[FULLAUDIO]

Hi everyone i have my Beyerdynamic DT 880 250 ohm versin at home for some time, and i have said to myself that i want to try the best option for the money and borrowed Sennheiser HD 600 and AKG K 702. (SORRY FOR MY ENGLISH).
 
I am only beginning with listening to higher grade headphones so if i say somehing that is total nonsense just post a reply and we can discuss it. 
Anything that i write in here is just my opinion, my own feeling about the sound, i just want to help you with your choice by this post here.
 
I dont have any high end gear and i am a causual listener.... i am pairing these with ASUS xonar Essence .
 
Conclusion on the bottom ->>>>>>>
 
So i am going to start with the:
 
AKG K 702
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The most important thing first. The sound:
These are very detailed with amazing clarity, the sound is a little agressive, they have very good heights that are not overly sharp, but they can be maybe too bright for some people, the bass is tight and it is not too strong or not too weak. If you do side by side compare with DT 880 the overal sound signiture is prety similar, DT 880 has more emphasis on higher frequencies than the AKG 702 but both of these headphones have more emphasis on heights than the HD 600 which i will talk about later. The K 702 sounds neutral and prety balanced, the soundstage feels wider than on DT 880 but the overal sound, sounds much more artificial than the HD 600. 
 
So what i like?:
After a while i fell in love with these, i like the clarity, the tight bass, the lightness of the sound ...the accuracy of the sound, they just sound amazing to my ears. I also like the amount of detail that is presented in the sound. They sound somehow entertaining to me, a little agressive. I like the overall lighter sound of these headphones more than that heavy sound of HD 600
And what i dislike?
These sound almost perfect to me but i like the HD 600 mids a little bit more than the AKG mids. And the bumps on the headband, why did they placed them there???!!!
 
The Comfort:
To make long story short , these hurt on the top of my head after like 2 hours..... i would say its not the best from these 3.... the earcusions are perfect but the headbend crushes my head.
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Beyerdynamic DT 880 250 ohm
 
The sound:
These sound very good too. As i said before, for me they have quite similar sound to AKG K 702 but DT 880 has sharper heighs, that is not bad in any way, it makes the overal sound "sharper" in the way of high resolution sound. I hear a realy big amount of detail in the sound, mids are a little laid back, the vocals are not as transparent as on K 702 are. The bass goes deep, maybe misses a little bit of punch but it is very very good sounding, i would say best bass presentation from these 3. DT 880 have more relaxing sound than K 702, its not that agressive. They are fun sounding, they are not boring or i havent felt it yet. They are also artificial sounding compared to HD 600.
So what i like?
definitely the amound of detail in the sound.
And also!!! the comfort !!!
And what i dislike? 
There is nothing that i dislike about them, its the same case as with AKGs i can only compare what the other headphones do better and it will be that the mids are not as much presented than on the other two headphones.
 
The Comfort:
Man, what should i say to describe this its like having plush pillow huging your head, very, very comfy.
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Sennheiser HD 600
The sound:
These are warmer and more bassyer sounding than the other two, they dont sound boring at all, they are realy fun sounding headphone with nice detail in the sound but not as much detail as the K 702 or beyers and quite not as accurate. But they are the most natural sounding more like listening to two speakers, the soudstage makes you feel that you sit right in front of the sound. They overaly have more of a heavy sound and they have very very good midrange, in the K 702 the sound comes more from distance it would seem, 600 sounds closer to your ear, K 702 and DT 880 sound much more artificial and more bright "light" sound. The bass is a little too strong for me but the overal sound is well balanced i just hear the heigh frequencies are a little rolled off or veiled as some people say it , i hear it just a little but its there. The overal soundsignature sounds not interesting to me.
 
So what i like? : its definatly the naturalness and those very very good sounding mids and i also like the soundstage that sounds like two speakers in front of you.
 
And what i dislike?: i kinda dont like the heights on these headphones, they are not bad, but to me they sound a little veiled and i like the K 702 heights more.
 
The comfort:
They are very comfortable, you have a lot of air coming to your ear and the headband is not hurting me at all, but its not that plush pillow as the beyers have .
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Conclusion:
 
My preference:
From these 3 headphones i like AKG K 702 the most, though i would prefer HD 600 or DT880 for longer listening.
 
I like the AKG because of their aggressive, neutral, detailed and precise sound. I also like the soundstage of the akgs a little more than the Beyers.And the sound signature sounds interesting to me... the more artificial sound of these headphones sounds a little better to my ears than the HD 600.
AKG K 702 just sounds best to me.
 
