help me chose with ~ $40 budget: SR850 vs. UR55 vs. RP-HTF600-S vs. ?? - Page 2

I have both the HTFs and the Samsons. For me, the HTFs have smoother/stronger bass, but are also noticeably muffled/muddy in the mids. The Samson's have nice mids, clear (but) bright highs, and certainly solid bass for such a cheap (semi)open headphone. Samson's also have a nicer soundstage, in my opinion atleast.  I personally enjoy the HTFs for bass heavy electronic music, dubstep, drum&bass, etc , and the Samson's for basically everything else. I will admit that I can't stand how the 850s look, so I usually only use those at home.

Hope this helps :) Tbh both cans are so insanely cheap right now I would just buy both, but if moneys tight I can see it being a bit of a tough choice. :(

I'm tempted to buy a Samson SR850 only to be able to do some simple modding to it by removing the foam inside covering he holes for better air circulation (usually helps soundstage & bass) and start to partially cover the holes to find where it performs optimal from bass response/soundstage/frequency balance wise. On the HTF600 I removed the middle inside foam that was covering the vents and if left all holes open it lead to more lows and low-mids presence and highs were even more veiled but also had more reverb to it and if completely covering it it had more highs presence and less bass and soundstage was drasticly reduced and no reverb to speak of and the optimal was leaving one of the bigger holes uncovered.

Any1 tried doing this to Samson? You could probably get a little more bass and tamed peaky highs which I think would appeal to a lot of people.

Quote:

Originally Posted by asymptote 
funny i swear somebody was telling me the panny's had more bass ;) maybe I will bug those ppl for the coupon, but thats a hassle..... thanks for mentioning that mhtn.... That's funny from the pictures I thought the SR850 look better than the panny's, but I haven't seen either in person. To me it looked like the 850s were trying to look like a Grado clone. I'm really surprised but appreciative that my thread has garnered so much interest!

I'm the one (and there are others) that think the RP-HTF600-S has more bass then the SR850.

and it's only $20-$25 to get the Beyerdynamic EDT 200 Velour pads for the RP-HTF600-S.
 

The Panny's do have a lot of bass.  They will make bass heads very happy. 

Look at the JVC HAM750 for $40 on Amazon.

Quote:

Originally Posted by asymptote 

funny i swear somebody was telling me the panny's had more bass ;) maybe I will bug those ppl for the coupon, but thats a hassle..... thanks for mentioning that mhtn.... That's funny from the pictures I thought the SR850 look better than the panny's, but I haven't seen either in person. To me it looked like the 850s were trying to look like a Grado clone. I'm really surprised but appreciative that my thread has garnered so much interest!

Yeah, getting the coupon was a hassle but if I don't have to pay for 4 bucks more, I won't :).  Plus the sale rep was very nice and responsive so I wouldn't mind bugging her :)

Good luck with your choice of can!

http://www.head-fi.org/products/sr850-professional-studio-reference-headphones/reviews/5573

http://www.head-fi.org/products/panasonic-rp-htf600-s-step-monitor/reviews/5665

If you haven't read them, the pictures at the end of both of these reviews might help you imagine how they would look in person. The reviews themselves could also help of course.

The pannys are semi-open as well. They actually leak just as much. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by ssrock64 

 

I'd go for the Samson, but you do know they're open, right?

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by asymptote 

Quote:

HI, I had a look at those. Alot of good reviews on Amazon. I'm more familiar with the JVC name than Samson. I looked at head-fi, and found a thread about them. However, I have no direct comparison of the two. I prefer the cord comming out of one side like the Samson has, I like the looks of the Samson a little better, but I'm not completly sure, since I haven't seen both in person. I like the way it appears the JVC's fold. I was just about to order the Samson, but haven't yet. I guess I could email them about the coupon and mull over the JVC's. However at the moment I'm still leaning towards the Samson. You didn't have that much to say except look at.Has anyone compared the two?  Anybody else wanna vote or chime in?

 

The JVC's do fold, but just be aware that it folds with the bands extended at almost half length. Does not come with a carrying case either, although I'm sure you can just stitch one up.

Their weakest construction is probably the band adjustment (my left side clicks, but slides past 1 click. I'm used to it tho) and the plastic forks holding the actual earpiece.

The cables are quite thin, so they aren't too bothersome; it makes modding VERY easy too.

Left: new chipped corner, Right: chipped corner (lost the piece). I also found out that one of the right prong is completely cracked. I suppose the cold is making this plastic too brittle. I plan on re-making those prongs in wood or something when these break.