[Four62ci]

The AKG K701 is very far from neutral or even natural.

The ATH R70X is similar/more neutral than HD 600 but it will probably lack its natural timbre, realism and liquid midrange.

If you are looking for neutral, you don't need to go beyond the 58x. 600/6xx cost more and are better in the right setup, but roughly similar (but different) from a neutrality POV.

It is pretty objective at this point. Just try Sonarworks. The 58x sound barely changes at all compared to other headphones including the likes of 600 and 650. Which proves that this is pretty much as close to neutral as you'll get barring maybe very few exceptions.

I strongly disagree. Unless you’ve spent time listening to a pair of K701s with at least 200 hours of break-in time (and yes, they need considerable break-in time. The sound will change immensely), with a clean source and an amplifier with considerate current output, you have no idea just how neutral and realistic they sound. You can test headphones all day long and the results might indicate neutrality or not but the most important instrument for any accurate perception is your ears. Also, the R70x is more detailed, revealing and realistic than the HD600. The HD600 might have a “liquid midrange” but to my ears, it just makes them sound thick and muddy. The drivers are slower which makes the bass sound less tight and crisp compared to the R70x and the treble is overall brighter as well. Anyway, my opinion and perception of these headphones is purely what my ears tell me after hours and hours of listening to them connected to a Schiit Magni and FiiO M11. K701s were powered by a Musical Fidelity XCan however.

 

[ADUHF]

Interesting discussion re the Sennheisers, AT R70x, and AKG K701.

 

[ADUHF]

New reviews of Senn HD560S and Philips X3 on Rtings...

https://www.rtings.com/headphones/reviews/sennheiser/hd-560s

https://www.rtings.com/headphones/reviews/philips/fidelio-x3

The MSRP on the Philips is more than $250. But current street is around 2 bills. Both appear to have some stridency in the treble at around 9 kHz. Probably more noticeable on the Philips due it being somewhat more depressed in the upper mids.

The Senn also appears to have a little left-right imbalance in the 1-3 kHz range, visible on the compensated FR graph.

Both appear reasonably well-extended in the bass for open-back dynamic HPs.

Rtings also has the Senn HD 6XX in their lab. So an official review (and graphs) should be forthcoming in the not too distant future.

 

[ADUHF]

Rtings also reviewed the new Philips SHP9600 in September.

https://www.rtings.com/headphones/reviews/philips/shp9600

 

[gimmeheadroom]

I'm very disappointed to see yet another Sennheiser go to China. Not that Chinese can't make amazing stuff. It just doesn't make sense to me.

 

[zazex]

I'm very disappointed to see yet another Sennheiser go to China. Not that Chinese can't make amazing stuff. It just doesn't make sense to me.

So, if the Chinese can make "amazing stuff", and it costs Sennheiser (or whomever) less to make it in China than elsewhere, why does it not
make sense to you that Senn has moved even more of its mfg to China?

Senn is not the only mfg. pursuing this path to greater profits

 

[Jasius]

Sorry to necrobump this, but it's a good question, so tygr 300r vs HD560s? I play game and listen to music.

I have:

• HD555(light and comfy great for gaming and music, but I feel like there's something missing in the audio)
• X2HR(uncomfortable until stretched, the sound is meh, it doesn't sound clear and the comfort even with dekoni pads still kind of sucks)
• HD630VB
• Had ATH 50(uncomfortable not great sound)
  

I'm in Canada so the Tygr 300r are $240 on Amazon.ca and the HD560s are $200 everywhere, are either of these an upgrade from what I have?

 

[ADUHF]

Sorry to necrobump this, but it's a good question, so tygr 300r vs HD560s? I play game and listen to music.

I have:

• HD555(light and comfy great for gaming and music, but I feel like there's something missing in the audio)
• X2HR(uncomfortable until stretched, the sound is meh, it doesn't sound clear and the comfort even with dekoni pads still kind of sucks)
• HD630VB
• Had ATH 50(uncomfortable not great sound)

I'm in Canada so the Tygr 300r are $240 on Amazon.ca and the HD560s are $200 everywhere, are either of these an upgrade from what I have?

Have you thought about planar magnetic? Not sure about gaming, but might be interesting to try for music, if you want somethin a bit different than what you've already tried.

I'm not really that up on the latest options in this price range anymore. So others may have some different ideas on newer HPs with dynamic drivers that could be good for both gaming and music.

 

[ADUHF]

Some of the graphs here (based on older Rtings plots) are also now a bit dated, and may not be that accurate anymore.

I still use some of Oratory1990's older GRAS plots to help EQ my DT770's. But for anything else newer, I prefer now to use HBK 5128 plots by Jude, Headphones.com, Sound Guys, etc., compensated with HBK's original 5128 diffuse field curve (rather than Ora's free field derived 5128 DF curve) for making general assessments of a headphone's tonal balance.

Resolve has done quite a few raw graphs with the 5128 for Headphones.com. And at one point, I posted a list of the ones that appeared closest to the neutral DF+SP model I use. If anyone's interested, I'll try to find the list. But I suspect there are a number of other headphones that have been plotted on the 5128 (by Resolve and others) since the list was posted.