Piffles
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jun 1, 2006
- Posts
- 116
- Likes
- 11
'Evenin' folks,
Just got my AKG K501 today. I swapped my Senn HD595 for them with a pal in Germany. My thinking when I got the HD595 was: highly-rated, efficient headphone for under 150Euros. Efficiency was a big factor for me because I'm driving my phones directly from a M-Audio USB interface. However, I didn't like the HD595's sound on acoustic music (see my impressions here).
I hesitated a while in getting the K501 as they, according to the experts, need good amplification to shine. Considering its reviews (organic, open, crisp sound), I thought it was worth the risk and would probably be great for my classical guitar and flamenco guitar stuff.
Well, I've been trying them this afternoon and I'm definitely impressed. Very crisp and precise on acoustic guitars, lots of edge and punch. They convey the variations in tone and volume very nicely. Also really good at instrument seperation (especially orchestras) and choruses. Brilliant detail aswell.
I then tried them on some Jazz and later some Rock. I initially thought they were a bit harsh in the upper ranges. Electric guitars sounded a little too bright and high hats, cimbals and things like that were too piercing. I later realized that I was in fact turning the volume up too far because I wanted to hear more power in the bass. That was the cause of the harshness, not the headphone itself. So I turned the volume down and boosted the bass ever so slightly in foobar's equalizer to retain the bass punch. That solved the problem. I found they also improved on voices when I boosted a bass: gave them more body.
So, on the whole, a really great headphone. I have to admit, although I wasn't convinced at first, the bass is a little lean. It's good bass, tight, precise, dynamic, but there's just not very much of it. But I prefer that to lots and lots of poor quality bass.
To conclude, I'm definitely sticking with the K501 - by far the best headphone I've ever had. It's the first product I buy that does what it says on the box (hifi reference headphone for classical music). And more: it's also pretty good on electric music to my mind, if you boost the bass very slightly. It's interesting that an inefficient, current-guzzling phone (K501) sounds better unamped to my ears than an unamped, efficient phone (HD595). As I was told by a very wise person on this forum: forget the figures, forget the tech stuff, and find a headphone with a sound signature that you like. I should have listened to him right from the beginning.
Cya,
Piffles.
Just got my AKG K501 today. I swapped my Senn HD595 for them with a pal in Germany. My thinking when I got the HD595 was: highly-rated, efficient headphone for under 150Euros. Efficiency was a big factor for me because I'm driving my phones directly from a M-Audio USB interface. However, I didn't like the HD595's sound on acoustic music (see my impressions here).
I hesitated a while in getting the K501 as they, according to the experts, need good amplification to shine. Considering its reviews (organic, open, crisp sound), I thought it was worth the risk and would probably be great for my classical guitar and flamenco guitar stuff.
Well, I've been trying them this afternoon and I'm definitely impressed. Very crisp and precise on acoustic guitars, lots of edge and punch. They convey the variations in tone and volume very nicely. Also really good at instrument seperation (especially orchestras) and choruses. Brilliant detail aswell.
I then tried them on some Jazz and later some Rock. I initially thought they were a bit harsh in the upper ranges. Electric guitars sounded a little too bright and high hats, cimbals and things like that were too piercing. I later realized that I was in fact turning the volume up too far because I wanted to hear more power in the bass. That was the cause of the harshness, not the headphone itself. So I turned the volume down and boosted the bass ever so slightly in foobar's equalizer to retain the bass punch. That solved the problem. I found they also improved on voices when I boosted a bass: gave them more body.
So, on the whole, a really great headphone. I have to admit, although I wasn't convinced at first, the bass is a little lean. It's good bass, tight, precise, dynamic, but there's just not very much of it. But I prefer that to lots and lots of poor quality bass.
To conclude, I'm definitely sticking with the K501 - by far the best headphone I've ever had. It's the first product I buy that does what it says on the box (hifi reference headphone for classical music). And more: it's also pretty good on electric music to my mind, if you boost the bass very slightly. It's interesting that an inefficient, current-guzzling phone (K501) sounds better unamped to my ears than an unamped, efficient phone (HD595). As I was told by a very wise person on this forum: forget the figures, forget the tech stuff, and find a headphone with a sound signature that you like. I should have listened to him right from the beginning.
Cya,
Piffles.
