Objective2 Amp+ODAC, possibly $229.99 + $10S/H

What strikes me as insane is that you guys call that "neutral" in the earphone world...? I think my MS Aviano 2's probably have a much flatter curve, as do most speakers in that price range.

Now overall both of their frequency response graphs have so me dips and highs, but what strikes me as alarming is apparently the right and left channel on the HD650's have vastly different frequency response DB levels at some points (if those colors represent different channels). What's the reason for that? Perhaps this is just me being very confused because speakers are identical on both sides...

Are there any options around that price range to consider (200-350-ish, with those AKG's being at the highest point), by the way?
 
You can't really directly compare frequency response curves for speakers and headphones as the testing environments and methods are very different. In fact you can't (or at least shouldn't) compare response curves from one person (or entity) to another since testing methods vary so wildly. Don't put too much weight in the response curves, try and listen to the headphones yourself for an actual evaluation.

what Neb is doing is showing you the response curves for two different pairs of headphones from the same person, under the same testing conditions. so you get an idea of how they sound relative to each other.
 
Due to the shape of the ears and the related interactions, an actual flat curve on a headphone sounds like total crap. With a speaker, the room interacts with the sound before it even reaches your ear, which is why a flat response is desirable. Inner Fidelity does a pretty good job of explaining this in their frequency response article.

Some caution is needed when interpreting the frequency response, because of the testing methodology used. The headphones are measured in five positions then averaged: up; down; forward; back; and centered. Sometimes that'll result in a peak, but between the two channels it gives you an idea of what the frequency response of the headphone should be. The vastly different levels are more of an indication of how much variance you might see from different positioning of the headphone on your head.

In the end, as Porter_ says, it's best to demo them to find out if they'll work well for you.
 
That's nice to say, but it's hard to demo something like high end earphones unless you just happen to have a high end audio center near by. I haven't found any near Atlanta yet, at least not on google maps.

Granted those AKG's I linked are sold by Amazon with Prime, so I could probably painlessly return them if I wanted to just try them out. I'm leaning towards buying them, I just don't know how they compare to other things in the price range. That long article of earphone reviews linked earlier had two of the earlier AKG models on there, which I think this one fixed some of the flaws in them.
 
You can definitely try it out with Amazon. An alternative would be Headroom, which has a good return policy that allows you to try them out and return the one you don't like, assuming you have enough cash or credit to buy multiple sets...
 
What strikes me as insane is that you guys call that "neutral" in the earphone world...? I think my MS Aviano 2's probably have a much flatter curve, as do most speakers in that price range.

Now overall both of their frequency response graphs have so me dips and highs, but what strikes me as alarming is apparently the right and left channel on the HD650's have vastly different frequency response DB levels at some points (if those colors represent different channels). What's the reason for that? Perhaps this is just me being very confused because speakers are identical on both sides...

Are there any options around that price range to consider (200-350-ish, with those AKG's being at the highest point), by the way?
You can actually find some surprisingly high end headphones to demo in Best Buy's featuring a "Magnolia" section.

The HD650's twin brother the HD600's can usually be found for $350 (MSRP $399). They're a little more neutral/clinical in their presentation than the HD650's. If you're concerned about the HD650's having bloated bass (if anything when poorly or unamp'd they lack bass and depth), the HD600's would be exactly what you're looking for. I've listened to both, I can see why someone would prefer the HD600's for mastering, but for recreational listening (particularly extended sessions) I still give the nod to the HD650's.
 
What about the HD598's? Actually, I just need a more recent ranking list lol. I'm going all over the place with this headphone search.
 
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Honestly, I personally had HD-555 before my HE-500, and the HE-500 is probably worth $20 more than my HD-555 (I got used from craigslist for $50), until I got the amp and DAC. Previously I ran a soundblaster Titanium HD ($75), and I maxed out the volume on that, and for all my attempts, they sounded very similar, like $20 similar. I found that at 3/4 my PC volume with my 555 was equivalent to full PC volume with my 500s, and that's when a noticeable difference slightly appeared in the bass, the 555 was maxed in quality. Then after I got the Amp Dac, I found that yes my Soundblaster was bass heavy, and now the HE-500 is probably $100-$150 better for audio(I paid $230 used/shipped)

The moral of the story was I was missing almost nothing with my HD-555, the build quality is inferior, and everything, but to me I think I was spoiled with the sound quality it produced. I will probably sell my 555s now, as well as my sound card, and probably come close to losing $100, but to me it was worth it on the amazing quality of the HE-500 build, but I still will recommend the HD-555 to everyone that asks, unless they have the budget for $700+.