And than its pretty hard to tell, i dont know if i would choose HD 600 or DT 880 over the other.
Maybe i would take the HD 600 because of their amazing mids, nicely relaxing and natural sound. But i am not sure, i like the DT 880 too, they sound pretty artificial to me, they are very smooth and relaxing sounding too but not as smooth as HD 600 which is prety good balanced except those heights that dont sound so good to me as on DT 880, and DT880 is more detailed also. 
 
I would say that the HD 600 will do very very good with all recordings, the DT 880 may sound better with some recordings and a little worse with other, but i cant rly tell.
 
 
So it will probably go like this :
K701
DT880
HD600
 
 
 
And again sorry for my english.

 

[roguegeek]

Always good to hear people's thoughts on these 3 popular choices. Thanks for putting this together.

 

[Brooko]

Hi FULLAUDIO
 
Thanks for the impressions.  I am a reasonably long-time owner of all 3 headphones DT880 (mine are 600ohm), K701, and HD600.  I would encourage you (rather than quickly swapping the headphones) to actually spend a day with each - and then see if your ideas on the sound of each actually change.
 
You may find that after spending longer time with a headphone like the HD600, and only the HD600 - then switching to the Beyer or AKG - that you will then change your mind on which is most balanced.  Instead of the HD600 being overly warm and lacking energy - you may find that they Beyers / AKGs instead sound overly bright.  It's an interesting exercise.  Our brains adjust to what they are used to - then compare other sounds to that base.  As the base changes - so do our impressions of a particular headphone.
 
Anyway - it's a good idea for a thread - I'll also throw in my quick impressions of all 3.  My set-up is Foobar (PC) > optical out to an Audio-gd NFB-12, then either direct to the headphones or via my LD MKIV (the amp doesn't change the contrast, nor my impression of each).
 
DT880.
Quite flat  - but with elevated high-end.  Bass extends pretty well and is nicely defined.  Mids appear slightly further back in the spectrum - particularly compared to the highs.  For me - it is the most detailed (like shining a spotlight on the music).  Has the smallest sound-stage of the 3 - but still great for almost any genre.  Very, very comfortable.  Definitely brighter than 'normal' sound.
 
K701
Again reasonably flat response - but with more emphasis on mid-range and highs.  Bass is recessed compared to mid-range and highs - but what is there is well defined, and IMO sounds really good.  Definitely the most bass-light of the 3.  Does a beautiful job of the mid-range - particularly acoustic and stringed instruments in general.  Widest soundstage of the 3 - by quite a margin.  Imaging is OK - sometimes struggles with center stage (not sure if that is particular recordings though).  Handles fast paced music pretty well.  Appears very detailed - but IMO the Beyer shows more actual detail in comparison.  Comfort because of the bumps in the headband is not great.  Because of this, I removed the bumps, added a small layer of foam, and then finished it with a soft lamb-skin leather layer.  It is now extremely comfortable.
 
HD600
Whilst I wouldn't call it exactly flat - I would say it gives (to my ears) the most natural presentation of the three.  It is the most life-like and has really good resolution and timbre.  Sound stage is close to the Beyers (marginally larger), but the imaging is better than both to me.  Has a little mid-bass bump, and gives the impression of slightly forward mids.   Appears slower than both the Beyer and AKG.  Appearance of less detail is often misleading - the detail is all there  - it just doesn't have a spotlight shone on it like the others.  Comfort is pretty good - although a bit clampy at times.  Over time they have become more comfortable for me - and sit between the Beyer and my (now modified) AKG.
 
Of the three headphones - with a good (well recorded) live performance - all three headphones sound superb - but the HD600 is the only one (if I close my eyes) that can actually give me the feeling that I am actually sitting in the audience - their tone, timbre and imaging really is superb.
 
Short summary (just my view):
Bass (quantity) - HD600 > DT880 > K701
Bass (quality) - DT880 > HD600 = K701 (just different presentation between the Senn and AKG)
Mid-range - HD600 > K701 > DT880
Highs (quantity) - DT880 > K701 > HD600
 
Sound-stage (size) - K701 > HD600 > DT880
Imaging - HD600 > DT880 =/> K701 (tough to call depends on recording)
Naturalness - HD600 >>>> K701 > DT880
Comfort - DT880 > HD600 > K701
 
I love all 3 headphones, and I probably spend equal time with each - depends on my mood.  They are all stellar performers for their price.

