[Macdelaney]

I'm looking for a good pair of cans for (not in any particular order, though rock and jazz are my main concerns) rock (not heavy), jazz, acoustic and folk music. One of my main concerns is how comfortable they are, and since I listen to a lot of local music (I'm from Argentina) and not all is recorded as it should (or can't find them in high quality and the CDs are not made anymore) something not THAT revealing would be nice.
For what I've been reading the sound of the K601 the sound should please me and since they are not extremely detailed they shouldn't make poorly recorded music sound too bad (it's not the majority of what I listen so unless it doesn't sound too bad I'll be fine), and I've read they are VERY comfortable (I have a K240S and really like the headband, but the leather pads get crazy hot!), so I'm almost sure this is what I'm getting, but would like to check with you if I understood correctly since I've read almost everything that mentions the K601 in the forum and others and that's a lot of opinions.

I'm getting them from Amazon where they are a little under $200, I'm open to suggestions in the price range as well.
I really appreciate any bit of help I can get, and I'm sorry if my post is hard to understand, my English is a little rusty.

 

[tdogzthmn]

You are right in the fact that they are very comfortable and that they suit your musical tastes but where you are mislead is that I found them to be very detailed. More than my HD600 was. Also you will need a decent amp otherwise they will be very quiet. They were a fantastic sounding pair of headphones.

 

[Macdelaney]

I may not have expressed myself right, I know they are detailed and that's a good thing about them, but not as detailed as the K702 which some people said were too detailed and "ruined" poorly recorded music or music from less than optimal sources.

I know about the amp, but I'm not sure which one to get yet. Any suggestions on this department would also be appreciated since we're at it.

 

[MomijiTMO]

Why not go with an AD900 or a AD700 which are fairly comfy and don't require an amp? I'm just throwing something else into the mix.

 

[Macdelaney]

Well the AD900 are $400 in Amazon, so that's the main reason.
I considered the AD700 when I purchased my K240 (should have gotten those), but I don't think they're a good contestant versus the K601.
I don't really mind about the amp really.

EDIT: I now realize that since they don't need an amp they would cost about the same if not less than the AKG. I'll take another look at them but I remember not liking them for some reason, thanks!

 

[MomijiTMO]

Wow the AD900 is cheaper than the K601 over here.

International pricing at its best I guess.

 

[tdogzthmn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Macdelaney /img/forum/go_quote.gif I may not have expressed myself right, I know they are detailed and that's a good thing about them, but not as detailed as the K702 which some people said were too detailed and "ruined" poorly recorded music or music from less than optimal sources. I know about the amp, but I'm not sure which one to get yet. Any suggestions on this department would also be appreciated since we're at it.

They dont ruin poorly recorded music, but only expose it for what it really is. If you dont plan on upgrading your source then why bother buying better cans?

 

[Macdelaney]

That's not my only source, I'm building a nice Vinyl collection, have a pretty large CD collection and also have a quite large flac / wav collection, it's just that some bands I like happen to record poorly due to low budget. Some people said that these were a little less "revealing", if you like, than cans like the K702 which are very analytical and thus would make listening to records like these not such a pleasant experience.
As I said, this is not my main concern but something that would be nice to take into account since I plan on listening these albums. In the end I know most (all?) good headphones will make them sound pretty bad, since part of what makes them good is the fact that they are detailed, I just don't want "monitor" headphones that may be too detailed. Does this make sense?

@Momiji
Not so much, I'm looking at prices in Amazon.com since I'm going to New York next week and they have the K601 on sale. You can't even get the AD900 here, the K601 costs $462, the K240 are over $350, it's crazy!

 

[Macdelaney]

Sorry, double post

 

[dorkvader]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Macdelaney /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well the AD900 are $400 in Amazon, so that's the main reason. I considered the AD700 when I purchased my K240 (should have gotten those), but I don't think they're a good contestant versus the K601. I don't really mind about the amp really. EDIT: I now realize that since they don't need an amp they would cost about the same if not less than the AKG. I'll take another look at them but I remember not liking them for some reason, thanks!

The AD900s are $279 at musiciansfriend and guitarcenter. I believe they are $249 at accessoryjack. I'd recommend them highly. The small amounts of Jazz, acoustic, etc. I have sound absolutely amazing with them. Likewise, they are extremely comfortable, even for 12+ hours I wore them this Sunday recently.

I remember reading the K601 is "notoriously hard to drive" or some such on a topic. With the AD900, you could do well with a DAC-only or a larger range of amps.

I suppose you ruled them out because they really don't work well with the low bitrates. For me, anything under about 225 kb/s doesn't sound -bad- but it's certainly not a big improvement over crummy earbuds.

So that's my recommendation, and caveat. Me, I have a LOT of music at 128, and I'm okay with it; I'm also yearning to go back home and re-rip it as FLAC.

 

[ljokerl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tdogzthmn /img/forum/go_quote.gif You are right in the fact that they are very comfortable and that they suit your musical tastes but where you are mislead is that I found them to be very detailed. More than my HD600 was. Also you will need a decent amp otherwise they will be very quiet. They were a fantastic sounding pair of headphones.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dorkvader /img/forum/go_quote.gif I remember reading the K601 is "notoriously hard to drive" or some such on a topic. With the AD900, you could do well with a DAC-only or a larger range of amps.

+1 on both counts. I find the K601 to be extremely detailed and very, very hard to drive.

 

[TheBigCW]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Macdelaney /img/forum/go_quote.gif Some people said that these were a little less "revealing", if you like, than cans like the K702

IMO, the K601 are just as revealing as the K701, they just have a more natural sound signature with less artificial mids, and a tad more warmth. They sound absolutely amazing. My friend who owns the K701 still insists his is better of course, but in my opinion the K601 bests its bigger brother.

 

[MomijiTMO]

Well your ears are broken!




Just kidding.

I can't wait to go to my first Head-Fi meet and hopefully someone will have a pair for K601s for me to listen to.

 

[regal]

I listen to old bootleg 60-70's recording that are of poor audio quality but excellent performaces. I highly suggest you give the allesandro MS-1's a chance. They tend to make poor recording more musical, much more so than Senns or AKG's, they don't need an amp and are only $110 shipped to your country.

 

[MomijiTMO]

I had the MS1s for a month and they were awesome out of anything. For the small investment and the fact they don't require an amp, I think they are great.