I Need Headphone Suggestions Please

KA2Z

Active Member
Hi... Im shopping for a set of cans.
My music interests are Jazz and small ensemble chamber music. String quartets, solos. Like that.
Im gonna be using a Schiit Asgaard 2 for the amp.
My budget is under $500.00
Nothing made in China please!

Thanks for any suggestions!
 
Amazon Prime's return policy is your friend.
Mass drop has some great deals.

I have Sennheiser HD580's and the Mass Drop HD6XX (Mass drop version of HD650). Their both "keepers'' but I prefer the HD6XX...I can really spend extended hours listening to them late into the night and they don't fatigue my ears. Comfortable too.
I had a Schiit Asgard 2 amp. It was "polite" with both sets of cans but not as much fun to listen to as the Darkvoice 336SE. The 336SE and HD650/HD6XX play well together.
 
Thanks raz.
Im looking at the sennheisers. the 6xx are a bit out of my budget. Ill check out the 580's.
 
I paid $75 3 years ago for a used set of HD580's. They needed earpads and a Headcushion. $75 was at the time "a steal".
I paid $199 this past summer for the Massdrop HD6XX (new). I think actual HD650's are closer to $320.
I see Massdrop has the 366SE for $199 (new).
 
Hi, thanks for comments.
What is massdrop? I have seen it mentioned but I am not familiar with it.
 
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CAMPHOR BURL LTD
from 1,399.99
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ATTICUS
from 1,099.99
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AEOLUS
from 1,199.99
Most people are fine with the ATTICUS..
I know they are out of your Ideal price range.. But do you want to buy the next set of headphones over and over again.. Or , just get something your not going to upgrade in the future..
I don't have much experience , to be honest.. But I don't believe I've heard of a bad review on any ZMF products..
I know there double the target price.. They are hand made by a very small company known for there ability to modify headphones to sound better than they came stock..
So if ZMF is modifying other headphones to sound better.. ZMF should be able to produce a Top notch product when ZMF starts building their products from scratch ,the ZMF way..

I dealt with mass drop once before , it was a long wait for a OEM product , that was of just "Okay" quality.. Don't remember what the product even was, (if that tells you anything)..
 
If you can demo the HD6XX and like them, Massdrop is the way to go.
I was skeptical at first but am a satisfied customer.
 
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Grado Reference Series RS2e

Super accurate and the open back design gives it air. Jazz and classical instruments sound fantastic.
 
Thanks for the feedback. I cant go a grand. The Grado RS2e for five bills looks interesting. I will research it.
Thanks!
 
Thanks for the feedback. I cant go a grand. The Grado RS2e for five bills looks interesting. I will research it.
Thanks!
Here is a review I did on my Grado RS2i. The Grado and Cary tube pre-amp in my dedicated headphone system was audio heaven.
https://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/grado-rs-2i-review.255073/#post-3077457

Don't just take my word. The tool in the below link can compare a number of headphone frequencies and characteristics. Demo some headphones locally and you can use those as baselines to figure what you like. Worked for me.
https://www.headphone.com/pages/evaluating-headphones
 
Onepixel, thanks for your comments and review.
I am curious how you have the head phones hooked up to the Cary pre amp? Does it have a headphone jack?
I have the Cary / AE DJH preamp. No head phone jack on there!

I went ahead and ordered the Grado RS2e.
They get great reviews and they are made in USA, Brooklyn!
They should be here today. Im going to use them with the Schiit Asgaard 2 hooked into the Schiit Bifrost dac, hooked into the Njoetoeb 4000 CD player.
Im expecting big things.
 
Not familiar with your Cary preamp. I feed my headphone amp from the tape output from my ARC preamp.
The tape out gets its signal directly from the source selector switch, before any active amplification occurs in the preamp. The tape out is not affected by the volume control. Tape out will have the full signal strength from the selected source component (DAC, phono, FM). The headphone amp will provide all headphone volume control.
 
Hi Raz!
I could feed my Asgaard 2 headphone amp from my Cary pre amp but its not necessary because I could feed the head phone amp directly from the turn table RCA jacks.
I was just curious that onepixel seems to indicate he used the Cary pre as his headphone amp. Im wondering how he connected head phones to those RCA jacks.
 
I could feed my Asgaard 2 headphone amp from my Cary pre amp but its not necessary because I could feed the head phone amp directly from the turn table RCA jacks.
I'm not familiar with your turntable. You're saying it has a built in phono stage?
 
Onepixel, thanks for your comments and review.
I am curious how you have the head phones hooked up to the Cary pre amp? Does it have a headphone jack?
I have the Cary / AE DJH preamp. No head phone jack on there!

I went ahead and ordered the Grado RS2e.
They get great reviews and they are made in USA, Brooklyn!
They should be here today. Im going to use them with the Schiit Asgaard 2 hooked into the Schiit Bifrost dac, hooked into the Njoetoeb 4000 CD player.
Im expecting big things.

Cool. I'm sure you will enjoy them.

I used a Pro-ject Head Box II with the Cary Audio SLP 50 B tube pre-amp, with vintage Amperex Bugle Boys. Also used the Pro-ject Phono Box II. Both Projects didn't impart any extraneous, unwanted sound. All I could hear was clean music and the subtle nuances of tubes that I rolled.

I had a Bellari VP129 Tube Phone Preamp with a headphone out and Mullard tubes. It sounded horrendous. Most of my vintage gear was unacceptable.

The Grados even made the little iPod shuffle sound good.

iPod_shuffle.jpg

headphone_sys2.jpg
 
HeyRaz.... sorry if I was not clear.
No built in phono pre on my turntable.
I have the AE PH-1 phono pre that goes to the Cary DJH pre amp.
 
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