$600

I don't know about other Sennheisers but I don't think the HD650's are easy to break. Mine have withstanded many rough nights and they still look good as new.

  On 7/31/2012 at 3:45 AM, Ego said:

I don't know about other Sennheisers but I don't think the HD650's are easy to break. Mine have withstanded many rough nights and they still look good as new.

Same here.

Just don't step on them, or forcibly bend the plastic part of the headband casing, which apparently people do, because they are idiots.

I've also heard good things about the Little Dot amps.

I dunno bout HD650's, but I had a pair of HD595's that I treat like a luxurious chinese coquette, but gradually after a couple of years use, small cracks began appearing where the cans connected to the headband, eventually snapping, and now I've been waiting three weeks for the fucks to replace them. But that might just be the 595s.

  On 7/31/2012 at 3:32 AM, StephenG said:

  On 7/31/2012 at 3:27 AM, Al Hounos said:

i like the way grados sound, but they're just too damned uncomfortable. scratch foam touching the sensitive parts of my ear, no thank you.

another voter for the Sennheiser HD-650. I use them with a Little Dot amp, which is very good. check head-fi.

 

Going to check that out now!

 

One thing I'm also looking for is durability though, and I've heard not so good things about the senns... Sometimes I like to drink and pass out with the things on my head listening to tunes into the weeee hours of the morning.

 

If they're not able to withstand that, I don't think they'll last long!

As you mentioned AKG 701s earlier (which are my phones and are ace - the bass isn't lacking, they're naturally flat frequency response (it's normally boosted by a lot of phones, but these phones leave it up to your EQ tastes)), maybe look to the newer 702s. They've got a detachable headphone cable, so if you keep pulling it and the connection becomes loose then you just have to replace the cable rather than the whole phones. Plus they feel like wearing clouds.

hmmmm Denon AH D 5000... if you have that kinda money you should look into those. (or the d7000 if you want to max it out)

I´m pretty happy with my d2000, didn´t really like the Sennheiser, Sony or AKG models in that price range.

  On 7/31/2012 at 1:40 PM, mcbpete said:

  On 7/31/2012 at 3:32 AM, StephenG said:

  On 7/31/2012 at 3:27 AM, Al Hounos said:

i like the way grados sound, but they're just too damned uncomfortable. scratch foam touching the sensitive parts of my ear, no thank you.

another voter for the Sennheiser HD-650. I use them with a Little Dot amp, which is very good. check head-fi.

 

Going to check that out now!

 

One thing I'm also looking for is durability though, and I've heard not so good things about the senns... Sometimes I like to drink and pass out with the things on my head listening to tunes into the weeee hours of the morning.

 

If they're not able to withstand that, I don't think they'll last long!

As you mentioned AKG 701s earlier (which are my phones and are ace - the bass isn't lacking, they're naturally flat frequency response (it's normally boosted by a lot of phones, but these phones leave it up to your EQ tastes)), maybe look to the newer 702s. They've got a detachable headphone cable, so if you keep pulling it and the connection becomes loose then you just have to replace the cable rather than the whole phones. Plus they feel like wearing clouds.

Thanks! I'm leaning towards those 702s now, the are selling for 280$ and that leaves me plenty of money to get a headphone amp.

I really wish there was somewhere in my city that sold this kind of thing so you could demo them first though.

beware, AKGs are great, but very bright, some might even say 'thin'. they are extremely detailed though. you really should listen to the two ends of the spectrum (bassy, dark sennheisers) and (trebly, bright AKG), and decide which one you like better. they are both good but very different.

when i was trying phones, i also really liked Denon, but senns are just easier to come by/more broadly praised. the sonys were always pretty lame. hard to go wrong with sennheiser, denon, or AKG.

  On 7/31/2012 at 5:14 PM, Al Hounos said:

beware, AKGs are great, but very bright, some might even say 'thin'. they are extremely detailed though. you really should listen to the two ends of the spectrum (bassy, dark sennheisers) and (trebly, bright AKG), and decide which one you like better. they are both good but very different.

 

when i was trying phones, i also really liked Denon, but senns are just easier to come by/more broadly praised.

I would love to try them out but I literally cannot find any place that has high end headphones in my city!

It's frustrating!

You know what, StephenG? Try some headphones and buy the ones you like the best.

  On 7/31/2012 at 5:32 PM, Squee said:

You know what, StephenG? Try some headphones and buy the ones you like the best.

Lol

That sounds like a great idea. I will head over to the headphone trying store right away!

