Buying Decision... M50/HD598/SRH-940/HTF600/AE2 Desperately seeking help

Okay so I'm not exactly a professional but I think I can help you cause I have experience with both the Bose AE2 (my friend owns them) and the M50s (I own them). First let me start off by saying headphones are a very personal matter..what I think is good may not necessarily be good to you. Some background: I listen to mostly dubstep/house/electronic and hip-hop with some rock and on occasion classical music

Now that we got that out of the way I'll give you my opinion

First, comfort: AE2 wins here..they are lighter and there's enough padding (for me at least). The M50s are heavier and some say they clamp tight..can be fixed though (put the headphones on a tissue box or something of the sort

Sound quality: M50's hands down for me. The M50's have more bass and the extension is excellent. There is definitely some thump in the M50s, noticeably more than than AE2s but its clean and easily controlled (M50's EQ really well). The mids are slightly recessed on the M50s but only made noticeable because the bass is so prominent. Thats not to say they sound bloated like the beats or anything but the bass is definitely a strong point for the M50s. The mids are the one area where I think the AE2 may have an advantage..the vocals out of them sounds excellent and since neither the bass or highs are really that prominent the vocals do sound great. The highs on the M50s are clear and have plenty of sparkle for my taste. From reading lots of reviews before I made my decision I've come to the conclusion that most people think the highs are not great but by no means bad. They are just good enough to not offend those with sensitive ears or those who like endless sparkly highs. Again I think the M50s have better highs than the AE2 but they are just overshadowed by the prominent bass. For hip-hop/heavy bass music the M50s are the clear winner. However, for classical music the M50s do tend to sound cramped..not saying the AE2s are much better but you should definitely give them a listen (a lot of stores have them to try like Best Buy/Target). For rock I love the way the drums kick on the M50s and the symbols sound good too, but I don't know if i can pick a definite winner between the two.

Isolation: both headphones are decent and should do just fine for your situation. I wear my M50s in public sometimes and they do a good job of blocking out noise and keeping my music in.

Finally both headphones are easy to drive and will sound great out of all the stuff you listed.

Bottom line: If you want a headphone that sounds great across the spectrum but really shines on the low end you should seriously consider the M50s. For a more vocal focused sound you might wanna go with the Bose. If you can though definitely give the Bose a try even if you don't end up buying them. I know they are not well liked on head-fi but they're not bad at all..especially for someone who doesn't consider themselves an audiophile (me and you according to your post). The vocals out of them sounds great and they have an overall warm/pleasant everyday consumer-friendly sound. Hope this helps!

For entry level I think the HD598 is the most appealing amongst them.

Sound: Good soundstage and mid, bass is decent, should be enough for your taste.

Comfort: Simply best among the lots.

Isolation: Mediocre, leaking alot.

If you really think your roommate is gonna mind your music, then forget my suggestion though. Otherwise, I've tried all those headphones and I can really recommend you the 598, especially when you're still inexperienced.

HD598 is an open can, which means that there is no isolation from the outside world and it doesn't leak sound, it pours it out. So if you don't want to disturb your room mate, look elsewhere. It does have the best SQ out of the bunch in my opinion, I love a big soundstage.

Re: the wireless headphones, you'll sacrifice alot of the sound quality because of limitations of battery, and at the same price point they don't often stand up in terms of SQ to other 'phones. Usually.

Quote:

Originally Posted by swpr 

 

Is it going to pour the sound so much that the downstairs would hear? cuz that's the closest roommate, the roommate on my floor is all the way at the other end of the hall

I think there's no way a headphones could leak that much.

And don't even consider wireless headphones (except for the new rs220, which i'm not sure of). You'd probably sacrifice a lot of SQ :)

M50 is not bad of a choice actually, but I think it just doesn't suit my taste, too little mid.

SRH940's SQ is just normal, but it's uncomfortable, so I wouldn't consider it.

However, if you want a headphone that can use both at home and on the go, M50 will be a better choice than HD598.

I don't have any experience with the other two so I can't help you with that.

Good luck on your decision :)

If comfort is your first goal, the Creative Aurvana Live should be on your short list.

I wear glasses and have the M50, HD598, and SRH940. In terms of comfort, the HD598 wins hands-down. The SRH940 has velour pads as well, but the actual cup is smaller. As I've worn the HD598's for a while now, there are indentations on the pads from where they touch my glasses, but I would rather have that than have the glasses press up against my head. The M50's I can barely stand to listen to anymore just because of the (lack of) comfort, and though I love my SRH940's, after 2-3 hours I have to switch to the HD598.

I use the HD598's for computer audio as well as gaming on my xbox 360, and they are absolutely wonderful. As long as your roommate doesn't spend most of his time in the same room as you, sound leakage is not an issue. Sound leakage from headphones won't go through walls. And I think they're a nice fit for your desired sound signature too. They do vocals quite well, and the bass is tight and present, but not overpowered and bloated. The cracking issue has long been fixed, I don't know why people keep bringing it up. And even if you somehow find yourself with the old version that is prone to cracking, I do believe you can send it in to Senn to get it replaced.

Overall, I would highly recommend the HD598 for you from that list. I believe it's more well-rounded than the SRH940. The SRH940 sacrifices some comfort and bass for even sweeter mids and more pronounced highs. But as your music genres are quite varied and comfort is a top priority, I think the HD598 is the way to go. They do benefit from some amping, but it isn't absolutely essential to enjoy them. So you could also consider adding in a DAC and amp as a future investment if you want, but by no means is it required.

In your list, HD598 would be the best choice in term of sound quality, gaming. However, they have zero isolation which means they will leak a lot of sound and will bother your room mate for sure. 

For comfort, forget about M50 and SRH940. They are seriously annoying on your head after 15-30 minutes of use.

Quote:

Originally Posted by swpr 

 

 

 

 

Thanks a lot guys, I think i will go with the HD598.

 

Choobaka:

If I were to consider an DAC or Amp upgrade in the future, what would you recommend?

by the way what's the difference between DAC and Amp? (in a non-technical sense)

 

HD598 would benefit from amp and dac for sure.

DAC is Digital to analog converter, it's like a filter for music. Different DACs can lead to different sound signatures such as dark sounding, sweet, bright, clean....

Amp is amplifier, its more about power for the headphones. It helps to increase quality and quantity of bass/mid/high and overall volume of the headphones

I actually got some new ear pads for my M50s recently and tried them out with my glasses, they're actually not bad at all. If you get some M50s and replace the ear pads then that would be a good choice too.