What headphones are you using with the Bushmaster?

[Old George]

Have AKG K550's plugged into my BM as I type.....haven't got any other headphones to compare it to, I'm a fan of my friends K701's but wanted closed back myself, thought I'd give them a go. lovely lovely, so much depth and fantastic separation, but the volume control isn't half sensitive! These headphones don't take much driving it seems and I can only just turn it above its bottom spot......have emailed Stan so will see if there's anything to be done!

Bought some K550's last weekend, they sound very good but i'm still burning them in.
Agree with you about headphone volume, just a slight turn above bottom and it's too much, yet my old DT 331's need pushing above the halfway mark.

[jonnyd]

Bought some K550's last weekend, they sound very good but i'm still burning them in.
Agree with you about headphone volume, just a slight turn above bottom and it's too much, yet my old DT 331's need pushing above the halfway mark.

In the end I asked a friend who's handy with surface mounted resistors to swap a couple on Stan's recommendation. It's spot on now with much greater range of movement on the volume control. Great for me as I've only got the K550's to worry about.

[Old George]

In the end I asked a friend who's handy with surface mounted resistors to swap a couple on Stan's recommendation. It's spot on now with much greater range of movement on the volume control. Great for me as I've only got the K550's to worry about.

I just ended up keeping SPDIF (USB) at 100% and reducing volume on VLC media player to 88%, that has allowed me some adjustment.

[richard51]

I listen the bushmaster mkII with a pair of Hifiman He 400, connected to an ember amp.... I must say that i have listened details
in some cd i owned for decades , realizing that i have never heard them before the bushmaster... I truly thanks the conceptor of this dac... The price is more than right for a peace of gear of this quality...I am not an audiophile "connoisseur", but i have good ears and i make my opinion rather swiftly after hearing, because if one hear perfect balance in the sound, one recognize it immediately.... The greatest discovery i made in this audiophile world is the bushmaster....It will spare me much money for dac in the future... i will invest in some new headphones.... Its evident after hearing that the bushmaster do a perfect job to send you the best sounding music....My last dac was the Aune t1, regarded by some as very good, i dont want to detract it....its a good dac.... But compared with the bushmaster its an another world... the bushmaster is in an another league..... His rendering of sound is perfect to my ears.....thanks for this marvel Mr. Beresford... I will not in the future envy the owner of pricey dacs,
finally i have discovered my own little paradise for a ridiculous price compared to others....thanks to this forum

[slate]

On the budget end, the Superlux HD668B sound very good from the BM.

+1

Bought a pair of HD668B after advice from some of the local headphone nuts: "Best bang for the money? look at Superlux HD668B or HD681".
Since then I have bought a pair for work and also gifted various family members that used something mediocre.

Edit: just want to add that the "leather" pads can be replaced with the AKG K-240/270/271 Velour Pads

[Chris79]

Hello everyone,

I am a Dutch owner of a Yamaha Pianocraft E810, a great little system. After a while I've replaced the Yamaha speakers that came with it with very nice Q-acoustics 1010i's. The icing on the cake came with the purchase of the Bushmaster MkI DAC, which improved the sound incredibly.

Maybe looking at these configuration you can tell that I live in a small appartment. I feel that I can't turn on the volume on the system up enough to enjoy the music without getting bothered by the idea the volume is too high for my neighbours.

So now I want to buy a headphone for the system. And my question is: while looking at my preference of music -which is classic, jazz, movies and progrock- what would be the best headphone I could buy with a budget of a maximum of 300 dollars?

I heard these three were the holy three:

- AKG Q701
- Sennheiser HD600
- Beyerdynamic DT 880 (250 ohm?)

Several other things could be important to note:

- the Yamaha pianocraft is pretty neutral and analytical
- I also think of the Bushmaster as a pretty neutral and analytical DAC
- I like the clarity of the Q-Acoustics

Is it true the Beyerdynamic has a shrill treble, the Sennheiser is smooth but has a veil and that the AKG has a thin, low-bass sound? I was close to buying the AKG Q701's because I am not a bass heavy listener and prefer neutral and analytical sound because I love to hear details. But I am a bit wary because I already have a analytical DAC and a neutral Yamaha, would this make the resulting sound when using the AKG a bit too analytical heavy? And yeah, I also am a bit wary for a penetrating high treble.

Who here on this forum can give me the golden advice which of these three (or maybe another headset) I should buy? Or should I just order them all three and give them a good listening session before returning one or two?

Thanks in advance!

[alan47]

I would say that Grado SR225's will give you what you want,much better than any of the ones on your short list.I use RS1's with my Bushmaster,which i suspect use the same drivers in a shiny mahogany cup.I found the Senns to be dull,the Beyers all boom,boom,tizz and the AKG's to be a tad thin.
You have to suck it an see with phones,just remember ,they all need a few hours on them to work,five at the very least.

[StanleyB]

The Bushmaster MKI with the Venom-3 mod and AKG701 would be my choice.

Legal disclaimer: I have a Bushmaster fitted with the V-3 mod and I own a K701. So I can speak from experience.

[Chris79]

The Bushmaster MKI with the Venom-3 mod and AKG701 would be my choice.

Legal disclaimer: I have a Bushmaster fitted with the V-3 mod and I own a K701. So I can speak from experience.

Thanks for the quick replies. I will look into the SR225i also.

About this V-3 mod, this requires some soldering, right? Unfortunately I ain't much of a soldering guy and afraid to ruin my (and in a way also your) Bushmaster, which I love so dearly ;-)

Is the K701 (or Q701), also without this mod, your headphone of choice Stanley? And is this mod so much improving the sound of the Bushmaster that it would be a pity not to fit the Bushmaster with it?

If yes, is there a way to have my Bushmaster fitted with this mod, maybe by sending it to you or maybe can John do this?

Thanks in advance!

[StanleyB]

All the Venom mods need a soldering iron to do the job.
First try your local DIY forums to see if anyone near you can do the soldering for you. The V-3 and V-4 mods are dead easy to solder in, as long as you have some basic soldering skills.

I got a wide selection of headphones, and use most of them. The K701 is not my headphone of choice though. My D7000 is.

The K701 works fine with the standard BM. The mods are just additional fun bits to add so that you can get a little bit more performance from the standard DAC.