Since we've got this forum, might as well write about my latest experiences in trying to find a good system for semi-portability.
Here's the sitch: My wife and I can spend up to 1 hour to ourselves at night. We otherwise work or take care of a 3 yr old. I don't like TV. She likes playing candy crush and watching TV. I would love nothing more than to zone out listening to music while she does her thing so we can be in the same room together... so, it's being together but also doing something for ourselves.
If I go to the big sound room, I'm 2 floors away and likely to get comletely caught up in listening longer than I really have time... Plus it takes a while to warm up and sound 'just right'.
So, how about some headphones? I bought some Sennheiser Momentums because I'd tried them in a store in Cambridge, MA a year ago.. I liked them enough to remember them. When I first got them, I was using a Samsung S4 playing .flac's on the native music player software. It was very good.
Later, I got the iphone6 and installed Onkyo HF and there was a substantial improvement in overall sound. I was like, "oh wow, real music!" So, from that, I started exploring the whole depth of it.. and coincidentally Shane was deciding to start a headphone company for people like us with young children, and a need for 'quiet listening'... Great idea! Shane's tastes are a bit higher than mine in a setup. I like minimal setup... I'll be lying on a couch, thumbing through tunes on my phone... Almost casual listening, which isn't actually possible for me because I tend to get 'into' the music.
So, that's my situation...
The Momentum's are awesome, just full and fun to listen to. They're a little bass heavy but I like it... it's clean and detailed. The mids and highs sound natural.
The only issue is that the overall comfort isn't what I'd like. If they were just a little less warm and tight on my head, I think I'd be better. But there's a slight stuffiness that grows as you keep them on... Kind of feels like I have a cold but only in my ears... it's a little fatiguing from an overall comfort standpoint. SO, that 1 element has driven me to listen through a lot of Shane's stock and look elsewhere for more.
I was looking at some Beyerdynamics and AKG 545's.. and so on .. but it's not worth spending a lot of money and time to me... but it's worth obsessing a little.. haha..
I look forward to what Shane finds next and what's coming at CES this year... I hear there's going to be some things that might be just what I'm looking for.
I think a small tube amp and a pair of big portables are in my future.... we shall see!
