that is a characteristic of open cans...

LOL everything sounds like chit after listening on quality cans... they'll certainly spoil ya

You could get some IEM's. The sony EX-71's aren't bad (not that good either), and the Shure E2's are supposed to be pretty good.

Just finished my MINT amp with the buffers that came this morning and plugged into it with a cheapy pair of earphones (just in case). My first impression is "Whoa!" Even better with my HD580s. I am very impressed with this little 9V amp and it was well worth the effort.

Now I just need to put it in a case (a little gangly right now with wires inevery direction) and find out why the power LED doesn't turn on. Probably put to big a resistor in front of it. Hmmm. Now where is my multimeter?

Any pics? I really don't want to get rid of the grados but I like my noise privacy (other people can't hear what im doing, lol)

Here are some pics of the fully assembled amp with a new diode and one after installation in the case.

ckaplan - BLOODY impressive job mate...you dont want to see pics of my first build Sure I didnt use a PCB but thats no excuse for the amp being confiscated at the airport by the TSA LOL

Yeah...thats a bomb that I have hooked to my headphones

Did you like building it? Up for something "bigger"? Go to the next step by selling the step before That way you CANNOT back off...hee hee

Next step for you = M3 solid state amp -OR- Pete Millet hybrid (solid state + tube) amp.

Choose one and i'll give you the documentation. You can use a bigger case, add neon lighting etc. and basically pimp the thang!

GREAT job...very very impressed here!!

Post a review on how it sounds...with the M3 - I'll give you documentation to add a USB DAC PCB. So that you can hook it up to your computer, use Foobar 2000 and have an awesome computer audio setup.

Sensitivity in layman terms is...how much push do you need to shove? In other words..how much output do you get per (standardized) input (dB/Vrms)

I recommend the SA1000 unless you are going to be wearing these in public. If you are going to wear these outside - how about a nice IEM like the Shure E2c? Takes some getting used to but the pros outnumber the cons.

Another alternative is the AKG K271 not sure about the current price...many more options. Get back to me after you check these recommendations out.

SA1000 is a straight wire...very few high end headphones use coiled wires these days...havent seen one in a LOOOONG time

There is profound sonic difference between SA1000 and V600. Mainly in the spaciousness of the sound, bass and general effortlessness of the presentation. Comfort is also a BIG difference between the two.

Plenty of good headphones in your price range. What are your selection criteriae (if there is such a word ) ?

If he is IN your room and can still hear you then:

* your room is too small
* you are listening too loud

In the interest of protecting your hearing - turn down the volume!

Another good option is - Sennheiser PX-100, Koss Portapro2 (less than $20.00 at circuit city), AKG K26P (gah cant remember the model )

You can also consider an IEM so that he cant piss you off with his noises and farts (although the smell is another issue). You cant hear even if he is kicking the bucket and throwing a fit in the throes of death

I say this with the confidence that people RARELY love their roomates unless they are exceedingly hot and attractive to them (sexual preference is immaterial).

LOL

WRONG!

Sennheiser RS-65!! Freakin AWESOME wireless headphone

I bought one for my dad and now he refuses to trade for my SA1000

Yeah...dads can be pretty greedy too

Mainly listening to music (original CDs, FLAC, or high bitrate MP3), working on sound in video. I have a lot of video I recorded in the past years and sound needs cleaning and some background music (I use Sony Vegas/Sound Forge/ACID Pro for that). I generally do not record sound, hence the presence of Audigy 2 ZS (sometimes switch to older USB 1.1 M-Audio).

So comfort is very important (pretty long editing sessions), next is relatively flat frequency response characteristic (that's how MDR-V600 was originally recommended to me).

Obvoiusly, audio card is a limiting factor: I do not want to go too high-end with headphones when audio card is not up to it.

But I guess since SA1000 is overall recommended

If your budget can allow for it - get the SA5000 (can be had for around $300.00)

This is a much more capable headphone than the SA1000...more midrange and attack to the bass.

If you are using for editing - the Alessandro MS-2 is something I would recommend over both the Sony headphones...the MS2 is used in many recording studios. I had this headphone for a long time and LOVED it! I want one again...miss it

But on a budget, with a modest sound card, the SA1000 is hard to beat. I think it is now my new favorite in the $100.00 range. The SR-60 is cheaper at around $70.00

Yeah I had a lot of fun building this amp. I have another board so I am going to build another one. Whether I sell it or give it away I don't know yet. I also need to get a few more parts to finish it though.

So far I am really impressed by the sound. I was listening to some Vivaldi the other day and I could hear all the background noises of people suffling around in the orchestra. It makes everything sound better from the highs to the lows. More on my impression when I have listened to some more stuff with it though.

As for the bigger amps ... I would love to build a bigger one. It might not happen for a while, but it would be fun to build the Pete Millet hybrid since it uses vacuum tubes. How much are those things. I found a site that sells them and they were running about $100 a piece. The M3 also looks like a nice amp too, but either way I guess I will have to build a power supply. I'll probably pick up the component to build a TREAD or a STEPS.

meh...you can get tubes from $0.00 to $500.00

The tubes for the millet shouldnt cost more than $40.00 for all of them together...you can go crazy with NOS tubes but I would simply get new current production ones.

Tubes are cheap...cheaper than you can imagine...

You said the magic word "NOS".

I always wanted to put NOS in my 68 mustang, but figured I would blow the motor or crash the car if I did.

Could you let me know where to pick some up as this is the one thing that I have no idea where to look or what I am looking for. I will do a little research myself, but any info as far as the quality and spec I should look for would be helpful.