Caiman MK II - Closed Headphones Needed

[Bluesboy12345]

Hello

I have just received my new Caiman MkII yesterday - thanks for the very efficient delivery Stan! and the excellent Caiman!

I listen to music through headphones mainly, I currently have a canny pair of Sennheiser HD 380 Pro headphones (about £150), but I am looking to upgrade.

My budget is <£500 but the headphones will have to by closed over ear headphones as my missus can't stand my taste in music (odd that)!

I can find very few closed headphones at this price range.

Has anyone got suggestions about closed headphones which will work well with my new Caiman II ?

I mainly listen to old blues, but also rock (Cream, Hendrix, Dire Straits etc), pop, new wave (Clash, Talking Heads etc).

Most of the music is in mp3 or FLAC format on the laptop.

Laptop -> Caiman II -> Headphones

Thanks

[WAD62]

Hi Terry, I use a pair of AKG K550s for work, hence closed back, and they're very good, especially given their current price...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/AKG-K550-High-Performance-Closed-Back-Headphones-Black/dp/B005CNR7B0

...leaves you with another £401 for music ;)

They've got a pretty decent soundstage for closed back phones, and are easy to drive :)

I prefer to use my K702s at home, but then they're not closed back, and are 3 times the price...

[Ammonite Audio]

The K550s are easy to recommend at today's pricing. Nice and comfortable with a good, natural musical gait, if not the last thing in detail retrieval.

[richard51]

I own the Fostex Th-7 b.... They had received the "Diapason d'or" by the music review Diapason.... At 48 british pounds they are not pricey but their sound compete with more pricey headphone....Best Regards

[WAD62]

The K550s are easy to recommend at today's pricing. Nice and comfortable with a good, natural musical gait, if not the last thing in detail retrieval.

A couple of things to mention about the K550's is head and glasses suitability, they are at their best when they get a good 'seal'. As a slaphead with relatively small ears they get a very good seal on my head, and that seal makes the difference, particularly in bass representation...;)

My work glasses have straight arms so I rest them on top of the earpad, if I wear them normally (i.e under the earpad) the K550s the loose their bottom end.

So probably worth trying first...:)

[perbra]

Hi
Have you checked out the studio standard, Beyerdynamic DT770? You have the choice of several versions there.

[Werner Berghofer]

Per,

Have you checked out the studio standard, Beyerdynamic DT770?
a very good suggestion! I think also the AKG K271 might be worth checking.

Werner.

[wee tee cee]

Werner,
Good to see you posting again.....hope you are well.

[Werner Berghofer]

Tony,

hope you are well
getting older like everybody else, but I’m enjoying a new headphone amplifier:
http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?11546-Werner%92s-system&p=575579#post575579

Thanks for your warm welcome,

Werner.

[Xaval]

Why not stick with Sennies: Amperior or Momentum?

Unless you're looking for something different I wouldn't go AKG. The K550 are nice, but you need to play the statue as the slightest movement of your head will break the seal and good bye bass. Other than that they sound quite good, even with classic rock.

As only your ears will tell you the truth here's some alternate suggestions as in... quite different from each other:

A900X
DT150 or DT250
HFI780 or Pro900

You didn't say where these things are going to be plugged into, but other than the Beyers you'll be ok out of most anything, eg unamped.

[Werner Berghofer]

Luis,

You didn't say where these things are going to be plugged into […]
when reading Terry’s original question and checking this thread’s title I would assume the headphones will be plugged into a Beresford Caiman MK II.

Werner.

[Bluesboy12345]

Why not stick with Sennies: Amperior or Momentum?

Unless you're looking for something different I wouldn't go AKG. The K550 are nice, but you need to play the statue as the slightest movement of your head will break the seal and good bye bass. Other than that they sound quite good, even with classic rock.

As only your ears will tell you the truth here's some alternate suggestions as in... quite different from each other:

A900X
DT150 or DT250
HFI780 or Pro900

You didn't say where these things are going to be plugged into, but other than the Beyers you'll be ok out of most anything, eg unamped.

Yes thanks for the reply, I intend to plug into the new Caiman II

[Xaval]

wow... it's pretty clear in the op where the cans will plugged in! Thanks for reminding me to pay more attention to questions :)

Terry, I strongly suggest you listen to the headphones before pulling the trigger. If you can't, my advice to people just getting into the headphone hobby, assuming it's an affordable proposition, is to buy 2 used pairs of different headphones. Listen to them for a month or so and flip the one dislike the most. With the cash back, get another headphone... and so on until you've found "the one". It's fun and you get a real sense of what's really out there. The really good news is that past the 200€ everything sounds at least good :)

[Bluesboy12345]

wow... it's pretty clear in the op where the cans will plugged in! Thanks for reminding me to pay more attention to questions :)

