Headphones!!!

[jeffnc]

By the way, regarding the drivers for the 580 and 600, it's my understanding that they use the "same" drivers, however either
1) the drivers are built with better tolerances for the 600 than the 580, or
2) the drivers selected for the 600 from the big batch of them are closely matched

Either way this has some value. How much is up to you. This is not uncommon, and not a ripoff (unless they are misleading you.) For example, if you play golf you can buy Dynamic shafts or Dynamic Gold shafts. The Gold are more expensive, naturally. The difference? They are the same shaft. The Golds are labelled such because they are selected from the entire batch to be the ones with the closest weight tolerances to the original spec. This technique has the advantage of not requiring tighter, more expensive manufacturing tolerances.

Note that this has the double whammy effect of also diluting the quality for the regular shafts. All the best ones are taken from that pool, so overall variance goes up even more for them than the original manufacturing.

[Kneel B4 Zod]

ok, my review of the Ultimate Ears super.fi 3 Studio vs. the Etymotic ER6i

I'm a noob to IEC headphones, and ordered both of these to compare (and return one). it took a while to adjust to each of them - putting them on requires reading directions! either that or I'm an idiot.

I first tried the Ultimate Ears, and they kept falling out until I realized they were upside down. then I read the directions, and used the R&R method to put them in. much better! they sounded great.

then I tried on the Etymotics. they looked easy to put on, but to get really deep in my ear I needed to pull my ear up and out, like the directions said. mission accomplished, I played some tunes. they sounded similar to the UE, but I liked them better b/c the cord was longer, and they were easier to put on.

but then I tried the UE again, and wow! they sounded a lot better. much deeper bass, much fuller sound in general. I tried the Etymotics again, and sure enough they didnt sound as good as the UE.

now I was torn, b/c it was between the better sounding phones (UE) vs. the easier to use ones (etymotics). I put the UE's on a few more times, and realized they were actually quite easy to put on. so they are the winner.

thanks pittm!

[cwsiggy]

I think the UE super.fi 3 Studio will be my next purchase. Thanks for that review.

[jeffnc]

HeadRoom makes an amp with a circuit I like. I believe what it does it leak a little right channel into the left, and vice versa. The effect is somewhat subtle, but it makes it sound more like you're listening to music in real space. When you listen to speakers, you obviously hear some the of the left channel through your right ear and vice versa. This seems to make listening less fatiguing, and moves that "middle of your head image" to a more natural one.

[PITTM]

Ah, youre talking about crossfeed. Crossfeed is definitely not a proprietary HeadRoom only product. I know many of the Maier audio products use crossfeed and the like. People who are primarily speaker listeners swear by it and say it makes everything sound more natural. My friend who got me into headphones has the HeadRoom Coda limited edition and it has crossfeed and I have A/B'd it with my hornet a few times, and the hornet just kills it. I can tell a slight difference between unites with and without crossfeed and to me the crossfeed actually makes things sound slightly worse imo.

I wrote a paper about headroom for my Economics of emerging technology class when i was a senior and gave a presentation and the whole class loved it even though they had no idea what I was talking about at first. Since then, I must say with some regret, I think HeadRooms products have kinda stagnated while everyone else is improving so much. Headroom is concentrating too much on making their amps balanced and putting DAC's in them that they havent concentrated on the just pure amplification as much as I would like, and this is the exact point where my Hornet just smokes most HeadRoom products. While we;re on topic, I have never really been that impressed with balanced amps as opposed to non balanced amps. It is just one of those things in the audio market where you have such ridiculously diminishing returns that at a certain point youre paying like a grand extra for a feature that is a very slight improvement.

[jeffnc]

I don't doubt what you're saying. I have an older HeadRoom model. I recently looked at their web site and can't even figure out what I'm looking at anymore.

I've heard the term crosstalk more than crossfeed, but anyway - I like it (except, obviously, for mono or binaural recordings.) Recordings were simply meant to be listened to through speakers. The circuit doesn't just leak signal by the way - it has to time delay it ever so slightly. But, to each his own.

[steamraise]

[ QUOTE ]
crossfeed actually makes things sound slightly worse

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm not a fan of crossfeed.

Hard to explain but it just doesn't sound right.
I turn off the crossfeed and it becomes much clearer.

So when I upgraded I got an amp without crossfeed. Grace 901.
Drives my Sennheiser HD650s and my Grado SR 325s (modded) perfectly.

Anyone want a Headroom Supreme w/crossfeed cheap?

[RiverFenix]

Circuit City is giving 20-40% off Shure headphones.

E2C - $79 ($20 off retail) Plus 2% fat Cash Back!
E3C - $129 ($50 of retail) Plus 2% fat Cash Back!
E4C - $179 ($120 of retail) Plus 2% fat Cash Back!
E5C - $379 ($120 of retail) - Currently out of stock

Link to deal

[SirFelixCat]

Hey fellas...

I searched all over in 2p2 and couldn't find anything on the headphones I'm looking to pick up. The Audio Technica ATH A700's... Audio Technica ATHA700


I'm tired of earbuds that don't fit, I don't like canal phones and I really want cans the don't sit on my ears.

I can get them for @ $120 and am willing to shell out for them if they are as good as I think they are. I'm open to suggestions, if not these, or thoughts/reviews on them.

Thanks fellas!

[GSykes]

I got these JVC HA-NC80 phones from the FTP store I am just going to use them for live poker anyone ever try them.

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets//jvc-hanc...des-217277.php