Any suggestions for decent flat phones that allow air to get to the
ears? I'm not concerned with leakage. I live in an apartment and can't
use monitors to listen to what I create without disturbing neighbors.
But I'll be spending long hours hashing songs out in my digital
multitrack. Comfort is essential. I'm hoping there are less expensive
phones that do the job, but I'd be willing to pay up to about $200 if I
have to.
Thanks,
Jeff

"straightnut" wrote in message
oups.com
Any suggestions for decent flat phones that allow air to
get to the ears? I'm not concerned with leakage. I live
in an apartment and can't use monitors to listen to what
I create without disturbing neighbors. But I'll be
spending long hours hashing songs out in my digital
multitrack. Comfort is essential. I'm hoping there are
less expensive phones that do the job, but I'd be willing
to pay up to about $200 if I have to.

The most comfortable headphones I have are Sennheiser
HD580s. That applies to both the ergonomics and the sound
quality.

Arny Krueger wrote:
"straightnut" wrote in message
oups.com
Any suggestions for decent flat phones that allow air to
get to the ears? I'm not concerned with leakage. I live
in an apartment and can't use monitors to listen to what
I create without disturbing neighbors. But I'll be
spending long hours hashing songs out in my digital
multitrack. Comfort is essential. I'm hoping there are
less expensive phones that do the job, but I'd be willing
to pay up to about $200 if I have to.

The most comfortable headphones I have are Sennheiser
HD580s. That applies to both the ergonomics and the sound
quality.

+1

Karl Winkler
Lectrosonics, Inc.
http://www.lectrosonics.com

"straightnut" wrote in message
oups.com...
: Any suggestions for decent flat phones that allow air to get to the
: ears? I'm not concerned with leakage. I live in an apartment and can't
: use monitors to listen to what I create without disturbing neighbors.
: But I'll be spending long hours hashing songs out in my digital
: multitrack. Comfort is essential. I'm hoping there are less expensive
: phones that do the job, but I'd be willing to pay up to about $200 if I
: have to.
: Thanks,
: Jeff
:

Sennheiser HD600s. When I am sitting still at the computer concentrating on
something for hours, long after the last CD ended I sometimes wonder if I
still have them on. Wonderful, incredibly detailed sound after they burned
in, very comfortable, and NO fatigue at all. They sound like Mackie HR824s
on my head, and that works the other way, too. I picked mine up refurbished
for $200 at some place on the web.

Bruce

So is the HD600 just a more luxurious version of the HD580? It looks
like I can get a new HD580 for $159 with shipping, or a new HD600 for
about $250 with shipping. The cheapest refurbished HD600s I can find
are just a bit less than the new price.
Do they feel and sound pretty much the same?
Jeff

I can't speak for the HD600's, but I can't speak highly enough of the
HD580's. They are wonderful headphones, and if you can get them for $160,
it seems to me that you're getting an absolute bargain! They are truly
fantastic headphones.


Rich

"straightnut" wrote in message
oups.com...
So is the HD600 just a more luxurious version of the HD580? It looks
like I can get a new HD580 for $159 with shipping, or a new HD600 for
about $250 with shipping. The cheapest refurbished HD600s I can find
are just a bit less than the new price.
Do they feel and sound pretty much the same?
Jeff

i would also give the 580's good marks for comfort

"straightnut" wrote in message
oups.com...
: So is the HD600 just a more luxurious version of the HD580? It looks
: like I can get a new HD580 for $159 with shipping, or a new HD600 for
: about $250 with shipping. The cheapest refurbished HD600s I can find
: are just a bit less than the new price.
: Do they feel and sound pretty much the same?
: Jeff
:

http://www.goodcans.com/ListeningSta...sennhd580.html
tells you that the 580 is the same transducers with different materials, and
one of the reviewers at
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...16831?v=glance
was more specific and laudacious (is that a word?): "The main differences
between the HD580 and HD600 appear to be in better reasonance control
throughout the entire mechanical system and evolutionary driver
improvements. The HD600s do indeed approach perfection. Their sound quality
is not easily surpassed by $10,000 loudspeakers. "

I forgot to mention that a few times when trying to keep working at ungodly
hours like 3 or 4 a.m., I have found myself sitting upright but virtually
asleep, unaware of anything except some gloriously pure, perfect music
around me, and slowly realized I had my HD600s on. This was probably while
listening to Goran Sollscher playing Bach on alto guitar, or maybe Yo-yo Ma
on Vivaldi's Cello. And I don't know that I have ever heard a more
realistic recorded musical experience than the Berlioz Requiem (Telarc
CD-80109) recorded with Scheops Colette mics via a Neotek console onto a
Soundstream digital tape recorder with no transformers in the chain and no
signal processing whatsoever--not even EQ--listened to on a Masterlink
through the HD600s. Whew.

