[lucky]

I enjoy my AD700 and K701. Between the two, I think I'm done buying headphones for now.

 

[cynan]

I am also thinking about getting a pair of circumaural, open-air cans. I currently use the A900, and though it is a great all around closed set of phones for the money - ample, fairly accurate bass, great sound stage for closed phones, great with vocal (female especially) passages, etc - I am looking for something that will give me a more articulate and perhaps more forward response across the frequency range - particularly in the lower mids, where the A900 is a bit muddy and recessed.

From Audio technicha, am interested in the AD700, AD900, (and maybe AD1000PRM, though not much about these yet. The AD1000s seem to get a bad rap though). The AD2000s are a bit out of my price range. However, I have not heard any A-T open cans.

I am also in the Sens HD600 and maybe HD650s (might be able to squeeze these in may price range). I have briefly auditioned the HD650s and thought they were excellent out of a NAD CD/AMP setup. The HD595s out of the same setup were only OK in comparison. The HD555s were quite a bit worse (I didn't like these at all). Unfortunately, I didn't get to try the HD600s

I also tried a couple of lower-end AKGs (did not get a chance to try the 701s) and didn't think they were anything special.

Finally I tried all sorts of Grados - right up to the GS1000s. Though I thought they were impressive, they just weren't my cup of tea... (not that I could afford them anyway.)

To recap, this leaves me with the HD600, HD650, AD700, AD900, and maybe HD1000PRMs. How the heck will I ever decide?

BTW, I do listen mostly with a low-end amp (actually a X-FI with breakout box that has a volume knob). This sounds pretty good with the A900s. Better than the headphone jack on my Denon AVR. I also listen with out of a pretty high-powered DAP (Cowon). Which seems to be quite ample for the A900s - but perhaps not quite for the HD6XX. I am thinking up getting a better amp - that is if I can ever decide on which set of cans to get first!

Thanks for any recommendations!

 

[KevM2]

The comfort level on the HD600 is vastly superior. It's like Grado took some kitchen sponges, cut them into a circle and stuck them on a headphone.

Switching back and forth between the two, the HD600 sounds a lot more refined and smooth, but the Grado has more of that 'being there' factor. The Sennheiser captures a very beautiful and sophisticated presentation. On the other hand, the Grado captures much more of the excitement and energy of a performance. It plays each note directly.

Compared to the 600s, there is a bit of the warmth missing. Sometimes it sounds... sterile isn't the word, but too clean. The HD600 plays the notes too softly and sometimes it feels like a layer of sound is stripped away and I keep having to turn it up... On the other hand, the Grado sort of says, here is the sound and then moves on. The notes are played directly, up front, and then moves on. The HD600 sort of plays around the note, as in plays it somewhat softer and lingers on it a bit.

The air around the notes in the HD600 is as if its a hot, humid day. It's thick, it feels a bit stuffy at times and like a bit of sound gets lost in some haze. The Grado has more of a perfectly clear day, but the air is thin. The notes play quickly and they leave quickly. The HD600s play slower pieces better. The Grado can make slower pieces sound 'clinical.' It's too precise for many of them. Makes them sound 'digitalish.'

I ultimately would like something inbetween the too. The Sennheiser is a bit too distant, soft, slow and thick for me and the Grado can be too fast and aggressive and needs a bit of softening up.

It sounds like I'm being negative because I'm not really focusing on the virtues of any of these phones. Both of them do respective things very competently. Still, I'm on the search for a sound signature that really suits me, I'm trying to narrow things down. I'd love some of the Senn richness, but with more speed and clarity. I'd love a phone with the Grado energy, but a bit more linger and softening up of the sound. From what I've heard of the HD800, it sounds like that may be my cup of tea, but I highly doubt my setup would do it justice, and I'm not willing to just up and take a risk on a $1400 headphone. I'll wait until that settles in a bit and I get more reviews after the excitement has worn off.

It's not really fair to compare an HD600 with a $300 Equinox cord attached to a $75 Grado SR80, but more than anything, trying the Grado gave me a feeling of where my 'ideal' sound would be.

The AD series might be what I'm craving, or even the Denons. From what I'm hearing about the vocal focus of the AD, I think that'll ultimately be where I end up. We'll see.

 

[Nestor]

I have a question - is the AD900 that much better than the AD700 that it is worth the almost $200 price bump? I'm getting the impression that the AD900 is only slightly better.

By the way...
Quote:

Originally Posted by KevM2 /img/forum/go_quote.gif The comfort level on the HD600 is vastly superior. It's like Grado took some kitchen sponges, cut them into a circle and stuck them on a headphone.

I think you might be on to something there

 

[Rex81]

Quote:

Originally Posted by donunus /img/forum/go_quote.gif looking at your sig I'm guessing the bassy cans spoiled you

Ha! You got it. I really liked the AD700, but I decided I like full sound better than absolutely clear sound and big soundstage. The AD700 sounds thin now up against the RX700 and 900. But I still like and respect it.

