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Comparison: Sennheiser HD600 vs Sony MDR-V6 - Page 2

post #16 of 72
1/14/02 at 2:35am
ai0tron, if you dislike Sony V6's, you will dislike Grados at least as much! You used to own a pair of Grado SR-225's, didn't you?

I can understand where you're coming from. You REALLY dislike bright-sounding headphones, no matter how good (or great) they are otherwise.
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post #17 of 72
1/14/02 at 2:37am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
I assume both headphones were run through the Corda for this review? Did you notice any improvement in the V6s when driven with the headamp compared to your previous configuration?
Yes they both were driven by the Corda. ALL headphones are improved by dedicated headphone amps, but to differing degrees. The HD600s are improved far more than the V6s, as the V6s are far more efficient. The Senns sound murky and boomy out of the integrated. It's the same story with the Sonys, except to much lesser extent; the sound is actually listenable. However, the headphone jack on my integrated is VERY hissy, and in quiet passages the hiss gets very annoying. Through the Corda, the V6's bass tightened up and the clarity was improved. Again, the improvement was far more subtle than the one the Senns make.

Quote:
The instruments are separated on the V6s, just not as naturally as on the HD-600s. The V6s were designed as studio phones, and were never designed with the goal of naturally depicting space. These are completely different phones with different uses in mind.
Yes, I know the instruments are separated... well, DUH! Everything would sound like one instrument otherwise. I was just exaggerating a tad to try to make my point that the HD600 "places" instruments in your mind WAAAY better than the V6 ever will. The sound is almost 2D on the V6 while it's 3D on the HD600. The difference is very obvious especially when listening to complex, thick textured music.

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And as far as bass is concerned, the V6s go lower with more sensitivity than the HD600s and just about any headphone for that matter. The QUALITY of tone of the V6's bass is another matter and more subjective, as I find the bass to be smoothed over a bit and lacking in fine detail like the complicated resonance of cellos or stand-up basses. But to say the 600s "are better than the Sonys in every aspect sonically" is false as the bass extension of the 600s is inferior to the V6s.
Well, the bass SOUNDS BETTER to me on the HD600. In my mind, that means it's sonically superior. Let's say for the sake of argument that the Koss Plug actually had deeper bass extention than the Senns. If that was the case, you still wouldn't say that the Senns are NOT better sonically in every way, would you?

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I personally think that V6's might even be claimed to 'suck'...The V6's sound like ****ing trash damnit, and the people with halfway decent taste on these boards know that... Better bass extension??? Yeah, if you can make it out under all that boominess.
Whoa whoa whoa... Now don't ya think that's a liiitle harsh? The V6s are definitely not as good as the HD600, but they're VERY good for the price! As BenG pointed out, they have truly great bass response, possibly one of the best you can get in that regard. I never found the bass to be boomy... Go listen to some SportaPros if you want to hear boomy. Yes, they're totally outclassed by the HD600s, but I still think they're one of the best values under $100.

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Try a pair of clous and see if you think the 600's are still dark.
You will be very surprised!
Yup. That's already on my wish list. I think I should upgrade the source first, though... Or should I? I really gotta do something about those interconnects too... What do you guys think I should upgrade first? "Who is the weakest link?"
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post #18 of 72
1/14/02 at 2:39am
Quote:
Originally posted by ai0tron
What the hell are you talking about "they weren't designed to naturally depict space"??? Man, are you trying to say they were designed to suck?
I mean they are purely analytical, and only separate the levels in that fashion. It may suck or be relatively unnatural compared to other phones, but that's part of how they were designed.
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post #19 of 72
1/14/02 at 2:39am
Quote:
Originally posted by ai0tron
Okay, for $60 you get closed phones that sound *alright*, yay, congratulations, beyond that they trully are inferior. Better bass extension??? Yeah, if you can make it out under all that boominess. I for one am with everyone who ever said they disliked the V6's.
Thems some pretty harsh words I agree that the V6s are not the "bee's knees" in headphones, but by the same token I am not going to say they suck, because they don't. To my ears, the bass is not at all boomy - it is quite the opposite - deep, extended, tight and visceral. The 7506s were the only headphone that really opened the door to the so-called "Bass-ment" (thanks Mike Walker) that is present in a lot of my favourite music. Actually, the Sennheiser HD25s did also, but they were extremely expensive, not too mention extremely fatiguing.

