I've always tried to have the best quality "toys" available given my budget, so I always do plenty of research regarding quality and bang-for-the-buck for any new "toy" I plan on buying. This goes for anything from TV's to GPU's to Headphones.
Several years ago I had read many good reviews of Grado SR-80's, so I bought myself a pair and began to listen to them. Since I had no other high-end headphones to compare them to, they were of course the best I had ever heard. The only issue was that they lacked bass, were loud to other people in the room, and were very fatiguing to listen to (overly "bright" if you will). I just figured I needed to learn to like them since they were supposedly the best for the money.
Fast-forward to last week; I decided it was finally time to try something new in the headphone department. After much time spent reading even more reviews on multiple websites and forums, I decided on a pair of Ultrasone HFI-580's. My researching also told me that they would sound even more amazing with a headphone amp, so I found one with a built-in high-quality DAC (Digital-to-Analog Converter) made by FiiO, called the E10; it plugs into a USB port and Windows automatically recognizes it as an audio device, and you can use it right away without any driver installation - nice!
Let me tell you, the step up in sound quality from the SR-80's, in my opinion of course, was HUGE. These headphones with this amp sound AMAZING! This is the perfect combination since the HFI-580's have EXCELLENT bass response, and the FiiO E10 has a built-in high-quality bass-boost switch that just "works" - it's something that you just have to hear to believe.
So in conclusion, if you're looking for a new set of high-quality headphones for enjoying the clarity of music, or playing games late at night (loudly inside your ears!) without waking people up, or any other uses, I can HIGHLY recommend these. (Even more so if you have the budget for this Amplifier/DAC combo!)
Thanks for reading and have a great day!
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Other items I came across while looking for information:
V-Moda Crossfade LP2 - all metal construction (VERY durable) - these were out of my price range
Also, FiiO just came out with an even newer USB DAC after I purchased my E10, called the E17 - if your budget is flexible enough to cover this, I've read that this is one of the best DAC's you can get for the price, AND it has seperate adjustments for BASS, TREBLE, and GAIN!