 

[fjrabon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by donunus /img/forum/go_quote.gif I was wondering what in the descriptions of people of the dt990s made you want to get them? Bass? I just want to tell you in advance that I've had 990s and they weren't really anything special overall. Bass was the most decent aspect they had but still nothing really that special. Mids were dry and recessed (unemotional), and the highs are fatiguing to the point of causing my ears to ring whenever i used them more than a few minutes. Just wanted to point that out. Who knows, it might help you in your decision or maybe you might agree with me when you get to hear them. I had the 32 ohm 2005 model by the way, which is supposedly almost the same sounding as the 250 ohm model according to Jan Meier when I asked him before making the purchase.

I've heard them described several times as Grados with Denon bass and a wider soundstage than either. IDK. The thing is that I'm currently pretty happy with my setup, but I just wish there was some way I could get the aspects I like out of both my headphones + a wider soundstage.

 

[donunus]

the dt990 is nowhere near the grado sound. They are closer to approaching the k701 sound with added bass but less articulation all around with a treble peak higher up the frequency ladder than the k701s. The hd600 with equinox is closer to a grado with reversed bowls in balance in that they have warm mids. The grados just take out the soft slightly overblown lower mids and add some upper mids which make them sound aggresive and fast even though I feel that senns and grados are about equal speedwise. My descriptions are based on my owning of these cans and not by reading second hand information. I hope my comparisons help you in your decision.

 

[nhat_thanh]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nestor /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have a question - is the AD900 that much better than the AD700 that it is worth the almost $200 price bump? I'm getting the impression that the AD900 is only slightly better.

Have you read through all the posts in this thread?
Have a look at page 5 again

 

[sputnik00]

Quote:

Originally Posted by donunus /img/forum/go_quote.gif Oh by the way, those kool bubba ice impressions that I agreed with was from the first day listening with the ipod.... now, on my setup (dac/amp in my profile and written everywhere) the recessed mids are gone. I find the mids very natural as headphones go

it did occur to me that the AD700 might sound different after burn-in and would get better with an amp but i was looking to go ampless and the AD900 got along better with my NH1 right out of the box. that and i was impatient and just needed a pair of cans. heh. glad you're enjoying your setup donunus.

Quote:

Originally Posted by KevM2 /img/forum/go_quote.gif So would you say it is better to just save the $170 and go for the AD700s instead of 900s?

the price differential wasn't so great when i had to decide. the AD700 was retailing at approximately US$174 and the AD900 at US$238. so made it bit easier for me to take the chance with the AD900.

 

[donunus]

i just got back from a concert just now with a string quartet with a piano player, an oboe, flute, and guitar and I was sitting dead center in the third row where i was about maybe 15 feet away from the nearest musician on stage. After this i was curious to see if the hd600 would sound closer to what I heard than the ad700s while listening to a cd from the tempera quartet... Guess what... with my setup, the ad700 blows the hd600 away with this music. The ad700s sound much more like what I heard in the concert. It is still slightly sharper and more hollow than the real thing though but then again I'm listening to a recording on a $100 can!!!!!! The western electric tube on my dac does help a big ways towards getting that realistic soft touch and body to the real instruments when compared with my cheap solid state sources.

 

[donunus]

I just edited the first post to include some scattered impressions on the thread so far

 

[donunus]

anyone want to part with their ad900s here to trade for some ultrasone 750s. I am really getting interested in audio technicas again

 

[kool bubba ice]

Guess I need a better amp for them.

 

[donunus]

kool bubba ice,
They sound great to me even out of my laptops headphone jack so maybe they are just not your cup of tea for music. What my dac does is make the sound more natural. Cymbals become more realistic making cymbal crashes thicker and softer instead of the bright crash with a little digital edge which is great as far as synergy is with these cans. Also, the mids become a little thicker and more subdued with more body to musical instruments on the WE tube instead of being too sharp using the cheap sources. All this is subtle though and i still like their sound out of my ipod and the laptop jack.

 

[Acix]

Quote:

Originally Posted by donunus /img/forum/go_quote.gif i just got back from a concert just now with a string quartet with a piano player, an oboe, flute, and guitar and I was sitting dead center in the third row where i was about maybe 15 feet away from the nearest musician on stage. After this i was curious to see if the hd600 would sound closer to what I heard than the ad700s while listening to a cd from the tempera quartet... Guess what... with my setup, the ad700 blows the hd600 away with this music. The ad700s sound much more like what I heard in the concert. It is still slightly sharper and more hollow than the real thing though but then again I'm listening to a recording on a $100 can!!!!!! The western electric tube on my dac does help a big ways towards getting that realistic soft touch and body to the real instruments when compared with my cheap solid state sources.

Bigger sound stage )))))(((((