Beyer DTX700/800/900 vs Senn HD25SP HD280PRO HD515 vs Sony XD400

[1UP]

Are MS1s SR60s on steroids? I can't stand the SR60s (uncomfortable and hugely coloured), and would take the DTX900s over them any day of the week, perhaps also the DTX800 which are meant to be a tad warmer sounding than the DTX900s (depending on the rest of your equipment).

Then again, if you only like rock music, maybe the Grados/MS1s are for you.

 

[PDream]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1UP Are MS1s SR60s on steroids? I can't stand the SR60s (uncomfortable and hugely coloured), and would take the DTX900s over them any day of the week, perhaps also the DTX800 which are meant to be a tad warmer sounding than the DTX900s (depending on the rest of your equipment). Then again, if you only like rock music, maybe the Grados/MS1s are for you.

Uncomfortable? This strikes me as a problem. How uncomfortable are they? I dont mind some coloring, I like music to sound fun over exactly correct, but I want them to be VERY comfortable.

The DTX900's are still in the race...Mentioning that, this is my list of phones that are still in the race, and I include a line of thought about them too:

DTX900: Open, long cable, but said to have very nice sound, looks comfortable, 32Ohms.
MS-1: Open (Right?), not sure about wire, seems right for my tastes (very right!), harder to get, 32 Ohms
280 PRO: Closed (Yippee!), coiled cable(Yippee!), good sound (Said to have), seems nicely comfortable, tad expensive, 64 Ohms. (Does anybody know if they go as loud or louder than the HD25 on the same volume?)
HD515/555: Huge, looks comfortable, long cable, open, very good sound (At least, the 555), tad ugly, 50 Ohms
HD25sp: Small, long cable, probaly comfortable (If it is the same as the HD25 in comfortableness, I can live with it), closed (yippee!), hard to drive (85 Ohms) compared to other cans.

Please, in one line, tell me which phone will suit me best. I prefer closedness, comfortableness, if possible shorter cable (Unprobable), and of course good sound (they all should have good sound, maybe the 515 and 25sp are the only ones that could be seen as bad sound).

 

[spike33]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PDream Uncomfortable? This strikes me as a problem. How uncomfortable are they? I dont mind some coloring, I like music to sound fun over exactly correct, but I want them to be VERY comfortable. The DTX900's are still in the race...Mentioning that, this is my list of phones that are still in the race, and I include a line of thought about them too: DTX900: Open, long cable, but said to have very nice sound, looks comfortable, 32Ohms. MS-1: Open (Right?), not sure about wire, seems right for my tastes (very right!), harder to get, 32 Ohms 280 PRO: Closed (Yippee!), coiled cable(Yippee!), good sound (Said to have), seems nicely comfortable, tad expensive, 64 Ohms. (Does anybody know if they go as loud or louder than the HD25 on the same volume?) HD515/555: Huge, looks comfortable, long cable, open, very good sound (At least, the 555), tad ugly, 50 Ohms HD25sp: Small, long cable, probaly comfortable (If it is the same as the HD25 in comfortableness, I can live with it), closed (yippee!), hard to drive (85 Ohms) compared to other cans. Please, in one line, tell me which phone will suit me best. I prefer closedness, comfortableness, if possible shorter cable (Unprobable), and of course good sound (they all should have good sound, maybe the 515 and 25sp are the only ones that could be seen as bad sound).

Not heard dtx900 but if its anything like dt440, it should be exciting and have lotsa bass slam, great for rock. ms1 is probably your best choice in terms of sound, but they aren't very comfortable (varies from ear to ear). 515/555 may be too laidback, 'dull' for rock.

 

[PDream]

Quote:

Originally Posted by spike33 Not heard dtx900 but if its anything like dt440, it should be exciting and have lotsa bass slam, great for rock. ms1 is probably your best choice in terms of sound, but they aren't very comfortable (varies from ear to ear). 515/555 may be too laidback, 'dull' for rock.

Hm...Might be the DTX900 that will be the winner, it's been a favorite of mine since I first saw it and its VERY easy for me to get compared to the other cans. I am concerned enough by comfortableness to scrap the MS-1 for now. I do think the 440 and the 900 are roughyl the same, since they share a lot of things.

I want to make an end to this, thus I leave the:

DTX900
HD280 PRO

I prefer the HD280 in terms of type (Closed), and the type of wire (coiled can be short and long, you know), but the DTX900 is easier to get, cheaper, and it would be my first Beyer. Also has a lower impedance.

It's a tough choice now, especialy since the two are both known to be veyr, very good. Anyone know a bad point about the HD280 PRO?

 

[sgrossklass]

I'm not really a fan of curly cords - you may not get caught up in 'em (which probably is why DJ cans have them), but they always apply force when stretched. Something at least moderately isolating would, however, be preferred when listening in a bus. Maybe getting both a DTX900 (home) and a DT231 (mobile) would be an option?

 

[PDream]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sgrossklass I'm not really a fan of curly cords - you may not get caught up in 'em (which probably is why DJ cans have them), but they always apply force when stretched. Something at least moderately isolating would, however, be preferred when listening in a bus. Maybe getting both a DTX900 (home) and a DT231 (mobile) would be an option?

If that's the only reason you dont like them - I kind of dont stretch them, actualy, I feel the cord is still too long (Like, 1 meter, which is a tad long for my mobile player but nothing versus the 3 meters on other phones in this area) - I am way more leaning towards the HD280's. I do like the rahter large isolation the HD280 PRO is supposed to give you.

