Hello Everyone,
 
This is my first real review on Head-Fi. Recently I was given the Sennheiser Amperior as a birthday gift and an upgrade to my trusty HD25-1 II's, which I've had for a couple of years now and use nearly every day. They are my go-to portable headphone, so I the Amperior really were aiming high in attempting to be an upgrade.
 
Accesories & Packaging
 
It's been a while since I got my HD25's, so I can't remember what the packing was like, but the Amperior packaging was simple and quite elegant. A box opens to the headphones in a foam cutout, with two envelopes: one containing the boring paperwork, and the other containing two cables. It's not too distracting and allows quick access to the headphones themselves.
As for accessories, my I bought the 'upgraded' edition (whichever one isnt the basic edition) of the HD25's, so I have both velour and pleather pads, along with the screw-on 3.5mm to 6.3mm (1/8" to 1/4") adapter. The amperior however, came with only one pair of pads, which are a strange material, like a sort of smoothed out velour (see pictures), and two cables: one straight jack with remote & mic, and one right-angled jack with neither. Neither jack comes with threading for screwing on an adapter which seems odd when you consider these are marketed at the "on-the-go DJ".
 
MINI RANT: Why why why sennheiser? Why would you make the cable like that? It makes no sense! The cable is replaceable anyway, so the little straggly bit is pointless, not to mention the fact that its quite chunky while the extension wires are horrible, thin and have basically no strain relief! Are you trying to make the cable as annoying as possible? You could at least have made the whole wire chunky or thin, but having change halfway is just weird. Not to mention the fact that the thicker wire seems to have quite a lot of memory, so enjoys poking my face every once in a while. I'm almost definitely going to transplant the HD25's cable onto the Amperior, or I fear I may throw it against a wall. /rant
 

Remote & mic.


Right: HD-25 cable. Middle: Amperior extension cable. Left: Amperior 'attached' cable.
 


This is simply a lie. The cables are NOT the same thickness, not even close.

Winner: HD25
 
 
Comfort & Fit
 
Both of these headphones clamp very tightly, in order to stay on your head when you're a headbanging DJ. However the clamp of the Amperior is slightly less, making them a little more comfortable for long periods of wear. Otherwise, the pads you choose make a small but noticeable difference to both comfot and sound. I found my got hot quickest with the pleather, then the smoothed out velour, then the classic velour pads.
 

As you can see, the clamping of the Amperior is a bit less.

Right: Classic velour. Left: Smoothed velour.
 
Winner: Amperior
 
 
Build Quality
 
I must say, the Amperiors feel so solid and well built that I could throw lorries at them and they'd come out looking slightly nonchalant. That being said, the HD25's have suffered long and hard, forever being thrown about. The Amperiors are noticeably heavier, however this lends them a premium feel the HD25's don't really have.
 
The cable is another matter entirely. The cable on the HD25 is half-flat: two rounded cables stuck to each other. I like this method but I'm perfectly happy with a good quality rounded cable, such as that on mt GR07 BE's. Howeverthe Amperior's cable below the shorter part, i.e. the swappable cables, are thin and flimsy. I feel like i going to break them just by looking at them. I am actually using the extension cable I got with my HD448's, which works quite nicely and although it's still not the same thickness it looks and feels much better.
The termination on the attached cables are nice and sturdy, with good strain reliefs, but the terminations on the Amperior's swappable cable are lacking, to say the least.
 

The Amperior's aluminium cups feel solid and premium.
 


The termination of the HD25 (left) and attached amperior (right) cables.
Winner: HD25 for the cable, Amperior for the cups
 
Sound
 
Now for the bit you've all been waiting for!
 
Source: Nexus 5 with/without c&c BH2.
 
Songs used in testing:
Triple X - Sub Focus
Whiskers - Feed Me
Lose Yourself to Dance - Daft Punk ft. Pharrell Williams
Pick Me - Paper Aeroplanes
Time - Pink Floyd
Death Blossoms - Rise Against
Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3
All FLAC or 320kbps MP3.
 
Now I don't believe in burn-in, but I do believe it takes some time to get used to the sound of a new pair of headphones.
It is important to note that these are very similar headphones. Both are upfront, exciting, and warm, with deep bass, neutral mids and sparkly highs. The differences noted here are always going to be much less dramatic than when comparing either of these two pairs to any other pair.
 