Terry, I strongly suggest you listen to the headphones before pulling the trigger. If you can't, my advice to people just getting into the headphone hobby, assuming it's an affordable proposition, is to buy 2 used pairs of different headphones. Listen to them for a month or so and flip the one dislike the most. With the cash back, get another headphone... and so on until you've found "the one". It's fun and you get a real sense of what's really out there. The really good news is that past the 200€ everything sounds at least good :)

Thanks for the advice. I never thought about trying used headphones. I am going to take a visit to the local hi fi shop (Richer Sounds) and try a few headphones. Hopefully some of the models mentioned by yourself and others.
Thanks
Terry

[wee tee cee]

As a budget alternative what about the superlux hd660 add in a pair of the AKG velvet pads for comfort and sweaty ear reduction. The Thoman site Werner linked to supplies both. I thought they worked well with the caiman mk2.
Not the last word in cans but great VFM.
I removed the foams from mine....the ear pads fit no problem with some assistance from a tea spoon.

[Bluesboy12345]

As a budget alternative what about the superlux hd660 add in a pair of the AKG velvet pads for comfort and sweaty ear reduction. The Thoman site Werner linked to supplies both. I thought they worked well with the caiman mk2.
Not the last word in cans but great VFM.
I removed the foams from mine....the ear pads fit no problem with some assistance from a tea spoon.

Thanks Tony I will add those headphones to my list to look at.

Terry

[oldius]

IMO there is nothing to touch the Beyerdynamic DT150 250 ohm at this price range and possibly any other. Closed back studio headphones, made to stand 24/7 use, flat frequency response and freely available parts. Major studios have been using them for decades. Not fashionable because they've been around for years but oh so cool.

http://www.studiocare.com/beyerdynamic-dt150-250-ohm-headphones.html

[PeteC]

Have been using DT150 cans for years in broadcasting for monitoring during location sound recording and for camera talkback. They are tough, sound excluding, pretty natural sounding and also non fatiguing and can be worn all day. Probably the only nuisance is sweaty ears after along time in a hot environment. There must be a reason why so many people in the industry rely on them, I certainly have no complaints. For home use with my Caiman II I have ended up with Senn HD650s, which are great, but they are open backed and spill sound big style.

[pathway]

Maybe a bit late to this but I would take a serious look at the Yamaha HPH-MT220 - excellent HP and outstanding value for money.

[Canetoad]

I use a set of Sony MDR-1R phones and they sound pretty good.

[Pieoftheday]

Have been using DT150 cans for years in broadcasting for monitoring during location sound recording and for camera talkback. They are tough, sound excluding, pretty natural sounding and also non fatiguing and can be worn all day. Probably the only nuisance is sweaty ears after along time in a hot environment. There must be a reason why so many people in the industry rely on them, I certainly have no complaints. For home use with my Caiman II I have ended up with Senn HD650s, which are great, but they are open backed and spill sound big style.

Are the hd650s better for home use than dt150? Cheers jim

[Werner Berghofer]

Jim,

Are the hd650s better for home use than dt150?
like with so many things in sound reproduction this too is a matter of personal preferences. It’s difficult to compare closed (Beyerdynamic DT 150) to open (Sennheiser HD 650) headphones, or leather to soft velours earpads. Besides some objective basic requirements concerning the electrical connection between amplifier and headphones and obvious properties like build quality, there is no “better” or “worse”, but only a “different”.

Werner.

[PeteC]

Jim,

like with so many things in sound reproduction this too is a matter of personal preferences. It’s difficult to compare closed (Beyerdynamic DT 150) to open (Sennheiser HD 650) headphones, or leather to soft velours earpads. Besides some objective basic requirements concerning the electrical connection between amplifier and headphones and obvious properties like build quality, there is no “better” or “worse”, but only a “different”.

Werner.

Absolutely right! HD650s are great for home use and give a great deal of natural clarity; however they are open backed, and although well made could be damaged. DT150s are cheaper to buy, just about indestructible, and of modular construction so very easy to repair. They sound good and attenuate ambient noise very well, which is why they are used a lot for location sound monitoring. They are 150 ohm impedance, so still highish compared to most.

[Werner Berghofer]

Peter,

They are 150 ohm impedance, so still highish compared to most.
compared to most, but my favourite Beyerdynamic models have an impedance of 600 Ω. As a humorous sidenote: True fans of Pink Floyd ought to use Beyerdynamic DT 150 headphones, because on most photos from the band working in the studio they are wearing these cans ;-)

Werner.

[PeteC]

600 ohms being the standard impedance load for a telephone line and transmission of broadcast sound: 0.775 volts across 600 ohms = zero level DBs. Early versions of Sennhieser HD414s were a very high 2K impedance. The reason for all these low impedance cans that are around now is to enable them to be driven by iPods etc.