[kman1211]

  i think akg k601 drivers are very good, they are fast and detailed, the only problem is that they have low sensitivity

They are good drivers, a touch of roughness in the 2khz region but I have heard it without the issue. They aren't too bad, but are a bit harder to drive than the newer K612. The T50RP and especially the old K240 Sextetts make the K601 seem easy to drive. Took a Lyr 2 to get the T50RPs going and the Lyr 2 struggled with Sextetts, the Sextetts need a monster amp behind them.

 

[FastAndClean]

yes they have peak at 2 khz, that make them little dry sounding, but i like it, female vocals really stand out, without foam rings upper mids are even more forward, really powerful female voices, i have no problem with that signature
 
they are hard to drive for sure, but dragonfly drive them at 80 percent volume is more than enough for me
dt150 is a lot easier to drive, 50 percent volume is enough most of the time

 

[FastAndClean]

i really want to try AKG K240 DF, very interesting headphones

 

[MayorDomino]

Thought a Cayin C5 would drive drive these to pad rumbling levels but they don't. Will an O2 do this?

 

[MayorDomino]

Thought a Cayin C5 would drive drive these to pad rumbling levels but they don't. Will an O2 do this?

Ignore this, The Nexus 5 must have the weakest DAC ever

 

[ilmothedude]

I have listened to DT 150 a lot lately, and I have grew to love their sound more than ever. But when I switch to my open back phones, Shure SRH 1440, they're SO bright after DT 150. Even though I love bright sound of Shures, I thought it would be ideal to have also different, maybe warmer sounding open back phones also, maybe something like DT 150. Have read good thing about DT 440, price seems good too... suggestions?

 

[mysticstryk]

  I have listened to DT 150 a lot lately, and I have grew to love their sound more than ever. But when I switch to my open back phones, Shure SRH 1440, they're SO bright after DT 150. Even though I love bright sound of Shures, I thought it would be ideal to have also different, maybe warmer sounding open back phones also, maybe something like DT 150. Have read good thing about DT 440, price seems good too... suggestions?

 
If your looking for a warmer sounding open back, can't go wrong with the HD650.

 

[Arttt]

Hifiman he-400i 
it puts most of the headphones to shame and way above hd650 league, great VALUE for 500$.
 
cool thing is , he400i is not hard to drive.  it sound decent straight out my iphone6 and some lossless music!  of course amped it took things to another level ...
 
i highly recommend this headphone, PLANAR MAGNETIC headphones surpass  dynamic headphones in terms of liquidity, smoothness , warmth, sound body and speed.
 
Bass on he400i is cool,  detailed textured layered and punchy, can't be compared with bloated dull, on one note bass of hd650 , for example ...
its also very agile witch brings high energy of music out of headphones and takes spaciousness and excitement to a new level.
 
he400i is very open sounding , sound is clean and warm , with lush thick mids , slightly rolled off treble( in my opinion it doesn't harm overall presentation , its simply a character of 400i and will address a certain public quit well),  and lots of PLANAR bass.
 
if you thinking on getting open headphones that are special just as dt150 , with awesome sweet mids , that sound lush yet detailed and have lots of body to it , he400is is a way to go!
 
Don't worry about price , its worth it!

 

[mysticstryk]

I also recommend the 400i.  It is a great headphone and competes well against the hd650.  However, after owning both for a few months, I sold my 400i in favor of my hd650.  The bass on the 400i is of higher quality and detail.  The midrange and vocal presentation was bested by the hd650.  Treble is a toss up.  The 400i is more upfront but can be hot to some, while the hd650 is smooth and can be too dark for some.  Pick your preference.  Soundstage, imaging, etc were about equal.  Overall, I found them both to be worth their $500 asking price, even more so since they both go on sale now and then for around $300.

 

[kman1211]

I have listened to DT 150 a lot lately, and I have grew to love their sound more than ever. But when I switch to my open back phones, Shure SRH 1440, they're SO bright after DT 150. Even though I love bright sound of Shures, I thought it would be ideal to have also different, maybe warmer sounding open back phones also, maybe something like DT 150. Have read good thing about DT 440, price seems good too... suggestions?

The DT 440 is quite bright, it's not really what your looking for.

