[oopeteroo]

i want to sell my dt150 anyone wanna buy ? its in really good condition

 

[AdamTR]

  i want to sell my dt150 anyone wanna buy ? its in really good condition

check pm

 

[cs098]

Since I'm an zmf omni preorderer and get 2 zmf pads, I was thinking of putting one of them on the 150s. Has anyone here tried it?

 

[Baycode]

  Since I'm an zmf omni preorderer and get 2 zmf pads, I was thinking of putting one of them on the 150s. Has anyone here tried it?

 
@cs098, did you try the ZMF earpads yet?
 
I have tried Brainwavz HM5 Pleather "Angled" earpads (after trying the Velour "Angled" version) and found the sound to be very close to the stock ones -except being slightly more clear and have more soundstage depth...

 

[cs098]

   
@cs098, did you try the ZMF earpads yet?
 
I have tried Brainwavz HM5 Pleather "Angled" earpads (after trying the Velour "Angled" version) and found the sound to be very close to the stock ones -except being slightly more clear and have more soundstage depth...

not yet, but when I get them i'll be sure to give you guys some impressions. I got the protien and the lambskin pads.

 

[Lorspeaker]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00001WRSJ
 
sony cheapsale...a few hours left.

 

[jdpark]

Speaking of oldies but goldies, right now I'm listening to my 12-yr old Grado 80s and enjoying some Bach Flute Sonatas. The openness and the Grado sound works better for this particular recording/work, imo.** But I'd imagine that most open headphones with a good airy top-end can handle this. Closed headphones seem to have certain limitations that are often overcome very well, but still, open headphones will probably always have a good following among those who come from the world of speakers.***

**I dusted these off after getting my DAC-19 burned in, and realizing that a lot of why the Grado sound is usually so harsh to me because it emphasizes the digital crap found in most sources. Now the highs don't bother me nearly as much as they used to. And I know it's not hearing loss, because I still don't like them that much with any other source. Some of the detail is obviously lost compared to the DT150s, and male voices don't sound quite as real, but a lot of instruments do have good timbre with Grados, and the lack of a mid-bass hump and of course the lack of sub-bass kind of works with some kinds of music. The problem is you don't really have a sound stage, per se, with Grados (at least at the lower levels).

***Tried the DT150s in a completely not blind A/B test against my speakers out of my vintage receiver and I noticed how much lower mid detail comes through on them even compared to JBL speakers from the early 1980s, which are known for great bass. I was listening to some vocal stuff and on the speakers, the tenors and altos were forward, whereas on the DT150s the bass voices were really present in the mix and the altos were further back. It had to do less with soundstage than with forward-backward positioning. The DT150s are really fair to background instruments/voices on the low end, whereas a lot of speakers (or at least mine) are actually quite forward with the upper mids.

I realize it's not always a question of better/worse, but mainly a matter of preference. If you love male voices, bassoons, cellos, and acoustic bass, the DT150s will probably be good for you, but if you're really obsessed with female voices, violins, wind instruments, and the saxaphone, you may want to look elsewhere, at least for a complimentary pair of headphones. I would not say that the DT150s are the best there is for guitar and piano, but it just depends on the recording and what you like, as I find it to be pretty good with guitar and piano as a non-fatiguing can. Also, all of this voicing stuff can be slightly altered up to a point with gear.

P.S. still waiting for my K501 order to come in...

P.P.S., by the time I finished writing this I started to feel that the extremely forward upper mids/highs of the Grado 80s are slightly tingling my ears in a bad way. I may go back to the DT150s even though I don't find them the best with flutes. Maybe I'll play something else, too. The music is starting to depress me.

 

[god-bluff]

Speaking of oldies but goldies, right now I'm listening to my 12-yr old Grado 80s and enjoying some Bach Flute Sonatas. The openness and the Grado sound works better for this particular recording/work, imo.** But I'd imagine that most open headphones with a good airy top-end can handle this. Closed headphones seem to have certain limitations that are often overcome very well, but still, open headphones will probably always have a good following among those who come from the world of speakers.***

**I dusted these off after getting my DAC-19 burned in, and realizing that a lot of why the Grado sound is usually so harsh to me because it emphasizes the digital crap found in most sources. Now the highs don't bother me nearly as much as they used to. And I know it's not hearing loss, because I still don't like them that much with any other source. Some of the detail is obviously lost compared to the DT150s, and male voices don't sound quite as real, but a lot of instruments do have good timbre with Grados, and the lack of a mid-bass hump and of course the lack of sub-bass kind of works with some kinds of music. The problem is you don't really have a sound stage, per se, with Grados (at least at the lower levels).

