Quote:
Fine.
Well, I only have one reply and the person recommended the HD600, the ATH-AD900, and the DT880.
O.O
Will see if I have that impulse, or if I can even get control of my money by then.
Those all seem to be pretty similar cans.
Looks like the Q701s have a bit more of a bass hump than the others, with the AD900 having the least bass. As far as treble, the Q701 and especially the DT880 are a little bit brighter than the other two. Also, I looked at the distortion of all 4 and saw that the q701 has a bit more distortion in the bass than the others.
i can't comment on the beyers, but I've owned the q701, currently own the HD600, and demoed the AD900s at best buy a little bit ago.
i can say that out of these 3 I would recommend the HD600s undoubtedly.
first, the q701:
-Hardest of the 3 I've tested to drive. Not a big deal if you have an O2, but still these will sound bad out of a weak source.
-most airy soundstage. I dislike this because there really isn't a sense of involvement in the music, there's no "center channel" if you will, to me at least.
-To me, the q701 became uncomfortable after an hour or so of use.
Second, AD900:
-While the wings are interesting, and comfortable, they didn't keep the cans positioned on my head that well. Keep in mind this is a showroom model so it's probably been abused a fair bit.
-I didn't get enough time to evaluate the sound sig, but since these are closed back the soundstage will be the smallest of all of them.
-durability: The plastic everything didn't exactly scream durability to me.
Now, the HD600:
-The best. Simply put. They're Not fatiguing in any way, in the treble or from being worn, and the soundstage is perfect to me. While its airy because of its open backed-ness (new word there) it retains a sense of engagement I didn't get with the Q701s.
-The timbre: Oh my god, I haven't heard anything that makes instruments sound so good, ever. They sound ridiculously natural, especially piano, along with every other instrument.
-Durability: definitely better than the AD900, but there's more metal in the Q701. However, there is always the chance that the cable taking sound from the 1 entry point over to the other headphone could break. But the HD600s have dual entry, 1 per ear cup. Also, every part on the HD600 is user replaceable.
Tl;dr, if you can afford it, go for the HD600.
not sure if I could recommend the HD650 though, the mid bass boost seems to kind of thro off the perfect balance the HD600 has going IMO.
although if I had the money I'd definitely pick the hd650 out to try.