The HD600s give me as much music as there is in the recordings, and nothing
less. When I got these I was finally able to hear the nuances of myriad
effects and reverbs used in mixes. The clarity is stunning. Everything is
distinct. I was rather annoyed at first, perhaps because they weren't
burned in yet, but also because I was so distracted by the new world of
detail that I was unable to just enjoy music I had heard hundreds of times
before. It was no longer smooshed together into a mass of sound. It took
me a while to get used to them, but now I think I have finally arrived at
transducer heaven.

They also have the HD650 for a lot more for those who wants pumped up bass.

Bruce

i like the grados a lot. i have the 60s. awesome imaging and detail.
however, they let in (and out) a lot of noise, so if you'll be
distracted by say like, your fridge turning on, or your a/c compressor
kicking in, i would avoid. I think they're about 100 bux.

straightnut wrote:

Any suggestions for decent flat phones that allow air to get to the
ears? I'm not concerned with leakage. I live in an apartment and can't
use monitors to listen to what I create without disturbing neighbors.
But I'll be spending long hours hashing songs out in my digital
multitrack. Comfort is essential. I'm hoping there are less expensive
phones that do the job, but I'd be willing to pay up to about $200 if I
have to.

You need some nice open backed 'cans'.

I don't need anything fancy since I just use them on my PC but I like my
Beyer DT331s for that.

Sennheiser - Beyer - both are very good.

Graham

http://www.goodcans.com/ListeningSta...sennhd580.html
tells you that the 580 is the same transducers with different materials,
and
one of the reviewers at

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...16831?v=glance
was more specific and laudacious (is that a word?): "The main differences
between the HD580 and HD600 appear to be in better reasonance control
throughout the entire mechanical system and evolutionary driver
improvements. The HD600s do indeed approach perfection. Their sound
quality is not easily surpassed by $10,000 loudspeakers."

Oh, yes it is. The Sennheisers don't come even close to perfection.

I know of no better dynamic headphones than the Sennheisers. But you can get
better headphones and better speakers -- for a price. For $200 to $300, I
don't see how you can do better. You'd have to spend $400 to $500 for a pair
of STAX electrostatics (which include their own amp).


The HD600s give me as much music as there is in the recordings,
and nothing less.

If this were true, I'd toss my STAX Lanbda Pro headphones and amp.
Sennheisers are terrific dynamic headphones, but they do not approach
pefection, and they do not reveal all there is in a recording.

Nevertheless, if you want good headphones for extended listening, you should
get Sennheisers.

If I might suggest: www.ultrasone.com


Eric

Damn, you gave me that link to goodcans.com and now how can I ignore
the Sony MDR-F1 headphones. I was a click away from buying either the
HD580 or HD600. The author reviews the Sonys as "easily the most
comfortable headphones I've ever auditioned." Although he also
mentions that of the 5 he reviewed in the article they are the lowest
in sound quality. But he's comparing them to Sennheiser HD590 and
HD600, Grado SR225 and SR325.
Jeff

"William Sommerwerck" wrote in message
...
"Bruce Cooley" wrote:
: The HD600s give me as much music as there is in the recordings,
: and nothing less.
:
: If this were true, I'd toss my STAX Lanbda Pro headphones and amp.
: Sennheisers are terrific dynamic headphones, but they do not approach
: pefection, and they do not reveal all there is in a recording.

Now I am going to have those STAX eating away slowly at my insides until I
finally try them out someday.

"Bruce Cooley" wrote in message

"William Sommerwerck" wrote
in message ...
"Bruce Cooley" wrote:
The HD600s give me as much music as there is in the
recordings, and nothing less.

If this were true, I'd toss my STAX Lanbda Pro
headphones and amp. Sennheisers are terrific dynamic
headphones, but they do not approach pefection, and they
do not reveal all there is in a recording.

Now I am going to have those STAX eating away slowly at
my insides until I finally try them out someday.

I auditioned a few pair of STAX at HE2005 this spring.

I went home to HD580s with a big smile on my face.

I'm easy to please. ;-)

: The HD600s give me as much music as there is in the recordings,
: and nothing less.

: If this were true, I'd toss my STAX Lambda Pro headphones and amp.
: Sennheisers are terrific dynamic headphones, but they do not approach
: pefection, and they do not reveal all there is in a recording.

Now I am going to have those STAX eating away slowly at my insides until I
until I finally try them out someday.

I certainly didn't mean to infect you!