Ordered two sets of the black / "midnight blue" KSCs and they should be on their way already. They do look much nicer (at least in in the promo photos) than the standard issue and I figure my current set is just about due for the usual KSC cable death anyway. Thanks so much again for the protip!

This, my friend, is an expert tip. I have never seen the KSCs in anything but the ugly silver 50s-flying-saucer styling. I don't mind the comparative tonal darkness of the mylar Koss 40mms, but I do prefer the KSCs and you are dead on about the headband and I am already missing enough hair...

I have an unusual situation: I'm a musician with a regular paid gig with in-ear monitoring (forced upon me and everyone else), but in my particular role I still want and need to hear the room. Full size phones look really funny on stage to me (especially if I'm wearing one side "off the ear" in...

I've had my eye on these Stellar Labs (MCM house brand) phones since I first spotted them a couple months ago. They're running a promo-code-required sale on 'em for $20 right now, although shipping is extra. I would be shocked if these weren't yet another Superlux rebadge, but they'd be the...

Quote: I can't compare to the Beyers or Denons, but look a few pages back in this thread and you'll see my direct comparison of the RX700 vs. the Pannys (which seems to me a much more sane comparison than some of the ones being done in this thread). If you want the same soundstage or...

Got my RX700s and figured I'd answer my own question for anyone thumbing through for this answer. The 700s absolutely destroy the 500s.   There's nothing wrong with the 500s, especially at their price. They're just a basic closed-ear phone that do the full spectrum quite respectably for a CA...

My HTFs are on their way to their next owner. I got a chance to compare them to a pair of new-to-me JVC HA-RX700s briefly this morning before I shipped them out. The RX700s definitely beat the pants off the RX500s. They are also the closest phone I currently have to the HTF's sonic signature...

Quote: Interesting - thanks for the clarification. I honestly haven't heard any phones that do that, or maybe we're hearing it differently... now, I have definitely heard rooms that do that ;)   With all the specific preferences and bass connoisseurs out there, there's gotta be a...

Malveaux, interesting comparison. I've spent most of my big bucks in my life on speakers / amps and am just getting around to >$100 phones, so have never heard any of the higher-end Senns. I guess where the Panasonics disappoint me a bit is in fact *totally* in terms of their energy, sparkle...

Just pulled a few other, cheaper budget cans off the wall to put against the HTFs for giggles: Coby CV185, JVC RX300 and RX500.   The RX300 isn't worth mentioning. It's marketed as a cheap basshead can. It doesn't really do that well, and it doesn't do anything else particularly well either...

Quote:   My only experience with Dolby is in checking RPG's fb2k profile. Based on that ten-minute experience I think the Dolby is more likely to obscure actually-present detail. For me, imaging and soundstage are correlated-- soundstage is the width of the stereo field, imaging...

Quote: Sorry- no, they don't. The KSCs have far more detail, sparkle, and do imaging / space way better. If you're into lower-midbass humps, I can see liking the 600s better. Otherwise it's very clear to me that the Kosses better the HTFs in every area that matters for music. Aaaand we'll...

  Quote:   ...are very, very similar to mine. I have had mine burning in for about 20 hours now and I have not yet heard a lot of difference, although the mids have opened up some. The lack of snap, the subtle-but-noticeable high rolloff, and the overall flat imaging are what are still...

RPG, I tried out your (latest posted) config for giggles. I hear exactly what Malveaux is talking about with the painfully metallic quality. Traced it to the Dolby plugin. You know, it reminds me ever-so-slightly of the Radio Shack reverb unit I bought for $50 in 1987. Yes, the soundstage...

I had a seller sell me a $300 guitar "in great shape" (and with totally worthless / miserable photos, but his feedback was good!). I opened it and instantly knew it would need a $200 fret job. We went back and forth on the difference between "great shape" and "unplayable" until he dared me to...