dac/amp and headphone combo's

Gray2233 said:
I've auditioned various headphones in Richer Sounds Newcastle (Upon Tyne) before, as @The_Arbiter mentioned they're pretty easy going.

It's on Clayton street over the road from the Academy.
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cheers mate, you know what it's like I'm just itching for some new cans lol, I wanted them for me birthday which is April the 6th and I don't think any of them shops will be open by then. but you are both being very sensible of course
 
Can you disable noise cancelling and use cable on those PX's you have?
Paired with a new DAC might keep you going for a bit.
Sadly i've been quite loose with my money in the past on audio equipment, so i'm not that sensible :P
 
The_Arbiter said:
Can you disable noise cancelling and use cable on those PX's you have?
Paired with a new DAC might keep you going for a bit.
Sadly i've been quite loose with my money in the past on audio equipment, so i'm not that sensible :p
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yeah i can and have they sound decent actually. lol i know what you mean it's very easy to get the bug and go stupid.
 
magpie1966 said:
I'm not doing anything competitive game wise (Too old I'm 55 in April, sick of having me arse handed to me by 12 yr olds :( )
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You should switch from reflex shooters to games requiring, learning, thinking and planning ahead.
That's something modern "everything to me now yesterday without effort" generation hasn't been taught to do.
Maybe something like World of Warships?


As for headphones you listed.
  • Sennheiser HD560s would certainly have good accurate sound, unlike HD599 which has moved toward warm "stuffy" for gaming sound.
    While bass is neutral, its extension is good and there's just enough treble to give air/details, which is good for gaming.
    (though for fun gaming bass is light)
    Also Sennheisers are very light and with velours breath well and hence should be comfortable for hours long use, assuming clamping force is fit.

    Negative side is their plasticky design and especially that piece attaching ear cup to head band is pretty horrible design durability wise:
    It pretty much creates and focuses stresses to its upper end and needs top notch plastic alloy quality for hopes of enduring.
    Myself have been burned by that design in HD595, which started falling apart before 3 years. (later saw same cracking in HD598 in shop)
    HD560s at least uses standard black plastic instead of bling bling garbage plastic...
    But that design is just made for fancy look instead of durability, which is real shame.
  • HE-5xx is Massdrop version headphone, just like those AKGs and Sennheisers with similar X/XX-ending designation.
    Can't find frequency response measurements for it with comparisons available, but apparently bass has gotten some boost to it over usual Hifimans andsound is more warm.
    Sundara again is accurate and quite neutral.

    Downsides of Hifimans are ear cups lacking swivel and total lack of isolation of any external sounds.
    Most open headphones can at least smooth keyboard noise little by muffling little upper mids and some treble:
    https://www.rtings.com/headphones/1-4/graph#628/4053/589
    Also despite of that total lack of noise isolation, inside and outside of ear pad being pleather decreases breathing and makes Hifimans comparable to many closed and obviously completely superior sound isolation headphones in how much it warms ears.
    According to RTINGs breathability is actually as "good" as with your B&W PX.
    (+support/spare part availability likely far worst)
  • Amiron and DT1990 are based on same driver design with differences in tuning and look.
    Amiron is apparently calmer and smoother sounding with warmer bass.
    Year or so ago I tried it in one shop with some game recordings and it seemed good, but didn't have comparison point. (and noises from street didn't help)
    DT1990 is again aimed for more accurate sound with tighter better controlled bass, but with good strength in it with balanced pads.
    Also mids are very accurate.
    So should be very good for gaming.
    Analytical pads (comes with two different pads) again make bass neutral, which makes that Beyer's treble stick out more.

    As negative that Beyer's treble is definitely one for music, if you're used to usual headphones with below neutral treble.
    Though on PC it's easy to adjust it using equalizer with 8 kHz band working quite well and tuning some part of frequency response down doesn't involve risk of signal clipping, like if you tried to boost bass bigger amount.
    (Dekoni Elite Velour pads would also lower treble)
    Also at 370 grams DT1990 isn't that light, though neither it's heavy.
 
