TOO MUCH audio bliss to handle! Rediscovered music ive been listning to for YEARS!!!!

[Armando]

Hey audiobuff dudes,
I recently auditioned theese cans over a month and a half through a friends headroom max amp(solid state). This is not a review but I wanted to know what you guys thought and where you disagreed. If your wondering where I got so many cans to audition at one time, my uncle is a dealer and has contacts with many other dealers.(some guys have all the luck!) What I've tried to get here is a comprehensive best-worst list for first time audio investors. Tell me if I have succeeded in this purpose.
List not inclusive of cans with digital components such as noise cancelling phones or wireless systems.IEM's have been included. All opinions given in this forum are entirely personal and based on listening experience through auditioning. The prices listed are the lowest headroom has to offer and not the list price.
THE BEST OF THE BEST
Ultimate Ears UE-10 Pro(I had to purchase theese, of course)
$900
Shure E5C
$499.00
AKG K 701
$399.00
Etymotic ER-4P
$330.00
Grado RS 1
$695
Beyerdynamic DT 880 with Cardas Upgrade Cable
$449.00
Sennheiser HD 650
$549.95
THE BEST EL_CHEAPO's
Sennheiser HD 280 Pro
$99.99
Beyerdynamic DT 231
$59
Grado SR 80
$95.00
Koss Porta Pro
$49.99
AKG K 81 DJ
$99.00
Shure E2c
$99.00
Ultimate Ears super.fi 3
$99.99
ALMOST THERE
Sennheiser HD 595
$289.95
Beyerdynamic DT 880
$259.00
Grado SR 325i
$295.00
Etymotic ER-6
$149.00
AKG K 601
$299.00
Shure E4C
$299.00
Ultrasone PROline 650
$299.00
Ultimate Ears super.fi 5Pro
$249.99
MY BOTTOM FIVE
Beyerdynamic DT 131
$59.00
Sennheiser HD 250 II
$179.00
Koss UR 20
$19.95
Koss UR 29
$29.99
Koss QZ 99
$59.99
MY TOP FIVE(IN ORDER)
Grado RS 1
$695.00
AKG K 701
$399.00
Ultimate Ears UE-10 Pro
$900.00
Sennheiser HD 595 with Cardas Upgrade Cable
$429.00
Beyerdynamic DT 880 with Cardas Upgrade Cable
$449.00
BEST FOR PORTABLE USE(WITHOUT A DEDICATED AMP)
Etymotic ER-4P
$330.00
Beyerdynamic DT 860
$269.00
Sennheiser PX 100
$49.99
Grado SR 80
$95.00
Koss Porta Pro
$49.99
AKG K 81 DJ
$69.95
AKG K 27i
$54.95
AKG K 26 P
$44.95
Shure E4C
$299.00
Shure E5C
$499.00
Shure E2c
$119.00
Shure E3C
$179.00
Ultimate Ears super.fi 3 Studio White
$99.99
Ultimate Ears super.fi 5EB White
$199.99
Ultimate Ears super.fi 5Pro White
$249.99
Ultimate Ears UE-5C
$550.00
Ultimate Ears UE-10 Pro
$900
ULTIMATE AMPS(TUBE)
HeadRoom Desktop Millett Hybrid Amp
$649.00
STAX SRM-006 (tube)
$1600
STAX SRM-007 (tube)
$2400
E.A.R.-Yoshino HP4
$3895
E.A.R.-Yoshino V20(OOF!)
$5495.00
ULTIMATE AMPS(SOLID STATE)
THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE.....
THE HEADROOM MAX BALANCED AMP WITH THE INCREDIBLY PRICEY ALPS BRASS RK-50 CONTINUOUSLY VARIABLE POTENTIOMETER-$5650
BEST BRANDS TO OPT FOR(ON AVERAGE...TOP 10 IN ORDER)
1. GRADO
2. AKG
3. ETYMOTIC RESEARCH
4. ULTIMATE EARS
5. SENNHEISER
6. BEYERDYNAMIC
7. SHURE
8. ULTRASONE
9. KOSS
10.(WELL, THERE HAS TO BE A 10!) PANASONIC(YOU'LL BE SURPRISED WITH SOME OF THIER LOWER END MODELS. THEY SPANK SOME CHEAP SENNHEISER MODELS, BELEIVE IT OR NOT.)

