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What's the deal with mid-tier closed headphones?

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zepplock

zepplock

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It's open, not as open as say an LCD2 though. In a practical sense it is an open headphone.
'semi-open' part is the cotton disc with the hole in the middle between the driver and the cup. It let's in outside noises and people around you can hear what is playing. I have 2 DT880's. I think they are great for the money once you remove the treble peak.

http://www.diyaudioblog.com/2011/12/recabling-pair-of-beyerdynamic-dt880.html
recabling-pair-of-beyerdynamic-dt880.html
Oh yeah, 100% agreement. I'll test drive 880s as a last resort, my buddy has those in the office.
 

bravomail

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Ok so I tried k371 for a month, and I had to return it back to Amazon. It's a very good set but didn't work for me:
- too small for my ears
- get pretty hot after 1+ hour, even in AC room.
- they slide off my head, I tried to adjust the clamping force, it's either too strong and I get a headache, or not enough and the slide.

Anyway, so with an exception of Shure 1540, what else should I try? Also maybe dt880?

try
AudioTechnica M40x
AKG K553 (any 550-553 - they r kinda same)
Coolermaster MH751
 

solderdude

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Oh yeah, 100% agreement. I'll test drive 880s as a last resort, my buddy has those in the office.

Finding good sounding closed headphones is a daunting task.
Ones that worked for me (and kept) were DT1770 (modified) and Audeze Sine with large pads (both second hand, for nice prices).
Also kept the DT1350 (with other pads and EQ) but would not recommend this on-ear. It is not liked universally so to speak.
T51P also is quite decent in some aspects that are important to me. Did not buy one though.
Quite liked the DCA AEON closed but found it too expensive.
SRH1540 was not bad, needed EQ, way too bassy/fat and not great at louder levels.

In studios the DT250-250 (needs mods to balance L and R) is good (as in tonally balanced) but treble is not 'refined'.
DT150 with DT100 pads also is quite good, funky looking and no silky smooth treble either but excellent for studio usage.
High clamping force.
 
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markanini

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n studios the DT250-250 (needs mods to balance L and R) is good (as in tonally balanced) but treble is not 'refined'.
How do you fix the L-R balance? The issue bothered me but the sound signature wasn't bad at all(Unlike the 80Ohm version).
 

julian_hughes

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I had some 1st generation Sennheiser Momentum over-ears which were extremely light and sounded very good but not comfortable unless you have small ears. Now I have the second generation version and it's very comfortable indeed even for someone with a broad head and fairly large ears, and it sounds great too. The cable is swappable and the earpads are easy to swap so lifespan should be good.
 
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zepplock

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I had some 1st generation Sennheiser Momentum over-ears which were extremely light and sounded very good but not comfortable unless you have small ears. Now I have the second generation version and it's very comfortable indeed even for someone with a broad head and fairly large ears, and it sounds great too. The cable is swappable and the earpads are easy to swap so lifespan should be good.
I only see wireless ones on Amazon, is there a link to non-wireless, version?
 
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zepplock

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Finding good sounding closed headphones is a daunting task.
Ones that worked for me (and kept) were DT1770 (modified) and Audeze Sine with large pads (both second hand, for nice prices).
Also kept the DT1350 (with other pads and EQ) but would not recommend this on-ear. It is not liked universally so to speak.
T51P also is quite decent in some aspects that are important to me. Did not buy one though.
Quite liked the DCA AEON closed but found it too expensive.
SRH1540 was not bad, needed EQ, way too bassy/fat and not great at louder levels.

In studios the DT250-250 (needs mods to balance L and R) is good (as in tonally balanced) but treble is not 'refined'.
DT150 with DT100 pads also is quite good, funky looking and no silky smooth treble either but excellent for studio usage.
High clamping force.

If that's the whole list - I'm about to give up and cry ;(
Basically either use IEMs or budget needs to be $500+
Is is that hard to take Dt770 and make it sound decent?
 
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zepplock

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I wonder if I should try Fostex t50 or t60 again, or whatever the latest is.
 

solderdude

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Fostex t-series lack lower bass, often there is a substantial channel imbalance between the drivers. They have rolled of upper treble.
Fortunately they are highly modifiable and react well to EQ. Once EQ'ed they sound great.
I think @Dan Clark made a wise decision to develop his own drivers instead of continuing to use the Fostex drivers/headphones.
Dan turned them into something 'better' (so did other companies) but there is so only much that can be done with physical mods.

The list I gave is incomplete. It's just what I hung onto. Didn't hang on to DT770 despite owning them twice.
To me it has a resonant and 'one-note' bass while others never hear(d) that. The treble peak needs some attention as well.
For the money it is a good headphone, the prof versions are sturdy as hell. The pads are well... need some attention now and then.
When it comes to cheaper good sounding closed headphones K371 and DT770 are about it.
Also the Takstar Pro82 is not a bad choice as well as the M50X and with some EQ the HD280Pro

There are probably some more but have no experience with those.
 