HD-555 + Soundcard= $125 plus or minus depending on retail/2nd hand/Sales Tax.
 
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I went to Best Buy on the way back from work, but the only thing of interest they had was the HD598. They also had a few other ones, like B&W P7. I think they said they could order the others but I honestly didn't wanna go through all that trouble for them (and me). I also tried a pair of AKG 555 Pro (or something like that).

So let's see, the 598's sounded... okay. Honestly it felt like a lot of the sounds were quite a bit worse than what my Aviano 2's would put out... but it's hard to tell because they weren't playing any tracks that I really knew. Some of it felt a bit muffled. I mean they were okay I guess. Just nothing special. The P7 was pretty much the same, except it cost twice as much. It sounded different, maybe a little better than the 598's. The AKG sounded like trash. I'm guessing that was one of their worse models. Granted this was hooking it into my GS3 since they don't seem to have any station with good amplification that you can hook into there (which is a huge mistake imo). Hell they didn't even have a 1/4" to 1/8" adapter anywhere, so I had to just test out the HD598's with a receiver and random CD they had, I couldn't hook them into my GS3. It was quite pathetic. They could at least get a cheap headphone amp that users could hook the earphones and their players into! Seriously, talk about a poor display (including the fact that they had hardly any good headphones to try out).

The other thing that turned me off about the HD598's is that it uses a weird as heck connector. Like something smaller than 3.5mm->1/4". You lose that thing or something, pretty much have to order another one. So I think I'm ruling out the 598's, they definitely did not sound clear enough to me. Would like something more neutral and transparent. Not much else to say the rest of the trip was kind of a waste, but it's not like I went far as I said this was on the way back from work.

So I guess Best Buy is useless, and I can't think of any other good places in the ATL area. Fry's mostly seems to carry trash. Microcenter is much the same. And they probably don't even have an area I can try these things out at. So that just leaves me with buying and returning stuff on Amazon or something.
 
In a city as large as Atlanta there must be a small electronics boutique store somewhere with hifi gear. Also look for a Guitar Center or other music store. They often let you demo headphones. All else fails, jump into a pair from amazon like you said. You might never find a pair that sounds (to you) as good as your speakers. Everyone's ears are different. Good luck and have fun :)
 
Unfortunately not having much luck on the former (most of the audio places around here appear to carry like 1 or 2 brands... for instance one of them has like PSB speakers and that's about it), but as for the latter, yes, a Guitar Center might indeed be a good idea. There are a few of them very close by.
 
Thanks for introducing me to Massdrop! I'm bummed that I just picked up the O2/ODAC last week for $270 from Mayflower before I saw this, but it is a great combo and a great deal at $230!

I threw a vote up on Massdrop for the HD650--anyone else want to join me?
 
Well I kinda totally went overboard and bought a pair of Beyerdynamic T1's on Amazon Warehouse for 600 bucks (650 with tax). Yeah, well outside of my original budget, but we'll see how this works out. XD
 
Well I kinda totally went overboard and bought a pair of Beyerdynamic T1's on Amazon Warehouse for 600 bucks (650 with tax). Yeah, well outside of my original budget, but we'll see how this works out. XD

I hope you like 'em, they're definitely a different sound signature from the HD650/600's. :)
 
Well from what I've read they're very detailed and pretty neutral. Slight bump down in transparency might be the only con, from what I've seen. The other thing is that they're headphones that used to be 1300$, going for 600$. I kinda... couldn't resist 700$ off. >____>;
 
Well from what I've read they're very detailed and pretty neutral. Slight bump down in transparency might be the only con, from what I've seen. The other thing is that they're headphones that used to be 1300$, going for 600$. I kinda... couldn't resist 700$ off. >____>;
$300, $500, $1300, they all cost <$25 to produce. The trick is if they're worth the money, you'll be too busy listening to all your music for the first time all over again, to notice.
 
