Hey everyone, this is my first post on Head Fi, though I been lurking these forums for almost a year. I noticed that two headphones which I currently own, the DR-150's and the AD700's, have been getting a lot of attention lately, and since both share a few sonic characteristics and tend to fall under the same price bracket, I've decided to write up a comparison on the two.
A little bit on my background: My first good headphone was a KSC-75, which honestly blew me away when I first got my hands on them. None of my music had ever sounded this good before. I stuck with the KSC-75's for about a year before I got the urge to upgrade. I started out by trying a few popular IEMs, but didn't have much luck here -- not because I didn't like the sound I was hearing, but because I have yet to find a pair that would remain seated inside my ear properly.
Next I started looking at fullsize cans. The first pair which really caught my interest was the Goldring DR-150, which had received a lot of positive feedback and was commonly described as a refined version of the KSC-75. I decided to order a pair and was extremely impressed by them even from the start -- they did indeed sound like the KSC-75 only much better -- more bass, more soundstage, a lot more detail, and so on. After 40-50 hours of burn in the sound seemed to open up even more, to the point where I was compelled to go through a chunk of my music collection twice with them, once when I first received them and again after the initial burn in period.
So overall I've been quite satisfied with the DR-150's, even up to this point some time later. But I'm sure most of you know what reading too much Head Fi will do to you. I started to become curious about what kind of sound signatures are offered by different sorts of phones. After shying away from the M-Audio Q40's due to the numerous complaints about the stock cable, I began to look into the AD700's which have been receiving a lot of praise on Head Fi as of late. The idea of having a massive soundstage did appeal to me, since I do listen to a fair bit of orchestral music and felt that was the one genre where the Goldrings didn't quite "wow" me. As the AD700's are going for pretty cheap right now, I decided the heck with it and ended up ordering them.
I wasn't too enamored with the AD700's at first, to be honest. Not because I didn't like the sound I was hearing -- these are pretty nice headphones, all things considered -- but because the sound signature is actually not all that different from the DR-150's. Mostly I was disappointed because the supposedly "infinite" soundstage of the AD700's was only slightly wider than that of the DR-150's, at least through my humble sources (a Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround card and a Ipod Touch 2nd Gen). I never recalled the Goldrings for being praised for the size of their soundstage, which I have assumed to be about average for a open full sized can, so this did surprise me.
(For what it's worth, I do have some experience with a couple other low/mid-fi cans such as the SR-80s and the V6/7506s, both of which have a much smaller soundstage, but I do not own these nor have I spent any extensive time with them)
Anyway, I start to A/B some acoustic music between the two headphones to see how they compared. At first I really didn't hear much difference between the two, but as I began to expand into different genres of music, the sonic differences (as subtle as they are initially) started to become more apparent.
Basically, the DR-150 is more forward sounding. By and large, it sounds fairly balanced across the spectrum. One of the big differences for me between the two headphones is that the bass extension and impact is deeper and more substantial on the Goldrings, though never muddy or overpowering. I have generally found these to be pretty comfortable, but the headband is very tight initially and they will take some breaking in before they start to loosen up around your head.
The AD700 has a more polite, airy sound. The mids and highs are all present but not overbearing, and while there is a fair bit of bass, it unfortunately feels delayed and lacks impact. I do find these more comfortable than the Goldrings. They are extremely light and once they are on your head it is easy to forget you are wearing them. If you are younger or have a small head I could see the lack of adjustibility being a problem, but overall these are the most comfortable headphones I've used to date. I do not get the impression that they are all that durable however, whereas I've had no problem being less than gentle with the Goldrings on occasion.
Unfortunately, I ended up disappointed with how the AD700's perform with orchestral music. These headphones seem to exhibit a flaw when lots of instruments are playing simultaneously -- it's a bit hard to describe, but the music seems to kind of blur together. While both the AD700's and the DR-150's are quite detailed, the clarity and instrument seperation on the AD700's is not as good as the DR-150's. Overall these headphones are about on par for piano music or smaller ensembles, but I ended up preferring the Goldrings for orchestral.
One other weakness with the AD700's is with female vocals. With the DR-150's the vocals (to my untrained ears, at least) are very natural sounding. The AD700's have an airy sound that colors the music to a degree, and with vocals this has been most noticeable. Generally speaking, the female vocals on the AD700's tend to sound lighter and have less presence and depth. With male vocals this hasn't bothered me as much.
Both of these heaphones sound very pleasing unamped. I cannot comment on how they would performed amped because I do not own a headphone amp. From what I have read of others' impressions, though, the DR-150's are very amp sensitive and utilizing one can make a big difference in terms of sound quality. With the AD700's, I have read that a decent amp can help to push the bass forward, which would certainly be desirable as I perceive the lack of bass impact on these headphones to be a weakness (and I am not a basshead by any stretch of the imagination).
Overall, I ended up preferring the DR-150's. Let me state though that I have had hundreds of hours of listening time with the DR-150's verses ~30 hours with the AD700 and this may have had a role in shaping my sonic preferences (I also listen to a lot of rock and metal, where the Goldrings definitely have the upper hand). I do not know what effect burn-in may have on the AD700's sound, but the consensus around here seems to be that there is no noticeable difference. It is worth noting that all the differences I have pointed out were done with A/B listening; honestly, if you listen to one headphone on its own for some time and switch to the other afterwards, these differences are not as pronounced.
If I could have the sound of the DR-150 with the comfort of the AD700 I would have a pretty special headphone, I feel. Even so, the AD700 is probably 80% as good as the DR-150's, there's just a couple little things that hold it back. I will probably end up getting rid of the AD700's, though. These are not complementary headphones -- for the most part, they sound pretty similar. It's hard to justify having them both around. But I suspect someone fairly new to this hobby would be quite satisfied with owning either one.
