Eagle_Driver
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Jun 22, 2001
- Posts
- 6,496
- Likes
- 61
I just got back home from the meet featuring Headroom.
I met Tyll, Jamie and Joe over there. I also got Tyll to listen to the two Sonys that I brought to the meet - the much-recommended (by Head-Fi) MDR-7506 and the somewhat hyped MDR-XD400 (both costing around the $100 price point). Suffice to say that Tyll was quite pleasantly surprised by both of those 'phones (especially the MDR-XD400).
At the opposite end of the sound quality spectrum (among mass-market consumer headphones) was the Bose TriPort. Mr. Hertsens brought that 'phone just to show the meet goers how ********* craptacular (for its $150 price tag) those TriPort really was. I listened to the TriPort, and it sounded even worse than I remember it sounding at Best Buy! Muddy bass, screechy highs, no bottom or top-end extension, no mids! Arrrgghh!
As for the other headphones at the meet:
The new Sennheiser HD201 was surprisingly good for such a cheap closed headphone. Hard to believe it costs just $20, yet it sounds only slightly worse than the better $100 closed cans.
The Sennheiser HD485 didn't quite meet my expectations for a semi-open headphone. I prefer the slightly cheaper eH350 to the HD485, the latter of which sounded a bit too thick for my liking. The eH350 sounded a bit better than my HD497 (even though both 'phones share a very similar design) - but it also costs slightly more. Between the eH350 and the HD497 (at Headroom's prices), you get what you pay for.
The HD595 and the HD650 need no explanation. I listened to both 'phones with the Cardas balanced cable on a new-model balanced Max amp. The 595 sounded slightly brighter than the 650, but otherwise both were very similar.
I tried the other closed 'phones. The Ultrasone DJ1 is quite a warm, nice-sounding set of cans. The Beyerdynamic DT231 was also good, if a bit withdrawn in the mids. The Sennheiser HD25-1, on the other hand, did not impress me very much. It was pretty good, but not worth its high price.
I listened to Ray Samuel's Raptor - with a pair of the Cardas-cabled Sennheiser HD600's. This amp impressed me - but so did the new, renamed Headroom lineup. I wish I could afford any of those amps. Maybe another time.
I had a great time. And thanks to B-ILLY (bhd812) for hosting the meet.
Randall aka Eagle_Driver
I met Tyll, Jamie and Joe over there. I also got Tyll to listen to the two Sonys that I brought to the meet - the much-recommended (by Head-Fi) MDR-7506 and the somewhat hyped MDR-XD400 (both costing around the $100 price point). Suffice to say that Tyll was quite pleasantly surprised by both of those 'phones (especially the MDR-XD400).
At the opposite end of the sound quality spectrum (among mass-market consumer headphones) was the Bose TriPort. Mr. Hertsens brought that 'phone just to show the meet goers how ********* craptacular (for its $150 price tag) those TriPort really was. I listened to the TriPort, and it sounded even worse than I remember it sounding at Best Buy! Muddy bass, screechy highs, no bottom or top-end extension, no mids! Arrrgghh!
As for the other headphones at the meet:
The new Sennheiser HD201 was surprisingly good for such a cheap closed headphone. Hard to believe it costs just $20, yet it sounds only slightly worse than the better $100 closed cans.
The Sennheiser HD485 didn't quite meet my expectations for a semi-open headphone. I prefer the slightly cheaper eH350 to the HD485, the latter of which sounded a bit too thick for my liking. The eH350 sounded a bit better than my HD497 (even though both 'phones share a very similar design) - but it also costs slightly more. Between the eH350 and the HD497 (at Headroom's prices), you get what you pay for.
The HD595 and the HD650 need no explanation. I listened to both 'phones with the Cardas balanced cable on a new-model balanced Max amp. The 595 sounded slightly brighter than the 650, but otherwise both were very similar.
I tried the other closed 'phones. The Ultrasone DJ1 is quite a warm, nice-sounding set of cans. The Beyerdynamic DT231 was also good, if a bit withdrawn in the mids. The Sennheiser HD25-1, on the other hand, did not impress me very much. It was pretty good, but not worth its high price.
I listened to Ray Samuel's Raptor - with a pair of the Cardas-cabled Sennheiser HD600's. This amp impressed me - but so did the new, renamed Headroom lineup. I wish I could afford any of those amps. Maybe another time.
I had a great time. And thanks to B-ILLY (bhd812) for hosting the meet.
Randall aka Eagle_Driver