Active or passive headphones

[Andrein]

Hi,

I am looking for headphones options which can give me the sound quality at least of what i have at home with my HT system.

Which is

Oppo 103d
Yamaha a1070
Anthem MCA 525
Fronts: Proac 148
Rears: Proac 118
Subs: 2xSvs sb2000
Room:~15x14

So the headphones should sound not worse than the system above which I like a lot. They should cover the entire ear. I think they are called over-the-ear. My budget is 400£ ~ 500$.

I am looking at models with impedance of 250-300 ohm + portable amp. Or maybe if that is possible for wireless devices where dac and amp are inside. Ideally the dac should be 32bit like in flagship avrs.

I was looking at Beyerdynamic dt990 250 ohm + Oppo ha2se. But then thought would be nice to have no wires and less boxes with the same quality.

Any suggestions?

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

I recently bought sennheiser pcx550 and I'm loving them. Great comfort, sound quality, and excellent anc.
I have four sennheiser phones and no one which i regretted buying.

 

[Andrein]

I recently bought sennheiser pcx550 and I'm loving them. Great comfort, sound quality, and excellent anc.
I have four sennheiser phones and no one which i regretted buying.

Thank you for suggedtion. Does this device include dac? Could not understand from their spec.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

They are Bluetooth. No need for dac

 

[KEW]

They are Bluetooth. No need for dac

In other words the DAC is built-in, no need to add one, correct?
(as in the device includes built-in DAC)

 

[lovinthehd]

LOL never thought of BT headphones as active for some reason....

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

In other words the DAC is built-in, no need to add one, correct?
(as in the device includes built-in DAC)

Technically yes, they do include a DAC

LOL never thought of BT headphones as active for some reason....

The Only other wired ACTIVE headphones I could think of are Stax, they require a special amp.

 

[lovinthehd]

Technically yes, they do include a DAC

The Only other wired ACTIVE headphones I could think of are Stax, they require a special amp.

All my headphones have been "passive"...haven't had a BT set let alone a Stax with the special amp thing. Then again I rarely use headphones, really don't like the feeling of speakers clamped to my head like that.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Only $500 phones I own are AGK K712pro (made in Austria), China version is sold cheaper.
I love them. Super comfortable and super audio quality. I typically use them at my work desk with audioengine D1 dac, which is fine dac & headphone amp, other than weird volume control

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

btw: Stax: https://staxaudio.com/earspeaker/
This site maintained by Woo Audio reseller. It seems like original Stax Japan and USA pages are down and/or left to die. This typically would only happen then company closes...

 

[tyhjaarpa]

If you want wireless I would take a look on Sennheiser Momentum 2.0.

 

[Andrein]

The reason i want headphones to have built-in DAC is because I want to use them with different devices and want to get the same quality. I have Samsung S7, my wife iphone 6. At work i my workstation has very basic multimedia components..

 

[Andrein]

Also if headphones include built-in DAC would be nice to know which exactly. For instance most of headphones amps have chip name in their spec.

 

[tyhjaarpa]

Also if headphones include built-in DAC would be nice to know which exactly. For instance most of headphones amps have chip name in their spec.

If you want to know what chip you have buy something like O2DAC and regular headphones. I doubt any wireless headphones manufacturer gives you this information.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

The reason i want headphones to have built-in DAC is because I want to use them with different devices and want to get the same quality. I have Samsung S7, my wife iphone 6. At work i my workstation has very basic multimedia components..

Get a sennheiser momentum or pcx550. You can't go wrong with either.
You don't need a dac or amp. They have everything on board

 

[Andrein]

Get a sennheiser momentum or pcx550. You can't go wrong with either.
You don't need a dac or amp. They have everything on board

Yesterday tried both of these, also hd650, also sony mdr a1all connected to my samsung s7. Was not impressed with either. Only sony and maybe some bose model outside my price range had the sound close to what i was looking for. Some lacked the bass, some sounded too dark.

Found online pm3 and ha2se with 25% off their price. Though i hevent tried them but decided to buy as this was a good deal. Even if pm3 doesnt work for me i can sell it probably.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Yesterday tried both of these, also hd650, also sony mdr a1all connected to my samsung s7. Was not impressed with either. Only sony and maybe some bose model outside my price range had the sound close to what i was looking for. Some lacked the bass, some sounded too dark.

Found online pm3 and ha2se with 25% off their price. Though i hevent tried them but decided to buy as this was a good deal. Even if pm3 doesnt work for me i can sell it probably.

hd650 is open back and 300ohm, they definitely need an amp

 

[Andrein]

Found these measurments:

PM3: https://www.rtings.com/headphones/reviews/oppo/pm-3
HD650: https://www.rtings.com/headphones/reviews/sennheiser/hd-650

Looking at hd650 graph I can see why I felt lack of the bass.

 

[tyhjaarpa]

Found these measurments:

PM3: https://www.rtings.com/headphones/reviews/oppo/pm-3
HD650: https://www.rtings.com/headphones/reviews/sennheiser/hd-650

Looking at hd650 graph I can see why I felt lack of the bass.

You are comparing open and closed back headphones. Just like with subs, the bass will try to fill whole area and open back headphones will leak sound out while closed back wont.

 

[Andrein]

You are comparing open and closed back headphones. Just like with subs, the bass will try to fill whole area and open back headphones will leak sound out while closed back wont.

I guess the measurements are taking into account only the portion of the sound which goes into the ear, otherwise the results would be incomparable. What is the point to look at the leaked part of the output? It is just a waste nobody is listening to the leaking sound from the headphones unless they are forced to do by someone who made a bad headphones choice)))