I am becoming critical of the way the 7506s present music in a clinical manner - but what can I expect, they are studio monitors designed for dissecting music! My Koss KSC50s are more fun to listen to, but the bass is a lot looser than the Sonys. The Sonys are comfortable, built like a tank and present music with minimal colouration. At the pricepoint available to US customers, I think it is misleading to say they suck as while you can do better, you can do a lot lot lot worse
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post #20 of 72
1/14/02 at 2:44am
Quote:
Originally posted by Eagle_Driver
ai0tron, if you dislike Sony V6's, you will dislike Grados at least as much! You used to own a pair of Grado SR-225's, didn't you?

I can understand where you're coming from. You REALLY dislike bright-sounding headphones, no matter how good (or great) they are otherwise.
Maybe i should give him my muddy, boomy pile of crap Denons..sounds like thats his kind of tin can

Oh, what a low blow HAHAHA

George
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post #21 of 72
1/14/02 at 2:54am
Quote:
Originally posted by gloco
Maybe i should give him my muddy, boomy pile of crap Denons..
ROTFLMAO!!! The Sony MDR-A44L VITEs that I bought earlier today sound very similar to those lower-end Denons - and at less than half the price!!
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post #22 of 72
1/14/02 at 3:06am
Hehehe, they really are terrible cans and way overpriced to boot.

George
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post #23 of 72
1/14/02 at 4:48am
While I respect Jan's products and am a happy customer of his, I have yet to really agree with any of his headphone reviews I really doubt that the Phillips are *that* close to the HD600. I'd love to try them, but unfortunately they're difficult to find around here.
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post #24 of 72
1/14/02 at 4:50am
Quote:
Originally posted by Eagle_Driver
ai0tron, if you dislike Sony V6's, you will dislike Grados at least as much! You used to own a pair of Grado SR-225's, didn't you?

I can understand where you're coming from. You REALLY dislike bright-sounding headphones, no matter how good (or great) they are otherwise.
Eagle, I think it's quite possible to dislike the V6 and still love Grados. They have completely different sonic signatures. The V6 are dry and analytical, while the Grados are bright and punchy (the PS line, that is). I would never consider them to be similar.
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post #25 of 72
1/14/02 at 5:55am
I like the KSC 35's better than the V6's. I think alot of people would feel the same way. Remember thos Ixos ministry of sound headphones??? I actually prefer those over the V6's too. I shouldn't have sold those but at the time I didn't realize how crappy the rest of the closed phone market is under $100. I'm tired of hearing V6's have a specific function, they are cheap and closed, they have great bass extension, etc etc. Man, they aren't that good, and thats the friggin truth, the Grado 225's trounce them. And my friend who just got the 80's (thanks to me) let me check those out and they trounce the V6's also. So the V6's have +1 decibel at 20hz compared to other phones and suddenly they are giant killers?? Suddenly they aren't inferior to better sounding phones? Thats not really logical. Most people can't even hear a 20hz tone, and if you could it would be musically insignificant 99% of the time. I can honestly say that the HD600's are pretty darn close to flat down to about 35hz where they start to roll off. I can't even hear below 30hz anyway so maybe its my ears that are rolling off. God knows their isn't much at 20hz worth hearing, esp with headphones since the only way most people could 'hear' below that would be too feel the pressure wave hit their body.

