eron said:

  Dear MacedonianHero,
 
Now that this thread has been renamed to read "Top", instead of "mid-range", what's your comments on the Ultrasone Edition 8 in comparison to these reviewed headphones? 
I remember that you used to rate the Ed8 quite highly.

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Too many headphones to list in the title, so this one seemed easier.
 
Several years ago, the pickings for good closed portable headphones were slim. But I can now honestly say that the top 3 here all sound better than the Ed. 8s.
 
That, and I never fully considered my $2000 Ed.8LEs, portable...as I couldn't bring myself to taking them out of the house.   

macedonianhero said:

  Too many headphones to list in the title, so this one seemed easier.
 
Several years ago, the pickings for good closed portable headphones were slim. But I can now honestly say that the top 3 here all sound better than the Ed. 8s.
 
That, and I never fully considered my $2000 Ed.8LEs, portable...as I couldn't bring myself to taking them out of the house. 

 

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I have heard the NAD, B&O and M500. Though they sound good, I still preferred the sound from my SigPro due to the clarity and detail. I later heard the NAD and the Ed.8 side by side, and the Ed.8 sounded significantly better than the NAD for me. 
 
It could be down to personal preference or being used to a certain signature, or not spending enough time with a new pair of headphones.
 
Maybe others who have experience would like to chime in too.

eron said:

   
I have heard the NAD, B&O and M500. Though they sound good, I still preferred the sound from my SigPro due to the clarity and detail. I later heard the NAD and the Ed.8 side by side, and the Ed.8 sounded significantly better than the NAD for me. 
 
It could be down to personal preference or being used to a certain signature, or not spending enough time with a new pair of headphones.
 
Maybe others who have experience would like to chime in too.

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Personal preferences are certainly a big part of the picture, no doubt about it. But when it came to my experiences, I was shocked at how the Ed.8s have been surpassed recently with significantly cheaper headphones...just my experiences (and I owned my Ed.8LEs for about a year FWIW).
 
Plus, they (Ed.8s) don't measure very well objectively next to the the NADs:
 
http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/NADVISOHP50.pdf
vs.
http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/UltrasoneEdition8.pdf
 
Notice the bass roll off on the Ed.8s, the relatively poorer 30Hz and 300Hz square wave plots, higher distortion and slower impulse response curve. I'm glad you like the Ed.8s,  they are beautifully built headphones.  

The HP50's look silly. If any of you want to stop looking silly and sell me your HP50's for $200, you know where to find me 

waynes world said:

  The HP50's look silly. If any of you want to stop looking silly and sell me your HP50's for $200, you know where to find me 

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They're not flashy, but I think they're not bad looking either...and they sound so darn good!

macedonianhero said:

  They're not flashy, but I think they're not bad looking either...and they sound so darn good!

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Sorry Mac, but they are hideous. Abominations. Really, someone should just sell me theirs to ease their pain (that's just the kind of guy I am - always thinking of others).
 
Lol dammit - I want me some HP50's!

dweaver said:

how did you like the K545 in comparison to the rest?

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trunks159 said:

Urg, the H6 looks prefect for me. Too bad it costs so much. The K545 seems like it'll have a similar sound with a little more bass.

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I haven't tried the H6, but this seem to fit my impression of the K545. To me the K545 is a bit too "boring" (for the lack of a better word). They reminded me of the DT770 pro 32. Not necessarily a bad thing - it comes down to personal preferences. Too lively, warm and bass heavy becomes tiring in the longer term, but too little makes music "soulless" to me. Momentum might be too much the other way. They sound great listening to them for an hour in a shop, but would they be too much listening to them hour after hour every day?
 
Didn't spend as much time with the K545 as some of the other headsets. I only went once to try them while I went 4 times to listen to the P7 and HP50. More because of the fit than the sound. They are just not very comfortable having around the neck. I'll use the P7 for commuting and travel so it matters how comfortable they are when resting around my neck. The thick headband and round ear cups make them less suited. So fit combined with them not sounding any better than the others made me exclude them fairly early.
 
Don't think it is much between them though. And as with the HP50 compared to the P7 I don't think the P7 is worth the money compared to K545 purely from a sound perspective. The K545 seems to be a very good value for money headset. If they had been designed like the Momentum with bigger ear cups I would have bought the K545 - even if I think the 3 others sound every so slightly better.
 

coolguyalex said:

  If the P7s had memory foam I would most likely buy them. But they are a bit heavier than the other models and clamping was an issue for me. A shame really..

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I haven't bought a headset for a couple of years now. Was surprised that what ended up the deciding factor was fit. Feels a bit odd spending so much money on a headset that I actually doesn't think is the best in any other category than fit.
 
A bit surprised that so many seem to have a problem with clamping. I have a fairly big head and I can't say I even thought about clamping when listening to them. I would never buy a headset without close to perfect fit though. So annoying when there is a pinch or something somewhere.

This somehow remind me of the big flagship headphones review done by David as I see the list growing haha xD

Any thoughts of adding ZMF T50RP mod into this review? Got a strong feeling of getting it as my first orthodos and as my reference portable rig... xD

Isn't that something. Of all the headphones you've tried, Mr. Paul Barton and all his minions have designed 2 of your top 4 headphones in terms of sound quality. Now it just looks like (according to your charts) he needs to get a bit more in touch with the designing of them, and construction.
 
I've been loving my M4U 2 for almost a couple years now and glad they hold their own when in such company as all the cans you tried in this comparison.
 
edit: I guess it's top 4, since there's a tie to account for.

dnb4guy said:

  Isn't that something. Of all the headphones you've tried, Mr. Paul Barton and all his minions have designed 2 of your top 4 headphones in terms of sound quality. Now it just looks like (according to your charts) he needs to get a bit more in touch with the designing of them, and construction.
 
I've been loving my M4U 2 for almost a couple years now and glad they hold their own when in such company as all the cans you tried in this comparison.
 
edit: I guess it's top 4, since there's a tie to account for.

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I chalk it up to Paul Barton knowing "good sound". 

I seem to be the only person who dislikes the K545. :eek: I just thought they were so bass-light and were very uncomfortable. Of course, I've only tried them at my local Best Buys, but from a few stores. I might have to give them a more serious listen.

deltasun said:

I seem to be the only person who dislikes the K545.

I just thought they were so bass-light and were very uncomfortable. Of course, I've only tried them at my local Best Buys, but from a few stores. I might have to give them a more serious listen.

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your issues probably stem from fit problems. akg headphones are known to sound poorly if they don't fit the user properly. that & your personal listening preferences. sounds like you prefer more v-shaped sound signature i would say something along the lines of the vmoda m100 or ultrasone pro 900 might be worth looking at

Thank you for the growing comparisons, helps me a lot in my search for a great portable closed isolating can to pair with the upcoming Fiio X5.
Any chance in adding the Focal Spirit Classic and/or Professional along with the Senn HD25-1 II Aluminium 25th anniversary edition to the fray?

cagin said:

Thank you for the growing comparisons, helps me a lot in my search for a great portable closed isolating can to pair with the upcoming Fiio X5.

Any chance in adding the Focal Spirit Classic and/or Professional along with the Senn HD25-1 II Aluminium 25th anniversary edition to the fray?

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I'm very interested in the Focal Pros, but the HD25-1 II's are on-ears and the originals (even the Amperiors) weren't very comfortable at all with my noggin, so it's doubtful for them.

Funny. Every time MH updates, people ask him to keep adding more cans. Money doesn't grow on trees! A break must be given.