because I want to say it sounds Woonderful?

Picked up my 10W resistors today to try on my Sophia Baby. My DT770's only shipped today so I have to wait.

If the Baby doesn't work out, I may either sell it or try to swap for a tube amp. I'm trying to stay low budget so I may try one of the hybrid Little Dots.

The Woos are nice but more than I'd want to spend (at least for now) on cans.

It's a hard choice between the nicely priced Little Dots and the Woo selections. Both seem to get good reviews.

The looks of the WA6 is what first "wooed" me over :-). After reading reviews about how well the WA6 did with low impedance cans, the choice was downhill from there.

Dan
Got my DT770-250's. Not sure I'm fully sold yet.

See my post.

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f4/not-sure-if-dt770-250s-fit-bill-401501/

Wonder if that's why you were waiting for my listening feedback.

BTW, I blame you for making me spend hours everyday on head fi...

If you're looking to get a similar sound as Axioms I think you should be looking in the direction of Grado. Out of all the sets I have tried the ones I thought were closest to the Axiom sound was the Grados.

Thanks Rick.

What else along w/ Grado? Denon D2000 maybe?

Which Grado would you recommend < $250? I'm OK w/ used BTW. Maybe MS1 or 2? 225 or 325? I didn't spend much time looking at the Grados, perhaps I should now.

The only ones I am familiar with is the iGrado, SR60 and the SR325i's. My personnel favorite is the 325i's. They seem to have all the right amounts of lows, mids and highs to suit my tastes.The RS225s get quite a lot of praise as a good bang for the buck on Headfi. If I were you I would try and find a shop and go take a listen to them. Even the SR 60 are a very good set for the money. Looking through the Headphones for sale on Headfi is a good way to get pretty good deals on some well kept sets. I acquired quite a few like this to see if they were to my liking and eventually sold them for the same amount.

You could also take a look at Alessandro as they too get real good reviews.

MS2's are magnificent. I have those and got them used for a bit over $200. Friend of mine just got the Denon AH2000's

Dan,

Would you say the sound sig of the MS2 are fairly close to that of the Axioms. In my experience the Grado sound is most like that of the Axioms out of all I have tried.

I would say so. They are forward and very transparent.

I agree. Plus they are very easy to drive.

Yeah, I'm wondering if the drive is the element I'm weak on.

I've burned the cans a little more and the bass seems to be coming out and tightening a bit, but it could be psychological.

There's a pair of MS2i's on headfi that are re-cabled. Is that a fair price?

Got to link me...

EDIT: nvm...found them http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f10/fs-allessandro-ms2i-389991/

I would get a nice amp to go with the MS2's, even if they are easy to drive. I'm sure we can talk about that more :-). I posted on head-fi as well. We can leave the discussion about the 770's there.

As for the MS2's, $250 is a decent price, but bear in mind they come new at $300. And the guy is shipping to you from Canada (shipping cost), and I would not put much value to the recabling since its arguable that it makes a difference. If you can haggle him down closer to $200, I'd do it.

225's are also very nice. I can spot differences in them and the MS2's, but then again I have a pretty nice equipment setup. I would say go for the 225's, 325i's, or the MS2/MS2i's. Try that sound, see if you like them.

Yeah, I wonder about all those recabling mods. We always have those speaker wire discussions here and we end up (mostly) that home depot wire is fine. I have to imagine that can wiring is similar.

Good input.

They've banned discussions on double blind cable testing on Head-fi...for good reason.

When you're at the point where you have 5 of the highest-end headphones, have the nicest source, and have the nicest amp and STILL don't know what to do with your money, then it's time to buy nice cables.

Yea, then again reading your post on Head-fi the Rotel might be a perfect amp for you...since you already have a nice setup. If anything, all you'd need is a nicer headphone amp since you have your preamps/sources/dac's made.

Just thought I'd share that I'm warming myself over my tube amp, looking at the nice "warm orange" glow they are emitting, and thinking warm thoughts.

It is SO cold here in Indiana.

It was a chilly 79F.
Almost didn’t break a sweat running today.

http://www.wunderground.com/US/AZ/Phoenix.html

I agree. When turning on my Sophia, I forgot how cool the tube glow was. My ASL's have tube cages so I can barely see them.

That glow ALWAYS makes me want to buy one of those nixie tube clocks. If only it didn't consume so much power...

http://store.tubeclock.com/index.php/nixie-tube-clocks/clocks#IN14_Wood_Clock

-12 F.

Feels like -31 F.

And I just sprinted .5 miles on well-lit campus sidewalks in nothing but a speedo and shoes and made $16.

I wouldn't pay that much for the MS2s. If you look here these guys will make a deal on brand new sets.

Oh I almost forgot, try the Rotel with the Grados before spending $$$$ on a separate headphone amp.

Yea...look on audiogon a bit too.

Trust me. I've been on audiogon too...

Yeah, no headphone amp yet. Still trying to figure out if cans are really for me first.

Rick
Do you think they'd do less than they're posted $295?

I do believe they will if you call them. I ended up getting mine as a demo pair from a shop in Chicago, Music Direct . I talked to the fellow over at AV Logic and they were willing to deal. They really can't advertise a lower price because of the way Grado does their pricing guaranty through their retail vendors.

Another place you could call is HCM Audio. I bought a set of SR60 for a discounted price.

Thanks. I'll give a few of them a call.

AV Logic gave a great price on the pair I wanted. It's on the way!