***Tried the DT150s in a completely not blind A/B test against my speakers out of my vintage receiver and I noticed how much lower mid detail comes through on them even compared to JBL speakers from the early 1980s, which are known for great bass. I was listening to some vocal stuff and on the speakers, the tenors and altos were forward, whereas on the DT150s the bass voices were really present in the mix and the altos were further back. It had to do less with soundstage than with forward-backward positioning. The DT150s are really fair to background instruments/voices on the low end, whereas a lot of speakers (or at least mine) are actually quite forward with the upper mids.

I realize it's not always a question of better/worse, but mainly a matter of preference. If you love male voices, bassoons, cellos, and acoustic bass, the DT150s will probably be good for you, but if you're really obsessed with female voices, violins, wind instruments, and the saxaphone, you may want to look elsewhere, at least for a complimentary pair of headphones. I would not say that the DT150s are the best there is for guitar and piano, but it just depends on the recording and what you like, as I find it to be pretty good with guitar and piano as a non-fatiguing can. Also, all of this voicing stuff can be slightly altered up to a point with gear.

P.S. still waiting for my K501 order to come in...

P.P.S., by the time I finished writing this I started to feel that the extremely forward upper mids/highs of the Grado 80s are slightly tingling my ears in a bad way. I may go back to the DT150s even though I don't find them the best with flutes. Maybe I'll play something else, too. The music is starting to depress me.

Have you tried one of the new generation 'e' series Grados? Might be presently surprised. More refined no harshness even in the humble 80e but still has all the sparkle and air.

 

[Lorspeaker]

Have you tried one of the new generation 'e' series Grados? Might be presently surprised. More refined no harshness even in the humble 80e but still has all the sparkle and air.

 
x1

 

[jdpark]

I may indeed have to have a listen to the 'e' series. The problem with my Grados is the way the sound is presented so forward. For some recordings its nice because you don't have to wonder which instrument/singer is supposed to be in front. 
 
But the good news is that I can now do a preliminary and short assessment of the AKG K501s versus the DT150s, since my country's customs decided that indeed it was possible to work in August....
 
Well, first of all, don't sell your DT150s to go out and buy the K501s (or anything else, for that matter).
 
But, secondly, the K501s are really amazing, and it's a pity they were discontinued by AKG/Harman Kardon. I can see that the Austrian build quality is a bit less sturdy than the German Beyer's, and I think one reason AKG discontinued them was the number of breakages. That said, they are way more comfortable than the DT150s, light and smooth on the head and ears. I almost forget they're there. The DT150s can hurt the top of my head after some time, and they're a bit heavy. While I got used to the compression, now I realize that some phones don't have any side-to-side compression and they're still great. Also, the K501 are still comfortable and sound fine with thick glasses, while the DT150s are not to me (both uncomfortable and you loose the seal) and so I try to only listen to them when I have contacts in, or late at night when I'm going nude (above the nose).
 
Sound: K501 is voiced to emphasize the upper-mid range, so that any kind of wind instrument, violins, and female voices sound really natural and relatively up front. However, the lower end is far less beefy than the DT150. This makes the K501 sound snappier and faster, by comparison. Sub-bass is missing and there's no impact, but when I listen to Jazz the experience is quite nice because you can really hear the notes of the acoustic bass. Flutes, trumpets, and even piano sounds a bit more real to me, as well, on the K501. 
 
With upbeat music, like the Californian Reggae band Groundation, it's interesting because the speed and voicing makes things sound good, but the bass really lacks slam. Drums also seem to lack kicks, even though all the other hits sound good, including cymbals. Personally, it's so different from a live concert feeling that I find it hard to get into with the K501.
 
The interesting thing is that with the Grado 80s I feel like the tone is almost shifted to make things sound brighter than they actually are. Here, it's not the case, as the tone sounds real. However, the overall sound is a bit brighter than the DT150s. The K501 is not necessarily 'clearer' than the DT150, but it does sparkle a bit at the top. 
 
