While I am a newbie, relatively, when it comes to this forum as well as headphones in general, I am a professional musician (classical, jazz, rock and musical theatre). I also have a fairly high end setup at home. I used to have a pair of STAX cans, but sold them a couple of years ago. I decided, however, with a special birthday coming up, to get back into having some headphones through which to listen. While I prefer listening through my speakers, there are occasions, particularly late at night, when I get the urge to use headphones.
Given that, I headed down to a retailer who does lots with headphones. He doesn't have all that much in way of headphone amplifiers, but sells lots of cans, from budget to slightly high end. His main lines are Sennheiser, Grado, AKG and Audio-Technica. I listened to the following headphones today, both through a Grado headamp as well as straight out through a McIntosh C2300 preamplifier:
Grado RS-1
Grado 325i
Grado 125i
Sennheiser HD555
AKG 702D
AKG240 (Not the MK II model)
Audio Technica ATH-AD700
I used acoustic (Nils Lofgren live CD, beautifully recorded), vocal jazz (Tierney Sutton's "The Other Side" and Nina Simone's "Pastel Blues"), musical theater (Bernadette Peters live with orchestra), and a performance of Rutter's Requiem, not THE best recording, but still it is illustrative of the different cans.
I was impressed with all the models other than the Sennheiser, which was by far the worst sounding and worst value of the bunch. They were very dynamic, almost overly so, and created an image size much larger than should is natural. The midrange was on the nondescript side of things and the top end was grainy and harsh. I imagine perhaps that rock might work with these, but these were just not good to my ears.
Overall, however, ALL of these headphones are flawed. Not one left me thinking, "YES, THIS is a perfect pair of headphones". Now, unfortunately or fortunately, depending on the perspective, my ears are very sensitive to a wide variety of musical qualities. It is, perhaps, what makes me a good music director and conductor. Some of these headphones are clearly better than others, and some represent better value than others.
The Audio Technica's are impressive for a budget phone. I don't get Stereophile 's Class A AT ALL! They are pleasant, with a generous soundstage and easy to listen to. On the other hand, their midrange is not all that detailed. It's not terrible, mind you, but they're certainly not worth their retail of $249. The low end lacks some detail and resolution. There is a beautiful cello passage in one of the movements of the Rutter. The cello sounded thin and not quite tuneful, not quite pitch specific through the ATs. In comparison, all the other phones (aside from the Sennheiser -- I'm not going to mention them again in this overview.) rendered the bass with relative richness and specificity. What makes the ATs great is that they're just an easy phone to listen to for the money. They're not the type of headphone that makes you want to listen to your whole music collection all over again, but if you're looking for an inexpensive set of all-rounders, these are good. Just don't expect any sort of compelling performance out of them. You're not going to listen to these and feel you have to run right out and get a pair, but they're just good for the under $100 street price.
The AKG 702s sound similar in their philosphy to the Audio Technicas. They provide a large soundstage and they are easy to listen to. What they have over the ATs big time is much more resolution and realistic detail in every aspect of the reproduction, as well as a nuance in microdynamics which isn't there in the Audio Technicas. So while the Audio Technicas sound a bit cloudy in comparison, the AKG 702s sound like you cleaned your windows. What both of these lack (and I discovered that the more distant perspective compared to the Grados come at this cost) is a fuller bodied midrange. Compared to all the Grados, the midrange is a bit recessed on both the AKGs and the ATH-AD700s. It's as though there is a slight mini-smile in there. Overall, 702s is a musical headphone, easy to listen to, with a large soundstage. Their drawback is, like the ATs, they are not all that compelling to listen to. You won't find musical magic with these. The level of detail they convey makes the images sound pretty real, and they were as good at this aspect of sound reproduction as any of the headphones, perhaps better, but I regardless of the music, I never felt that these are headphones that would make me want to pull my music collection out and relisten to everything. Over the long haul, these make for a relaxing listen. But when I want more than relaxing, if I want music that really communicates, these are not for that.
Briefly, the AKG 240s were ho-hum fine. Detailed, easy to listen to, but flatter dynamically than the 702s. They didn't exhibit the fine micro-dynamics that the 702s have. Nothing offensive about these, more detailed than the Audio Technicas, but not particularly musical either.
Now let's get to the Grados. Unfortunately, the dealer was out of stock on the SR225i headphones and it will be a month before Grado will have more to ship to the dealer. I could hear the familial resemblance between the three, but all three made music more compelling than any of the other headphones I listened to today, sonic flaws withstanding.
