About myself: http://www.head-fi.org/t/674373/story-of-a-new-reviewer-kimvictor
 
So here it is. My review of recent full size HPs that I owned/own. Although I feel like SRH840 should be in there instead of 940 as the price difference is big, I don't have a 840.
 
Disclaimer: I do not own the M50 I used for review. I sold it to my friend, but I got to barrow them for few days. The reference of the review is UERM, which is the most detailed, clean, and flat iem/headphone I own.

I used the fallowing gears for this review
Schiit Modi
Schiit Magni
Leckerton UHA-6S.MKII
Sansa Clip Zip Rockboxed
Fiio E7
AK100
 
Brief Description of Sound Sig:
M50: Slightly V shaped.
AD700: Flat and neutral.
HD598: Slightly warm and neutral.
SRH940: Reference kind of sound. Slight treble/mid boost, and bass is recessed a bit.
DT1350: Warm and neutral sound.
V6: Slight V shaped.
Modded V6: Neutral with punchy bass.
Bose OE: Bloated bass with rolled off treble.
Voxoa HD Wireless: Warm bassy sound with neutral treble.
 
The scale for sound is 1-10, 10 being the UERM. Review on UERM: http://www.head-fi.org/products/ultimate-ears-in-ear-reference-monitors/reviews/8928
 
ATH-M50
Price: Around $120
Comfort: Rather poor. It gets hot and sweaty after about 20-40 mins.
Amping: Not needed, but it helps. Leckertons are good with them.
Sound:
Bass: 7.5
Mid:6
High:7
Soundstage: 5
Clarity: 7.5
Detail: 7.5
Bass is very well extended and tight, but mid range is recessed a bit, and sounds bit artificial. Highs are sparkly and decently extended. Clarity and detail is superb for it's price.

AD700
Price: Around $100
Comfort: Very good. However, it may be too soft and plush for people with small heads.
Amping: Does benefit a little with amping. Modi and Magni was used with AD700.
Sound:
Bass: 7
Mid: 7
High: 7
Soundstage: 9
Clarity: 7
Overall neutral phones. Soundstage is wide and clarity is decent. May sound too distant and boring for some. Also, leakage is bad due to open design.

HD598
Price: Around $220
Comfort: Very good. Best comfort of all of my hp.
Amping: Does benefit. Modi and Magni is good. 
Sound:
Bass:7.5
Mid: 8
High: 7.5
Soundstage: 9.5
Clarity: 8
Solid headphones with decent bass extension with good mid bass. Mids are very smooth and highs are extended. Clarity is also rather good. However, their smooth signature makes them boring to listen to, for me at least.
 
SRH940:
Price: Around $250
Comfort: Decent. I can wear it for 1-2hrs without problem. It looks ugly though.
Amping: Benefits and scales up with amping. Leckertons do a good job.
Sound:
Bass: 8
Mid: 8
High: 8.5
Soundstage: 9
Clarity: 9.5
Currently my favorite phone with UERM and DT1350. Ridiculous clarity and imaging(in a good way). Bass is well extended with punchy mid bass. Mid bass is light, so it's not for bassheads for sure. Mids are gorgeous and highs are very well extended as well. Attack is very good as well. Also, the soundstage is very good for a closed back. Also, the most detailed hp I own, coming very close to UERM.
 
DT1350: Extended Review: http://www.head-fi.org/products/beyerdynamic-tesla-dt-1350/reviews/8968
Price: Around $250
Comfort: Rather poor. It squeezes your head. I can wear it for about an hour without problem. Also gets hot after an hour. Looks decent on person.
Amping: Benefits and scales up with amping. Not a good match with Magni. Leckertons do a good job.
Sound:
Bass: 8.5
Mid: 8
High: 7.5
Soundstage: 5
Clarity: 9
Currently one of my favorite phones. Very good clarity and detail from a portable can. Comfort is poor because it needs to seal tight for good isolation. Isolation is very good. Bass goes very deep with good punch, mids are smooth and engaging, and highs are smooth. Highs do roll off, so I'm giving it a 7.5. Very impressive portable phone.
 
Sony V6:
Price: Around $60
Comfort: Good. May not be the best, but definitely above average. Gets hot though.
Amping: Doesn't need much power.
Sound:
Bass: 6
Mid:6
High: 7
Soundstage: 7
Clarity: 7.5
I traded my AD700 for the V6. V6 has some what similar sound to M50. It's lower mids are recessed, and the vocals and guitars sounds bit hallow. However, the bass amount and control is good and treble is well extended. Clarity is also good. Quick note on ear pads: since the earpads were ripped, I sewed the pads together. Also, SRH840/940's ear pads fits the V6 as well. With SRH940's pad, the sound stage also increases a lot.
 