Bass
 
The bass is probably the largest difference. The Amperior has more bass, and it extends deeper, however for my tastes this bleeds ever so slightly into the mids. Also the mid-bass hump (ew) covers up the lucious subbass extension that is there, but is not always audible with any presence of midbass, which is very upsetting. (i'm a bit of a subbass junkie). The subbass reverb in Whiskers is thrilling in both sets, but I have to hand subbass accuracy to the Amperior. having said that, the HD25 is streets ahead when it comes to midbass. It is far more neutral where the Amperior is warm and fluffy. In Death Blossoms and Time the bass guitar nearly drowns out the lead, while the HD25's separate the two perfectly.
Having said that, the Amperiors shine in electronic music, with a fast punch and accurate, well-extending subbass.
 
Winner: HD25 for rock & acoustic, Amperior for electronic & dance
 
Mids
 
The HD25's mids are in my book a little recessed, though guitars in Time do have a nice twang to them, which is a little lost in the Amperio's midbass. However with a little EQing, the Amperior's mids shine through as probably its best aspect. They are warm but flat, with a very nice timbre, but they know when to get out of the way (which is more than can be said for the bass).
The acoustic guitars in Pick Me sound lovely from both sets of cans, but after EQ the Amperiors do trump the HD25 on nearly every track, with only the Rachmaninoff sounding really better from the HD25 because of its natural linear bass. The EQ does detract a little form the Amperior's bass impact, but that is nice too as I am not too keen on the 'shaking earcups' at higher volumes.
 
Winner: EQ'd Amperior, not EQ'd HD25
 
Highs
 
I'm not a huge fan of the HD25's highs, i think they're its worst aspect. So how nice to find that the Amperior really cleaned up the harsh cymbals and sibilance present in the HD25. I really am verybpleased with the Amperior's highs, they're delicate when necessary, a subtle tinkle, or brash and exciting (without being harsh). Again, the bass overpowers the highs, but not nearly so much as the mids. The cymbal crashes in Triple X are a real tell of good highs, and while the HD25's make them sound quite unpleasant, the Amperior really love them.
 
Winner: Amperior
 
Soundstage
 
Amperior. The End.
But seriously, the separation when the bass is toned down is much better, and the soundstage is broader, if not much deeper. Death Blossoms' different guitars are really well placed, and the shape of the orchestra in Rachmaninoff's concerto is nicely apparent.
 
Winner: Guess.
 
Conclusion
 
This is a hard one. In case you hadn't realised, I hate the cable and overpowering midbass of the Amperior, but I really do like pretty much everything else. Since both can be fixed, I am going to preliminarily crown the Amperior the winner. I will however definitely be holding on to my HD25's.
If you are listening, go with the Amperiors. If you are creating, mixing or producing, go with the HD25.
 
 
PS: Amping the amperiors does very little, as they are an 18ohm can, while, amping the HD25 cleans up the treble and widens the soundstage a little, putting both slightly below the amperior.
 
 
 
Thanks Everyone.

Really cool review triple x....
Actually i have bee trying to decide for months now wether to get a pair of amperiors or not. Like you i have the hd25 as well and i like them very much but they sound a bit confined in terms of soundstage presentation and the thin pleather pads are a bit poorly made. Isolayion is great with the pleather pads but unfortunately its like having the drivers glued to your ear. Literally i can feel the drivers on my ears.... Its bareable but anoying....

Would you say it would be wise to keep both amperior and hd25? Do you think they improve on the areas i mentioned? Also do you think that since they sound cleaner the sound resolution and definitions is higher on the amperiors when compared to the hd25?

Cheers m8....

Well I mean it really depends on what you'd be using them for.

Soon after this review I built myself an "Aluminium Edition" HD25 from the parts of both headphones, and that is what I use now, as it has the best bits of both worlds: the sturdiness and bass control of the aluminium cups with the much better cable and less misbassy sound of the HD25's.

I'd say that the aluminium sound about 65% hd25 and 35% amperior. So basically, if you don't mind the weird cable (Grrr...) and like bass, go for the amperior. If you have a little more to spend and HAVE to upgrade, get the aluminium HD25; However personally they aren't enough of an upgrade to justify the price jump.

Also if you can find just the aluminium cups in eBay somewhere, buy those and retrofit your hd25. You'll thank me.

pedro oliveira said:

the thin pleather pads are a bit poorly made. Isolayion is great with the pleather pads but unfortunately its like having the drivers glued to your ear

Click to expand...

Buy some velour pads, they are much nicer

triple x said:

Well I mean it really depends on what you'd be using them for.

Soon after this review I built myself an "Aluminium Edition" HD25 from the parts of both headphones, and that is what I use now, as it has the best bits of both worlds: the sturdiness and bass control of the aluminium cups with the much better cable and less misbassy sound of the HD25's.

