[KShaft]

First off My associated equipment cosisted of a Melos SHA-1, with Stealth M21 power cord, Granite Audio cdp with Granite Audio 555 power cord, Virmode interconnects.

The way i am writting the review is by recording. Recording first phones will follow(youll understand as i present it).

side note: i really did not care for the akgs. to me they were lifeless and just plain dull. this is not to say they have no merit, but man was i dissapointed.

Fiona Apple (second album)
1st song-AKGs(taken directly form notes):
"sounds bright; brittle if you will. much bite. it sounds like she has a cold. just does not sound good. no bass, just low tones. detail but no musicality."
2nd and 3rd song-Beyer:
" big improvement. real smooth almost gooey sounding(?). her voice is good with almost no silibance(if any). voice is slightly recessed letting instruments be on an equal plane. bass is great,nice impact and ambiance, but might carry into the midrange. decay is good. some silibance (slight) in s's and x's and some symbols."
4rth song-sr 200s:
" voice is more realistic but not as smooth or euphoric(duh). the grado trademark of being up close is there. i can hear her breath as she sings(not just when she takes a breath). piano sounds right and i can easily hear the foot pedals. smooth, no silibance.
strings, everything sounds more neutral than the bears. bass is very tight but not near as prevailent as beyers"
5th song-990s:
"piano is good and the bass kills. voice very good. i think i like these phones better than the grados on this recording as gets the emotion and even though not as accurate to recording as grados, it is more accurate musically and emotionaly, and slightly farther back soundstage wise. horns are not sharp nor is acoustic guitar(i remember hearing this well on the senns) as foreward as i would like but is very musical."

10,000 Maniacs- Our time in Eden
1st song- SR 200s
"symbols are very prevailent, slightly bright voice. symbols dont sound natrual. these phones are very neutral..."
"These Are Days" and "Our Time in Eden"-990s
" the warmth of the beyers makes the songs fun to listen to. the guitar has nice detail. bass is awesome once again. vocals good but not great. almost thin but not quite. guitar is great! musical as all get out. there is a lot going on in this piece. very complex handles it well. if it had a little bit more body to the vocals it would be near perfect. awesome visceral impact."
4rth track-
sr 200s:
"tight bass but less impact then the cuel 990s but still decent(its hard to review phones as i love this song so much). not musical.
990:
"bass is ****ing awesome. it sounds slower, but fuller. trumpets sound more natural, but not as prevailent. voice is barely too recesed. bass can be slightly tighter."
AKGs: arggg! do not play avg recordings with akgs, or basically anything that isnt xrcd or chesky!!!!!!!

now some high quality recordings. youll notice a change in headphone dominance here. i even liked akgs with this recording.

Patricia Barber "Nightclub"
1st track-501s:
"great soundstage. really comes through.the different drumb beats are reproduced very articulately. bass is accurate(like MOA accurate!). piano is damn good and percussion is excellent. voice is nice. no silibance whatsoever." once again bass is carlos hathcock accuarate.
2nd track-sr200s:
"once again the grado proximity is there. voice is more realistic. Man i am ****ing there! bass is more prvailent. vocals are outstanding. more lively than akgs. piano sounds real. bass is tight and also ambient. symbols are all over the place, and there is a slightly smaller soundstage. good **** man! great decay from symbols they seem to go on forever. bass is slightly boomy but other than that, excellent. surrealism."(surrealism is a BIG compliment coming out of my mouth. to me there is good sounding, great sounding, and then there is surrealism. in other words it brings you out of an excellent reproduction into almost being there.)
3rd track- 990s
" bass is ****ing amazing.voice is smoother but not necessarily better than grados. euphoric but still very good. excellent decay on symbols, much bloom. piano is great. a little too much bass, even though it is awesome. beyers have a distinctive sound, and all of the neutrality of a car 300 sei with w.e. tubes

!"

Handel's MESSIAH
sr200s:
"sharp deatil and sparkle. because of the very dynamic nature of the cd and amp you have to listen at quiet levels because of all the cressendos. it is a little too crisp for me, but it excells at all the othe other area so well that it is just amazing. good space and articulation of instruments and vocals. all are accurate and beautiful. a very strong point with articulation."
990s:
"beyers are plainly good sounding. there is more wieght, but at the same time less space. somewhat bloated sounding."
" the grados had a little too much bite for my taste on this piece. im sure its the grado proximity in relation to performers. it is the best sounding phone on this (and Mahlers 5th but i cant find the damn review!!!)piece, but it did not win hands down like i thought it would."

YO YO MA Bach
first 3 movements
sr200s:
"what can i say? Incredible! uncanny accuracy. i can hear the frog of the bow smacking the strings and his fingers and strings against the fingerboard as if i were standing right infront of him. this sounds VERY similar to what my speakers sound like playing this when i had my audio refinement amp. it is undaunted. yes, surreal."
501s:
"for this music the tonal quality is similar to the grados. they sound farther back however and are less lively. they are missing something. this had been the case for me in almost every recording for these cans."
beyers:
"warmer sound sounds easier once again. i could hear his finger taping on the tremelo, so detail is there. more ambience, more eurphoric. although not as accurate as grados, they have a great sound. beyers sound very good, grados approach surrealism."

