[aufeuer]

I'm curious about the K601. I've heard that one of the characteristics of these phones is that they have a treble roll-off compared to the K501 and the K701. Is this only relative to the other AKG phones? Would you say that these are still brighter or "unveiled" compared to the Sennheiser house sound?

BTW, I'm coming from the Grado school of tonality (I own SR-125 & MS2i), but I wouldn't mind a slightly less bright pair of phones. To put things into perspective, I found the Sennheiser HD 595 to still exhibit a slight veil. Would the K601 fall somewhere in between the MS2i and HD 595 in terms of the highs?

Thanks!

 

[aufeuer]

BUMP!

 

[SickMouthy]

I'm a big MS1 fan and recently sold a pair of HD595s and replaced them with K601s for precisely the reason you've listed. Even though the HD595 is meant to be brighter than your average Senn, I still found it withdrawn. No such feeling with the K601, which arrived on Thursday and which I've been using all weekend. They're not as bright and there isn't the slamming mid-bass thump that you get on a Grado / Alessandro, but they're much more involving than the HD595 (plus much bigger soundstage and better bass too). I dunno about the MS2, but there's definitely an extra sense of clarity and detail with the K601 over the MS1. At the moment I'm loving them. I can't understand why they don't get much more love on Head-Fi. One thing I will say though, is that they're nastily revealing of bad source / recording, and need good amplification.

 

[F107plus5]

Having both MS-1 and MS2i, I'll add to this discussion by saying that the MS2i has that "extra sense of clarity and detail" over the MS-1.

.....I just can't say to what degree to put it in better context with the K601, however.

Wish I could be more specific.

 

[Zorander]

The K601 is quite entirely different in sound to the Alessandro/Grado house sound. IMO the MS-2 tends to be on the bright side and is comparatively "clumsy"-sounding to the K601 (and also HD-650). What I mean by "clumsy" is akin to comparing a veteran musician to a regular. While both can play well, the veteran shows a marked difference in how he can more accurately play his tones and follow the lines. The K601 is amazingly true to source and is a joy to listen to given proper ancillary equipments. The MS-2 OTOH is fun-sounding, gives a sense of clarity (but not necessarily better detail resolution) and is not as demanding of source & amp. I personally prefer the K601 for its much more even frequency response, open- & light-footed approach and the fact that it synergises so damn well with my Solo amp.

And lastly, I really don't know why anyone would call these cans (or even the Senns) veiled. These cans resolve as much details (if not more than) those other cans not victim to this accusations. They can be plenty bright enough if the source calls for it.

Cheers!

 

[F107plus5]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zorander /img/forum/go_quote.gif The K601 is quite entirely different in sound to the Alessandro/Grado house sound. IMO the MS-2 tends to be on the bright side and is comparatively "clumsy"-sounding to the K601 (and also HD-650). What I mean by "clumsy" is akin to comparing a veteran musician to a regular. While both can play well, the veteran shows a marked difference in how he can more accurately play his tones and follow the lines. The K601 is amazingly true to source and is a joy to listen to given proper ancillary equipments. The MS-2 OTOH is fun-sounding, gives a sense of clarity (but not necessarily better detail resolution) and is not as demanding of source & amp. I personally prefer the K601 for its much more even frequency response, open- & light-footed approach and the fact that it synergises so damn well with my Solo amp. And lastly, I really don't know why anyone would call these cans (or even the Senns) veiled. These cans resolve as much details (if not more than) those other cans not victim to this accusations. They can be plenty bright enough if the source calls for it. Cheers!

Cool! So then I should be able to expect an improvement in most respects going from MS2i to HD600.....which makes sense considering that just a few short years ago the 600 was a top tier phone, while of course the MS2i has always been down a few notches in the Grado/Alessandro line-up.

I can live with that!

 

[Zorander]

Quote:

Originally Posted by F107plus5 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Cool! So then I should be able to expect an improvement in most respects going from MS2i to HD600.....which makes sense considering that just a few short years ago the 600 was a top tier phone, while of course the MS2i has always been down a few notches in the Grado/Alessandro line-up. I can live with that!

Just be aware that my opinions are based on 'amped' phones. I don't really know how the HD-600 is going to fare straight off your receiver, but it shouldn't be that badly disadvantaged. I once ran my HD-650 off an AIWA receiver and it did not sound as bad as I expected it to be. Not shining, of course, but not crippled either. The HD-600 should display the same behaviour.

And give your ears some time to get used to the different sound signature. It can sound initially disconcerting if all you are used to hearing is the Grado/Alessandro house sound.

Cheers!

p.s. I'm curious: why does it take so long for you to obtain the HD-600? You could have purchased it either new or used in this forum anytime, so this current arrangement must be a special one. Feel free to ignore or PM me if you want to keep the answer private.