Dan Clark

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Fostex t-series lack lower bass, often there is a substantial channel imbalance between the drivers. They have rolled of upper treble.
Fortunately they are highly modifiable and react well to EQ. Once EQ'ed they sound great.
I think @Dan Clark made a wise decision to develop his own drivers instead of continuing to use the Fostex drivers/headphones.
Dan turned them into something 'better' (so did other companies) but there is so only much that can be done with physical mods.

The list I gave is incomplete. It's just what I hung onto. Didn't hang on to DT770 despite owning them twice.
To me it has a resonant and 'one-note' bass while others never hear(d) that. The treble peak needs some attention as well.
For the money it is a good headphone, the prof versions are sturdy as hell. The pads are well... need some attention now and then.
When it comes to cheaper good sounding closed headphones K371 and DT770 are about it.
Also the Takstar Pro82 is not a bad choice as well as the M50X and with some EQ the HD280Pro

There are probably some more but have no experience with those.

Modifying Foster headphones was always the way for us to enter the market without a lot of capital. We literally started the company with no funds so having an off-the-shelf and easy to upgrade headphone allowed us to have a commercial product without the customary startup overhead, and funded development of ETHER.

That was actually our plan from day 1, and the goal had been to ship ETHER within 3 years, which we did almost to the month.

Great way to bootstrap a company with no investment. :)
 

DSJR

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These may be too lo-fi for the exalted headphone peeps on here, but I'm very fond of my Sennheiser HD25SP's. The cheaper SP version uses basically the old HD414 headband with a simple hard-foam cushion, doesn't clamp itself to one's head while still isolating well and subjectively, the highs sparkle but not unpleasantly (so I'd suggest a broad peak rather than a narrow spitty sound) and I find the bass to mids rather acceptable and quite clear. The pukka 25 Pro version looks to have similar 'capsules' which may be quality controlled better for all I know, but these do clamp to the head firmly and emphasise the bass more. I preferred these to similar price Grado's personally, which were the sub £200 audiophile choice after the 'noise' on forums and clique dealer recommendations.

Just a thought, but the above 25's do seem ignored by the audiophile fraternity in a way they shouldn't be in my opinion. Interesting to see if others who know them feel the same...
 

julian_hughes

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I only see wireless ones on Amazon, is there a link to non-wireless, version?

It seems they are discontinued. They were still available new on amazon uk a few weeks ago but no longer. But there are plenty of them on ebay at very decent prices, both new and used. I bought mine this way, used but as good as new (I just cleaned them a little and treated the leather pads), boxed with case and cable, and I paid less than a third of their new retail price. I've now given the Momentum v1 to a niece (much smaller ears than me!). She had never heard really good headphones before so is somewhat amazed and delighted!
 

lawk

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Personally I much prefer the DT770 250ohm over the K371 when speaking about entry level cans. The DT770 has much more air in the treble, better soundstage. The K371 has pretty good subbass texture with the titanium driver, but it severly lacks treble for me. I appreciate some sparkle and air.
 
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zepplock

zepplock

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Personally I much prefer the DT770 250ohm over the K371 when speaking about entry level cans. The DT770 has much more air in the treble, better soundstage. The K371 has pretty good subbass texture with the titanium driver, but it severly lacks treble for me. I appreciate some sparkle and air.

You can fix treble easily with EQ. Bass on many headphones can be adjusted as well assuming they don't distort. But you can't fix comfort, cap size, etc. I need to try DT770 250ohm again.
 
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zepplock

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SRH440 are not great.
Good: they stay on my head.
Bad: cheaply made plastic, creaks. Cord is micro-phonic, replaceable but with custom twist-lock. Needed some EQ, especially on the low end.

I might cave in and get dt770 + EQ just for comfort, or get IEMs.
 

paolomo

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I might cave in and get dt770 + EQ just for comfort, or get IEMs.
I came to the same conclusion, although I use closed backs only for monitoring. The DT770 are what I use the most: I sometimes do longish streaming/meeting sessions (1.5+ hours) and comfortable closed back headphones are of the essence. After I am done, they get back to their unassuming nylon bag and straight into the closet. They are comfortable and dependable and that's what I need. As for the sound quality, well, you may or may not like them.

I used the ATH M50x for some time, they have a less controversial frequency response, but sometime around 40 minutes they just become too hot for me. I can only imagine what would happen at the 8hr mark :D

Now, more in the realm of personal opinions, if I had to wear headphones for 8 hours and for the purpose of enjoying music, I would greatly prefer open backs, at volumes low enough not to bother who is around me. In fact, that's what I do. Sure, it might not work for you, and you probably want to get rid of the noise around you. In that case, I would keep some in ears handy, and alternate the two. Which is also what I do. ;)
 

posvibes

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I like my Mx40's but the AKG K371's are quite unique to my experience. They seem, and forgive me if this terminology is wrong, but for me they have a constant directivity and a very even sound power so that the frequency bands are compartmentalized with very little bleed in either direction up or down, but it all comes together very nicely where the whole is the sum of its parts seamlessly.

Sound stage is not wide but they are an easy listen.

8 hours at a sitting it might be an idea to look at some very comfortable gaming headsets those guys play marathons with those things on their heads?
 
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