PS DENON 950's are the only denons ive ever heard. If you want to send me your low end denons feel free, I'll use them to prop my door open.
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post #26 of 72
1/14/02 at 8:48am
Well, I personally really, really like the V6s for one reason, and that is they're a great "within their price range" headphone. They're relatively cheap enough that buying them won't put a dent into your bank account, selling them won't make you Bill Gates or get you the Orpheus, and they're built like a tank and can fold and even come with a kickass leather pouch. That they don't absolutely suck in sound is just icing on the cake to me. No they're not the last word in sound, far from it. I could name a number of headphones that 100% floor them in sound for not much more money, and then another couple that are just as analytical sounding, and even more so, than them. But that's ultimately not the point of the V6s. The point is that they're cheap (like $50s nowdays online), are capable of lasting 10+ years and then some of heavy usage (and there are lots of accounts of this), and sound halfway decent. The next closest thing to the V6s are the Denon 950s and Beyer 250s, and as many have mentioned, both cost twice as much as the V6s.

Speaking for myself only, I could sell my V6s, but not know what to do with the money. Maybe buy a CD or two. But at that rate, I'd rather just keep em around the house instead for the hell of it. Which is why the V6s have become part of my permanent collection of headphones that ain't going nowhere, even more so than my R10s or HP-1s. I like to think of my V6s with Beyer pads as the cute and fuzzy pet headphone that's going to live forever with me.
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post #27 of 72
1/14/02 at 8:53am
I agree with ai0tron,

I was at a local music hardware store and they had a pair of Sony MDR-7506 headphones hooked up to some amp in the instrument demo room. I tried them on, omg, they sounded horrible! This was the reason I didn't like monitor headphones in the first place. Maybe I am spoiled by my Sennheisers, but they sounded similar to the V600 except with increased aspects(more bass, louder midrange, brighter highs).

They might do noubt be a good deal for some, but the sound is not tolerable for me.
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post #28 of 72
1/14/02 at 9:11am
Quote:
Originally posted by Vertigo-1
The next closest thing to the V6s are the Denon 950s and Beyer 250s, and as many have mentioned, both cost twice as much as the V6s.
I'm seriously looking into the DT250-80s right now, and you're siding them up with the Denon 950's and V6's. This scares me. I havent heard the DT250s, but the V6's sounded like feces. The bass went low, and it was good for a $60 phone because of this. But the treble and upper mids were exaderated, the lower mids and uppermidbass was recessed.. Just terrible. Some people claim that it's because the midbass is so good you forget it's there.. heh. I can imagine the response being shaped like a freakin U after listening for 20 seconds. From what I hear, the 250s do NOT sound like this... Am I making a mistake in attempting to get a pair of 250s, or what?

Also, have you heard the 250s before?

The only thing that Saves the V6's from sucking hard ass, is the fact that the bass is decent, and goes low.
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post #29 of 72
1/14/02 at 10:16am
***********************************
Headphones: HD600 /w stock cables, Sony MDR-V6
Source: Technics SL-PD627 5-CD changer
Amp: Corda HA-1
Interconnects: Radio Shack cheapies
***********************************
Fiddler
Please contact Headroom and kill two birds with one stone, you are only hearing part of what Senn HD600 is capable of. Get the Clou red/blue cable for Senn 600 which transforms the sound, also toss the RS Cheapie ICs and get the DiMarzio ICs from Headroom which is very good performer for $90 and will embarass the RS cheapies. Be sure and get good AC cord (not industrial supply house stuff mentioned here by others) best performance for the cost is Absolute AC cord for $49:
http://cgi.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cl.p...6371&demo&3&4&

Do the above and use the 0 ohm output from Corda you will be surprised how much better it can sound..........now if you have another $1,000+ we can upgrade your CD source
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post #30 of 72
1/14/02 at 10:44am
Quote:
Originally posted by fiddler
Yup. That's already on my wish list. I think I should upgrade the source first, though... Or should I? I really gotta do something about those interconnects too... What do you guys think I should upgrade first? "Who is the weakest link?"
The Clou is a mandatory upgrade. w/o the Clou, I prefer my Beyer DT770 Pro's to the Senn HD600; w/ the Clou, the Senn inches back by.

BTW, props up to ai0tron for making it okay to say that the Sony's are overrated.
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