Headphones you regretted buying the most - Page 11

I think the 80 ohm versions are completely terrible and worse than a KSC75 stock, and people would have to pay me to get me to own a pair.

I bought a pair of $5 IEMs from a local video rental place.

I still don't know what the heck I was thinking.

I go back from time to time to see what my crappy IEMs/headphones sound like for fun =D

K701

Next to a purchase of the Bose In-Ear Headphone (which I returned five minutes after purchasing), I bought a sub-$100 pair of Shures that didn't agree with me.

the years and years I bought sony sport "earbuds with a headband" over and over when the porta pros were right there just begging to make my walkman and carefully recorded tapes sound REALLY GOOD.

Now I have 25th anniversary PPs, but I rarely use them on the go. They sound good enough to actually be used as my primary headphone at the office on my little E-MU 0202 USB office system. Sony XB700s will sometimes sit in as a portable since they can sound insanely good with jut a sansa fuse, but so can the PPs, but, I don't like taking them too far away from their special box.

I noticed the "normal" Porta Pros look like the 25ths, so who knows... and there is a cheaper all black version that can't handle as much volume, but best 18 dollars you will ever find in a new set of headphones as long as we are talking about on the ear, or non earbud/iem. I never thought a foam earpad phone could sound so good, but damn, I regret all the years since 1984 that I never bought a set.

I also regret Sony MDR-v600DJs. I am modding them to sound better, but they sounded like music through a musty sock. V600s are NOT v6s. They look a bit like Shure 440s, but sound like crap, plus the earpads flake. They will sound ok if you mod the pads, and allow that driver to better send sound to your ear, but still, very weak headphones. I am sad I spent about 100 bucks for them too many years ago.

They are durable as hell though. I have had lots of stuff fall apart while these don't have a crack. The v700 drivers should be placed on the v600 band. It would make an interesting mod, as I think the fork dimensions are the same.

I do not regret owning these, but I do notice the boom tizzyness. They have a "smile" EQ by default, but broken in and with the right equipment, or just the fact that they won't break on you, they can sound very spacious. Moreso than the KC75, or the all black PP. I would have to a/b against the 25th anniversary ones, but The DT770s would win just due to they are just meant to be a better phone and they are a better phone. They have far more "places" than the PP.

lol. You people may agree amongst yourself that the 595 is a brew of the Devil, but nothing will alter the fact that they're one of the most popular headphones of all time and one of the great bargains at their price.

I'm not inclined to quote myself from thread to thread, but what I wrote in another thread fits even better here than there:

"The reason many people consider the 555/595 cans "boring" and "anaemic" is because they're among the few cans available at realistic prices with a subjectively flat response. Switch to these from any of the popular cans discussed here and the first thing you notice is the "boring" sound--no sparkling treble, no thumping bass. This is why those who've done quick comparisons at meets etc are unimpressed, but those who've lived with these cans (especially if they're into classical/orchestral) consider them, as I do, a real bargain. I've heard most of the popular cans--Beyer DT880, AT AD700/900, Denon 2000, Grado SR80, you name it and I've owned it--and the first thing I've noticed is the brightness.....Switch back to the 555/595 and it sounds all midrange--where's the bass, the highs? Yet listen for a minute or two and you realize they're there alright, just not exaggerated.

"I attend symphony concerts so I know what a symphony orchestra sounds like. Folks, it's not that bright, at least not from a reasonable distance. Even close to the stage it's not that bright. People get used to bright sound (and frankly, I think a lot of people have hearing damage from rock concerts etc), and once you take that as accurate it's hard to switch back, especially if excitement rather an accuracy is your bag. Of course, if it is that's fine, but it has nothing to do with hi-fi--'high fidelity to the original sound'--anymore than does walloping bass. It really burns me to see people bagging the 555/595 series in favour of, say, AT AD700/900 when I know the latter are far less accurate. You may enjoy their sound, of course, but it's not the sound of live instruments--or not any that I've ever heard. (And no, l don't attend rock concerts or pub gigs, but a cymbal is a cymbal is a cymbal)."

@pp312-
Don't blame those people that like embellished sound. If truth to the original was so important, cosmetics wouldn't be a multi-billion dollar industry.

p.s. I own HD555's and find them boring in a good way, but slightly the opposite of bright for my taste.
.

I've had lots of nice headphones now. K701's.... worst ever. I have to assume they need a huge amount of power and that's why people think they are so great.... because even with decent powered amps they still FULLY sucked. I would rather listen to my Koss portapros. 2nd most disappointing: the Dt770 80 Ohms. I waited for so long for them and was so excited.... what a disappointment.

The HD595's remain my most commonly used phone and I still am as in love with them as I ever was. My HF-1's sound great, the HF'2 sound great, I have amazing IEM's but the 595's are really something special. The burn in never ends and they just get better with age. I have to wonder how many of these 595 haters actually have listened to them for substantial amounts of time. They completely impress everyone I try them on, especically when paired with my total bithead. :-)

Principally not untrue, but the Senn also has some strange absence of emotion that is hardly to be nailed down. Moreover, it is absolutely inferior to its AGK contenders, especially in respect of its so-called glorious midrange.

