First headphones (and first post!)

[freedomweasel]

Hey everyone, I've been lurking for a while both here and headfi, trying to figure out where to spend some money After much deliberation, I think I've decided on the Audio Technica AD-700, thoughts?

long version:
I'm looking for some new headphones for home use. I recently bought some of these http://www.amazon.com/Philips-SHE600...pr_product_top at target, and while I'm sure they're crummy, they're loads better than the old ipod buds. Plus they're the first headphones I've owned that don't fall out of my ears. They'll do for now for portable use.

I think I'm about to jump on a set of AD-700s. Theyre about $90 on amazon at the moment. As I said, they'll be for home use through my laptop or desktop. I will also use them for watching movies and playing games after hours while my fiance is sleeping. (TV is 2 rooms over from the bedroom, so open headphones should be a problem)

I listen to mostly bluegrass/bluegrass/old country, but also enjoy industrial/hard rock type stuff as well. Do the AD-700s sound like a good jump into 'real headphones' territory?

As a side note, if I wanted to improve sound quality out of my notebook/desktop for best use with the new headphones would I want something like the Fiio E7 or a turtle beach usb card?

Thanks a ton!

[lestatar]

Hey there...can't help you with full-sized cans, but just wanted to welcome you to ABi...

However, there are a goodly number of peeps here who do have lots of experience with full-size cans, so I suspect you'll get some good discussion.

cheers and good luck,
-lestatar

[The Larch]

Originally Posted by freedomweasel

As a side note, if I wanted to improve sound quality out of my notebook/desktop for best use with the new headphones would I want something like the Fiio E7 or a turtle beach usb card?

Thanks a ton!

I think the usb sound card would be more of an improvement,depending on how good your compy's sound card is already.

[freedomweasel]

@lestatar: Thanks for the welcome!

@The Larch: I figured as much, and from my limited knowledge it seems like all the headphones I looked at don't need an amp.

[skip252]

I have the ATH AD700, for how you say you're going to use them they should work very nicely. For me they work very well for both music and gaming. You can see my full opinion in another thread over here.

While there's a certain period of silliness that occurs in there you may want to stick it out to get the opinions of shigzeo on these and some other phones.

I tracked these for several weeks on Amazon waiting for a price drop. I lucked out and caught them for $75. If I had known what I was missing I wouldn't have waited.

[rickysio]

AD700 is known as one of the best phones for gaming, due to it's positional accuracy.

As for improvement soundwise, it would yield an improvement, but whether it's worth the cost or not is a question. A FiiO E7 can function as both an DAC and as an amplifier. If it suits your needs, and the performance increase is sufficient for you to part with your cash, then part with your cash.

[freedomweasel]

I ended up jumping on the AD700s, I'm sure they'll be amazing compared to what I have now. Hopefully it won't get me too hooked..

I've been involved in too many hobbies to know better though.

I'm holding off on a DAC to see how much difference just the headphones make.

[Jack4L]

I would skip the amp totally, just forget about needing one with those headphones. I would instead save the money for a investment in a better computer or soundcard for the computer. You wont need the amp to drive your headphones on any portable player- unless you have an older iPod with a line out dock. In which case its a matter of an iPod needing an AMP more then the headphones ;D

[freedomweasel]

Originally Posted by Jack4L

I would skip the amp totally, just forget about needing one with those headphones. I would instead save the money for a investment in a better computer or soundcard for the computer. You wont need the amp to drive your headphones on any portable player- unless you have an older iPod with a line out dock. In which case its a matter of an iPod needing an AMP more then the headphones ;D

It's my (noobish) understanding that using something like the fiio e7 with the USB to my desktop or notebook, and using that as the headphone out could improve my sound quality over the onboard sound. I'm also using an older ipod classic with rockbox, around the house, so I figured line out to an amp may help there too. But I could be way off base on both of these. I do understand that the headphones I have don't need an amp to produce adequate volume.

[Jack4L]

Well it was my understanding that the OP had already used his PC as a source for listening to stuff, so I'm assuming he would have noted any horrible mechanical noises or hissing with his previous set, especially since they were IEMs.

Either way, yes they say an external USB sound card is better then a bad internal soundcard but even then I dont think the FiiO is really a cost effective solution. Its pretty pricey for just a USB DAC/Soundcard. I'd rather get like a Creative x-fi go usb soundcard, or similar USB soundcard, unless the headphones I had needed to be amped properly which isn't the case with the AD700.

[freedomweasel]

Originally Posted by Jack4L

snip

I am the OP actually

I haven't noticed anything like hissing yet, but my iems cost me about 30 bucks at target. I'll look into some usb soundcards though, thanks.

[Jack4L]

Heh, so you are. :P

[freedomweasel]

So my AD700s arrived today. Got home from work and opened em up (nice packaging) and turn queued up Summer Song by Joe Satriani off the G3: Live in Concert Album, I was impressed, but not blown away.
Next up was Folsom Prison Blues on the album of the same name, holy cow amazing. Sounded like I was right there in prison...
Then Three o'clock blues from Riding wth the King, even better.

I was almost hoping that they wouldn't be so great, because then I'd want to upgrade to better IEMs for portable use.. alas, goodbye paychecks. You all will be seeing more of me around here

[skip252]

Congratulations. Enjoy'em in good health.
Great first choices on the first things to listen to.

A couple of questions, What player are you using with them? Feeling any need for an amp?

[lestatar]

freedomweasel: Congrats indeed!

I love it - a fellow Satch fan [yes, I am the world's biggest Satch fanboy]

btw, for Satch, stick with the studio stuff in order to test your headphones. I personally have found Crystal Planet and Is There Love In Space to sound particularly good and use tracks from both as part of my own test music.

Most live rock recordings are a bit too noisy, though there are many great exceptions: UFO's Strangers In The Night, Opeth's Roundhouse Tapes, Within Temptation's Black Symphony, Rush's Live In Rio, Diana Krall's Live In Paris...these are a few that spring to mind, but there are a ton. The G3 stuff is amazing content wise, but only ok recordings IMO. Satch's Satriani Live and the B-Side of Dreaming #11 are probably the best sounding live recordings he has put out IMO.

Anyway, cheers, enjoy and look forward to reading your posts here

PS: Don't forget Satch's new CD coming early October, Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards. The first single Light Years Away is available for listening [and download if you can figure it out] at satriani.com. It's only 128kbps, but sounds actually pretty good - I personally have high hopes that this CD will be as great as Crystal Planet is.

[freedomweasel]

So far the only problems I have with them is the fit and the warmth. The way the headband works they feel really light, like they're going to fall off, but I can shake my head around a fair bit and they don't move.

@lestatar: Satch is amazing. I'm getting back into him. I liked him a lot back in highschool when I was playing guitar a bit, but I dug through some of my old cds when I was re-ripping my collection and remembered how great he was. I'm ashamed to say I never purchased crystal planet, but its on my list to buy next time I'm ordering something. I saw he has a new album coming out, I'll check out the single, thanks for the tip.

@skip252: I've only tried them through the headphone out my computer so far, but I can try them on my players soon. I have a rockboxed 4G ipod classic and a jailbroken touch. From my understanding they should need an amp volume wise. My computer puts out plenty of volume for them I'm at about 1/3 volume on my desktop and it's enough to cover up any external noise.