With all of these, I feel that the midrange is pretty much uncompromised. With female vocals in particular, all the other headphones present both Tierney Sutton and particularly Bernadette Peters with a smaller, thinner voice than through the Grados. I still liked the AKG 702s with Tierney Sutton, but through all three Grados, I sat on the edge of my chair, absolutely compelled with what she was communicating. Not so with any other set of cans. Interestingly, while Grados have been accused of being bright, the slight recess in the midrange of the AKG 702s made Bernadette Peter's voice sound thinner and more hollow and bright than through any of the Grados. Again, I was also much more compelled dramatically with what she was singing through all three Grados. And when Tierney Sutton's band severely swung, all three Grados gripped the rhythm better than any of the other headphones, too.
yes, the top end of the Grados could sound bright, but as I went up the line with the Grados, the bottom end filled out, balancing the brightness of the Grado top end. Going from the 125 to the 325, the latter had much more bottom end heft (without getting sloppy -- none of the Grados were ever not tuneful on the bottom end), so the headphone left me with the sense that it was more balanced. Still, the 125 is a damn good headphone if your first priority is a headphone that communicates the drama of the music.
As I went up the line, the better Grados sorted out the music better as well, when it came to denser passages. With the bottom end heft of the 325, the RS1 added a bit less grain and more relaxation on the top end. It also sorted out pretty much everything that was thrown at it, moreso than the 325. I could hear around everything, no matter how dense the musical landscape. It still doesn't have the depth of soundstage that the Audio Technicas or the AKGs have, but this was a phone that I could really live with for a long time. I have read that the 225i headphones have a more relaxed top end compared to the 125i but I'm guessing it won't have the sonic weight of the 325i. The 225i may be the phone I end up with due to my budget, but compared to my home speakers, the RS1s get closer. Still, overall, all three Grado headphones make more compelling music than the other brands, and that is the main quality I'm looking for.
The Grados are not without flaws, even the RS1s. The top end of these cans are not the most effortless. The RS1s get closest, but there is even a hair of grain in the top end when pressed. As you go down the line, more grain on top is evident. That still doesn't take away from how communicative the midrange is, and the midrange is where most music happens. And again, rhythmically, the Grados were the best. For example, on one of the real hard swinging numbers of the Sutton CD, the pianist is comping chords. With all the Grados, the piano is quick, impactful, precise and gripping. Nothing lazy about it, at least through the McIntosh preamp. None of the other headphones allowed the piano to really help push the beat along the way the Grados do. Now as you go up the line, the piano has more weight, so the rhythmic pulse of the piano has more insistence. With the AKG 702, the soundstage distance never allows you to FEEL the weight of the piano. The attitude of the band is just less insistent and more relaxed.
If I were looking for a budget headphone that is just easy to listen to and I'm not looking for a soul-lifting experience, the Audio Technicas would probably be just the ticket. If I value soundstage above all else and I'm looking for a more relaxed sound with more resolution of detail, rendering a more realistic set of instrumental images, the AKG 702s are really good headphones. I could live with these pretty well for what they do well. I'm miss the more compelling aspects of the performance, but for much late night listening, they'd be fine.
Still, none of these phones are everything I would want in a listening experience if money weren't an issue. My loudspeakers give me more of want I want, even though they have flaws. I have certainly heard speakers that are mesmerizing. The Grados are the only ones capable of that, but even the RS1s have some audible flaws. I would absolutely LOVE to hear Grado's "assault" on the state of the art. I would love to hear the 1000 or 1600 models. What I respect about John Grado's philosophy is that, like with their cartridges, he'll sacrifice perfection for musical communication. So his designs may not stand up to analytical numerical measurements, but they allow the music to sing. In some ways, I think of Grado being a counterpart to Rega's philosphy. Does the music communicate. Yup, you might have to deal with rolled off highs (as in the Grado Platinum and Sonata cartridges) to get a glorious midrange for cheap money. You can get better balanced cartridges, but they won't provide the magic. For John Grado, he clearly starts with a great midrange and works outward.
A note on listening through the Grado headphone amp and MC2300 preamp. I listened today both out of a Bel Canto CD player and into the Grado preamp as well as through the headphone out of the MC2300. The latter was quicker and gripped the music better. There also was a bit more air and soundstage layering with the MC2300. The Grado amp made the music just a tad looser. It was with the faster stuff that I noticed the difference between the two amps the most. The MC2300 is a classic McIntosh tube design. It ain't cheap at $6000, but I guess consider that you wouldn't need a stand alone headphone amp. The headphone out is pretty darn good and easily drove all of the headphones I listened to today.
I hope this all was useful.
Quick Headphone Shootout From Newbie (Long)