I'd say that the aluminium sound about 65% hd25 and 35% amperior. So basically, if you don't mind the weird cable (Grrr...) and like bass, go for the amperior. If you have a little more to spend and HAVE to upgrade, get the aluminium HD25; However personally they aren't enough of an upgrade to justify the price jump.

Also if you can find just the aluminium cups in eBay somewhere, buy those and retrofit your hd25. You'll thank me.

Click to expand...

I am using them as all round headphones.... i like to have headphone that provide me the capability of being used at home but that i can also take on the go and be provided with a fantastic sense of seal allied to great sonic performance. Before the hd25's i had the over ear momentums, they sounded amazing and in terms of sound signature i think they were the perfect complement to the hd25's sound (aggressive vs laidback but both with very imponent sound) but unfortunately i had problems with the fit/seal and i ended up selling them because this was reflected on the bass response everytime i turned my head and also the mix of on and over ear really started to become unconfortable after 10 minutes (even the hd25's wich are not the most confortable are more bareable to me).
 
Right now i can get a pair of hd25 alu's for about 200 euros, a pair of blue amperiors for 159 and a pair of silver ones for 139 (all of them brand new).
 
to be honest i dont want to spend 200 euros on the alu's.... i believe they can be better but i was more interested on the amperiors because the low impedance and the upgraded confort seems like a good thing.... my only fear is if the hd25's and the amperiors sound to similar to the point of thinking if i just waisted 139 or 159 euros on something that i already had....
 
1- Do you believe that the amperior is sonically and in terms of confort a good upgrade to the hd25's (In terms of resolution, soundstage, comfort is the difference noticeable enough when compared to the hd25? )?
 
2- Do you think it is stupid to keep both the hd25 and the amperiors at the same time (i know at the time of you review you were planning on keeping both.... do you still have them and do you still believe it is worth keeping both although they are similar?)
 
3- i am clueless about wich color to get but thats my problem to solve..... XD Loved the silver one more at first but i like the blue one more and more..... but i am leaning toward the silver because saving 20 euros is always nice.... XD
 
As you can see a lot of doubts.... XD
 

triple x said:

Buy some velour pads, they are much nicer

Click to expand...

 
Dont they affect the sound in a negative way? I read some people saying that the sound quality is superior with pleather pads.... specially the bass response is not as good with the velour one.... but once again this is something i read from the hd25 topics, i never tried the hd25's velour pads because i have the basic edition hd25's and those only come with leatherette pads....

pedro oliveira said:

I am using them as all round headphones.... i like to have headphone that provide me the capability of being used at home but that i can also take on the go and be provided with a fantastic sense of seal allied to great sonic performance. Before the hd25's i had the over ear momentums, they sounded amazing and in terms of sound signature i think they were the perfect complement to the hd25's sound (aggressive vs laidback but both with very imponent sound) but unfortunately i had problems with the fit/seal and i ended up selling them because this was reflected on the bass response everytime i turned my head and also the mix of on and over ear really started to become unconfortable after 10 minutes (even the hd25's wich are not the most confortable are more bareable to me).

Right now i can get a pair of hd25 alu's for about 200 euros, a pair of blue amperiors for 159 and a pair of silver ones for 139 (all of them brand new).

to be honest i dont want to spend 200 euros on the alu's.... i believe they can be better but i was more interested on the amperiors because the low impedance and the upgraded confort seems like a good thing.... my only fear is if the hd25's and the amperiors sound to similar to the point of thinking if i just waisted 139 or 159 euros on something that i already had....

1- Do you believe that the amperior is sonically and in terms of confort a good upgrade to the hd25's (In terms of resolution, soundstage, comfort is the difference noticeable enough when compared to the hd25? )?

2- Do you think it is stupid to keep both the hd25 and the amperiors at the same time (i know at the time of you review you were planning on keeping both.... do you still have them and do you still believe it is worth keeping both although they are similar?)

3- i am clueless about wich color to get but thats my problem to solve..... XD Loved the silver one more at first but i like the blue one more and more..... but i am leaning toward the silver because saving 20 euros is always nice.... XD

As you can see a lot of doubts.... XD


Dont they affect the sound in a negative way? I read some people saying that the sound quality is superior with pleather pads.... specially the bass response is not as good with the velour one.... but once again this is something i read from the hd25 topics, i never tried the hd25's velour pads because i have the basic edition hd25's and those only come with leatherette pads....

Click to expand...

