Best headphone rrecommendation

[xero-D-hero]

What i like most about the sextetts are the aggressive forward presentation of guitars.I have never heard Priest,Accept and others sound so......MEAN!

Yeah AKG's in general really lend themselves to this sorta music that's for sure,and the sextetts/DF's/K250 even more so.

What I dont like about them is the grain I hear in upper mids/lower highs.

Do the DFs share the same characteristics?

That's a tough one to answer as this sorta thing is soooo subjective,and if I run into that sorta thing I EQ it outta there pronto.

I will tell you that the DF's are widely known for their exceptionally flat response & truthful/accurate representation.
So logic would hold that it should'nt be as "hyped" on either end of the spectrum as the other models of AKG's.

Also what is a fair price for a DF?

That depends on how much the seller knows about AKG 'phones in general.
If they know them well the sky's the limit what they'll charge,often $200.00 & > is not uncommon.
If they dont know what they got and just wanna move them,they can be found between $50.00 & $100.00 fairly regularly.

I've bought three pairs of DF's now and I have'nt paid more than $100.00 for any of those.
Though one pair had bad drivers,and ironically enough those were the most expensive pair...
I kept them anyways as I'm gonna replace the drivers and try out some mods on that pair.

Matter of fact I'm testing out my newest pair of DF's right now,and they're in really nice condition,listening to Prong ~ Unconditional.
Those were just under $60.00.

Thanks!

No problem,always glad to help out a fellow AK'er.

Cheers.

Bret P.

 

[xero-D-hero]

I'm listening to Tool ~ Forty Six & 2 and I was reminded of another thing that's ever-so-slightly better with the DF's,they seem to be just a tad bit "faster" than the other AKG's.

Danny Carey's drumming in that song is incredible,and the fills and such can blur together if the drivers cant keep up.
These DF's let you hear every drum strike now matter how quick together they are.

Also they're incredible when the sound pans L > R & R< L and with reverb effects and such.

But admitedly some of ^^^^ that ^^^^ is also enhanced by the Parasound D/AC-1000 as well.
I noticed a big improvement in those areas when I switched to that DAC in my headphone/nearfield system.

Just an FYI.

 

[xero-D-hero]

Oh yeah,another thing occured to me while I was listening to my recently purchased K240 Sextetts (pair no. 2 of 3) and that's the fact that these AKG 'phones originally came with some thin pads covering the drivers that I believe were meant to address some of that "grain" you mention,now some people dont care for that pad and the resulting affect to the SQ,and thus they remove it,or what also happens is over time it deteriorates and is removed w/o consideration to that deal,and if those have been removed that too could play into that phenomenon,or vice-versa if they're still there,you could try removing it and seeing if you prefer them that way.

Mine are about 50/50,the DF's have them,Sextetts dont,the rest are hit/miss.

Eventually I'm gonna buy some fresh ones and try 'em all out w/ & w/o the pads and see which way I prefer 'em.

But right now these Sextetts are sounding REAL good,listening to The Melvins ~ Bar X The Rocking M from the CD Stag and the Sextetts are kicking @ss.

But I digress,just thought I'd throw out some more food for thought on that deal.

HTH

Bret P.

 

[RamblinE]

My first pair of Sextett's are on their way. A pair of the LP's. I am leery of the plastic grills in the ear cups. I have the stock leather pads from my K240 Studio (swapped on velour) that I may try on the Sextett. My Monitor and my Studio both rock the velour pads, I got very used to them on my K&Q701'/s. However I am going to try the Sextett's as close to stock as possible until I get used to them. Excited!

 

[xero-D-hero]

I'm sure you're gonna like the Sextetts,all these AKG high impedence cans are pretty dang nice sounding 'phones IMO.
I mean yeah sure the differences between them are subtle for the most part,but to me that just keeps things interesting.

Funny you mention the ear pad thing...
I was getting some "pad noise" from my pr. 2 sextetts when I was giving them their trial listen,so yeah that's a good thing to take care of straightaway.
Was weird too,I just could'nt figure out what the noise was at first,then it dawned on me,DOH ~ LOL.

Have a pair of replacement pads that came with my pr.3 Sextetts (a "project" pair that I'm gonna refurb & mod) so I'll probably throw those on the pr.2 Sextetts.

But yeah I'm thinking those thin pads might be another item to be get back in there too.

FWIW

Bret P.

 

[paulschoff]

HE560 is great regarding SoundStage.

You need to try some of the surround sound headphones listed previously http://audiokarma.org/forums/index....ghts-on-7-1-surround-sound-headphones.373088/
The SoundMaximum has also listed some of the surround sound headphones that are a bargain.

If you ask me, my vote goes to LOGITECH G430 they are absolutely great for the price at $37 on Amazon. If you are not on a budget, I heard most of the folks at Head-Fi talking about Ultrasone HFI-580 making some serious noise.

Beyer T1s is also quite good.

 

[ericj]

I tried a T1 at a meet not long after it hit the market. i was sorely disappointed. Nasal and weird.