Well, thats it dudes!And if your wondering, I do have a lot of free time at the moment and I just wanted to share my month and a half of headphone bliss! I have become a total grado freak, and while I find the bass on some of the lower akg models a bit lean, I find their 701 perfect. the sound is right down the middle, between the laid back senny's and the immensely detailed RS1's. While the AKG's would be pleasing to most, I'm hooked onto the ever so slightly coloured RS1's. My UE 10 PRO's are about the best sounding but are a tad inconvenient for home use and don't feel as classy as the Grado's. I basically feel that EVERYONE who can afford it should purchase the RS1's along with one of headrooms tube amps(I prefer them to the transistoral ones as they don't provide an overpowering sense of detail, such as the engineer's fingers grating against knobs and dials and sound much more natural; heck, you probably wouldn't hear the engineers fingers if you were in the studio itself.Incase your wondering I heard it on Led zep's Trampled Underfoot. I had to rewind and rehear like, a billion times to beleive it. Its only in a small portion, bt much more prominent in Nickel Creek's When In Rome. Try it.). We all love detail and a reasonably forward sound, but it becomes a psuedo concept when it gets overpowering. I feel this about the grados after listening to a boatload of 'phones. After that are the AKG's, a steal at nearly half the price, and though the ue 10's have about the best sound, they dont have the classy feel of a full-sized headphone. While sound matters most, I do have a soft spot for the leather and mahogany luxuries of the Grado's.But then, to each his own.
Anyone looking for an opinion on a hard to find headphone? I have access to ALL!MU HUA HUA HUA HUA HUA HUA HUA HUA HUA.....Anytime dudes!!
Ultimate ((Reasonably Inexpensive) That'll Kaboom The Krud out of your $25000 system)Rig = Grado RS1 + Headroom Desktop Millet Hybrid Amp($1350)/The upgraded (cardas baanced) grados + THE HEADROOM MAX BALANCED AMP WITH THE INCREDIBLY PRICEY ALPS BRASS RK-50 CONTINUOUSLY VARIABLE POTENTIOMETER-$6650.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahzahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!
-The mad marauder, a.k.a. audioslut,
ROCK ON.

:5:

[N. Abstentia]

I'd like to have all those at my disposal for a few days :)

Something I've always wondered...does the Cardas cable upgrade make any difference on the ones you tried it on? I just always found it weird to buy a $120 cable for $99 headphones :)

[dean_martin]

For first timers on a budget or for a spare pair (or even the main home listening pair as in my case), you should check out the Grado SR60s. They should probably be part of a list as comprehensive as yours. Were you able to audition the SR60s? If so, did they not compare well to the others?

[Armando]

Something I've always wondered...does the Cardas cable upgrade make any difference on the ones you tried it on? I just always found it weird to buy a $120 cable for $99 headphones :)

Abby bro-
It all depends on the detail resolution capabilities of your phones. A cable upgrade on a pair of $100 phones would certianly be silly, for the simple reason that such cans would not have the detail of the more expensive phones. If I were to put a cardas upgrade on my porta pros it would make little difference as my porta pro's cant show the difference in detail; but put the upgrade on a pair of high end beyers, and the slight loss of detail you were experiencing becomes clear. Thats cuz the detail on the beyers is far far greater than the koss' and they have the resolution capabilities to expose theese.
hope thats answered your Q!:)
ROCK ON!:5: :16: :16: :16: :17: :6: boooooooooooooooy do I LOVE theese totally rad smileys!!!!!!!!

[Armando]

I'd like to have all those at my disposal for a few days :)

Something I've always wondered...does the Cardas cable upgrade make any difference on the ones you tried it on? I just always found it weird to buy a $120 cable for $99 headphones :)
Abby Bro-
Yes it does make quite a difference. Due to mechanical limitations some detail is always lost between the source and the cable. the better the cable, the less detail lost. But I certianly did not do the upgrades on cheap headphones such as the ones whose price you mention.The cheap cans woulnt have detail resolution capabilities to tell the difference, but with a pair of, say, high end beyers, the difference in sound is easily seen.or heard!:)
Hope thats answered your Q!
:5: :16: :16: :16: :17: :6: :cornut: boooooy do i love theese totally rad smileys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ROCK ON!

[N. Abstentia]

Hmmmm....interesting.

So if you buy a $100 pair of headphones they won't sound good enough to improve.

But if you buy a $600 pair of headphones, you have to buy a $120 cable upgrade to make them sound good.

I'll take the $100 phones please.

Man if I paid $600 for some headphones then they came back and said "you really have to buy this $120 cable so they will sound right" I'd be highly pissed. Why are the manufacturers not able to just build them with the better cables? I'd pay the extra $1 the high end cable would cost them. But Cardas selling it for $120 is asanine. How does George sleep at night? I know...on a big pile of money....