DVD review "Saving Private Ryan"
ah a former Marine's delight, as well as my 15 year old brother who listened mostly to my 990dt's.
guess which ones he said were clearer(i wanted to switch as i was listening to the sr200s for the most part)without me even asking? of course the sr's. hands down excellent for this particular dvd. you heard everything. although there was not the impact you get from my sub, it still sounded amazing. i was ready to get in the prone and start low crawlin on some of the scenes!
the soundtrack was excellently played back. i love dvd audio...

so it breaks down like this:
sr 200s: neutral, very balanced, accurate, smooth upper end, tight bass.

990s: musical and warm, lots of bass (too much at times) lots of midrange with good detail(though not like sr200s).

501s. uggh,hmmm.......clear midrange. unfortunately very dull sounding to me.

i hope this review helps some of you guys out.
KS

 

[Tomcat]

That's a very nice review! I think I pretty much agree with what you have said about the DT 990s and the K501s. Regrettably, I don't know the SR 200, but then: few people do. Will you keep the Grados now, or have you started to lust after the HP-1/2? How do you think the old Grados would compare with the modern-day RS-1s? Now that you have gotten the Melos, do you think the RS-1s have indeed been hampered by your former amp, the Wheatfield?

 

[Xander]

I think I agree with most of your reviews. Especially of the DT990s. The only thing I don't agree with, is that theyre very musical. More like thick, sloppy, and bass, all at once. I treat bass a bit differently then most people, though, whereas it's usually accepted, big bass to me is like big midrange to most people. Extremely irritating and fatiging after long periods.

I think the K501s are very neutral headphones. Aside from the soundstage depth, I think this is why most people think theyre boring. What strikes me, however, is the way you describe the bass, which sounds exactly how it sounds when under powered. No low bass at all.. Just little upper-midbass thingies going on. This is the exact opposite of how they sound when properly powered.

Anyway, good review. I think you owe it to yourself to atleast try the K501s with some different amps, though. Especially high current ones, and see what happens. In my situation, my AKGs went from how everyone describes them, to very neutral sounding headphones. It's basically the music. Theres no too much or too little bass, cold midrange, or bright treble, no smooth midrange, or liquidy vocals, either.. It's just all layed out in front of you, very accuratly, and very balanced. This ofcourse, may not be some peoples cup of tea, but since this is what I searched for in loudspeakers at one time, I wanted it with headphones as well.

 

[dngl]

sounds like I may not want to audition the k501s since I have a melos...

 

[KShaft]

well, i am really curious about obtaining a pair of broken in rs-1s.
according to some, the rs-1s have more bass and more warmth and more midrange. a honey like midrange. now, when i listened to the rs-1s, i DID NOT hear this. i heard a bright akg so to speak.
and the bass was not as much as the sr200s, so i know that the ha-2 was underpowered or the phones were not broken in(vka and yohan recomend at least a month! yohan actually broke in his rs-1s for 6 months!!!!).
the akgs were balanced. this is true. neutral, well i almost consider it a colored neutral. how is this you say? well, they sounded to me very dull, but that "neutrality" if you will was imparted on all of the recordings. the sr200s sounded different with each recording.
keep in mind neutrality on equipment is NOT natruality.
every headphone so far has been far and away from a real performance. take this from an albiet poor but still 9 year violinist whos seen and performed in his share of concerts.
what id like to get my hands on is the sony r10.
that seems far off though, but i could have been close but the buyer no longer wishes to sell.
so now im looking at the audio techna w2002, but from what i understand, (Mark who is ordering them told me this)its more aggressive in the trebble and bass. now bass i can dig but i would like that sweet treble that vert always talks about.
damn trade offs!
headphones are a big trade off in this or that. a real pain.
maybe its time for an amp. whats good about the melos, is that it is both a pre-amp and headphone amp. so it will always be used.
a good investment.
later,
k.s.

 

[dngl]

KShaft- this is a bit off topic, but the Melos is great because it's a preamp with three inputs, and it costs $425 but rivals the max.

I'm curious about the a-t w2002 as well.

 

[r3cc0s]

GO GRADO!!!!!

 

[mr_slacker]

Quote:

Originally posted by KShaft so now im looking at the audio techna w2002, but from what i understand, (Mark who is ordering them told me this)its more aggressive in the trebble and bass. now bass i can dig but i would like that sweet treble that vert always talks about. damn trade offs!

I thought Audio Technica where among the most smooth and laidback phones available. Perhaps the W2002 are different? Go figure...

 

[KShaft]

maybe it was in comparison to the r10s.
once again this is Mark's impression and he still has to get the phones. if they are just a tad bit more agrressive than the r10s, then thats probably still very smooth.
im waiting for some more info from Mark. buying and listening, so.......i guess well all wait and see.
k.s.

 

[mr_slacker]

KShaft: You used to own the RS-1, right? But you say you want to listened to a broken in pair??? How long did you own them? What about DT990 vs RS-1?

mr s

 

[KShaft]

well i broke them in for about a week.

they did not sound as good as my msps for some reason.
the 990s sounded much more smooth and had more bass.

when guys like vert and vka compare sound to senns and sr 200s, i notice that some of the other phones sound like they say but the rs-1s dont sound like they say. thats what really makes me wonder.....

the rs-1s need EXTENSIVE break in. vka said his didnt start to bloom until after a month, and yohan broke his in for SIX months.
wow!

my power could be real bad too. who knows.
nothing i have tried headphone wise has come close to the realism imparted by speakers. its almost exclusively for convineinces sake as i listen all hours. thats one of the reasons i bought a sha-1 because it works as a preamp too as Jon pointed out.

ks