Time for new cans.

DCS

Wammer
Wammer
Jul 11, 2010
512
11
48
NR Glasgow
AKA
Donny
Time for some new cans, I’ve had my current cans for many, many years, sennheiser hd424x, had them for over 30 years. I have replaced the foam pads more times that I care to remember.

Time to try something new, I’m open to idea’s on open or closed styles. They will be used straight from my amp (Yamaha A-S1100) as I’ve never owned a headphone amp. Budget around two to three hundred, happy to buy new or used. Suggestions please.
 
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JANDL100

Wammer
Wammer Plus
Dec 5, 2006
20,125
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Forest of Dean, Glos
AKA
Jerry
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
If you fancy staying with Sennheiser then a pair of used HD700 would be within your budget.
I really enjoyed my time with mine.

Very good all round headphones imo.
 

DCS

Wammer
Wammer
Jul 11, 2010
512
11
48
NR Glasgow
AKA
Donny
If you fancy staying with Sennheiser then a pair of used HD700 would be within your budget.
I really enjoyed my time with mine.

Very good all round headphones imo.
I’m happy to consider any make, ill go and have a read on the HD700. Thanks for the suggestion.
 

JANDL100

Wammer
Wammer Plus
Dec 5, 2006
20,125
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Forest of Dean, Glos
AKA
Jerry
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
Headphones are just as personal as speakers. One person's Wow is another person's Yuck.
There are approximately 1.37 million headphones, old and new, out there to choose from. :)

But fwiw, here are some of my favourites, topping out at about £300 used or new, in no particular order, * = currently owned ...

Focal Elegia *
Sennheiser HD700
Stax SR3
Technics F50B (Bluetooth, new) *
Hifiman Deva * (removable Bluetooth dongle)
Oppo PM3 *
Shure Srh840
Fostex TH-600k
BQEYZ Autumn IEM (new) *
Philips X2HR
Wharfedale Isodynamic
Beyerdynamic DT880 & DT250
Bose AE2 *

The Focal Elegia are my most recent purchase, I'm still in the learning phase with those.

Other headphones I've enjoyed will doubtless occur to me.

I could give a longer list of those I've owned that I didn't like. But others love them so you might, too.

There's quite a few threads here about Wammers' personal headphone journeys. See the subforum, "Your Headphone Set Up At Home". Well worth skimming through. My own thread, currently 10 pages long, is called Headphone Heaven.



My own personal preference these days is to convert headphones into wireless by attaching a Bluetooth dongle and streaming from my phone. I then use a couple of Android apps for EQ. I find that a little EQ is always beneficial for headphones, sometimes quite a lot of EQ. (I can give specific details of these devices and apps if you are interested).
Others here will be recoiling in horror at the mere Idea of this, and will swear by their dedicated headphone amps. I've tried that, and haven't found it necessary or advantageous. You make your own path, as ever.
 
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DCS

Wammer
Wammer
Jul 11, 2010
512
11
48
NR Glasgow
AKA
Donny
I can see the benefit off Bluetooth with the freedom of movement. Don’t think I want to go down the headphone amp route, no space in my unit to put one anyway.

loads off choices out there now, I still like my HD424x but there showing their age now.
 
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DCS

Wammer
Wammer
Jul 11, 2010
512
11
48
NR Glasgow
AKA
Donny
I’ve been doing a bit of research and it would seem modern cans really benefit from a dedicated amp. It’s looking like I need to consider one. Are there any models under £200 that would be worth considering?
 

griffo104

Wammer
Wammer
Sep 30, 2005
7,311
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158
Newport
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Griffo
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
I’ve been doing a bit of research and it would seem modern cans really benefit from a dedicated amp. It’s looking like I need to consider one. Are there any models under £200 that would be worth considering?
I'm very much in the headphone amp camp. For about £85 the Xduoo MT-602 a cracking little amp, valve pre-stage and op-amp output, loads of power and sounds particularly good with planars but all my phones like this little amp. Also the tubes are quite cheap and worth tube rolling, but certainly not essential.

For solid state I have a Lake People G109-S, which I'm using at the moment with a Mojo input and a Focal Elegia phones and It's a great combo, it's a bit off your £200 limit but they do cheaper models.
 
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DCS

Wammer
Wammer
Jul 11, 2010
512
11
48
NR Glasgow
AKA
Donny
A quick update.
I decided to get a headphone amp first before new cans, I now have a Beyerdynamic A20 amp. My old sennheiser hd424’s are sounding pretty good through the amp, but I think more modern cans would be even better.
Anyone on here used or have the same amp? If so what have you found a good match with cans. I guess Beyerdynamic an ideal choice but wanted to know what others have found?
 

Lawrence001

Mega Wammer
Wammer
Jul 21, 2015
5,956
3,535
168
London
AKA
Lawrence
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
I haven't used the Beyer amp but I've got 2 pairs of Beyer DT880 Edition 600 Ohms which should pair nicely with them I'm sure I could let one go, barely used in the box with the carry case say £80 plus postage.

I found them to have a very balanced sound compared to others (eg more natural than the V shaped curve on the DT990s) and they scale up really well.

I had the 424s many years ago and liked them but realised they were quite bright and lacking in bass when I tried some others.
 

Tony_J

Gone fishin'
Staff member
Mar 4, 2013
19,635
2
18,401
208
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
My own personal preference these days is to convert headphones into wireless by attaching a Bluetooth dongle and streaming from my phone.
Which dongle do you use? I recently tried this with a cheapo dongle that I found on Amazon and it works surprisingly well.

APEKX Clip Bluetooth Audio Adapter for Headphones, Headset, Speaker, Wireless Receiver with MIC for Hands-Free Call and Music https://amzn.eu/d/c5ncoBd
 

JANDL100

Wammer
Wammer Plus
Dec 5, 2006
20,125
7,866
208
Forest of Dean, Glos
AKA
Jerry
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
Check out eBay item 393969717466 for a Bluetooth dongle that I use and can recommend.

It's listed as £20 or best offer, I've found they often accept lower offers, try 14 or 15.
 
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