Open back headphone help

[saladcrack]

So I absolutely LOVE the epic music in movies like Lord of the Rings and stuff like that where they have huge landscape shots and fantastic orchestral (opera?) music playing.  Something like this stuff:

I love listening to that kind of music but it is ruined by my Apple headphones that came in the box, they're good just not what I want.  So I'm looking for good quality headphones and I heard open back headphones give a nice open sound stage or something so I guess that's like being in a concert hall which would be fantastic.  I don't mind having to get an amp or dac or whatever I just need it to work well from the back of my PC through whatever power device and into my headphones so I can listen to epic music.  No budget right now but I can save up pretty quickly to meet whatever costs but nothing like $1000 or something crazy like that.  Thanks!

[Coombzy]

Beyerdynamic 990's would be a good choice, they're open, sound fantastic and are good for long listening sessions as well.

[saladcrack]

1 minute ago, Coombzy said:

Beyerdynamic 990's would be a good choice, they're open, sound fantastic and are good for long listening sessions as well.

Not super expensive either, thanks!

[AAJoe]

You're confusing me @Gamessys. You said you dont mind getting a dac/amp but then say a pair of DT990 is too expensive? They're 139 USD. If you get the Fulla dac/amp its 100 USD on its own (which is about the most affordable combo I can think of off the top of my head). Also not really needed for the 32 ohm DT990

 

If you want that heavy treble and bass the Beyerdynamic DT line is your best bet. If you want the more middle tones the HD598. If the 130-150 price range is too high, you can try the shp9500 as a 'replacement' for the 598 or the Superlux 668 if you prefer a more sharp sound signature and add after market earpads (Brainwavz) for about 55 USD.

 

I don't expect you'll need the dac/amp for any of these.

[kaisei]

54 minutes ago, AAJoe said:

You're confusing me @Gamessys. You said you dont mind getting a dac/amp but then say a pair of DT990 is too expensive? They're 139 USD. If you get the Fulla dac/amp its 100 USD on its own (which is about the most affordable combo I can think of off the top of my head). Also not really needed for the 32 ohm DT990

 

If you want that heavy treble and bass the Beyerdynamic DT line is your best bet. If you want the more middle tones the HD598. If the 130-150 price range is too high, you can try the shp9500 as a 'replacement' for the 598 or the Superlux 668 if you prefer a more sharp sound signature and add after market earpads (Brainwavz) for about 55 USD.

 

I don't expect you'll need the dac/amp for any of these.

I think OP was trying to say that the DT-990's are not too expensive.

 

@Gamessys I would also recommend the HD598 as a great all around headphones. Or if you can go more expensive then I would suggest something like the HD600 (more neutral) or HD650 (slightly more bassy) and grab an amp like the Schiit Fulla 2 or Micca Origen+. If you prefer an amp/DAC combo, then I would suggest either customizing the JDS Labs O2/ODAC to your liking for a simple solution, or grabbing the Schiit Magni/Modi combo stack.

[SSL]

3 hours ago, kaisei said:

Customizing the JDS Labs O2/ODAC to your liking for a simple solution

 

I wouldn't suggest that. Why pay so much for a non-discrete design that sounds no difference than an Asus Xonar soundcard? Fulla 2 is better and cheaper.

[spwath]

1 hour ago, SSL said:

 

I wouldn't suggest that. Why pay so much for a non-discrete design that sounds no difference than an Asus Xonar soundcard? Fulla 2 is better and cheaper.

Also he said "grab an amp like the Schiit Fulla 2 or Micca Origen+. If you prefer an amp/DAC combo, then I would suggest either customizing the JDS Labs O2/ODAC to your liking for a simple solution, or grabbing the Schiit Magni/Modi combo stack. "

implying that the fulla 2 and mica origin+ are not dac amp combos, when they are.

[kaisei]

6 minutes ago, spwath said:

Also he said "grab an amp like the Schiit Fulla 2 or Micca Origen+. If you prefer an amp/DAC combo, then I would suggest either customizing the JDS Labs O2/ODAC to your liking for a simple solution, or grabbing the Schiit Magni/Modi combo stack. "

implying that the fulla 2 and mica origin+ are not dac amp combos, when they are.

True. I had a brain fart.

[kokakolia]

I wouldn't go for the Beyerdynamic DT990. Too fatiguing. 

 

I absolutely love the Philips SHP9500, the bass is excellent for "Epic" music, not so much for EDM. They're so good for that kind of movie soundtrack style of music actually. 

 

I also like the Sennheiser 558, they're more versatile than the Philips but have less soundstage. So they're probably worse for "Epic" music. 

 

I dunno about the 598s, but I heard they were brighter than the 558s. 

 

Keep in mind that I am not much of a technical listener. But I am really fussy about finding a warm sound signature without muddiness or harsh highs. 

[lettuce head]

On 1/25/2017 at 10:39 AM, Gamessys said:

Not super expensive either, thanks!

a line of headphones to look at are the audio-technica open back line up. i have the ath 900x (got them around 150 USD) they come in less and more expensive models. absolutely incredible soundstage highlighted by the mids and slightly sparkling highs. my only two complaints are a low amount of bass, but they even mention the bass not being its strongest point, but with an EQ it fixes it just fine, and the wing supports are decidedly less supportive than some would like. although ive currently been wearing them for 7 hours straight and they are still right where i put them and very comfortable. 

theyre excellent for metal, jazz, classical, rock etc. but pretty meh if you like bass heavy music like edm, rap, etc.

[tooitchy]

I just got the AKG K712's for $226 (1 day shipping from Hong Kong, for FREE too....) with the Schiit Fulla 2. Literally arrived today, and I gotta say they're amazing. Very affordable combo imo.

 

https://www.eglobalcentral.com/akg-k712-pro-kopfhoerer.html

 

is where I got the AKG's, seemed sketchy but I pulled the trigger, and am soo happy I did. If you like bass, these have a perfect amount, if you like crisp highs and up front mids, these have them, they're not flat, but they're not too distorted either, they're just tweaked enough to be fun, but still accurate enough for monitoring. These things are amazing so far.