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You will need to find a sale but I think the Shure 1540 meets most of your sound requirements. 350 is about as low as I've seen them. If you don't like bright treble you should skip 99% of the Beyer line. They have a spike between 7-10khz in the vast majority of their headphones. The shure is a downward sloping frequency response with sub bass being the most prominent.
Keth
760
Oct 31, 2018
ElectronicVicesI'm happy to EQ if needed, but EQ can't improve the quality of the bass. Those Sures look great, I'll have to keep an eye out for a sale, hoping for some good ones coming up. I was also looking at the HE-560 V2, since they can be had for $250 at the moment...but it's hard to find a review of the V2's. Edit: Also looking at the Denon AH-D5200, as I can get a deal on a pair of those.
KethI do love me some planar bass... IMO the best quality and most extended bass. If you can find a killer deal(used) the HE-500 is one of personal favorites, but is quite hard to drive relatively speaking. I used to own the Beyer DT880 250 ohm but replaced them with T1 Gen1. They are great headphones with laser like clarity but I'm not overly sensitive to their treble peaks. I own the X2's and continue to use them for gaming. I've not found the same combo of bass bump and large soundstage and I own 30 or so pairs of headphones.
Keth
760
Oct 31, 2018
ElectronicVicesI made a great choice when I picked up a pair of X2's for $200 new, they replaced my SHP's which I sold for a tidy profit once they left production. The X2's are my casual gaming, movie, and general computer use headphones, and I love them. But the slightly bloated and loose base doesn't lend itself to funk, or music with pop and slap bass. I have a friend who's a dealer for Denon/Marantz/Boston Acoustics, going to see what I can get the AH-D5200 for, it seems to have a similar profile to the 1540's.
KethCan't speak to the modern denon headphones... have more open pairs than closed. Agree the X2 bass is a bit wooly and it also rolls off hard after the peak. I do like the fact it's so easy to drive you can get enjoyable game audio out of a console controller output. The fostex/emu cans (while north of your price point new) are also killer headphones. Foster used to make Denon's headphones and the 5200 appears to be a spiritual successor to the 2k/5k/7k line that Foster made for them. Wish I had a hookup with Denon/Marantz... in need of a new receiver and the Marantz mid/upper mid tier receivers are cheaper than a full blown AV processor.
Keth
760
Oct 31, 2018
ElectronicVicesMy setup at the moment is the Grace SDAC into the Monolith Liquid Spark. The I find out I could have gotten the Marantz HD-DAC1 for $500, and I may have a touch of buyers remorse...but both Marantz and Denon are horrible about giving any meaningful data on the their headphone amps. If I'm going to spend that much though, I want analog VU meters which seem to be impossible to get.
Keth
760
Nov 1, 2018
ElectronicVicesMonoprice has the 1060C's on sale for $250, debating just grabbing those.
KethI can't comment on those as I already owned the Audeze Sine and HE500 at the time they were released. I'm more in the $600+ range these days. Debating jumping on the Edition XX but with all these Hifiman collaborations I smell an HE-6 revival after the HE-6 SE limited edition runs out. If I could land an HE-6 around the $1100 mark I think I could finally stop exploring this rabbit hole. Of course I said that 10 years ago when I bought an HD650... :)
Keth
760
Nov 2, 2018
ElectronicVicesSaid the same thing when I got into watches, thankfully I was able to stop at 5. Really quite interested in those new Denon AH-D5200's, they're supposed to be a solid improvement over the 5000's that were made by Fostex...but I also want some planar bass. Need to talk to my buddy and see what he can get them for, if it's $400 or less I won't be able to say no.
KethIf you want the king's of planar bass... go Audeze or Hifiman... dear god that solidity and extension is phenomenal.
Keth
760
Nov 2, 2018
ElectronicVicesThe Edition XX is on my radar, reviews have let me to believe that the 1060C is on par with the "low end" Audeze offerings, which is why I'm thinking of pulling the trigger during this sale.
KethDon't get me wrong, I love monoprice and have bought their cables for years. But I have a hard time believing the 1060C is on par with it's twice as expensive brethren. Maybe it's improved over time but when 50%+ of the review mention modifying the headphone (original gen) to get a satisfactory experience it's a warning sign.
Keth
760
Nov 2, 2018
ElectronicVicesYeah, the 1060c has a different, and larger driver than the open 1060. For $250 that horrible suspension seems like it may be worth the risk. Main take away is that they're pretty flat with a peak in the vocal mid range. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTensud6dMQ
KethMonoprice gear rarely disappoints for its price point, they don't make gear that I feel will last the test of time however. The XX is now off the table, ran into a close out deal on last years Marantz SR6012 and I needed a new processor. If anyone needs a full function processor with all the modern goodies for less than $1K this is about the only option on the market right now. Will still use the receivers outputs for Atmos speakers (until I buy yet another amp)
Keth
760
Nov 15, 2018
ElectronicVicesThe more I look around, the more I find myself looking at the DT 1990, Amiron Home, and the Hifiman Edition XX, but you know...almost double my price point.
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