They are very similar. They are more similar than different. For me, it would not be worth the additional ~150, as I got my Amperiors as a gift.

I have since sold my Amperiors as I preferred the hd25s.

1 - not in resolution, they're a downgrade or a side grade. As for the other two, I rh8nk they are both due to the new material of the Amperiors pads.

2 - I just would not bother with the Amperiors and get yourself some decent full size headphones if I was you

3 - I love the blue. *shrug*

My recommendation would be to buy yourself the amperior pads for your hd25, and a pair of full size headphones (like beyer dt770 or senn hd598).

Hum...... Did not know you sold the amperiors.... There seems to be a few people who like you prefer the hd25 sound to the amperior. I remenber roma101 also liked the hd25 more because he thought the amperior sounded too forward and agressive, specially on the mids....

Cool thing yoiu brought up the dt770, always thought of those for home use actually. O did try the hd598 but i think its too soft soiunding for me and sincr i listen to some edm those do not perform dance music very well....

Did you ever try the dt770? I never tried any beyer.... Is the sound anything close to the amperiors or the hd25s? Some say the bass is a bit loose and that they sound recessed on the mids.... Do they sound cristal clear and punchy like the hd25 or are they muffled like the mdr 1r? I hate too cloured sound, on the mdr 1r for instance the warm feeling was just to much and to my ears it was almost like the vocalists were burried.... I hate muffled sounding stuff..... My last 3 headphones are the over ear momentums, mdr v6 and hd25.... As you can see non of the is very coloured or too warm, not even the momentums....

Hey Triple X, I have to say I agree with your initial review.

I just got my Hd25 1-11 back online. I ordered two pleather cups off of eBay, and put both on my Amperior and Hd-25.

Initially running the HD-25 out of iPhone it sounded dull compared to the Amperior. Running them both through the dual outs out of the Traktor Audio 2 helped the Hd-25 quite a bit. It now had more presence, but is still sibilant and sharp on the high end. My GF who is unfamiliar with both thought the Amperior sounded smoother, and even then she still preferred the HD25. Was listening to some acoustic rock music at the time, and I would say the and HD-25 was more neutral, much less v-shaped than the Amperior.

In my opinion, I prefer the Amperior. The high end is so much better, and the entire sound has more air and precision to it. The HD-25 sounded closer to my older Koss Pro DJs, a bit papery, like speakers.

Aside from the high end, one of the other biggest differences was the bass. These are not even the same headphones in this respect. Putting the pleather pads on the Amperior also made a big difference to the low end. The bass is almost too much, but right now I'm enjoying it. I do listen to a lot of electronic music and the amperior just outperforms the HD-25 for this genre. I also found for classical piano, the Amperior just had more detail.

I haven't switch cords on these, and I have a feeling that the steel cable has an effect on the HD-25s sound.

Anyhow, quite surprised at the differences between these two headphones. I still need to listen and compare more.

Pedro, I don't think its worth having two. I'm probably stuck with my HD-25 as it's in a bit rough shape (minor disclaimer this can has gone through rain and heat damage, sounds fine though). I'd be interested in listening to the HD-25 Aluminum. The difference between these two is pretty large with Amperior coming out ahead though it's signature may not be preferred over the hd25 despite its technical abilities. Also, as flimsy as the Amperior cord appears, it's performed well, for both use as an iOS remote, and has come undone when accidentally snagged.

Right now my Amperior has been getting a lot of playtime at the office, walking around, lounging at home. More than my HD650 (probably until a decent DAC/amp arrives).

pedro oliveira said:

Hum...... Did not know you sold the amperiors.... There seems to be a few people who like you prefer the hd25 sound to the amperior. I remenber roma101 also liked the hd25 more because he thought the amperior sounded too forward and agressive, specially on the mids....

Cool thing yoiu brought up the dt770, always thought of those for home use actually. O did try the hd598 but i think its too soft soiunding for me and sincr i listen to some edm those do not perform dance music very well....

Did you ever try the dt770? I never tried any beyer.... Is the sound anything close to the amperiors or the hd25s? Some say the bass is a bit loose and that they sound recessed on the mids.... Do they sound cristal clear and punchy like the hd25 or are they muffled like the mdr 1r? I hate too cloured sound, on the mdr 1r for instance the warm feeling was just to much and to my ears it was almost like the vocalists were burried.... I hate muffled sounding stuff..... My last 3 headphones are the over ear momentums, mdr v6 and hd25.... As you can see non of the is very coloured or too warm, not even the momentums....

Click to expand...