Sony V6: Modded by myself. Here is how: http://www.head-fi.org/t/668659/sony-mdr-v6-bass-mod-no-earpad
Price: Around $60+Time and Effort to Mod
What changed: Removed foam damper, added bass vent, replaced earpads with SRH940's
Comfort: Very good. Much better than stock pads. However, it still gets hot.
Amping: Needs slightly more power than the stock V6. Paired with Leckertons currently.
Sound: 
Bass: 7
Mid: 7
High: 7
Soundstage: 7.5
Clarity: 7
So, why did I add a review of a headphone that was already reviewed? Because it sounds totally different from the stock. First of all, bass has much better punch as well as sub bass impact, and lower mids are significantly thicker, resulting in a warm-neutralish sound. Soundstage also opened up a bit after the mod. Comfort increased as well due to new pads. Clarity is lost, but only marginally. Overall satisfied with my mods. If you have questions about modding, please ask in the tread that I linked.
*Forgot to mention this. You should EQ the modded V6 and this mod changes the sound sig a bit. I used a 5 band EQ on AK100, and it is perfect.
 
Bose OE:
Price: Around $150
Comfort: Very good.
Amping: Benefits a tiny bit from amping.
Sound:
Bass: 4.5
Mid: 4.5
High: 4
Soundstage: 5
Clarity: 4
Bose OE is the most comfortable portable hp that I've owned. Too bad that it didn't sound good. It has bloated bass with very rolled off treble. Clarity is also very poor. Also, they are semi-open, but the soundstage is rather small as well.
 
Voxoa HD Wireless:
Price: Currently $110. Originally $150.
Comfort: Good.
Amping: Wireless headphone. When wired, it does benefit from amping.
Sound:
Bass: 7
Mids: 7
Treble: 7
Soundstage: 6.5
Clarity: 6
Detail: 6.5
Warm bassy headphone with good comfort. Wireless feature is a plus. Very practical pair of headphones.
 
Ranking! By sound quality.
1. SRH940
2. DT1350
3. HD598
4. Modded/EQed V6
5. AD700/M50
6. V6
7. Bose OE

nvm, disregard that.
 
still confuses me why people still recommend the m50 and ad700 when then the t500 is better than the m50 and the tad400 is better than the ad700.

Quote:

crystalt said:

nvm, disregard that.
 
still confuses me why people still recommend the m50 and ad700 when then the t500 is better than the m50 and the tad400 is better than the ad700.

Click to expand...

Personally, I don't get the over hype for M50. Sure that are solid, but they are the not the best HP, nor will it beat $200-$400 hps. 
Also, the reason tad400,500 are not recommended is probably due to lack of popularity. I didn't even know about tad line in AT until you just told me about them.

I owned at the same time, the m50 and t500. T500, at $80 shipped, shares the m50s signature, but just sounds all around better. Its more comfortable too. Larger pads, less clamp force, etc.

Tad400 is similar in comparison to the ad700.

Also I personally prefer the pioneer se-a1000 over the tad400/ad700.

Sent from my Event using Tapatalk 2

Forgot to mention that the sound stage was judged on imaging ability and proportion. Just being wide didn't earn high scores.

I will be adding sony v6 and DT1350 soon.

So the SRH940 wins.   If only you could hear my custom SRH940's that I moved to a new body.  I put the drivers in an Philips Oneil Stretch.

 
The sound is still similar, but now has more bass punch because of the bass ports and probably the earpads.  Also according to your rating scale, the soundstage is now lowered to maybe 6 because the earcup is smaller. ;/ but I gotta say I still love it.  Maybe even more than before.

pfulmtl said:

So the SRH940 wins.   If only you could hear my custom SRH940's that I moved to a new body.  I put the drivers in an Philips Oneil Stretch.



The sound is still similar, but now has more bass punch because of the bass ports and probably the earpads.  Also according to your rating scale, the soundstage is now lowered to maybe 6 because the earcup is smaller. ;/ but I gotta say I still love it.  Maybe even more than before.

Click to expand...

I'v been thinking about modding my 940 too. Not the entire housing, but juat the crappy head band

I want to see how many people might be interested in review of SR125i. I might consider buying it for the review.

Quote:

pfulmtl said:

So the SRH940 wins.   If only you could hear my custom SRH940's that I moved to a new body.  I put the drivers in an Philips Oneil Stretch.
 
 
The sound is still similar, but now has more bass punch because of the bass ports and probably the earpads.  Also according to your rating scale, the soundstage is now lowered to maybe 6 because the earcup is smaller. ;/ but I gotta say I still love it.  Maybe even more than before.

Click to expand...

Do you have any idea what headphone's headband might be interchangable with 940's? I just want to change the crappy headband/extenders that keep on cracking!

Bump.
Updated V6 and Adding a poll.

Updated Bose OE. Please ask if you have any questions.

Updated V6 once again. My impression on sound stage changed as I changed the pads. Anyways, can we get the poll going?

Glad people are now seeing the hype (m50)
 
ATH-M50
Price: Around $120
Comfort: Rather poor. It gets hot and sweaty after about 20-40 mins. (good all-rounder? haha)
Amping: Not needed, but it helps. Leckertons are good with them.
Sound: 6
Bass: 7 (boomy at times)
Mid:3
High:6
Soundstage: 0.05
Clarity: 7 (studio monitor)
Detail: 7.5 (studio monitor)
Bass is very well extended and boomy, but mid range is very recessed , and sounds bit artificial. Highs are sparkly and decently extended. Clarity and detail is superb for it's price (if its between $80 - 100)

xxdobermanxx said:

Glad people are now seeing the hype (m50)

Click to expand...

Actually, there's no proof of hype here. In kimvictor's review, the M50 performed well in terms of price/performance value. It is a good all arounder for it's price.