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Alessandro MS1 or AKG K240S?

post #1 of 8
11/23/09 at 3:38am
Thread Starter 
I've been browsing here a few days to wade through all the strengths and weaknesses of various headphones in the sub-$100 category (give or take $20). Basically I'm looking to replace a set of crummy old Sennheiser 433's for computer/ipod/cd duty, all music, mostly rock/electronica.

I'm certainly more a fan of tight, defined rather than sloppy, overblown bass, but I also like my low-mid and bass frequencies to have a nice "musicality" to them, for want of a better term. I guess than means I might like a sound than's on the warm side of neutral.

Alessandro MS-1i -- sounds like they're slightly better "tuned" for rock that the Grado 80i so probably have good speed and definition, but how musical is the bass considering they're an open design?

AKG K240S -- sound like stellar phones, but are they only gonna shine with some sort of decent line amp?

I also considered a couple of closed headphones (Denon D1001 & ATH-M50, but I thought they might be too bass heavy) and the ATH-AD700 (too bass light by all accounts)
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post #2 of 8
11/23/09 at 3:52am
I think that after a little burn in, the Alessandro MS1 smooths out pretty nicely bass-wise. When I first got mine they were they were noticeably lacking but it seemed to develop over time. I am sure the MS1i's would be similar. Great for rock, and lots of contemporary music IMO - highly recommended...
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post #3 of 8
11/23/09 at 1:42pm
Thread Starter 
That's one vote for the Alessandros... anyone else have a preference?
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post #4 of 8
11/23/09 at 3:26pm
I can definitely agree. The bass always surprises me on my MS1i. It's nice defined bass, but the impact is definitely there.

To be honest, Rock/Electronica is where MS1i shines. It's surprising that electronica would be one for the MS1i, but I thought so, and I heard a few others say this as well.

It'll take some time getting use to the bass but.... I came from some JVC RX700s which were pretty big bass wise. Didn't find a drastic change, and the MS1i's bass just kept getting better overtime.

(I have them amped)
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post #5 of 8
11/23/09 at 3:29pm
MS-1i's all the way. Great bass. Fantastic highs and mid's. Mucho value!
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post #6 of 8
11/23/09 at 4:19pm
Thread Starter 
getting more convinced... just looked at a frequency response graph over at the headroom of the Grado SR125 (proxy for the Alessandro) vs. the AKG 240 and the Grado has a pretty good bass curve, but the AKG has a far more impressive low-end hump although it faded fast in the higher frequencies (except a 10K peak) while the grado stays pretty flat. Interestingly the Grado SR60 had more presence at the low end than the 125.



If you guys insist the Alessandro has some decent bass presence I'll believe you! It's actually been pretty hard to find many comments on the AKG, which seems strange considering the old "s" version is a pretty good deal now (under $100).
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post #7 of 8
11/23/09 at 5:07pm
Decent bass presence insisted!
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post #8 of 8
11/23/09 at 5:22pm
Thread Starter 
OK, I just noticed the Bayer DT440... for all-rounders (rock to electronica), how do they compare to the Alessandros?

Turns out I can get the MS-1i, DT440 and K240MkII all for within $5 of each other. Decisions decisions.
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