The Amperior is more aggressive on the highs and low end. In contrast the HD-25 has a more pronounced mid range less clear high end, and much lower bass and sub bass.

For EDM Amperior > HD-25 1-11. I've thrown everything at it electronic wise and the Amperior is great. Get the pleather pads if you want more bass, or use the pads that came with it for better tonal balance (and less sweat).

It's been a while since I've tried the Dt770. The pair I listened to was amp powered and it has some punch to it. I remember preferring my old Shure SRh840 over it just for mid range though the the Dt 770 may have better low end. I don't recall the Dt 770 being sparkly, definitely not as crystalline sounding as the Amperior. The Dt 770 is a studio or home headphone. It's quite large.

Id definitely check out the Amperior, as you could probably get it at a lower price point.

There is always going to be a better headphone, but the Amperior are up there among the best for what they do. Very portable, medium comfort (clampiness goes away after a while), wouldn't recommend it for exercise but it stays on the ears, crystal clear, great bass extension, nice isolation but you can still hear traffic, inline mic, easy to drive and many spare parts available.

I've owned the MDR-1r before. It was a good headphone, nice soundstage for closed headphone. Great for certain music but lacked sub bass. The Amperior cuts like a knife in comparison, is snappy, with low end to match.

malfunkt said:

The Amperior is more aggressive on the highs and low end. In contrast the HD-25 has a more pronounced mid range less clear high end, and much lower bass and sub bass.

For EDM Amperior > HD-25 1-11. I've thrown everything at it electronic wise and the Amperior is great. Get the pleather pads if you want more bass, or use the pads that came with it for better tonal balance (and less sweat).

It's been a while since I've tried the Dt770. The pair I listened to was amp powered and it has some punch to it. I remember preferring my old Shure SRh840 over it just for mid range though the the Dt 770 may have better low end. I don't recall the Dt 770 being sparkly, definitely not as crystalline sounding as the Amperior. The Dt 770 is a studio or home headphone. It's quite large.

Id definitely check out the Amperior, as you could probably get it at a lower price point.

There is always going to be a better headphone, but the Amperior are up there among the best for what they do. Very portable, medium comfort (clampiness goes away after a while), wouldn't recommend it for exercise but it stays on the ears, crystal clear, great bass extension, nice isolation but you can still hear traffic, inline mic, easy to drive and many spare parts available.

I've owned the MDR-1r before. It was a good headphone, nice soundstage for closed headphone. Great for certain music but lacked sub bass. The Amperior cuts like a knife in comparison, is snappy, with low end to match.

Click to expand...

 
Actually i also though of the dt770's for home use (but i have no amps and wasnt planning on buying one).... unfortunately inever tried a beyer though and here in Portugal is not easy to find beyers... but if i buyed one it would have to be the 80 or 32 ohm since i only use portable players and i have no amps (and dont plan on buying any...).
 
Not sure about the pricing but i can get a 80ohm dt770 (new) for about 130 euros, a 32ohm neu one goes around 150, 160....
 
About the amperiors.... i would like to keep the same sound sig and even the highs do not bother me that much, i kust would like a tiny more bass in oreder to make things a bit more fun and richer sounding (and of course a bit more confort due to the velour pads... i only have  the original pleather pads for my hd25's and those are pretty thin and because of that i can feel the drivers a bit after about half an hour.... A bit more soundstage would be cool as well.... but overall the sound sig of the hd25's is fine, i just wanted the same sound sig to sound a bit richer and full and i was hoping to find that on the amperiors.....
 
I am a bit confused about the sound description though.... as i said on the back i only ever used my hd25's with the original pleatherette pads and i have never tried a hd25 with velour.... if i recall correctly i read something on the hd25s thread that the bass sounded fuller with the pleather pads and that the sound was fuller (from what i read the velour pads were indeed more confortable but isolation and bass response was decreased a bit...)....
 
Some seam to say that the amperior is bassier than the hd25, others say that the hd25 has fuller bass.... the thing is, all the people that reported to me can have different pad combinations no? what i mean is, a person that has a hd25 with velour pads maybe is going to find the amperior bassier, but a person with a amperior that tries a hd25 with pleather pads.... isnt the hd25 with the pleather going to sound always bassier than the amperiors with their original velour pads?
 
On paper the amperiors seem perfect for me.... since i use only portable players and have no amps the low impendance and greater confort due to the velour pads seems amazing.... but i still have to be sure of the bass because i want a tiny bit more and not a tiny bit less..... XD
 
Hope i did not confuse u..... XD
 
Pricing for the amperiors...
 