Long & McQuade has both the K702 and the HD650

There are three Long&McQuade stores in Calgary:

10 Royal Vista Drive NW

Calgary North, Alberta

3404 5th Avenue NE

Calgary East, Alberta

105-58th Avenue SW

Calgary, Alberta

  On 7/31/2012 at 5:37 PM, chenGOD said:

Long & McQuade has both the K702 and the HD650

 

There are three Long&McQuade stores in Calgary:

 

10 Royal Vista Drive NW

Calgary North, Alberta

 

3404 5th Avenue NE

Calgary East, Alberta

 

105-58th Avenue SW

Calgary, Alberta

When I called last sunday the lady said they won't take one out of the box to demo them for me but they had some other pairs that I wasn't interested in that I could try. I didn't call the other locations but I suppose I could try them (maybe she was full of shit or didn't know)

Ill try them on the weekend

She's full of shit.

  On 7/31/2012 at 6:17 PM, chenGOD said:

She's full of shit.

To be honest, I thought so too but I wasn't really sure how that works (I've never looked for headphones this way or anything, wasn't sure if they'd bust open a new box to let me listen =/ ).

Anyway, RE the whole thread. I've heard a lot about a diverse amount of products out there and have lots to go on now.

thanks everyone.

Just, whatever you do, don't let anyone sell you cable upgrades. If you ever go to head-fi to investigate something, rest assured that 75% of people there are full of shit.

  On 7/31/2012 at 5:37 PM, StephenG said:

  On 7/31/2012 at 5:32 PM, Squee said:

You know what, StephenG? Try some headphones and buy the ones you like the best.

 

Lol

 

That sounds like a great idea. I will head over to the headphone trying store right away!

I'm not kidding though. Go to whatever music store you plan on buying your headphones in and try a bunch of headphones. And if they won't let you try the headphones then tell them they've just lost a customer. BAM!

  On 7/31/2012 at 7:25 PM, Squee said:

  On 7/31/2012 at 5:37 PM, StephenG said:

  On 7/31/2012 at 5:32 PM, Squee said:

You know what, StephenG? Try some headphones and buy the ones you like the best.

 

Lol

 

That sounds like a great idea. I will head over to the headphone trying store right away!

 

I'm not kidding though. Go to whatever music store you plan on buying your headphones in and try a bunch of headphones. And if they won't let you try the headphones then tell them they've just lost a customer. BAM!

I hear ya =P

I don't see any reason a store shouldn't have a demo of all the models they carry, I mean they do it with hi-fi speakers which are infinitely more expensive than headphones!

Cheers =)

Edit: oh yeah I even went to the Sony store and they didn't even carry the xbr1000s! they didn't have a demo model or even any in calgary for sale. wtf?!

Does headphone.com ship to Canada? They have a pretty good 30 day trial/return policy, sort of as a tacit acknowledgement that few stores cater to this market/allow auditions.

I guess you'd end up eating a ton on return shipping from Canada, though. Surely there's a similar Canadian website?

  On 7/31/2012 at 6:24 PM, StephenG said:

  On 7/31/2012 at 6:17 PM, chenGOD said:

She's full of shit.

 

To be honest, I thought so too but I wasn't really sure how that works (I've never looked for headphones this way or anything, wasn't sure if they'd bust open a new box to let me listen =/ ).

 

Anyway, RE the whole thread. I've heard a lot about a diverse amount of products out there and have lots to go on now.

 

thanks everyone.

Like anyone is going to drop 500 bucks on a pair of headphones without trying them. That's like saying - "Oh hai u have expensive Les Paul? I buy without try!"

One thing to take into consideration is the "breaking in" period with headphones. Your ears will adjust to the sound over a period of time.

So.... went in to long and mcquade today and not only do they not have the akgk702s or the sennheiser hd650s (despite listing them earlier today as in stock on their website) they basically laughed at me when I said I wanted to try them out/demo them.

Also they're selling the akg for 500$ when you can get them online + shipping for 388$?

Fuck long and mcquade up the ass with razor blades with hot sauce for lube.

back to the drawing board

don't forget gold connections to achieve that shiny sound!

  On 8/4/2012 at 7:29 PM, THIS IS MICHAEL JACKSON said:

don't forget gold connections to achieve that shiny sound!

Lol 24 karat or bust

Must achieve shiny sound.

Really though... I live in a city of 1.2 million people. How can there not be a place with a wide variety of headphones not run by douchy hipsters that don't know what they're talking about?!

indeed, it's a commercial area as scam-y as tv-shop ads...

  On 8/4/2012 at 7:58 PM, THIS IS MICHAEL JACKSON said:

indeed, it's a commercial area as scam-y as tv-shop ads...

????????????

thoughts?

this was not what i was looking for but anyway:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_van_speaker_scam