A little bit on my background: My first good headphone was a KSC-75, which honestly blew me away when I first got my hands on them. None of my music had ever sounded this good before. I stuck with the KSC-75's for about a year before I got the urge to upgrade. I started out by trying a few popular IEMs, but didn't have much luck here -- not because I didn't like the sound I was hearing, but because I have yet to find a pair that would remain seated inside my ear properly.
Next I started looking at fullsize cans. The first pair which really caught my interest was the Goldring DR-150, which had received a lot of positive feedback and was commonly described as a refined version of the KSC-75. I decided to order a pair and was extremely impressed by them even from the start -- they did indeed sound like the KSC-75 only much better -- more bass, more soundstage, a lot more detail, and so on. After 40-50 hours of burn in the sound seemed to open up even more, to the point where I was compelled to go through a chunk of my music collection twice with them, once when I first received them and again after the initial burn in period.
So overall I've been quite satisfied with the DR-150's, even up to this point some time later. But I'm sure most of you know what reading too much Head Fi will do to you. I started to become curious about what kind of sound signatures are offered by different sorts of phones. After shying away from the M-Audio Q40's due to the numerous complaints about the stock cable, I began to look into the AD700's which have been receiving a lot of praise on Head Fi as of late. The idea of having a massive soundstage did appeal to me, since I do listen to a fair bit of orchestral music and felt that was the one genre where the Goldrings didn't quite "wow" me. As the AD700's are going for pretty cheap right now, I decided the heck with it and ended up ordering them.
I wasn't too enamored with the AD700's at first, to be honest. Not because I didn't like the sound I was hearing -- these are pretty nice headphones, all things considered -- but because the sound signature is actually not all that different from the DR-150's. Mostly I was disappointed because the supposedly "infinite" soundstage of the AD700's was only slightly wider than that of the DR-150's, at least through my humble sources (a Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround card and a Ipod Touch 2nd Gen). I never recalled the Goldrings for being praised for the size of their soundstage, which I have assumed to be about average for a open full sized can, so this did surprise me.
(For what it's worth, I do have some experience with a couple other low/mid-fi cans such as the SR-80s and the V6/7506s, both of which have a much smaller soundstage, but I do not own these nor have I spent any extensive time with them)
Anyway, I start to A/B some acoustic music between the two headphones to see how they compared. At first I really didn't hear much difference between the two, but as I began to expand into different genres of music, the sonic differences (as subtle as they are initially) started to become more apparent.
Basically, the DR-150 is more forward sounding. By and large, it sounds fairly balanced across the spectrum. One of the big differences for me between the two headphones is that the bass extension and impact is deeper and more substantial on the Goldrings, though never muddy or overpowering. I have generally found these to be pretty comfortable, but the headband is very tight initially and they will take some breaking in before they start to loosen up around your head.
The AD700 has a more polite, airy sound. The mids and highs are all present but not overbearing, and while there is a fair bit of bass, it unfortunately feels delayed and lacks impact. I do find these more comfortable than the Goldrings. They are extremely light and once they are on your head it is easy to forget you are wearing them. If you are younger or have a small head I could see the lack of adjustibility being a problem, but overall these are the most comfortable headphones I've used to date. I do not get the impression that they are all that durable however, whereas I've had no problem being less than gentle with the Goldrings on occasion.
Unfortunately, I ended up disappointed with how the AD700's perform with orchestral music. These headphones seem to exhibit a flaw when lots of instruments are playing simultaneously -- it's a bit hard to describe, but the music seems to kind of blur together. While both the AD700's and the DR-150's are quite detailed, the clarity and instrument seperation on the AD700's is not as good as the DR-150's. Overall these headphones are about on par for piano music or smaller ensembles, but I ended up preferring the Goldrings for orchestral.
One other weakness with the AD700's is with female vocals. With the DR-150's the vocals (to my untrained ears, at least) are very natural sounding. The AD700's have an airy sound that colors the music to a degree, and with vocals this has been most noticeable. Generally speaking, the female vocals on the AD700's tend to sound lighter and have less presence and depth. With male vocals this hasn't bothered me as much.
Both of these heaphones sound very pleasing unamped. I cannot comment on how they would performed amped because I do not own a headphone amp. From what I have read of others' impressions, though, the DR-150's are very amp sensitive and utilizing one can make a big difference in terms of sound quality. With the AD700's, I have read that a decent amp can help to push the bass forward, which would certainly be desirable as I perceive the lack of bass impact on these headphones to be a weakness (and I am not a basshead by any stretch of the imagination).
Overall, I ended up preferring the DR-150's. Let me state though that I have had hundreds of hours of listening time with the DR-150's verses ~30 hours with the AD700 and this may have had a role in shaping my sonic preferences (I also listen to a lot of rock and metal, where the Goldrings definitely have the upper hand). I do not know what effect burn-in may have on the AD700's sound, but the consensus around here seems to be that there is no noticeable difference. It is worth noting that all the differences I have pointed out were done with A/B listening; honestly, if you listen to one headphone on its own for some time and switch to the other afterwards, these differences are not as pronounced.
If I could have the sound of the DR-150 with the comfort of the AD700 I would have a pretty special headphone, I feel. Even so, the AD700 is probably 80% as good as the DR-150's, there's just a couple little things that hold it back. I will probably end up getting rid of the AD700's, though. These are not complementary headphones -- for the most part, they sound pretty similar. It's hard to justify having them both around. But I suspect someone fairly new to this hobby would be quite satisfied with owning either one.