I can get both new:
 
A silver one for 151
a blue one for 171
 
also i checked a hd25 aluminium for 199 (new as well) but i did not want to go beyond 150 mark...specially since i already have the hd25...
 
i though of maybe keeping the amperiors and hd25, if i really like the amperior i can sell the hd25 for about 120 and maybe get a pair of beyers.... or i can just forget the amperiors and keep my hd25's and buy the dt770's to join them...
 
Choices..... XD
 
Thank you very much one again....
 
Edit: this is a copied pm i sent to other headfiers.... i will edit later.... but you guys can coment on this of course....

Hi Pedro,

You are correct in thinking that the various pad combinations effect the sound. The Amperiors have more bass using either velour or pleather than the Hd-25. They certainly have more bass than the HD25 using pleather, and more than just a tiny bit.

I also felt the HD25 to benefit from some amping. It lacks a bit of life just out of my iPhone 4s.

Sounds like you would like to have just one headphone that covers your needs. If you are happy with HD25 but want more bass, better high end, improved sound stage, easier to drive, than the Amperiors are perfect.

If you get the Amperior and you still have the HD25 you can try the pleather pads on it to see if you like the sound.

If selling isn't a hassle, and money isn't too tight, don't stress over having to buy and sell. It can take a bit to find what works for you.

malfunkt said:

Hi Pedro,

You are correct in thinking that the various pad combinations effect the sound. The Amperiors have more bass using either velour or pleather than the Hd-25. They certainly have more bass than the HD25 using pleather, and more than just a tiny bit.

I also felt the HD25 to benefit from some amping. It lacks a bit of life just out of my iPhone 4s.

Sounds like you would like to have just one headphone that covers your needs. If you are happy with HD25 but want more bass, better high end, improved sound stage, easier to drive, than the Amperiors are perfect.

If you get the Amperior and you still have the HD25 you can try the pleather pads on it to see if you like the sound.

If selling isn't a hassle, and money isn't too tight, don't stress over having to buy and sell. It can take a bit to find what works for you.

Click to expand...

DAMN.... your description sounds soooooooooo what i want..... XD
 
I mostly use my hd25 on my nexus 7, ipod touch 4th gen and xperia arc s..... maybe the amperior would trump my hd25's on those.... 

Well I've had a bit more time to compare these headphones tonight.

I out the original velour pads back on the Amperior and have kept the pleather on the HD-25.

Listening to a range of music.

First up a challenging rhythmic piece from Steve Roach and Jeffrey Fayman "Trance Spirits". Plenty of live acoustic percussion with electronic and recorded ambience.

The Hd25 may have faired better here. The Amperior almost has too much bass here. I can't pinpoint the range exactly but in between 500hz and 1000hz the HD-25 is more present. Seems to help balance for these life percussion pieces.

Next Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No.3 in D minor op 30-5 (Ashkenazy). Much prefer the Amperior here, the HD-25 sounds more wooden, or cloudy. There is much more higher end sparkle and definition with the Amperior without being shrill. The more I switch back and forth, it sounds like the HD-25 has less dynamic range, especially on the top end. Sounds boxed in. Still, this is not he best music for either of these headphones. That bass bump of the Amperiors sometimes interferes. Listening to both of these is sort of like being at the live concert except and listening out of two toilet paper rolls.

(Hold up)

Damnit it.

I had Mono selected on CanOpener.. Lol amazing I got this far. While I could go back and edit this and pretend it didn't happen, this was still interesting to compare just on frequency alone.

Amazing what your ears get used too. Switching back to stereo, yay!

So sticking with the same piece, the HD-25 is performing well. The Amperior does have just that extra definition. It's a sweeter sound from the Amperior, and totally the Hd25 may be more balanced. Piano strike have more definition, and thus realism. If the HD-25 had the highs of the Amperior it would be very very good. With the Amperior notes separate themselves easier. Strings are also lush with the Amperior. Toning down the Amperiors bass a bit helped out for a more natural and balanced presentation. I do think the Hd25 has a great balance and better in that respect. This piece is dense and complex, very difficult.

Okay let's change it up Jorge Ben 'Bebete Vaobora'. Starting with the HD-25. Sounds perfect. Everything sits well together, from the vocals, backing vocals, to brass, guitar and percussion. I think I prefer the HD-25 here. It's a bit sharp and aggressive, makes you want to turn it down. Vocals become a bit sharp and resonant when pushed. Yup, the HD-25 is better here, much better.

