Ishcabible wrote There's actually a company close to me that's done something like that. I think it's Pacific Valve Audio. Their rates are astonishingly high though. A K701 costs about $60 to rent, last time I checked, which is a fourth of the actual price. I'd imagine that the cost ratio would be significantly lower for high end headphones though.

The Q701 would be able to cover jazz, classical (some forms), and electronic, if you care more about speed than bass impact. The LCD-2 would give you the bass you need, as well as be great with...the genres the Q701 works with. I'd actually suggest that you get a K500 since you're wanting soundstage. It's cheaper too, and arguably better than the K701. You'd be able to almost buy a used SR225 with the money you save, which would cover your rock genres.

The LCD-2 is really the closest thing I can think of to universal for your genres (the HE500 in electronica is probably inferior to the LCD-2 with rock. The HE500 did it okay, but...you could clearly tell that the HE500 wasn't made for it.) but really, if it were my money, I'd go with a ton of upper mid-fi headphones. My current plan is AD2000, HD650, W5000 or SA5000, and a transportable. With that, I have the rock/metal headphones (AD2000), dark headphones (HD650), and the bright, uber-detailed headphones (SA5000/W5000). Maybe an XB1000 for giggles. Used, the AD2000, HD650, and SA5000 amount to about the same as a new LCD-2 since they all average at $300 used, and I'd be a lot more entertained. When I compared the difference between the HE500 and my low-mid-fi headphones, the differences were really not worth the price of admission. Sure, the differences were basically night and day, but that's directly comparing. Now that I have an SA5000 in my hands, the differences are even more minimal. There's maybe a 5% improvement in tone with the HE500. That 5% is sooo not worth what could be two completely different headphones.

I feel like such a dork.

Dorks for the win. You have no idea how deep my dorkdom goes.

Right now I'm in a pretty similar situation but a step down as I have a pair of SR80is, M50s, TMA-1s, Portapros, and my Klipsch S4s that I'm sick of. I'm a bit annoyed as spending $300 has left me using my Portpros 90% of the time lately. My M50s are not portable enough and I don't like leather pads. On-ear headphones are irritating. IEMs irritate me too.

This actually all leads me to the Ultrasone Signature Pro. It seems like everything I want. Subtle design, portable, efficient, closed, durable, available for well under retail... But I'm unsure of the sound. From what little I've heard, they should do everything I want well enough. So indecisive.

r00t_b33r wrote

Ishcabible wrote There's actually a company close to me that's done something like that. I think it's Pacific Valve Audio. Their rates are astonishingly high though. A K701 costs about $60 to rent, last time I checked, which is a fourth of the actual price. I'd imagine that the cost ratio would be significantly lower for high end headphones though.

The Q701 would be able to cover jazz, classical (some forms), and electronic, if you care more about speed than bass impact. The LCD-2 would give you the bass you need, as well as be great with...the genres the Q701 works with. I'd actually suggest that you get a K500 since you're wanting soundstage. It's cheaper too, and arguably better than the K701. You'd be able to almost buy a used SR225 with the money you save, which would cover your rock genres.

The LCD-2 is really the closest thing I can think of to universal for your genres (the HE500 in electronica is probably inferior to the LCD-2 with rock. The HE500 did it okay, but...you could clearly tell that the HE500 wasn't made for it.) but really, if it were my money, I'd go with a ton of upper mid-fi headphones. My current plan is AD2000, HD650, W5000 or SA5000, and a transportable. With that, I have the rock/metal headphones (AD2000), dark headphones (HD650), and the bright, uber-detailed headphones (SA5000/W5000). Maybe an XB1000 for giggles. Used, the AD2000, HD650, and SA5000 amount to about the same as a new LCD-2 since they all average at $300 used, and I'd be a lot more entertained. When I compared the difference between the HE500 and my low-mid-fi headphones, the differences were really not worth the price of admission. Sure, the differences were basically night and day, but that's directly comparing. Now that I have an SA5000 in my hands, the differences are even more minimal. There's maybe a 5% improvement in tone with the HE500. That 5% is sooo not worth what could be two completely different headphones.

I feel like such a dork.

Dorks for the win. You have no idea how deep my dorkdom goes.

Right now I'm in a pretty similar situation but a step down as I have a pair of SR80is, M50s, TMA-1s, Portapros, and my Klipsch S4s that I'm sick of. I'm a bit annoyed as spending $300 has left me using my Portpros 90% of the time lately. My M50s are not portable enough and I don't like leather pads. On-ear headphones are irritating. IEMs irritate me too.

This actually all leads me to the Ultrasone Signature Pro. It seems like everything I want. Subtle design, portable, efficient, closed, durable, available for well under retail... But I'm unsure of the sound. From what little I've heard, they should do everything I want well enough. So indecisive.

Good thing they're available for loan! But they have leather pads...legit leather pads though.

Ishcabible wrote

r00t_b33r wrote

Ishcabible wrote There's actually a company close to me that's done something like that. I think it's Pacific Valve Audio. Their rates are astonishingly high though. A K701 costs about $60 to rent, last time I checked, which is a fourth of the actual price. I'd imagine that the cost ratio would be significantly lower for high end headphones though.

The Q701 would be able to cover jazz, classical (some forms), and electronic, if you care more about speed than bass impact. The LCD-2 would give you the bass you need, as well as be great with...the genres the Q701 works with. I'd actually suggest that you get a K500 since you're wanting soundstage. It's cheaper too, and arguably better than the K701. You'd be able to almost buy a used SR225 with the money you save, which would cover your rock genres.

The LCD-2 is really the closest thing I can think of to universal for your genres (the HE500 in electronica is probably inferior to the LCD-2 with rock. The HE500 did it okay, but...you could clearly tell that the HE500 wasn't made for it.) but really, if it were my money, I'd go with a ton of upper mid-fi headphones. My current plan is AD2000, HD650, W5000 or SA5000, and a transportable. With that, I have the rock/metal headphones (AD2000), dark headphones (HD650), and the bright, uber-detailed headphones (SA5000/W5000). Maybe an XB1000 for giggles. Used, the AD2000, HD650, and SA5000 amount to about the same as a new LCD-2 since they all average at $300 used, and I'd be a lot more entertained. When I compared the difference between the HE500 and my low-mid-fi headphones, the differences were really not worth the price of admission. Sure, the differences were basically night and day, but that's directly comparing. Now that I have an SA5000 in my hands, the differences are even more minimal. There's maybe a 5% improvement in tone with the HE500. That 5% is sooo not worth what could be two completely different headphones.

I feel like such a dork.

Dorks for the win. You have no idea how deep my dorkdom goes.

Right now I'm in a pretty similar situation but a step down as I have a pair of SR80is, M50s, TMA-1s, Portapros, and my Klipsch S4s that I'm sick of. I'm a bit annoyed as spending $300 has left me using my Portpros 90% of the time lately. My M50s are not portable enough and I don't like leather pads. On-ear headphones are irritating. IEMs irritate me too.

This actually all leads me to the Ultrasone Signature Pro. It seems like everything I want. Subtle design, portable, efficient, closed, durable, available for well under retail... But I'm unsure of the sound. From what little I've heard, they should do everything I want well enough. So indecisive.

Good thing they're available for loan! But they have leather pads...legit leather pads though.

Yeah, I'll have to take a test drive first. Along with a few other cans. But truthfully, the leather is the only thing keeping me from being all over these. I wonder what other pads fit on these babies. Maybe hair nets would make them more bearable? But the fact that I can get a $1300 headphone for under $900 in perfect condition is an attractive idea to me.