[nish8181]

hi all,
 
I'm struggling to choose one of these three headphones to buy, and hoping people with more experience than me might be able to help.
 
I have experiences/opinions with two headphones so far:
 
- AKG K545s - I've already owned a pair of these and atm they are my default option. I really liked the wide sound stage and attention to detail. But I did find the bass just a bit lacking, and the sound maybe just a bit too cool/analytical, a bit more warmth in the mids would have been appreciated. 
 
- Over-ear sennheiser momentums (v2): I read that these are pretty good and have more bass/warmth than the K545s so I went to try them out. And, yeah - they have way too much bass/mids for me. I didn't like the sound much at all on these, couldn't make out much detail, things sounded muffled, and the feeling of clear highs just wasn't present.
 
 
So I guess ideally I want something in the middle, leaning towards the sound of the K545s but a bit warmer. My question is, does either of the HD600 or the DT770 fit the bill here?
 
The K545s are £203 on amazon right now, HD600 are £219 (on a fairly big discount it seems), and DT770 are £105 (much cheaper), to give you an indication of the kind of deals I'll find. 
 
I know the HD600s are meant to be pre-amped, but I'd like to hear how they compare both with and without a preamp - I don't own one right now, and I may end up preferring to run them without one as I like using them in different parts of my house and occasionally also outside (mainly on planes/trains, I have a separate pair of IEMs for walking around town). 

 

[Monsterzero]

HD600s need an amp.Period.Buying them and not having an amp is a waste of money.
They are also open backed,so taking them on the train/plane will disturb those around you. 
They are neutral sounding,not much bass extension or soundstage.
Theyre kinda boring IMO.

DT770s,depending on which version you get may or may not need an amp.
Theyre closed back so theyre much more suitable for planes/trains than the HD600s.
They have a V shape sound to them.Pretty good bass slam and extension,and the most piercing god awful highs Ive ever heard.Even my WA2 couldnt tame those highs.I tried.

The HD600 is a better headphone,but needing an amp and being open backed I cant recommend them to you.
I wouldnt recommend the DT770s to anyone.

TL,DR

Keep looking,neither of these are what you want.

 

[nish8181]

  HD600s need an amp.Period.Buying them and not having an amp is a waste of money.
They are also open backed,so taking them on the train/plane will disturb those around you. 
They are neutral sounding,not much bass extension or soundstage.
Theyre kinda boring IMO.

DT770s,depending on which version you get may or may not need an amp.
Theyre closed back so theyre much more suitable for planes/trains than the HD600s.
They have a V shape sound to them.Pretty good bass slam and extension,and the most piercing god awful highs Ive ever heard.Even my WA2 couldnt tame those highs.I tried.

The HD600 is a better headphone,but needing an amp and being open backed I cant recommend them to you.
I wouldnt recommend the DT770s to anyone.

TL,DR

Keep looking,neither of these are what you want.

 
Thanks for the feedback, it's much appreciated! I've looked at reviews of dozens of different sets and none of them seem to match what I want so I might just go back to the K545s, they were pretty good for me anyway. Just to clarify though, even if I don't use the HD600s on a plane/train and only at home, do the unamped HD600s really sound worse than the K545s? I think my computer on max could drive them at a high enough volume, so it'd only really be an issue of the sound.

 

[Monsterzero]

Ive never heard the K545s so I cant compare the two,but headphones tend to sound bad if improperly amped....midbass distortion,ragged sub-bass,vacuumed out mids,low volume,etc.

The HD600s dont need a huge amp,in fact my Astro gaming amp drove them great for years when I used to own them for gaming.But you need an amp.

I no longer own any closedback headphones so its hard for me to recommend an alternative.All my headphones that I currently own need an amp,except the Philips X1,which isnt good for trains/planes and Im not sure the sound is what youre after.  

EDIT: also HD600s are NOT revealing aka crystal clear details.With or without an amp.

 

[RERO]

Unless the output of your computer is really, really, REALLY BAD... The HD600 should still sound like an HD600.
HD600 doesn't really need a lot of power to reach loud (90 db+) volumes.

 

[paspro]

I suggest you buy the Beyerdynamic Custom One Pro. It allows you to control the level of bass and at 16 Ohm impendance you can drive these cans from anything.