Audio Technica ATH M50 vs Ultrasone HIFI 580 Vs Denon AH D1100 vs Sennheiser HD25-1 ii vs AKG K181??
Jul 19, 2011 at 5:50 PM Post #31 of 41


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Goa Gil is not the kind of DJ that needs to look cool..



LOL! No kidding! In fact, the trendy white cups kind of ruins his boho acid chic look imo....
 
Shamrock, I'm with you in the HD25 corner! They are awesome. So awesome I bought them about 2 weeks after I got the M50's based off a friend's HD25 I tested YEARS ago. I put on the M50's and knew immediately they weren't as good. Also, the HD25's do need burn in too, right out of the box I hated them.
 
Jul 19, 2011 at 5:54 PM Post #32 of 41
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Hey Shamrock134 what do you think of the Denon AH D1100 are they as good as either the Senn hd25 or dj1 or is the bass less controlled on the denon's??

 
I've just been doing some listening between the D1100 and HD25. I think they are on the same level performance wise, just slightly different presentation. The Denons have a bigger sound stage, while the HD25 are more in your face/intimate. Bass on the Denons is definitely bigger in quantity and boomier. Denons seem more comfy being circumaural.
 
 
Jul 19, 2011 at 6:03 PM Post #33 of 41


 
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I've just been doing some listening between the D1100 and HD25. I think they are on the same level performance wise, just slightly different presentation. The Denons have a bigger sound stage, while the HD25 are more in your face/intimate. Bass on the Denons is definitely bigger in quantity and boomier.
 


Do you think the Denon AH d1100 would be suitable for trance, ie vocal trance or would the mids and highs get lost to the bass boom?  I'm thinking that the Senns might work better with trance because what I found on the AKG k518 the bass was very boomy bleeding into the midrange and spoiling the euphoric nature of the trance.
 
 
 
Jul 19, 2011 at 6:12 PM Post #34 of 41
The highs certainly won't be lost to the bass. The Denon has V-shape so the mids are bit recessed while the bass and treble sticks out more. I think the vocals do sound recessed compared to the HD25.
 
The HD25 certainly has tighter, less flabby bass. The D1100 works well for dubstep, but I'd say the HD25 has the edge in fast paced music like DnB (dunno about trance). Ultrasone does do electronic so well though so I look forward to seeing what you think. To be honest I struggle a bit trying to compare headphones!
 
Jul 19, 2011 at 6:18 PM Post #35 of 41
Cheers "shamrock134" I will sleep on it and see what I'm gona do tomorrow I can get the denon for 95 pounds which is a great bargain.  I'm gona order 2 sets of cans either the Senn hd25 and Ultrasone dj1/denon ah d1100, plenty of food for thought thanx guys :)
 
Jul 20, 2011 at 12:39 AM Post #37 of 41
I have used the HD25's and the Denons extensively side-by-side - most of the time my Denons were collecting dust. I have since sold them.
 
Now that is not to say they're bad headphones. They were incredibly comfortable and they had very good detail retrieval and soundstage. However, I personally couldn't get over the recessed mids. The singer always felt very far from me and I tend to like a more balanced sound across the board. They didn't sound bad - they just irked me because of my own preferred sound sig. Compared to the HD25's, they're a little darker (not as fatiguing/more relaxed sound). They have more bass and stronger bass. And WIDER soundstage by far.
 
The great thing about HD25s are that they are in your face and sound good with just about any genre. They have good detail and the bass is very tight and controlled without interfering with the mids. I wish the vocals were just a little more forward on them sometimes, but it's not too bad. What you may not like is the narrow soundstage. There's good depth but hardly any width.
 
As you can tell, they're both pretty different from each other. Not better or worse, just different. I suggest you audition them and the HD25s.
 
As for the HFI-580s/DJ1s, I've read nothing but good things about them, especially when it comes to trance - I imagine they're somewhere in the middle of the HD25s and the D1100s, in that they have good, hard-hitting controlled bass and good soundstage. I have also read that the mids are slightly recessed but I imagine they can't be all that bad.
 
Jul 21, 2011 at 5:17 PM Post #38 of 41
Denon AH-D1100 are great.
 
Bass does not bleed into other frequencies. Definitely not bloated.
 
It does have recessed mids for imprved soundstage. It's a question of preference if you like that or not.
 
Jul 21, 2011 at 9:37 PM Post #39 of 41
I have the ATH-M50 and the HD25-1. Of the two I would recommend the HD25-1, the sound stage is smaller, but it is much punchier and right in your ear, the mids are pronounced as well. With the m50 the sound is much further from you and the mids being recessed make it even worse.  The HD25-1 fail in comfort, these things clamp hard, hopefully they'll loosen up. 
 
 
 
Aug 1, 2011 at 11:44 PM Post #40 of 41
To be honest the ATH-M50 is an awesome headphone, but in the end somewhat lifeless.  You will probably enjoy the HFI-580's the most.  Many Head-fi'ers really give them praise and use you kind of bass-head vernacular.
 
This is a quote from another thread by iQEM
 
"why you didn't put HFI580 on your list ? i thought HFI580 are less on the price than DJ1pro...and YES, i have heard em...
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i test it A/B (head to head) with my DJ1 (400hours burn-in), and HFI580 (fresh out from the box) easily beat the DJ1 on every aspect...
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so, it's time to sell the DJ1 now (for me)..."
 
Below are a few graphs to really show you which headphone reigns supreme.  The frequency response is virtually identical for each headphone.  The ATH-M50 still gives a bit more bass.  Looking now at the 500Hz square wave response for each headphone you can see that the HFI-580 really has a hard time with harmonic frequencies of 500Hz.  This covers big part of the audible range.  The Sennheiser and Audio Technica do a much better job at processing these frequencies.  Looking at the 50Hz square wave response for each headphone you can see that all three do pretty well at frequencies of multiples of 50Hz.  This is your bass range.  The HFI-580 ring a little bit more than the others which means you get a little uncontrolled bass.  The graphs really do not lie.  The ATH-M50's are the better can at reproducing quality sound.
 
Based on expense you can choose between the ATH-M50 and the HFi-580.
 
1.)  If you plan on being a little more analytical with music and you like to fine all the nuances go with the ATH-M50.  It is a more analytical headphone.
 
2.)  If you really want to just sit back and relax and you really enjoy bass more than anything but dot not want it to be totally uncontrolled then the HFI-580 is for you.
 

 
Dec 7, 2011 at 4:30 AM Post #41 of 41


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Trance/techno?
My favorite genres since 1998...
After having both M50 and DJ1 i must say that DJ1 is clearly the winner..
When it comes to electronic music the aggressive and organic sound of Ultarsone is a delight to listen to..
Not to mention the surround feeling you get when the sound doesn't hit your ears right in the middle but all around....



how does the dj1 (580) compare to 900pro?
 

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