Much thanks for the rec.

Great news, your gonna love them. They seem to be some nice guys.

Your welcome.

http://www.turntablelab.com/dj_equipment/71/146

They have 20% off all headphones! OldSkool give it a shot :-)

EDIT: I see you already bought them! Congrats! I hope you got a great deal and enjoy them!

DOH, missed by a day. That's great price, slightly better than AV but no biggie.

Meeting a guy locally today. He's got a Little Dot I+ w/ some spare tubes for cheap. Looks like he's only had a few weeks.

Looks like I'll end up with Grados and a tube amp for <$375. Not bad.

Call AV back and see if they will price match, I sure would. Make sure that little dot will be ok with low ohm phones.

No luck, they (AV) were nice about it but Dan's referral link is a REALLY good deal. Oh well, no sweat.

Yeah, I checked LIttle dot and it should be able to drive both my Beyers and Grados. Should be a fun comparison.

You're down the road to being...a can addict :-)

Yeah, I know...

Tried the Little Dot I+ tonight. It's not bad for $100 but the Rotel is still better. The LD doesn't have the soundstage and bottom end that the Rotel has. The highs are quite good, the previous owner threw in some Sylvania 408A's he bought as well.

Looking forward to the Grados.

What did you end up getting again?

That Rotel has a very good HP section. Those Grados are going sound good from it.

Just got my 'silver' 325i's. (I can't imagine gold vs silver is such a big deal...)

Obviously, they're not broken in yet but it definitely has a different signature vs the Beyers. Highs and mids are more forward, bass isn't as prevalent as the DT770's. Yeah, I can see where these are more suited to my preference of the Axiom sound. I wouldn't necessarily say it's better or worse in comparison, just different.

Surprisingly enough, I like the Grados matched w/ the Little Dot I+ and Sylvania Gold 408A's vs the Rotel's output. It's not a huge difference, only subtle, but enough for me to prefer it. That was a surprise. I want to compare my Sophia but I need to buy an adapter since the Grados only have the larger connector.

My Beyers may be going up for sale.

Silver? Are they the current run of the 325I. At any rate I kind of figured you would enjoy them. Once you get used to them I believe you'll be happy with the amount of bass out of the 325s.

Congrats on a fine set of cans.

Not sure. However, there's a long debate at head-fi on whether it's supposed to be gold or silver. I think they went back to silver. I would've like the gold for that old school flavor but oh well.

My gold ones have a production # 3334. I bought them back in Aug. 05. You can check your number against them.

I curse Dan. 4 weeks ago I had nothing. Now I have this:



- Sophia Baby tube amp with 8 ohm 10W resistors used to create a headphone jack. Crude but it works
- Beyerdynamic DT770 250 ohm headphones
- Little Dot I+ hybrid headphone amplifier
- Grado 325i

I used think my UE super.fi 5EB were great headphones. They're good but the Grados are much better. I tried the DT770's but didn't really like them. In fact, they'll go up for sale soon.

I've changed out the tubes on the Little Dot to Sylvania Gold 408A's and swapped the cheaper ON Semi op amp for a Linear Tech LT1364. I would've thought that the tubes were going to be the big upgrade from the stock Chinese tubes. I noticed a subtle change but not a huge one. However, the opamp roll was a HUGE improvement which was a nice surprise. Simply put, everything got bigger: soundstage, bottom end, detail, separation, highs, mids, etc.

I'm really impressed with the Grado/Little Dot combo. In fact, the LD easily beats the Rotel's output. And I'm loving the Grados more and more. They sound FANTASTIC out of my iPod 5.5G. Surprisingly enough, the same music sounds better on the iPhone 3G, not sure if the headphone output is supposed to be better. Not what I would've expected but nice.

Nice

Very nice :-)

Glad you like them, they are truly world class headphones. I'd love to compare the MS2's with the 325's, because they are pretty much the same headphone and enclosure, except the MS2's have some alessandro tweaking.

Speaking of headphones, I just picked up some Sennheiser HD 650's. Boy, do they sing on my tube amp. Huge, deep bass, a wonderfully warm sound. Tchaikovsky's 1812 overture...wow.

By the way, here's some pictures from my listening setup being home this weekend...


The setup



In the dark



Swooping in from down low...




My favorite :-)

Very pretty, Dan. The look of the gear has to be a significant part of the enjoyment.

Dan, when are you getting these?:

Sennheiser HD800

HA. When college becomes free.

I'd settle for the headphones being free. Why can't this crappy economy help us out in this matter already?

Yea obama, where's our free stuff?

Yes, we cans?

LOL Good one.

Grado Company Profile

Cool article. I like my Grados even more now.

Nice thread revival, Shawn.

Grado headphones have a design flaw in that they insist on cords that go from each rotating ear cup into a Y which makes the cord prone to severe twisting and eventual wear over time. I realized this after I purchased a pair of Alessandro headphones (they are made by Grado). The cord design is very poor and probably one of the reasons you don't see any other serious headphone manufactures go this route.

I have a pair of Grado SR60s at work. You're right about the cord design. The Y sits right below my neck and is pretty annoying. I often have to twist one of the cups around to get that part untwisted to it sits nicely.

Yeah. The more it twists the tighter the wires from the Y portion up are against that portion of the body which makes them more uncomfortable as well. It's not like the user is twisting the cups or wires on purpose, the headphone itself just has the propensity to do it which is the annoying thing.