AKG k450 & Sennheiser HD25 1 ii
Jul 5, 2012 at 9:18 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 1

dimmockg

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Ok,
 
Had AKG's for around 3 months & would say I'm used to how they sound with my iphone 4, fiio e11 and the music/tracks I usually listen to.
 
Had the Sennheiser for about a week (not new and one very careful owner for about 6  months), so would consider both to have had a fairly sensible amount of useage.
 
Been using the sennheiser for the last week, purely to see what all the "fuss" is about and how they stack-up to what I'm used to.
 
I'm by no means an expert, but here goes....
 
Been doing a little A-B testing today and I have to say whilst I thought the AKG's were very good, the sennheiser's do really show them up to be what I could describe as a "toy or fun headphone" - no detriment to them (AKG's at all), but the Senn's really do excel in all areas. I had the fiio e11 set at high gain for the senn's and low for the akg's, volume around the 3 mark.
 
Bass:
 
On the senn's is so much tighter, more controlled, more pronounced and defined. The AKG's seem to give it all to you, but it lacks the finese and control of the sennheiser's. On some tracks, the mid-bass?? of the AKG's seemed to distort/rumble along almost as a general background type noise, whislt on the senns, the ability to actually distinguish the music/beat was easy and more enjoyable.
 
Trebble:
 
Whilst the AKG's offer what I would consider a suitably decent treble, having compared them to the senn's I would say the AKG's could be a little harsh?? The senn's seemed a little more controlled/relaxed/refined.
 
As said, i'm far from an expert (hence some of the question marks), but generally speaking the Senn's beat with ease the AKG's, especially on tracks recorded with a good bit rate (320kbps or higher or loss-less files), they just seemed to work with the music more and better, squeezing out what the AKG's couldn't.
 
You may say this is not a fair trial due to the cost different (AKG's £46 in the UK, Sennheiser £150 in the UK) - based on current pricing, however the AKG's were/had RRP of £100 (allegedley)
 
However, there is a twist to the tail.....
 
Whilst there are clear differences and as a slightly more than casual user of headphones (daily to work and sometimes at home, but not vastly lengthy period of time), if I had paid above prices for both (£46/£150) I may not have felt the clear pricing difference was worth it/justified, however the avid/keen much more frequent user probably would as the Senn's (& AKG's) are very good
 
As it happens I didn't pay anywhere close to the £150, based on what I did pay for the Senns and my original purchase cost of the AKG's (£50) I can safely say that the cost difference would be justified at this price point. So, something to possibly consider if considering changing AKG K450 (or similar to Senn's HD 25) - my advice would be to audition first, to make sure they're for you and you feel the £'s difference is worth it
 
cheers all
 

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