Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems Recommended Headphones for Explorer 2?

I have the Beyerdynamic Tp5 model which I like very much. My one niggle is that they perhaps a bit bass light. Other than that they are superb. I listen in a room with others so a closed back model was my only option else I would have gone for the T1

I got the Beyerdynamic T1 V2 yesterday.

They are quite nice and quite comfortable.

I'm not sure if they would do better with an Amp or not.

I don't think I'd ever need to go over 100 on the Explorer 2 but I often run close to it. Typically 85.

Explorer 2 Amp isn't really much stronger than an iPhone 7 output.

Build is great. They weigh 350 grams with no cable. The ATH-M50's were 300 grams.

I'm on the fence with the supplied cord. It's flat so doesn't coil / uncoil easy. But it's definitely high quality.

I have a Beyerdynamic A20 Amp on the way. I suspect they won't sound better.

A lot of people say the headphones need to be run in.

If someone is standing next to me while music is playing I can't hear a thing they said. If I stop the music it's as if the headphones were not even on my head.

As I put them on I feel like I'm walking into a sound booth.

I'll report more when I get the Amp.

Snow Day !!!

Supposed to get 18" of snow today.

Pretty cool that we have a new drive up Dock at work so I could actually park inside. So I made it to work before the storm got going.

So I can blast my 5K's or use new headphones all day, nobody else is crazy enough to come in.

Any way I had the 5K's going and decided to re-listen to an album on the headphones.

I stopped the music, I put the headphones on then switched the "OS" to Explorer2 and restarted Foobar2000.

I forget to switch FooBar2000 to the Explorer2 (ASIO direct), but I heard great music.

Wow these headphones really sound just like DSP Speakers.

The headphones were still off and the Speakers were still being driven

But they are so "open" it took me a minute to realize what was happening.

I use the Audioquest Nighthawk with my Meridian Prime

Very comfy and excellent analogue sound!

Highly recommended!

I got the Beyerdynamic A20 Amp to go with Explorer 2.

It definitely brings things up a notch.

I'm gonna try one more Amp though, I could not resist.

ifi iDSD Micro Black Label

This would replace my M2Tech HiFace that drives the DSP-5K's, the Explorer 2 and the Beyerdynamic A20 Amp. On Sale for $399.00

It is supposed to get MQA in a firmware update. Not that I', that concerned about MQA.

It will also Decode DSD. I don't expect it to sound better than the Explorer with A20, but I'd be thrilled if it sounds as good.

I've been using this new Head-fi.com website for a lot of research. The Explorer 2 is not even in there list. The Meridian Prime is there but not a single review.

There is a thread for the Explorer 2 though but not a whole lot of activity.

The iFi iDSD is #2 on that list. The Chord Mojo is #1 but I really like the features on the iFi and it has much more power for 600 ohm headphones.

Headphone Amps/DAC Reviews

Fiddler,

Did you check out these guys Headphone.com?

Also look at Burson Audio.

Though quite honestly , there are now millions of headphone amps out there these days , from eBay $50 items to tube amps costing thousands , but the problem is to find one that works well with your cans without buying and returning one million times

Well that's why I picked the BeyerDynamic A20 Amp figuring it should be a good match. And I think it's working fine and may keep it.

That headphone.com place really doesn't have very good prices or selection. Very pretty site though And nice filtering.

You could get the T1 2nd Gen + the A20 Amp from Beach Camera for $1049.00 (via Amazon). The headphone.com site wants $1200.00 for the T1 1st Gen and no amp.

I found the iFi iDSD BL on Slickdeals.com for a deal at Adorama for $399.00 Free ship no Tax. Most places have it for $549.

Just sharing something about open back headphones.

I loaned them to my nearest coworker.

I could barely hear them standing 5 feet away. I could not hear them at all in my cube. Which is maybe 10 feet with a partition between.

What was cool though is when I call her for something I usually have to yell, because I need to cut through her closed back headphones. But she could hear me with normal voice with my open back headphones.

So in the end these are BETTER for the office than closed backs.

She listens a lot lower than I do though.

P.S. I ordered a Chord MOJO USB/DAC/Amp in addition to the iFI iDSD BL.

The reviews were too consistently good on the mojo to not try it. I'm concerned it won't have enough juice though with 600 ohm impedance.

Should have ifi Wednesday and Mojo Thursday.

Hi folks, any ideas how an explorer2 would fair with the new HD800s? I'm looking for a stop gap until the Smyth Realiser 18 is released. Probably moving to an apartment soon so didn't want to delay getting the headphones but can't justify anything too expensive to drive them just for a few months...

Since it's a stop gap it could probably hold you over.
A Mojo isn't a ton of money and would really make the HD800(s) sing.
Tons of folks use a Mojo with HD6/7/8xx

Good article on power requirements

How much power do you need for headphones

There tends to be too much concern about the power side. Of course it is not the best idea to pair the Explorer with a 600 Ohm can, but that is really an extreme example.
Frequency response behavior is of much more importance. On goldenears you get technical details about impedance over the frequency spectrum. Remember that the Explorer2 is an almost perfect source with almost zero source impedance. A lt of Sennheisers have an impedance peak at about 100 hz.
I recommend an impedance, which does not vary remarkably with frequency.

Hope that helps