[theadmans]

I recently bought my first headphone amp (a Little Dot II) and am enjoying listening through cans for the first time in years from my Marantz CD63 MkII Ki Signature CDP.

The only headphones I have at the moment are Audio Technica ATH-911's which I bought around 1989. I seem to remember in their day the ATH-911's got 5 Star reviews in HiFi mags and were generally well regarded.

My question is if I bought some new headphones would I get much improvement over the the ATH-911's. Unfortunately funds are a bit tight at the moment - I could maybe run to some new Sennheiser HD555's or possibly secondhand HD600's. I am looking for a warmer less bright sound than the ATH911's

 

[spacemanspliff]

600s would be a nice fit imo. 555s are bright as are the 595s.

 

[theadmans]

Struggling to find some HD600's in my budget. I have noticed the rave reviews for the Goldring DR150 headphones - how would these compare to HD600's? Are the DR150's over bright sounding?

 

[naimbrain]

Hi,

I've got both models, and in a direct comparison the HD600s are less brash and toppy than the ATH-911s. This can initially sound like a reduction in detail, however the HD600s also (IMHO) exceed the ATH-911s in staging and resolution of individual instruments, so it's probably more down to presentation style than an actual reduction in detail. As an example the brass section on Japan's 'Art of Parties' from the Excorcising Ghosts CD seems far more forward and vibrant (verging on strident) on the ATH-911s. However, I should point out that I'm using a WAD HD83 that's specifically set up to match impedance with the HD600s, so it may slew the results very slightly.

If your finding the HD600s too pricey (I'm guessing you're looking 2nd hand as HD600 are now superceded) look for some HD580s. Initially they sounded almost as good as the HD600s (it's really splitting hairs to tell between them), and now that I've upgraded both cables to HD650 cabling (in both cases the cables failed at the molded plugs) they sound identical to the point where I strongly suspect they use exactly the same internal components (except that the HD600s are prettier and came in a posh box).

Head to head the HD600s offer richer bass, less strident treble, and better sound staging. The HD600s do however loose out if there's any peripheral noise, they really leak sound both in and out (I once used them in a library - I wasn't popular!!).

Hope this helps...