Not really. Most of this is R&D costs, and the higher end ones probably have to throw out components if they don't meet spec. I mean if you wanna talk about raw materials, the raw materials for a lot of things in the tech world (or heck, any world) are cheap. A lot. But when it comes to setting up manufacturing processes and putting those things together, it gets probably expensive. I mean they are making a killing, but just saying "the raw materials are worth like 25 bucks" doesn't say anything. Plus all cost is determined by perceived value. Which is strange, because many people prefer these to the HD800's, yet somehow those are still selling for well over 1k while these are less than half the price (close to 1/3rd now).

Anyway I'm pretty pissed at Amazon. There was a price decrease of about 50 bucks on those earphones right before they shipped out (pretty much all along the "Used" section), so I talked to them and the order literally shipped while I was talking. Anyway, they said they couldn't do anything because apparently the condition of mine (For some reason she said it was "Mint"; I guess that's synonymous for "like new" for them) could be different than what they're offering now, and some bunch of BS. Long story short, the person talking to me was entirely not flexible about the policy and started acting like I was attacking her. So I told her to chill out and put me through to a supervisor. Friggin just tells me to hold and doesn't do anything, window's just static. *Sigh* These people... Thing is, the "Like New" ones are now backlogged till the 27th anyway. So I can't just order another pair and return mine or something. Talk about annoying... so totally gonna probably cancel that Prime membership. It ain't doing jack for me.
 
Anyway I'm pretty pissed at Amazon. There was a price decrease of about 50 bucks on those earphones right before they shipped out (pretty much all along the "Used" section), so I talked to them and the order literally shipped while I was talking. Anyway, they said they couldn't do anything because apparently the condition of mine (For some reason she said it was "Mint"; I guess that's synonymous for "like new" for them) could be different than what they're offering now, and some bunch of BS. Long story short, the person talking to me was entirely not flexible about the policy and started acting like I was attacking her. So I told her to chill out and put me through to a supervisor. Friggin just tells me to hold and doesn't do anything, window's just static. *Sigh* These people... Thing is, the "Like New" ones are now backlogged till the 27th anyway. So I can't just order another pair and return mine or something. Talk about annoying... so totally gonna probably cancel that Prime membership. It ain't doing jack for me.

The sense of entitlement is strong with this one, buy yourself one of these and get over yourself already.
 
The sense of entitlement is strong with this one, buy yourself one of these and get over yourself already.

Yeah, I expected one of your types to come around. I'm automatically entitled for trying to get a price match from the same seller before the item even ships, and then getting a little annoyed when they refuse and then treat me rudely on top of it (when I did no such thing to them). Obviously. As a consumer I should not ever attempt to jump on opportunities to save money, and I should expect to take crap from companies and shouldn't expect them to treat me as an individual but a number in a database.

How's it feel being in that land where you don't ever act "entitled"? How's it treatin' ya? Perhaps like something in my toolbox? Did I hammer the point home?

why are you buying high end speakers AND headphones? especially open backed headphones?

If you're talking to me... do the Aviano 2's look portable to you? Go ahead and take a look at their dimensions. Even if I had a backpack I couldn't take them anywhere, and I have them positioned under my TV; great for console gaming and gaming on my plasma, but rather annoying when I'm wanting to do gaming IN FRONT of the computer. Plus I can't even take them to my bedroom.

Two, the bass on them is a bit too much for me to listen to them that loud at night in my condo. Even if the neighbors don't complain, I don't feel comfortable doing it.

Three, I wanted to try out high end earphones for a change to see how they compare.

Oh, and four. I have money.
 
Yeah, I expected one of your types to come around. I'm automatically entitled for trying to get a price match from the same seller before the item even ships, and then getting a little annoyed when they refuse and then treat me rudely on top of it (when I did no such thing to them). Obviously. As a consumer I should not ever attempt to jump on opportunities to save money, and I should expect to take crap from companies and shouldn't expect them to treat me as an individual but a number in a database.

How's it feel being in that land where you don't ever act "entitled"? How's it treatin' ya? Perhaps like something in my toolbox? Did I hammer the point home?
Will you marry me?
 
Yeah, I expected one of your types to come around. I'm automatically entitled for trying to get a price match from the same seller before the item even ships, and then getting a little annoyed when they refuse and then treat me rudely on top of it (when I did no such thing to them). Obviously. As a consumer I should not ever attempt to jump on opportunities to save money, and I should expect to take crap from companies and shouldn't expect them to treat me as an individual but a number in a database.

