Headphones question

The 172 should be fine for driving £300 headphones so i'd be tempted to go that way. Splitting the £300 between 'phones and amp would be false economy. Any particular headphones you are thinking of ?

£300 isn't a quality stamp, by far

You can get good headphones, and bad - at both £150, £300 or £500

If you can't demo before purchase I would certainly look out for the safer choice which is quite easy driven (N172) and comfortable, will you need open or closed type, on ear or over ear ? 

One of the best headphones I have heard are around the £200 mark but they need a dedicated amp - taste makes a choice too so very hard to generalise

I would be looking at something that’s not too difficult to drive, so  unfortunately the Sennheiser HD600 and HD650s are off the menu. Best get a listen to some shortlisted headphones and go from there. 

I’d just go for the best headphones within that budget and just plug them straight into your N172.
This was, if additional funds become available, you will have decent headphones and can contemplate purchasing a Headline with NAPSC.

I don't know anything about the N172 but I can tell you that my Uniti Star is quite capable of driving my Sennheiser HD600 and also my AKG K712 Pro headphones. Perhaps the headphone stage of the N172 is very different and of course, Richard would know that far better than I.

I should add that the Uniti Star's headphone stage sounds better than my old but heavily modified Musical Fidelity Headphone amp. (I hope I haven't broken any rules by mentioning that. Please edit or remove this post if I have).

Thanks for the responses so far guys.  I accept that £300 is not a huge amount to spend but I'm pleased that the 172 is capable of driving whatever I buy in that price range.

They will only be used for listening in the house so I don't need wireless, noise cancelling etc and sound leakage isn't a problem so I'll probably start with over-ear and open backed.   I need to make up a short-list so I'm happy to consider any recommendations.

Hifi man he400i are the best sounding cans I've heard so far in the price range...easy to drive and a bargain at the reduced price of £180 on Amazon at the moment.

Thanks for the heads-up.  They certainly review well as far as SQ goes though there are a few negative reviews regarding fragile wiring.  I suspect the problem I'm going to have is finding a pair to audition.

Check massdrop for very good offers for headphones as well as the amps

a nice hd6xx and a creek amp second hand will do very good

Johnell posted:

Thanks for the heads-up.  They certainly review well as far as SQ goes though there are a few negative reviews regarding fragile wiring.  I suspect the problem I'm going to have is finding a pair to audition.

The cable is perhaps their weakest part - too short (I guess with portable use in mind, which is odd for an open back ‘phone) and a bit too stiff. Luckily it’s easily replaceable. The 400i works well on most headphone amps I have tried it on. I now mostly use them with my MacBook and Dragonfly. A good combination, better than my HD600s which need a much more suitable HP amp to do their best.

Thanks Richard and Emre.

I've looked on Massdrop and there is a Hifiman HE4XX Massdrop version listed for the equivalent of £130.  Reviews say it is very close to the 400i........

I've never even looked on the Massdrop site before let alone purchased anything, are there any pitfalls that I need to be aware of please?

Johnell posted:

Thanks Richard and Emre.

I've looked on Massdrop and there is a Hifiman HE4XX Massdrop version listed for the equivalent of £130.  Reviews say it is very close to the 400i........

I've never even looked on the Massdrop site before let alone purchased anything, are there any pitfalls that I need to be aware of please?

Freight and Import duties depending on your location

Warranties could be complicated

Perol posted:

Johnell posted:

Thanks Richard and Emre.

I've looked on Massdrop and there is a Hifiman HE4XX Massdrop version listed for the equivalent of £130.  Reviews say it is very close to the 400i........

I've never even looked on the Massdrop site before let alone purchased anything, are there any pitfalls that I need to be aware of please?

Freight and Import duties depending on your location

Warranties could be complicated

 

Good points, the 400i's on Amazon would probably be a safer option.

I ordered some Sennheiser from Massdrop last year

Manufactured in Europe, shipped to USA, distributed back to Europe following postage and import duty - SILLY no less

They definately need Europe logistic facilities if they want to expand their customerbase here

Anybody have any experience with Philips Fidelio X2's?  

Massdrop is great except the deliveries might be slow depending on the product and VAT other than that it is the best place to grab good value cans..

200$ for a hd650 is a good deal...