[eskimoo]

Quote:

 
It depends on what I'm listening to, really. I went with the AKGs because, at the time of purchase, I happened to have developed an interests in Jazz and vocal-driven music. I believe that AKG headphones in general excel in these genres, though they leave quite a bit to be desired with my favourite genre, rock. Their performance there is still rather good, though. Pop,rap, and hip-hop benefit from these cans' mid-bass bump.
 
As for the  Sennheisers, I find that they excel with instruments. Vocals are a tiny bit worse than on the AKGs, but that could just be my preference for warm sound signatures. Anyway, the HD598s seem to excel for orchestral and the like, while their performance with pop, hip-hop, and techno is... good. The total opposite of the K242 HDs, the treble on the HD598 is actually quite harsh, which makes rock sound more exciting and lively. 
 
But as always, I'm quite opinionated with my headphone preferences. The only real way for you to decide/find out which cans are better would be to load your music onto a decent portable rig and audition both cans yourself.
 
I'm wishing you the best of luck in advance.
 
Cheers!

 
 
nice to have opinion-experience input , I will try them when I had chance

 

[Holeymeister]

I really like the k240's. They sound good.

 

[ZetsuBozu0012]

I really like the k240's. They sound good.

Though to be perfectly honest, I've never tried the original K240s. Are they really all that similar?

 

[eskimoo]

Though to be perfectly honest, I've never tried the original K240s. Are they really all that similar?

 
K240 tend to be monitoring-analytical, while K242 is more consumer oriented (musical)

 

[Zombie_X]

Hi,
 
Oh? I thought they shared the exact same driver. Granted I've only heard the K240S and K240M, and those sounded similar but the K240M sounded better.
 
Quote:

K240 tend to be monitoring-analytical, while K242 is more consumer oriented (musical)

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Oh? I thought they shared the exact same driver. Granted I've only heard the K240S and K240M, and those sounded similar but the K240M sounded better.

I've always thought my K242HD (55-Ohm) had the same guts as the K240 Studio (55-Ohm) & K240MKII (55-Ohm)

 

[lejaz]

Quote:

I've always thought my K242HD had the same guts as the K240 & K240MKII.

X2....only superficial differences, AFAIK. I think all the newer K24X's with 55ohm impedance are consumer oriented, while the older 600ohm models are aimed more towards recording studio use. 

 

[ZetsuBozu0012]

Quote:

X2....only superficial differences, AFAIK. I think all the newer K24X's with 55ohm impedance are consumer oriented, while the older 600ohm models are aimed more towards recording studio use. 

Although the 600ohm impedance of the originals might have made it a bit of a challenge to pair it up with an amp; at least, that's how I see it from an average consumer's point of view. Maybe the reason some people hear an audible difference is because some amps don't really work all that well with low-impedance headphones? Just guessworking my way through this, so sorry if I suddenly stop making sense

 

[lejaz]

My k240S/55ohms sounds very good out of the O2 amp, but almost equally good out of my Sansa 'Clip'. I doubt the old 600ohm versions would play very well out of a 'clip' or ipod. I'm sure that was the purpose of AKG redesigning the 240/141....to make them more compatible with portable music players....more consumer oriented as opposed to studio oriented.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

X2....only superficial differences, AFAIK. I think all the newer K24X's with 55ohm impedance are consumer oriented, while the older 600ohm models are aimed more towards recording studio use. 

I do have one of the older K240 Monitor 600-Ohm, sometimes makes a nice difference.

 

[lejaz]

Quote:

I do have one of the older K240 Monitor 600-Ohm, sometimes makes a nice difference.

It's the newer models that I was referring to as having only superficial differences. How would you compare the 240M to the k242HD? If the 'M' is significantly better, I may pick up a used set off ebay, where they come up for sale quite frequently. the O2 can easily drive 600ohm phones....forgot to update my sig. since I've acquired an O2

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

It's the newer models that I was referring to as having only superficial differences. How would you compare the 240M to the k242HD? If the 'M' is significantly better, I may pick up a used set off eBay, where they come up for sale quite frequently. the O2 can easily drive 600ohm phones....forgot to update my sig. since I've acquired an O2

Between the K242HD and K240 monitor 600-ohm, I would use the word different, not really better.
The K240/600 brings a clarity to audio that my other headphones do not have.
But I would enjoy audio (movies and music) more with my K242HD.
 
I have not listened to my K240/600 for awhile, as I made the mistake of opening them to clean them and all the old dried up foam crumbled out.
So I'm trying cut up some fish tank filter material as replacement.
As the old foam is crumbled into tiny flakes, I'm trying to "guess" the original dimensions of the foam ring.
I'm not willing to open up my $150 K242HD to check it's ring dimensions for fixing old $65 K240/600.

 

[lejaz]

Thanks....if the 'M' has more clarity then I may just give them a try. I have the 240DF which has amazing clarity, but also amazing sibilance with a lot of material. I'm going to have to add another layer of foam or some thin cloth over the stock foam to try to cut the sibilance. If I can get rid of the sibilance without losing the clarity, then I may have a keeper with those. They definitely beat out the 240S in clarity and detail, but I often prefer the warmth and stronger bass of the 'S'....as well as the lack of sibilance..  

 

[eskimoo]

as i knew 242hd not same as 240. 

 

[roBernd]

Quote:

 
K240 tend to be monitoring-analytical, while K242 is more consumer oriented (musical)

Haha, it's totall the other way around
 
It's due to the different pads. The pleather of the K240s give them a bit of a bass boost, while the velours tame the bass a bit.
Woops, if you were talking about the K240M (600ohm) I have to agree with you.
 
Prefer the K240 series in this order.
 
K240 Sextetts MP (most musical)
K242HD (most neutral)
K240s (boomy but fun because of that)
K240M (quite neutral, with less than neutral bass)
 
 
EDIT:
note that the
K242HD
K240s
K240MKII
are exactly the same in terms of dampening, driver, baffle .etc
the difference in sound is due to the different pads with different inner diameter (pleather smaller hole than pleather)
 
They differ in colour and cable.