How's it feel being in that land where you don't ever act "entitled"? How's it treatin' ya? Perhaps like something in my toolbox? Did I hammer the point home?


You're buying used products; and getting mad that amazons not price matching products in different conditions? Also; are they amazon direct or third party? As used; I'd even guess private seller, though the fact that conditions differ alone means prices are *not* equivalent and shouldn't be matched; even if amazon direct.

I agree you need one of the hygiene products linked. The entitlement is strong with this one.
 
You're buying used products; and getting mad that amazons not price matching products in different conditions? Also; are they amazon direct or third party? As used; I'd even guess private seller, though the fact that conditions differ alone means prices are *not* equivalent and shouldn't be matched; even if amazon direct.

First of all, that's wrong. You apparently can't read.. The product in the same condition and was also 50$ less. Second, they were both sold by Amazon Warehouse. Third, it wasn't just that condition. All conditions suddenly went down in price. I don't know or care what goes on in their backend or who it's "actually" sold by, I saw it at "like new" for 50$ less before my product even shipped to me. And honestly, it was mainly that the lady on the other line was acting defensive and being rude and then not connecting me to a manager when I asked. That's quite unprofessional.

I agree you need one of the hygiene products linked. The entitlement is strong with this one.

Either way, companies must be happy to have obedient little sheep like you people as their customers. All for the glory of not acting in a manner that you call "entitled", you refuse to try to argue with them to save money or do any bartering at all. Surely be not acting what you call "entitled" and being a good little consumer, the kind corporations will give you something back. :rolleyes:

Yeah, reading what you guys say is really cute to me. Reminds me of the AMD/Nvidia "campers". Surely staying loyal to one company or the other is giving them back something.
 
I don't know or care what goes on in their backend or who it's "actually" sold by, I saw it at "like new" for 50$ less before my product even shipped to me.

Even Al-Qaeda or Isis. I knew this day would come, they would begin to receive funding from selling on the Amazon Used section, and people wouldn't care, as long as they got a better deal.

Damn terrorist supporters
 
First of all, that's wrong. You apparently can't read.. The product in the same condition and was also 50$ less. Second, they were both sold by Amazon Warehouse. Third, it wasn't just that condition. All conditions suddenly went down in price. I don't know or care what goes on in their backend or who it's "actually" sold by, I saw it at "like new" for 50$ less before my product even shipped to me. And honestly, it was mainly that the lady on the other line was acting defensive and being rude and then not connecting me to a manager when I asked. That's quite unprofessional.



Either way, companies must be happy to have obedient little sheep like you people as their customers. All for the glory of not acting in a manner that you call "entitled", you refuse to try to argue with them to save money or do any bartering at all. Surely be not acting what you call "entitled" and being a good little consumer, the kind corporations will give you something back. :rolleyes:

Yeah, reading what you guys say is really cute to me. Reminds me of the AMD/Nvidia "campers". Surely staying loyal to one company or the other is giving them back something.


you are crazy high strung in this deals thread about a DAC and headphone amp, relax and have a beer
 
Yes I am. I also don't drink at all. Anyway, then let's shift the topic a bit. When are do these Massdrop deals usually ship out? My headphones are on my doorstep so I'll get them when I come back from work. Unfortunately afaik the AMP/DAC thing hasn't even shipped out yet... so I'm gonna be using these things from just a Creative Z series which probably won't work out for these high end headphones...
 
Yes I am. I also don't drink at all.
There's a first time for everything. Sex, drugs, alcohol.

Anyway, then let's shift the topic a bit. When are do these Massdrop deals usually ship out? My headphones are on my doorstep so I'll get them when I come back from work. Unfortunately afaik the AMP/DAC thing hasn't even shipped out yet... so I'm gonna be using these things from just a Creative Z series which probably won't work out for these high end headphones...
Mayflower is going to ship the units out directly to the buyers, and they're in-stock, so as soon as the massdrop payment goes through they should ship out.
 
From what they're saying in the comments section, looks like the domestic orders will be shipped out tomorrow. It'll be direct from the Mayflower, not the Massdrop warehouse. Finally... I've had these T1's sitting around in their box for nearly a week now. They sound good on my Soundblaster Z, but I wanna know how they'll sound on that thing.
 
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