How about some John Coltrane 'Crescent' - again, sounds fantastic with the HD-25. Percussion, tenor sax, piano, everything very well balanced. Switching back to the Amperior, there is more air, for certain, yes, everything is a bit brighter, but now I'm not sure if that's a good thing. It does seem that again the HD25 does have a better or more natural balance.

Back to the Steve Roach and Jeffrey Feyman track 'Taking Flight' - sounds great on the HD-25 (now that it's in stereo). Again more definition on the Amperior, but sometimes it's lower bass is a bit too present. The HD-25 does sound a bit dull here. This track is bordering on the electronic side of things. Sounds very good on both. The Amperiors extension helps it here.

Earth Wind and Fire - Getaway - more great stuff from the HD-25. Amperior is good here as well. Bass is more present. Both very good, but the HD-25 still nicely balanced in presentation.

Okay now for some EDM and electronic music styles.

Sub Focus 'Falling Down' - not my fav music, but a good example of modern EDM production. dub step bass riffs, rolling percussion. The Amperior hits a lower, and the HD-25 sounds a tad dull in comparison.

Don't have time to train spot every track, but listening to some podcasts from John '00' Fleming which is a range of trance, progressive and psy trance. The Amperior just rocks here, and hits a bit harder. That's with the velour pads. With the pleather, the better seal leads to even more bass.

On some tech house, the bass is just a bit polite with the Hd25, with the Amperior being a bit more beefy and engaging with its better bass impact and accented high end.

Now for some heavy bass music. DJ Heny G - 'Christopher'. The HD-25 doesn't seem to far away from the Amperior here at first. The Amperior does have that extra high end extension, which really opens things up. But I'm left wondering if it's too much.

Just when I thought the HD-25 was outclassed, I've gained some more appreciation for its strengths. I think I may be heading down the road here that Triple X took, and may make my own hybrid of Amperior and HD-25.

One thing I need to note, is my ears may be a bit fatigued, it's late, I've listened to a lot of music today.

malfunkt said:

Well I've had a bit more time to compare these headphones tonight.

I out the original velour pads back on the Amperior and have kept the pleather on the HD-25.

Listening to a range of music.

First up a challenging rhythmic piece from Steve Roach and Jeffrey Fayman "Trance Spirits". Plenty of live acoustic percussion with electronic and recorded ambience.

The Hd25 may have faired better here. The Amperior almost has too much bass here. I can't pinpoint the range exactly but in between 500hz and 1000hz the HD-25 is more present. Seems to help balance for these life percussion pieces.

Next Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No.3 in D minor op 30-5 (Ashkenazy). Much prefer the Amperior here, the HD-25 sounds more wooden, or cloudy. There is much more higher end sparkle and definition with the Amperior without being shrill. The more I switch back and forth, it sounds like the HD-25 has less dynamic range, especially on the top end. Sounds boxed in. Still, this is not he best music for either of these headphones. That bass bump of the Amperiors sometimes interferes. Listening to both of these is sort of like being at the live concert except and listening out of two toilet paper rolls.

(Hold up)

Damnit it.

I had Mono selected on CanOpener.. Lol amazing I got this far. While I could go back and edit this and pretend it didn't happen, this was still interesting to compare just on frequency alone.

Amazing what your ears get used too. Switching back to stereo, yay!

So sticking with the same piece, the HD-25 is performing well. The Amperior does have just that extra definition. It's a sweeter sound from the Amperior, and totally the Hd25 may be more balanced. Piano strike have more definition, and thus realism. If the HD-25 had the highs of the Amperior it would be very very good. With the Amperior notes separate themselves easier. Strings are also lush with the Amperior. Toning down the Amperiors bass a bit helped out for a more natural and balanced presentation. I do think the Hd25 has a great balance and better in that respect. This piece is dense and complex, very difficult.

Okay let's change it up Jorge Ben 'Bebete Vaobora'. Starting with the HD-25. Sounds perfect. Everything sits well together, from the vocals, backing vocals, to brass, guitar and percussion. I think I prefer the HD-25 here. It's a bit sharp and aggressive, makes you want to turn it down. Vocals become a bit sharp and resonant when pushed. Yup, the HD-25 is better here, much better.

How about some John Coltrane 'Crescent' - again, sounds fantastic with the HD-25. Percussion, tenor sax, piano, everything very well balanced. Switching back to the Amperior, there is more air, for certain, yes, everything is a bit brighter, but now I'm not sure if that's a good thing. It does seem that again the HD25 does have a better or more natural balance.