 

[FULLAUDIO]

you are probably right with the HD 600, i have heard DT 880 for 4 days and i switched to HD 600 and it didnt sounded good to me so i switched after few songs to AKG and they sounded much more like DT 880 and i liked that because i was used to it. These were just first impressions i have them for like 2 days now . So i will try to spend 1 or more days with each and than post full review of these

 

[FULLAUDIO]

so i have updated my post a little after longer listening to AKG K 702 and HD 600

 

[roguegeek]

Brooko, I'm very much in agreement with your impressions. That being the case, I find the K701 and all of its iterations (especially the Annie with standard K702 pads) to just fit my tastes way better than the other two. I'm going to keep the HD 600 around because there are just times I really enjoy laying back. Had the DT 880 for a little while and the more I listened to them, the more I was unimpressed. I think it was the recessed mids.

 

[samwell7]

Quote:

Brooko, I'm very much in agreement with your impressions. That being the case, I find the K701 and all of its iterations (especially the Annie with standard K702 pads) to just fit my tastes way better than the other two. I'm going to keep the HD 600 around because there are just times I really enjoy laying back. Had the DT 880 for a little while and the more I listened to them, the more I was unimpressed. I think it was the recessed mids.

WOW I'm exactly the same!
I have all 3, well I just sold my HD600's and I'm still trying to work out which I like more out of the DT880's (600 ohm) and the K702's.

I've had the K702s for around 9 months but my 880's are still only a week old, a few people have said that they need a long time to burn in (400 hours!) but I'm not sure, they have around 40 hours on them at the moment, and I really prefer the K702s sound, the recessed mids on the DT880's makes them sound too artificial for me.  Does the midrange come through with more burn-in or is it a case of 'if I don't like them by now I won't like them'?.
I'm considering selling my 880's as well because it just seems like the K702's do everything better (except for the super airy treble) also with my 880's the treble has quite a rough texture to it.  Has anybody else noticed this?

 

[tonyleonhart]

Actually this is my first thread after lurking for a long time.
 
I just got my DT880 600ohms today and I am quite pleased with it. I had HD600 for probably half a month and wan't impressed by the lack of details at all. But I do like the natural sounding and the feeling of being laid back while listening to vocals and also, say the picture of a symphony. 
 
I was even thinking of selling the HD600 today when I spent 3 hours with DT880. Coming from ATH-M50 and ER4S, I kinda prefer the details and refined highs and lows. 
 
What do you guys think I should do? Keeping the HD600 to listen for different mood or just sell it?
 
BTW, I am using Creative Titanium HD -> MK3 (mullard 8161 tubes)-> DT880 (gain 10) /HD600 (gain5)

 

[Brooko]

Quote:

Actually this is my first thread after lurking for a long time.
 
I just got my DT880 600ohms today and I am quite pleased with it. I had HD600 for probably half a month and wan't impressed by the lack of details at all. But I do like the natural sounding and the feeling of being laid back while listening to vocals and also, say the picture of a symphony. 
 
I was even thinking of selling the HD600 today when I spent 3 hours with DT880. Coming from ATH-M50 and ER4S, I kinda prefer the details and refined highs and lows. 
 
What do you guys think I should do? Keeping the HD600 to listen for different mood or just sell it?
 
BTW, I am using Creative Titanium HD -> MK3 (mullard 8161 tubes)-> DT880 (gain 10) /HD600 (gain5)

I'll quote myself from up the page a little .....
 

Appearance of less detail is often misleading - the detail is all there  - it just doesn't have a spotlight shone on it like the others (K701/DT880)

 
Personally I found that the HD600 was the prefect companion to the DT880 - with the K701 bridging the gap between the two.  My biggest regret so far was after I sold the HD600 - mind you I owned mine a lot longer than you've had yours.

 

[Blackmore]

[size=small]Thanks FULLAUDIO, very nice read, don't worry about your English, keep posting and you will be getting better each time.[/size]
[size=small]My idea is like this: sell those you like less and build the better system around you like at most, but that's me. There are a lot of things that you can do much better with K702, as they will grow with better matched set up. Also, which I didnt like at the end to do, there is an option to buy extra pads for your AKG, they call them memory pads, which AKG using on AKG K702 Anniversary model, but seems also on AKG K712Pro. These pads will turn the sound signature of AKG to different direction, give you lots of lower end and midbass warmth you may missing using them. This is also way cheaper way to modify them than say keeping another 2-3 headphones around, but this is your own choice, so, just do what you think best for you, however I think they deserve better amp to shine fully.[/size]

 

[tonyleonhart]

Quote:

I'll quote myself from up the page a little .....
 
 
Personally I found that the HD600 was the prefect companion to the DT880 - with the K701 bridging the gap between the two.  My biggest regret so far was after I sold the HD600 - mind you I owned mine a lot longer than you've had yours.

Yeah, I guess you are right. I will keep both for a while then. HD600 is pretty much used when I am alone in the office with E11. DT880-600 has to be used at home anyway since E11 can't drive it well at all.