Cans! (Headphone thread inspired by Dolly Parton)

Hi there Jim!
Good to have you in here. I agree wholeheartedly about those irritating staff members in hifi shops. Over the last year or so I've met quite a few. The kind that lools down their noses at anything that isn't powered by special crystals and costs as much as a used car. Oh my word! I had one look at me very condescendingly on account of my yellow AKGs

Btw have you ever tried on a pair of open-backs? This may sound like complete gibberish to you but I have found RPI (and folk) especially jives on open backs. The 'space' and 'air' that suddenly fill up within the musical room is just sublime and, at least for my tastes, matches oh so well with RPI.

Interesting to see how the company fares with a "proper" headphone. They made their name with the Triple driver iem a good while back and more recently with the Quad (4 drivers).

^Hey David, they are ugly indeed.

Here's mine. They're not expensive. I'm really pleased. They're danish I Think. My first wireless ever and I'm never going back (probably bought/destroyed/lost over 50 wired ones). But I'm clueless so I just googled best buy/best in test a couple of times and ended up with these. Couldn't find a relevant Dolly image so I made one instead

Hey ho new faces in Dolly land
Welcomd aboard folks!

Never heard a pair of Jabra and had no idea they were a Danish outfit. Maybe that is why I see so many of them in shops here.
Anyway I too have been interested in going the wireless route but this was after I started listening to higher end cans and I just found the sound qualty significantly poorer compared to the old wired ones. What I wouldn't give for the freedom that comes with wireless though!! Oh my word. I'd be free to do yoga and these old folk dance moves I've been refining.

Oh and I thought I was the only one rocking those Y50s in yellow
Good to see the Scottish still have their unrivalled sense of fashion.

^ Be reassured, you have no real problem until you start buying duplicate items  when you already have one, just because you love it and are afraid of some future misfortune - I've seen it happening, believe you me (not by myself, fortunately - yet !)

Guldbamsen wrote: Good to see the Scottish still have their unrivalled sense of fashion.

The Taxi Yellow was over £10 cheaper than the other colours. And you know what they say about Scots and money...

Hi there Hubert good to have you back
Capcha always seems to strike on long posts...and that is evidently also when folks forget to save. Feckadiddledoo!

I can't believe you went and bought the upgraded version of my Hifimans - you sneaky dog
I see they're something like a 100 grams lighter and perhaps more importantly: they updated the connectors. My old school screw ons are a pain in the arse. These days I just leave the cable in because it is so much of a hassle connecting those feckers.

Your reaction to them very much mirrors my own. A whole new and exciting world opened up within the music I already knew like the back of my hand. Simply calling it a 'wow moment' doesn't quite do it justice. It's like this brain orgasm made out of pure sound - like had it been produced by diamonds on fire.

Regarding the amp conundrum: Hifiman launched these, as well as my version, as one of the first planars you could use straight out of your phone or MP3 player...and you can...barely. If you on the other hand invest in an amp (amp/dac combo if you're looking to upgrade the sound on your computer and/or phone) you will most likely experience the same thing I did, which was like this veil somehow was lifted from the music and everything became much more clear and precise.
You can get some pretty cheap amps nowadays that sound absolutely brilliant. I can warmly recommend Aune's amp/dacs of which I own one of. An older model but the sound is epic. It also makes the sound on my real speaker system sing when I seldomnly play music off my computer. Just a matter of connecting it with my stereo amp using it only as a dac (it has all these different settings you can switch between: headphone amp / dac, dac only, headphone amp only, usb connection, coaxial and so forth).
Anyway you can get a really really nice amp or amp/dac for around 200-300$
Sure you can get stuff that sounds better at a higher price but then we're talking 800-900$ - especially if you go for some of the lesser known brands. Oh yeah check out the no nonsense American firm Schiit. Very affordable and sound quality that punches way above their pricerange - just like Aune actually.

Btw did your Hifimans come with velourpads? I swear after I switched to some velours the sound changed as well. Lost a bit of the boom bass but the mids suddenly popped up and sounded more natural. Heh and to think I only switched them because my ears got too hot with the faux leather pads

Guldbamsen wrote: Btw did your Hifimans come with velourpads?

There's a reason why Scrooge McDuck was Scottish. :P