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Creative Aurvana Live!; Brainwavz HM5; Something else? - Page 2

post #16 of 24

My vote is for CAL! for that Denon-like sound and no recessed mids to my ears (try to get them for $60-$75). Or the KRK KNS-8400 for even more detail.  The D2K will give you a wider soundstage I'm sure. The good thing is that now you have tried the D5000s. If the other cans don't stack up to your liking you can always sell them on the FS forum, where then you can also purchase a D5K or D2K for cheaper. 

post #17 of 24
Thread Starter 

I've taken the Fischers out of the running, my primary purpose of getting something new is to get something closed where I don't need to worry about sound leakage (in or out).


I've not even heard of the KRK 'phones before, tell me more about those.  They look the part, anyway.  I'll have to do some research there.


The more I read about the HFI 780, the less excited I am about those.  A big down for me are harsh highs, and I see a lot of complaints about that.


The DN HP700 are still tempting, but comfort concerns are keeping me from pulling that trigger.  I'm half-convinced to look for a used set of Denon D2000 headphones.  

post #18 of 24

The KRKs are balanced across the spectrum and are some of the most comfortable headphones I've ever tried. They also isolate nicely. Soundstage is decent for a closed can. The bass quantity is not huge at all, but I still find it prominent down low. Mids and highs are crystal clear and very detailed, although for some they can be fatiguing. YMMV. 


I'm also a fan of the M50 if you can get them for $100-125. They aren't the most comfortable in the world but they're not so bad and isolate nicely also. Definitely have nice decay when it comes to instruments.


If you don't need that much isolation however, I think picking up a pair of used D2Ks may just be your best bet. 

Edited by roma101 - 6/6/12 at 10:45am
post #19 of 24

My vote is for the CAL!. They're a headphone that perform significantly out of their range in all the things that you require. My first foray into audiophile-land and my favorite to this date even though I own many pairs that are objectively better.

post #20 of 24
Thread Starter 

I ended up ordering a pair of the KRKs, and they arrived yesterday.  


Initially, they sounded incredibly detailed, clear, and balanced.  I would characterize the bass as lean (though they do reach down deep, there's not much impact unless the song specifically calls it out), there was a definitely painful edge to some of the higher-mid notes.  I hooked them up to a Harman Kardon CD changer with the volume past where I would comfortably listen to under normal circumstances and left them on for several hours.  Even in that time the edginess seemed to subside a bit, making them much more enjoyable for me.


Now they sound damned good with just about anything.  Acoustic guitar sounds phenomenal.  I'm listening to Beck's album "Sea Change" and it just sounds sublime.  The hard rock (Slipknot, Killswitch Engage, etc) that sounded pretty harsh initially now sounds well put together and growls properly.  A lot of pop/hip-hop actually sounds well done now, I can hear subtleties that before were either lost amid the bass hits or just not reproduced with anything else I'd listened with.  Initially I wasn't sure about what I perceived as a lack of bass, but the more I listen the cleaner and better it sounds.


As far as comfort is concerned, I have no complaints.  The foam earpads aren't as soft so the leathery-type, but they also don't make my ears uncomfortably warm.  They also completely surround my ears (just barely), alleviating concerns I had with them sitting on the ears.  They isolate decently well from outside noise, and they keep my music inside the themselves pretty well so I needn't worry about disturbing others who may be watching television, and I don't need to worry about pumping it up past comfortable levels to drown out the TV.  Win there as far as I'm concerned.


They're sounding pretty darn good straight out of my admittedly feeble sound card (on-board blah blah audio).  They sound better fed by that H/K CD changer, making me think about investing in either a desktop amp or one of those fancy Asus sound cards with on-board headphone amps.  Any suggestions for something relatively cheap?  How do the Fiios hold up?  The E7 or eE10?  The E17 looks nice, but it's pricier than what I'm interested in paying.

post #21 of 24
Congrats on your purchase I'm glad you like them!!! smily_headphones1.gif I sold them and repurchased them because it's such a solid, refined and incredibly detailed headphone that can be driven easily plus it's not too expensive (giant killer IMO) and that is so rare to find. I wish I could help in the amp department but I'm sure someone else can help with that.
post #22 of 24
I would say stx is good value for money. But I have no idea how it stacks up with the krk, OEM how the krk handles impedance mismatches

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post #23 of 24

I own both the Creative Aurvana Live and the Denons (D2000 as well as had the D5000 both stock and modified by Lawton Audio).  At $200 the Denon D2000 is a good unit but with the Mark Lawton's mods it become IMO a superb headphone. If you search you can find how to perform the mods for very little money and you will be very happy. I will say that when the Creative Aurvana Live are on sale for about $50 it is a no brainer because of their great sound, heck  I could not wait and paid $94 to Amazon and do not regret it. Good luck.

post #24 of 24
Thread Starter 

I've been listening to these (KRKs are what I ended up going with if you missed it), and I cannot believe the quality of sound.  I think I mentioned this in my initial post about them, but at first I was pretty skeptical.  The bass was very lean, and there was definitely some edginess in the upper mids that was unpleasant.  That has almost totally dissipated, and either the bass is filling in more or I'm learning to appreciate the accuracy over quantity because I am in absolute love with the sound these put out.  I've been trying to think of a good way to describe them succinctly, and I think I've found the word:  Pure.  These just sound pure and unfiltered and live.  I am so pleased I decided on these, and for the going price I'm actually pretty ecstatic.


Edit - I am actually getting chills and goosebumps listening to music through these that I've heard many, many times before.

Edited by swartzy.baby - 6/14/12 at 5:17pm
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