Soundstage: here I thought they would kill the DT150s, but in fact this is not the case. The instrument separation is a little be better (I think), and the music physically comes from a point further away from your ears than the DT150s. When I played back and forth on Miles Davis & Co., Funny Valentine, Live, Columbia Recording, the instruments were further apart in space on the K501, but the DT150s made it sound more intimate, and didn't lack anything in terms of 'lost in the mix'. The big thing is that when you hear a trumpet, it sounds more real, and because it's further away in space it doesn't pierce. It's still pleasant.
 
Symphonic music also sounds very good with the K501, and this is where it solidly wins against the DT501. However, the soundstage can be  just as holographic with the DT150, and it definitely doesn't suck. 
 
Note: Also, the strange lack of sub-bass quality in the K501 actually makes it feel like a live acoustic performance. Because we're so accustomed to amplified music, we find it weird when we don't feel the bass, but actually in a live classical or jazz performance that's unamped you don't feel the bass unless you're sitting close to a bass instrument. So it gives one the feeling of sitting back in the crowd, observing, but nevertheless enjoying every note. 
 
Conclusion for now: My opinion is that whether you would enjoy the K501 probably depends on how much unamped acoustic music you enjoy, and if you focus on instruments in the mid to upper-mid range. The interesting thing is that due to the enlarged acoustic space, the brighter top end doesn't grate or annoy.  
 
Lenovo + Foobar, FLAC, ALAC, WAC, and some MP3 -> Dac 19 (10th anniversary) -> Lehmann BCL high gain. 
 
Two caveats: 1) the K501 are used, but I don't know how much burn-in time they had, as they seem unused completely, without even a scratch anywhere. Either someone took very good care of them, or just didn't listen to them, or I got some kind of left-over old stock. It could be that they will sound better with burn-in. 2) They are known to be very power hungry, and I don't know if this amp, meant for Sennheiser HD6xx series is really the best. After my good experience with the DAC-19 I may get a C2 to see if some extra juice changes the picture.

 

[Madmollusk]

Great post, Jdpark! Where did you buy the K501, btw? I could find only one place via the Amazon Market Place selling these at present, but the asking price is rather obscene. Actually, there are few vendors on Amazon selling the Beyer T1 for far less, and after my positive experience with the DT150, I’m seriously considering Beyer’s flagship headphones. Hopefully, the sale price won't vanish before I can gather the funds for this purchase.  

 

[kman1211]

  Great post, Jdpark! Where did you buy the K501, btw? I could find only one place via the Amazon Market Place selling these at present, but the asking price is rather obscene. Actually, there are few vendors on Amazon selling the Beyer T1 for far less, and after my positive experience with the DT150, I’m seriously considering Beyer’s flagship headphones. Hopefully, the sale price won't vanish before I can gather the funds for this purchase.  

I think now and the coming months are the time to buy the T1 as it's about to be replaced with a new version. 

 

[jdpark]

I got the K501 for about $200 from Germany. You should look around here, as they have a following and usually when they're offered they sell like hotcakes. You may be able to get an even better deal, really, but I wouldn't go much over 200 Euros, unless they're wrapped real pretty

I think you should read a lot about the T1s, especially from those who have a lot of experience with headphones. I personally think the 'graduation' from the DT150s is in the Ortho world. Probably the HE 560, or the Audeze line (also ZMF, or the new Mr. Speakers would be down that road). The T1 may not be your cup of tea, if you like the musicality of the DT150s from what I've read. They seem to only satisfy those who really want the Beyer semi-open flagship.

 

[Madmollusk]

  I think now and the coming months are the time to buy the T1 as it's about to be replaced with a new version. 

Interesting! I didn't know this. Thanks for the head's-up.

 

[Madmollusk]

I got the K501 for about $200 from Germany. You should look around here, as they have a following and usually when they're offered they sell like hotcakes. You may be able to get an even better deal, really, but I wouldn't go much over 200 Euros, unless they're wrapped real pretty

I think you should read a lot about the T1s, especially from those who have a lot of experience with headphones. I personally think the 'graduation' from the DT150s is in the Ortho world. Probably the HE 560, or the Audeze line (also ZMF, or the new Mr. Speakers would be down that road). The T1 may not be your cup of tea, if you like the musicality of the DT150s from what I've read. They seem to only satisfy those who really want the Beyer semi-open flagship.

Good advice and you're right: musicality is exceptionally important to me, so I plan to take my time, read all reviews, haunt all the appropriate forums, and then, and only then, make a decision. No doubt, finding a totl headphone to succeed the DT150 will be next to impossible, so I won’t waste my time pursuing such an elusive, and possibly illusive, unicorn.