Back to the Steve Roach and Jeffrey Feyman track 'Taking Flight' - sounds great on the HD-25 (now that it's in stereo). Again more definition on the Amperior, but sometimes it's lower bass is a bit too present. The HD-25 does sound a bit dull here. This track is bordering on the electronic side of things. Sounds very good on both. The Amperiors extension helps it here.

Earth Wind and Fire - Getaway - more great stuff from the HD-25. Amperior is good here as well. Bass is more present. Both very good, but the HD-25 still nicely balanced in presentation.

Okay now for some EDM and electronic music styles.

Sub Focus 'Falling Down' - not my fav music, but a good example of modern EDM production. dub step bass riffs, rolling percussion. The Amperior hits a lower, and the HD-25 sounds a tad dull in comparison.

Don't have time to train spot every track, but listening to some podcasts from John '00' Fleming which is a range of trance, progressive and psy trance. The Amperior just rocks here, and hits a bit harder. That's with the velour pads. With the pleather, the better seal leads to even more bass.

On some tech house, the bass is just a bit polite with the Hd25, with the Amperior being a bit more beefy and engaging with its better bass impact and accented high end.

Now for some heavy bass music. DJ Heny G - 'Christopher'. The HD-25 doesn't seem to far away from the Amperior here at first. The Amperior does have that extra high end extension, which really opens things up. But I'm left wondering if it's too much.

Just when I thought the HD-25 was outclassed, I've gained some more appreciation for its strengths. I think I may be heading down the road here that Triple X took, and may make my own hybrid of Amperior and HD-25.

One thing I need to note, is my ears may be a bit fatigued, it's late, I've listened to a lot of music today.

Click to expand...

Please keep your impressions coming malfunkt....
 
So basically..... the amperior is more efficient and seems to be more driven to eletronic music. Bass seems to be better but also too much sometimes and treble kicks the hd25 in the ****.... XD
One thing i clearly got out of the way.... the amperior even with velour pads indeed seems to be bassier than the regular hd25..... but on the other hand.... the hd25 with just a tiny bit more bass and not as good treble seems to have better midrange and that results in a more balanced sound (a bit more boring as well perhaps but also a better allrounder sound).... am i incorrect?
 
One thing.... hows the isolation of the velour on the amperiors vs the pleather pads on the hd25's?
 
You did this test using a more powerfull player right? If the test was made on a iphone, a ipod, or any android phone without any amps the amperior sound much better than the hd25's because of the lower impedance and higher sensitivity or the hd25 is not that far behind even on portable players....?
 
Cheers m8....

pedro oliveira said:

Please keep your impressions coming malfunkt....

So basically..... the amperior is more efficient and seems to be more driven to eletronic music. Bass seems to be better but also too much sometimes and treble kicks the hd25 in the ****.... XD
One thing i clearly got out of the way.... the amperior even with velour pads indeed seems to be bassier than the regular hd25..... but on the other hand.... the hd25 with just a tiny bit more bass and not as good treble seems to have better midrange and that results in a more balanced sound (a bit more boring as well perhaps but also a better allrounder sound).... am i incorrect?

One thing.... hows the isolation of the velour on the amperiors vs the pleather pads on the hd25's?

You did this test using a more powerfull player right? If the test was made on a iphone, a ipod, or any android phone without any amps the amperior sound much better than the hd25's because of the lower impedance and higher sensitivity or the hd25 is not that far behind even on portable players....?

Cheers m8....

Click to expand...

Hi Pedro., fresh ears this morning. I listened to many of the same recordings as previous.

The HD-25 benefited from amplification, helped make the sound more cohesive and gave some authority to the low-end. Still powered from the iPhone 4s it was fine. The Amperior did sound great, especially on the classical pieces. I walked through downtown with the Amperiors after doing some listening at home. They isolate well enough, even with velour pads. My impressions are still the same as before with these headphones, but the Amperiors we're not as offensive, they are still bright, and voices may even be a bit sibilant.

I think I would have to do quite a bit more listening, as a the Rachmaninov piece sounded excellent out of the Amperior and that is very well recorded.

So the Amperior is an upgrade in technicalities - high end, low end, imaging, but the HD-25 has a great tonal quality and a more neutral balance. I could see how some could see the Amperior as a side grade, or even downgrade if the signature didn't suit them.

The Amperior is punchier on electronic music, but the HD-25 still performs well. Also, I'm on the go a lot, and I like the portability of the Amperior and even working at my desk I can take incoming calls with no fuss.

If you decide to keep your HD-25 you are not worse off. It may just make you appreciate different forms of music more and likewise same with the Amperior.

Anyhow, I'm still impressed with the HD25, it's a true classic.