I have owed several that I regretted buying, but here are the ones that I was stuck with (couldn't return or sell):

V-Moda Vibe
Sennheiser CX300

Price doesnt matter, I stumbled across I-tec earbuds that I bought in bulk for 99 cents a piece, they are just as good as stock ear buds from a sansa fuze. Also, there is an Insignia HD radio that comes with earbuds that will blow your mind. They sound very much like VERY expensive buds upwards of $125. Puts the PK3 to shame and is on the Monster Turbine Level. ( they are inner ear, I know the pk3 are not but they are included when people say the BEST EARBUDS)

anyway, it depends on how good of a researcher you are and who you listen to :P

Emotion should be in the music, not the headphone. What you're describing is colouration. It may be attractive colouration, you may love it to death, but it's still colouration.

I've owned the AKG 702 and couldn't live with it even after a full burn in. Again it diverges in fundamental balance from what I hear in the concert hall. Live music just isn't that bright. And frankly, neither are most speakers. We tend to compare headphones one to another, but take a listen to some top speakers and you'll find they're balanced much more toward a 595 than a 702. (Actually, many are balanced more toward a 650). I think it's very easy in this cloistered headphone world of ours to lose touch with reality, reality being the sound of live instruments. We need to get out and re-aquaint ourselves occasionally, even if that means popping down to the corner to listen to the local Salvation Army band.

I totally forgot about my Monster Turbines. I retract my 595 and want to replace it with the Turbines for BIGGEST MISTAKE EVER. Even the 595 made me happier than the Turbines.

I've an insignia HD portable radio stock set that smashes these and the monster turbines into the ground. How much were the turbines? Like 180$ at the time i bought them I think. These buds must be worth maybe 10$, if that. A year and a half later I find the Insignia radio and use the buds and just start to cry my eyes out because they are so awesome. The only thing they lack are the mids. The bass is incredibly awesome and very close to the turbines, the highs are piercing, but in a great way. Very clear and tight.

The entire Monster lineup needs to stop being produced immediately.

I loved my HD555s. Lots of control, good all rounder, and it didn't need a ton of power to drive, so it could mate with a portable, or, any amp/preamp stereo phono out. This is where I used it the most, as the alternate to speakers phone, because it was the one that had me removing it from my head all the time because it seemed like I left the speakers on.

That may or may not say something good about them, but I would class them above my DT770/80s in everything but bass, and really, once you get used to the 555s, you never notice that, and in fact, they become far less fatiguing. They are open, however, and seemed to like electronic music quite a bit, and some really really blissed drenched in reverb shoegazer stuff, or doomgaze/drone.

I am listening to Shure 440s right now and remarking on how they are almost a closed back analog to the 555s. Basically, a great knockaround headphone that will give you the necessary details, enough to be on the neutral to slightly dark side, but I always thought that to be good for an open can, as it countered some of the minuses to having an open can with some music.

They were also extremely comfortable, more than... well... I have not directly compared, but maybe more comfey than Sony XB700s, and since they allowed ears to breath, it puts them on the top of what I own in terms of comfort. At 10 or more years old, I decided time for a tune up, so they are currently not being used, but eventually I will have them back together with a mod or two, and be happy with them. What many people miss about the 555/595 is that Sennheiser was trying to make one of the best CONSUMER, personal gamer/HT phones in the market at their price point. They use good parts, but aren't built in Germany. The 595 is just one or two steps off from being an hd600, just without dual entry, more comfortable, and made to be cost sensitive. In that respect, Senn brought enough of their sound to the masses to excite plenty of them into buying more phones, or being loyal to Sennheiser. The HD555 may be mass market, or very close to it, but it is not a d1001k, or something. You got something that gave a fairly good taste of the high end, in a durable package, sold to the generation that was going to end up being the one that grew up to buy HD650s, and of course, HD800s.

While they don't have something that sticks out like others, they don't have enough glaring flaws to garner hate like that.

Sometimes I feel the 595 suffers from not being made in Germany. Make them in germany and add dual entry and what do we have? Basically a hd600 pair of ear speakers with really comfey band and pads.

Why can people on a budget not enjoy a significant percentage of what makes Sennheiser an interesting headphone manufacturer? For keeping movies and games personal, and to do some listening, they aren't bad at all.

Other "better" phones often give me fatigue, or require more from my sourcing (don't get me wrong, I am not trying to put these ahead of other well known phones within their range or beyond... My grados can be fatiguing, but damn they sound good) so I can't use them at work on the E-MU, while the 555s don't really need an amp, but it does sound better with, at least a basic headphone pre. The budget E-MU, or even an x-fi internal card, will easily drive the hd555.



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Nail on the head. I used a lot of words to say that you said right there.