Need help upgrading from Sennheiser HD555

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mthree984

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Feb 20, 2006
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So here is my dilema... I have a pair of sennheiser hd555 i have been using for around 3 years now. I love them and I think they sound great. However the time has come that I am looking for something better both headphone and amp wise.

What i want to accomplish... New headphones that sound better than the 555. Bass is starting to become a huge factor with my tastes in music swinging, and the 555 are definately lacking badly in that department. However I would hate to lose the clarity that the 555 have for just some bass. I really want something that I can turn up and will rattle my head when the deep bass kicks. If it comes down to it I will use the 555 for classical and new ones for techno etc.

Need a new amp ( i think )... Currently i have a 'headroom total airhead' from headphone.com . At the time it was a great purchase due to heavy portable use. Now I mainly only use my headphones with the computer and xbox 360, so it is pretty stationary. I was thinking about a DAC -> Amp ? I'm a pretty big noob when it comes to amps and DAC so any help at all is appreciated.

Once again any help is appreciated, thank you!

EDIT: Oh yea my price range for headphones are under $500 and amp probably $200-300. I dont really want to spend more than $750 total on a new set up.
 
ATH W5000 :D (This is my dream headphone.)

Modded Zero DAC/Amp is cheap (generally under $250) and great for home use. You can also swap opamps around in the Zero in case you want to add a certain flavour to your headphones (more bass or warmer sound).
 
Thanks for the quick reply but those headphones are way out of my price range! Haha yea I bet they sound good too! Anyways something extremely boomy with great mids/highs too... closed or open i don't really care at around $500 (prefer less).
 
For bass and lots of it, I would consider Beyerdynamic DT770's and AKG K240's fairly high on that list (although both have their flaws). The Beyer's can be shrill and the mids are not the greatest. The AKG's have slightly rolled off highs and the midrange is very rich/thick-sounding (which is a positive/negative depending on how you look at it).

Alternatively, you can always move up the Sennheiser line to the HD600/650's. I think both of these cans offer a little more bass than the HD555s, but I would not consider them to be bass monsters at all.

For an amp, I would look for a used PPA or M^3. What source will you be using?
 
I was considering moving up sennheiser line but was skeptical of staying with open headphones, im thinking i will get better boom from closed.

The dt880 are still in my price range, would moving up beyer's line be a good idea or does the dt770's just hit a sweet spot? I could also move up AKG's line too but once again the same question applies.

Source will be either from digital out on T260HD (source to that is xbox 360 hdmi or OTA hdtv), or from digital out on laptop. The laptop doesn't move but twice a month. Eventually source will be from emu 1212m again probably (unless something better is out?) once I put together a new desktop (gave my old one to my mother).
 
The DT880's and DT770's do not really share too many similarities if you ask me (I've only heard the older models). I only briefly listened to the DT880's, but the bass on them are nowhere near the DT770 level.

Similarly, not all AKG cans share similar sound signatures. The K240's are fairly different from something like the K501's, although I have not heard the later models.

The E-mu 1212 is still a nice sound card. Did you already have this card purchased?
 
That answers my questions above moving around the lines on different headphone companies... the exact reason why i am hesitant to move up the sennheiser line.

Yes I have an emu 1212m in my old desktop that my mother uses. It's not really an option for me to cross 5 state lines to get that card and install a cheaper one for her. She does use my old speakers and amp with the emu as a source and she wouldnt begin to know how to replace the card.

I will just purchase another emu 1212m if there isn't a better option for the price.

After browsing around different forums today it does seem like the DT770 would be a good fit for me, hopefully they will be boomy enough while not killing the mids/highs too much. Now to try and find a place around san diego where i can demo them before purchase, probly not going to happen though ;)
 
I can vouch that MisterX makes excellent amps and the M^3 is pretty much an amazing amp.
 
mthree984 said:
Thanks for the quick reply but those headphones are way out of my price range! Haha yea I bet they sound good too! Anyways something extremely boomy with great mids/highs too... closed or open i don't really care at around $500 (prefer less).
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Ultrasone 900's..They retail for 600 but can be had for 330 or so. If you want aggressive and banging bass with quality, these are hard to beat.
 
Alai said:
ATH W5000 :D (This is my dream headphone.)

Modded Zero DAC/Amp is cheap (generally under $250) and great for home use. You can also swap opamps around in the Zero in case you want to add a certain flavour to your headphones (more bass or warmer sound).
Click to expand...
They are? They were my dream headphone when I first started getting into headphones..Check out their reviews on headphonereviews.org. They are also very detailed, but still remains it's warmth and musicality. Also, imaging is 3D, precise, and has weight.
 
Well, I basically just got into headphones like... two months ago. Lol.
 
Well $750 is the max i want to spend on both headphone and amp. Spending less is completely ideal, im not rich, im military after all ;) Not too sure i really need to upgrade my amp yet. I mean how much of a difference will i really hear going from headroom total airhead to a better amp?

Checking out the ultrasone 900's now, they seem to be a nice fit...

thanks again for all the replies, it helps alot
 
mthree984 said:
Well $750 is the max i want to spend on both headphone and amp. Spending less is completely ideal, im not rich, im military after all ;) Not too sure i really need to upgrade my amp yet. I mean how much of a difference will i really hear going from headroom total airhead to a better amp?

Checking out the ultrasone 900's now, they seem to be a nice fit...

thanks again for all the replies, it helps alot
Click to expand...
Yes.. I'd seriously look into the Ibasso DAC/AMP combo for 289.00. Great stuff..Supports USB I beleive as well. The ultra 780 is below the 900's, but for 180 are hard to beat.
 
Check out the sennheiser HD650.

They are top of the line ... with superb sound.
 
They sound good, period..Balanced with some mods, and they become great gaming cans. Mine cost 384.00. Amazon.
 
kool bubba ice said:
They sound good, period..Balanced with some mods, and they become great gaming cans. Mine cost 384.00. Amazon.
Click to expand...

Yeah, balanced and re-cabled and all sorts of things the op doesn't have any idea entail.

780 is the sensible choice with a good amp. I would spend more on the amp and source than the headphones. It is what I did.
 
Well tax season was good to me so I made a few purchases:

Ultrasone HFI-780 new from amazon reseller ($190)
Headroom Micro Amp new
Headroom Micro DAC new

Was going to purchase a used amp/dac so i didn't have to burn in but decided to go fresh. I will post thoughts and burn in impressions when the items arrive. Very excited!

Plan to go straight usb from lapto to dac, 1/8th to 1/8th from dac to amp then to headphones. Anyone got any suggestions such as spdif from laptop to dac? Also if going from usb to dac would i need to get asio4all or something similiar up and running?

Thanks
 
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