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Are the Denon AH-D1100 really worse than the Sony XB-500? ATH-M50, HD 380 Pro??

post #1 of 7
12/30/11 at 8:07pm
Thread Starter 

I just got a cool new smart phone, and I'm looking to get some half way descent headphones that will be used for both portable and home use.

I listen at fairly low volumes to protect my hearing, so I think I'd need something with descent if not slightly enhanced mid bass and sub bass and as accurate mids and highs as I can get. I would get install an equalizer from the android market so keep that in mind.

I'm hoping to get something that sounds very good unequalized, and even better equalized for a flat response from upper bass to 20+Khz, and slightly enhanced sub bass and mid bass.

$200 is the most I can spend right now. I would probably get a portable headphone amp later, but I need headphones that sound ok even without an amp.

I was looking at the Audio Technica ATH-M50 coiled cable version, Denon AH-D1100, The Klipsch Image One, Sony XB-500, Sennheiser HD 380 Pro, and Sennheiser HD 25-II(might not have enough bass for me though). Even though they are completely different, I was also considering the Sennheiser PMX-100 and Sennheiser HD-238 for the unusual mid bass and sub bass capability at their price and size. I basically want the best sounding headphones out there under the $200 price point that have a little more bass and portability than something like  say a Sennheiser HD598 would give me.

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post #2 of 7
12/30/11 at 8:25pm

Really do not see negative reviews on the AH-D1100.

You can get the AH-D1100 for a $107 at Electronics Expo, need to use the coupon code "BOUNTII".

I'm personally not a fan of Sony XB500s.

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post #3 of 7
12/30/11 at 8:29pm

I suggest you use Poweramp if you are on Android. Great media program (much preferable to the stock media player in terms of features).

 

I have a pair of the D1100's, they sound very good well great bass response. EQ seems to bring the mids forward and seems to enhance the soundstage.

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post #4 of 7
12/31/11 at 12:45am

I preferred the D1100s to the XB500s when I auditioned them. 

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post #5 of 7
12/31/11 at 2:02am

I preferred XB500+EQ over D1100 with or without EQ. Without EQ I'd still say D1100 is technically more refined though but XB500 has awesome EQ potential. The weakness of the XB500 is the unbalanced frequency response balance, take care of that and it sounds pretty good for the price with any genre. For D1100 the weaknesses lied elsewhere.


Edited by RPGWiZaRD - 12/31/11 at 2:12am
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post #6 of 7
12/31/11 at 5:15am
I bought d1100s and sold my m50s. I find the denons have a much better soundstage, clearer treble response and better mids. There is tons of bass with them, intact I'm considering doing the mark l mod t them to tone it down a bit
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post #7 of 7
12/31/11 at 8:51am
Thread Starter 

The only thing I was concerned about with the Denon AH-D1100 was that there were several reviews that said that the XB500 was better for 1/3rd the price. The XB500 also has better sub bass from what I've read which is surprising since it has 40mm drives compared to 50 mm drivers on the Denon.

http://www.head-fi.org/t/531619/review-denon-ah-d1100-vs-sony-mdr-xb500

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