[Armando]

Hmmmm....interesting.

So if you buy a $100 pair of headphones they won't sound good enough to improve.

But if you buy a $600 pair of headphones, you have to buy a $120 cable upgrade to make them sound good.

I'll take the $100 phones please.

Man if I paid $600 for some headphones then they came back and said "you really have to buy this $120 cable so they will sound right" I'd be highly pissed. Why are the manufacturers not able to just build them with the better cables? I'd pay the extra $1 the high end cable would cost them. But Cardas selling it for $120 is asanine. How does George sleep at night? I know...on a big pile of money....

Brother Abby,
Dude, I agree. But I dont have to shell out hard earned money for my phones and can afford to do irrational audiophille things. Thats what the audiophille world is all about.like I said, i'm not an audiophille, but i can afford to do audiophille things. I can tell the difference in detail but im not impressed.With high end audio and people who can afford it its all about spending the extra hundred on the cable that lets you hear one extra lip slap on a trombone every thousand recordings while millions are dying each day in Africa.
The supplied cable is near perfect. But the Audiophille will spend the extra cash to get soud increments only specially trained dogs can hear, and the specially trained human occasionally. But in certain specific cases, the cable makes a rather noticable difference.
Hey, frankly I'm happy with my airhead hooked with the sr80's, but after that, there is less and less emphasis on the music and more on the equipment.
If i had to shell out as much as you for audio I wouldn't even think of going beyond the 80 and airhead combo.But that aint' the case.
I'm with you bro! you dont need very high end equipment to truly enjoy and love your music.Period.
ROCK ON!
:5:

[N. Abstentia]

Oh yeah I agree with all that, I'm just saying....

...if I were to spend $600 on headphones only to find out the cable is useless and I have to spend another $120 to replace it I'd be highly pissed.

That's kinda like buying a new Ferrari and then finding out when you get it home that it's got a Kia motor in it. But you can buy the Ferrari motor for another $10,000 if you want it to perform like a Ferrari.

[Armando]

Oh yeah I agree with all that, I'm just saying....

...if I were to spend $600 on headphones only to find out the cable is useless and I have to spend another $120 to replace it I'd be highly pissed.

That's kinda like buying a new Ferrari and then finding out when you get it home that it's got a Kia motor in it. But you can buy the Ferrari motor for another $10,000 if you want it to perform like a Ferrari.

Abby Bro-
It's like this.....
Cardas is a cable company. It exists for the sole purpose of making cables for better audiophille equipment not to loose out on a few specks of sound that would otherwise be lost.
Now answer me this.....
Have you ever seen a ferrari with a ferrari music system or one using ferrari paints or on thier cars?
Does Dell manufacture its own hard drives?
Does Apple have its own manufacturing units for the plastic that goes into its cabinets?
Not to the best of my knowledge they don't. They all depend on dedicated manufacturers to provide them with the best equipment. Of course Grado's can come with a cardas cable upgrade and you wouldn't have to replace it, but the pair of phones would only cost a hundred and twenty more! Why impose something thats not really needed on everyone. For the same reason that Ferrai doesn't put mods on their cars. There are companies dedicated towards making aerodynamic spoilers that tweak the cars performance by a hundredth. would you make the change? Is it needed? Heck no! But then the ferrari isn't either. Heck I would be mighty pissed if i found i had to make 10,000 dollar changes on a million dollar ferrari to make it the best of the best.
But then again, if I have the money I would persue the hobby to the max dude.
ROCK ON!
:5:

[E-Stat]

For the same reason that Ferrai doesn't put mods on their cars... Heck I would be mighty pissed if i found i had to make 10,000 dollar changes on a million dollar ferrari to make it the best of the best.
Actually, they do. The carbon fiber brake option for the Modena and Spyder runs $15k.

rw

[Armando]

Actually, they do. The carbon fiber brake option for the Modena and Spyder runs $15k.

rw
what a wise guy!!
you know what I meant. And in any case, if grado was to throw in a cable upgrade it would cost another 150$ just as the carbon fibre break option costs another 15k. whether you think its worth it or not is your opinion.:)

[E-Stat]

what a wise guy!!
you know what I meant.
Sorry to offend. I was pointing out that pricey performance options are not limited to audio components. You still have to pay extra to get the HUD situational awareness feature in a $40 M Gulfstream jet to get the "best of the best". Speaking of Apple, Steve Jobs just bought one. :)

rw

[Armando]

Speaking of Apple, Steve Jobs just bought one. :)

rw


NO WAY DUDE!