Realy, I dont have that much money. And for home use, I can use the HD25 of my dad's, which is a lot better I feel (Cant use them on the go though)

I still like looking at that DTX900, but it's open. Darn it, why doesnt Beyer make a cheap version of the closed cans they have? LEss good driver, that sort of stuff.

I own three Sennehisers:

HS25 (Well, my dad does, but I listen to them often)
PX200
MX400
And I feel the PX200 arent the greatest. If I had access to online selling (eBay or somehting), I would put them u, but frankly, I dont. (sinc eI dont have a CC, not even a bank account)

You seem to like the Beyers, which is nice. But, I also think the DT231's are too ugly to walk around with, they look too cheap for my tastes too, which is the difference between them and the 280 PROs.

 

[PDream]

Im sorry for this bump, but at least give me credit for only bumping it from seventh place or so:

The HD280's are realy getting my preference, but I have an important question: Are they easy to drive? i mean, 64 Ohms and 102 db/mw sounds very nice, but is it enough to be driven straightly from a portable?

 

[Cyclone]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PDream but is it enough to be driven straightly from a portable?

yes.

 

[donaldekelly]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PDream The HD280's are realy getting my preference, but I have an important question: Are they easy to drive? i mean, 64 Ohms and 102 db/mw sounds very nice, but is it enough to be driven straightly from a portable?

HD280s sound pretty good - lacking in bass impact but that can be fixed some with blu-tack (or any color tack). Also, with time they reportably get better bass as well (I bought mine used for about $65 USD so I don't know how they sounded at first).

Driven easily out of any portable. Amping helps some, EQ like bass boost will help also.

Pretty closed - not too much sound leakage, but fairly large. I wore them in public until I got some etymotics.

Dealing with the bass and perhaps the size are the two main issues with the 280s. The bass sounds pretty good now to me, and the size is only a question of whether you feel embarassed to wear big phones out in public.

And, as you suggested, forget about the HD25-sp. I haven't heard the DTX900.

 

[PDream]

Quote:

Originally Posted by donaldekelly HD280s sound pretty good - lacking in bass impact but that can be fixed some with blu-tack (or any color tack). Also, with time they reportably get better bass as well (I bought mine used for about $65 USD so I don't know how they sounded at first). Driven easily out of any portable. Amping helps some, EQ like bass boost will help also. Pretty closed - not too much sound leakage, but fairly large. I wore them in public until I got some etymotics. Dealing with the bass and perhaps the size are the two main issues with the 280s. The bass sounds pretty good now to me, and the size is only a question of whether you feel embarassed to wear big phones out in public. And, as you suggested, forget about the HD25-sp. I haven't heard the DTX900.

My player, luckily, has a bass boosting function. Might not be the nicest way to do it, but if I find it problematic, it can be fixed (Not worrying about battery life since its the highest - 70 hours). The size of the cans couldnt bother me less, if people sa rude things to me, I cant even hear them. And, all the other cans except the HD25sp are roughly the same size.

 

[jruser]

My HD-25SP will be coming in tomorrow, and I will post my thoughts on it.

I ended up choosing it over the HD280 due to the cracking headband issue. I wanted something that would last a while and the parts on the HD-25SP are completely replaceable (cheaply).

Headroom seemed to have a decent impression of the HD25-SP, and for $50 on ebay, it can't hurt anything...

 

[episiarch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PDream I kind of like my dad's HD-25, and I hope the SP version is just as good (Or close).

It just isn't. I own both. There really is a lot of difference between the SP and the regular 25 (easily worth the price difference in my opinion). If you're expecting HD25-1 quality and impact from the HD25-SP, you're going to be disappointed.

That said, I do like the HD25-SP. I actually like it more than the HD280, though I suspect that to be a minority opinion. The HD25-SP is a little on the dark side, but it has a balanced and accurate-sounding presentation, good isolation, and none of the ugly breakups or resonances that I hear in a lot of lower-end closed phones.

jruser, I hope you like the SP. At $50 I think you've gotten a real bargain. Is yours the Sennheiser-labeled SP, or one of the Concorde versions? (My impressions above are based on the Senn version.)

 

[Andrea]

A hint: you may check out the CNET (www.cnet.com) review of the sennheiser HD485.

 

[Mercuttio]

Compared to other earphones I tried in my great search (and remember, I owned the 280s first... for quite some time), the HD 280s are the musical equivalent of listening to Ben Stein do commentary at a very exciting Basketball game. The awesome source (your music) is there, but the HD 280s treat it analytically and make it quite boring.

 

[jruser]

Quote:

Originally Posted by episiarch It just isn't. I own both. There really is a lot of difference between the SP and the regular 25 (easily worth the price difference in my opinion). If you're expecting HD25-1 quality and impact from the HD25-SP, you're going to be disappointed. That said, I do like the HD25-SP. I actually like it more than the HD280, though I suspect that to be a minority opinion. The HD25-SP is a little on the dark side, but it has a balanced and accurate-sounding presentation, good isolation, and none of the ugly breakups or resonances that I hear in a lot of lower-end closed phones. jruser, I hope you like the SP. At $50 I think you've gotten a real bargain. Is yours the Sennheiser-labeled SP, or one of the Concorde versions? (My impressions above are based on the Senn version.)

Mine is the Sennhiser version (actually SP1, if that changes anything)... The guy said they were used for 2 months with an ipod and they are coming with retail box and all.

I was monitoring a few other auctions and saw a couple other used pairs go between $50 and $60. There was also one that had 5 NEW boxed pairs for $50 and only 2 of them sold...