I went with the Sundara's, definitely better detail and clarity compared to my old Fidelio X2's, but they aren't anywhere near as big an upgrade as moving from closed back AKG K550's to Fidelio X2's. They have less bass than the X2's but they don't feel lacking, and it can be easily changed with APO Equalizer and Peace GUI. Comfort wise they are fine, clamping force is a bit higher than my X2's but I'm sure that will loosen up in time, ear cups are a little warmer but don't get uncomfortable.

For a DAC/AMP I currently use an Apple USB-C headphone adapter for £9 :D. You may laugh but it's actually very good and has more than enough power for the Sundara's. I'll probably upgrade it at some point though to get a DAC with multiple inputs and easy switching.
 
magpie1966 said:
Thanks for your reply EsaT, lots to think about, for sure, thanks for the effort too
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Choosing something with everything purely numerically measurable is easy to do faster.
Not so for other things which aren't just "pure numbers".
I spent months looking for PC case and now have 12½ years old case with everything on market today looking bad and things just going even worser...
Good thing all structural/mechanical parts are metal to last.

Older design HD590, which was my first full size headphone, survived 10 years of use without signs of mechanically wearing and when getting HD595 didn't even think to look at mechanical design.
Would have been better, if Sennheiser had kept that old thin and flimsy but easy to replace cable as weak spot, instead of beefing it up while screwing up mechanical design for the sake of fashion.
Beyerdynamic's design is again from 30+ years ago when fashion was far behind durability in design priorities.
 
My initial impressions on the comfort of the Sundara's was wrong, I have big ears which press against the inside of the cup and after a couple of hours it starts to get uncomfortable. I replaced the ear pads with Brainwavz XL Micro Suede pads (£35) which are perfect for me. As a bonus the material feels a lot nicer than the stock pads. For most people with normal size ears the stock pads are probably fine though.
 
magpie1966 said:
I noticed you have a pair of Ananda's and you haven't mentioned them in your recomendations is there a reason?
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When the HE-5XX came out I found they offered a lot of what the Ananda does at a much cheaper price. The Ananda has a slightly more refined treble than the HE-5XX.

The Ananda is an amazing headphone though overall I personally much prefer it to the Focal Clear etc for tonal balance.
 
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Hi ,
thanks everyone for your advice, I bought a pair of 560s, there cheap enough and though so what...... actually most of the evaluations on here were very good, the sound stage , and mids etc are very good, the bass is controlled, and i'm not 100% sure they dont deliver guts, as some games and music it provides,
playing with the eq etc, i found created a pulse type issue , the drivers did not cope well at all. but for the money good build, my yoda type ears fin inside fine and comfortabe, the are getting better the more i use them. They are a stop gap to my Birthday present. I am looking at the hd800, or maybe something else, but definetly not dissappointed at all
 
magpie1966 said:
Hi ,
thanks everyone for your advice, I bought a pair of 560s, there cheap enough and though so what...... actually most of the evaluations on here were very good, the sound stage , and mids etc are very good, the bass is controlled, and i'm not 100% sure they dont deliver guts, as some games and music it provides,
playing with the eq etc, i found created a pulse type issue , the drivers did not cope well at all. but for the money good build, my yoda type ears fin inside fine and comfortabe, the are getting better the more i use them. They are a stop gap to my Birthday present. I am looking at the hd800, or maybe something else, but definetly not dissappointed at all
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If you're wanting 'guts and excitement' some of the Sennheiser options you've been considering might not be your best bet, I find that when people say those things they're looking for a specific sort of sound and it isn't one I feel the HD560 or HD800 offer. Honestly the same stands for the likes of the HD650, of which I'm a huge fan alongside my bottlehead crack. My general go-to is my LCD-2 + Fireflies setup, which has essentially ended up my end game as someone that started out in the enthusiast space with Sennheiser products.

Beyers, Grado, the various Planar options out there might be where you want to start looking.

If you're thinking of spending HD800 money I'd be looking at Hifiman or Audeze personally, the HD800S are a slightly different story but again I'm not convinced you're looking in the right areas.

I would highly recommend trying to audition in that price range before buying into it regardless, hopefully in a few months we wont be quite so restricted as to where we can go and what we can do. Even if stores local to you don't have options available to audition there's a chance you'll be able to find a headphone meet in your area where you'll be able to check out that sort of thing in person.
 
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