[grizzlybeast]

Final comparison and I'm done abusing this thread my non stop questions

K545 against the NAD Viso HP50?
I'm down to these two options!

I think dweaver covered it.
 
he said the hp50 had more lower MIDS and the k545 had stronger upper mids. You can search the word HP50 and find it somewhere in the thread.

 

[Beasleyd2]

I think dweaver covered it.

he said the hp50 had more lower MIDS and the k545 had stronger upper mids. You can search the word HP50 and find it somewhere in the thread.

Thanks il check it out!

 

[dweaver]

Thanks il check it out!

Grizzlybeast nailed my main thoughts very well in regards to sonic impressions. Comfort would be the only thing I would add. Unless you have small ears to HP50 are uncomfortable as they are only a bit larger than the Momentum so my ears were touching the pads in several different spots which I knew would have bothered me for listening sessions over 30-45 minutes.

 

[dweaver]

dweaver
I just re-stumbled across your review of the K545 in which you said that the soundstage is not as big as the K550 but it is not abnormally large either as some other closed headphones you have listened to.

Is that to say that sometimes the soundstage can be TOO big? Is this what people mean by headphones having an artificial soundstage?

Some closed headphones use tricks to achieve sound stage which I dislike as the trick often comes with a price in regards to sonic fidelity. Some open headphones can have an almost two large a sound stage which initially impresses then can start to sound unnatural or ruin certain genres. I personally love a good sound stage but have also learned to recognize the issues it can present. Think of it this way, a large sound stage is great for an orchestra where you want the separation to accommodate all the instruments. But if a rock band had the bass player way over to one side of the orchestra stage with speakers and lead guitarist was way over to the other side with speakers and the drummer way at the back of that stage and the lead singer way to the front. The effect might be disjointed for rock music. Some open headphones can start to feel like that for genres like rock.

For me the K545 splits the size pretty well, I wouldn't mind if it was the size of the K550 sound stage but am happy where it is at as much of my music benefits from the added little bit of intimacy and closeness.

 

[SonusAudio]

Just got my pair of orange AKG K545's. Wow, very balanced, full and rich vocals, just natural sounding. I love them so far. 

 

[imackler]

  Just got my pair of orange AKG K545's. Wow, very balanced, full and rich vocals, just natural sounding. I love them so far. 

Yup. They're a great all rounder. Unfortunately for me, I think that they're the first headphones I've had real problems with wearing glasses. Somehow, they put more pressure on the bridge of my nose than even the death clamp, on-ears like the HD25 etc. I wish it weren't so! 

 

[jwong]

Interesting. I can't tell any difference in my glasses with them on...

 

[dweaver]

They are awesome with my glasses, I guess it depends on the glasses. How do they affect the nose bridge though?

 

[imackler]

They are awesome with my glasses, I guess it depends on the glasses. How do they affect the nose bridge though?

 
They exerted enough downward pressure on arms of the frame that they squished down on the bridge. Like I said, its the first pair of headphones that have given me that problem, so I definitely wouldn't expect it to be universal. Its disappointing really, because all one wants in a portable is a do-nothing-wrong while yet maintaining a high level of detail so that you're not wishing the whole time you had on an open-backed pair. The K545 does that. I also liked that they fold much flatter than the K550/551, so definitely more portable, too. 

 

[dweaver]

I hold the cups away from my glasses until the headband is settled on my head, would that make any difference, or do you already do that?

 

[SonusAudio]

Love the orange black combo.
 

 

 

[dweaver]

Very snazzy

 

[xdfjdkz]

Today I went to go use my 545s and the left channel is hardly audible. I've swapped out cables, tried different amps and DACs, iDevices and nothing is working. I can still hear the audio it's just hardly there. Any idea what this may be?
 
EDIT: just noticed there is a large audible hiss on the left channel. 

 

[Trunks159]

They're defective. Get em replaced.

 

[SonusAudio]

  Today I went to go use my 545s and the left channel is hardly audible. I've swapped out cables, tried different amps and DACs, iDevices and nothing is working. I can still hear the audio it's just hardly there. Any idea what this may be?
 
EDIT: just noticed there is a large audible hiss on the left channel. 

I'm having problems with my left channel too. It's a tad lower in volume than my right channel and slightly rattles when bass is called for.