I would suggest the HE-400i, HD 650, or the more expensive Nighthawks. The Nighthawk is the best of the three headphones, it's the smoothest, has the most body to its sound, best bass, has the least distortion, and the most three dimensional and deep soundstaging of the three, costs the most though and is the darkest of the three. The HE-400i is very smooth and fast with great detail and imaging, but doesn't achieve the amount of body, has less bass body and slam, and doesn't sound as organic as the Nighthawks. The HD 650 is slightly slow and one-notish sounding in the bass but has excellent tonality and a lot of body and impact to its sound when driven right.

 

[ilmothedude]

Good suggestions, both probably very hi-fidelity phones. Prices are a bit high though... I've read about HD 650 being rather dark, it kind of pulls me away from them as I like brighter sound. But who knows, haven't heard of them. My only experience of Senns are cheap in-ears and vintage pair HD 424, not much to take reference from.

 

[mysticstryk]

  Good suggestions, both probably very hi-fidelity phones. Prices are a bit high though... I've read about HD 650 being rather dark, it kind of pulls me away from them as I like brighter sound. But who knows, haven't heard of them. My only experience of Senns are cheap in-ears and vintage pair HD 424, not much to take reference from.

 
I wouldn't classify the hd650 as dark but rather warm.  The hd600 or 400i could be more to your liking if your used to a brighter sound.

 

[Arttt]

dynamic drivers can't compete with planar magnetic drivers in terms of smoothness liquidity  black background and tone richness along with layering and retrieval of micro details without sounding either  like hd800- ocean of detail and sacrificing musicality warmth and smoothness , or something like hd650 - smoothness , and sacrificing neutrality by rolling off treble a lot so it sounds unrealistic and boring if you listen more than pop music , just listen to acoustic recordings  , rock blues jazz classics whatever - where instruments actualy touched  real air , and hd650 fails to bring accuracy speed and realism of guitar string or saxophone , piano or drum...it fails all instruments , one of the reasons for that is treble roll off...
 
and that sweet dark sound becomes boring really fast if you listen to demanding music , and all kind of music genders and not only pop music in mp3 format ...
 
hd650 sounds like a toy comparing to he400i , as simple as that , it lacks both in realism of timber, richness of tonality , layering and body of midrange  and most of all BASS , low end of hd650 , comparing to he400i is bloat loose and lacks detail layering and accuracy to it , its simple booming your ears with air pressure , such bass  bores me  to be honest ...   now he400i is another story , planar bass is in another league ...
 
i am surprised anyone would prefer hd650 over he400i, 2 my ears hd650 is way too colored and boring.... everything on hd650 sounds the same, you never hear recording as it is , as it meant to sound , hd650 takes over and colors all in one flavor , its kind pleasant and euphonic , the way hd650 sound at first but then you feel like all kind of music sound the same three them ...
 
with he400i you  can actually hear how it sound very different , depending on type of recording you play , how it hits you with lots of low end when its  in the recording , something like infected mushroom - noon  , that deep tight bass simply breath taking , hits you with authority and rich layering...
 
then you put some gentle blues song , and vocals and instruments sound gentle , you hear different type of presentation , word of speak ...
 
one other thing is , hd650 plays all on one note , if in a track there is vocal , drums , guitars and piano , it all will have same type of bass notes and smoothness to it
 
when he400i plays vocals with different notes and overtones of bass at the same time it plays drums with other tones of bass , giving it authority and high energy and still remain vocals gentle and sweet , it also manage to keep all musical instruments " as they are " not confusing them with each other and bringing different bass notes and layering all over the track.
 
hd650 is simply sweet and dark, has lots of wooly one note bass , and very euphonic , also forgiving to bad recordings ...
its fine headphone to start with, but no way it can be compared to something like he400i ...period .

 

[kman1211]

dynamic drivers can't compete with planar magnetic drivers in terms of smoothness liquidity  black background and tone richness along with layering and retrieval of micro details without sounding either  like hd800- ocean of detail and sacrificing musicality warmth and smoothness , or something like hd650 - smoothness , and sacrificing neutrality by rolling off treble a lot so it sounds unrealistic and boring if you listen more than pop music , just listen to acoustic recordings  , rock blues jazz classics whatever - where instruments actualy touched  real air , and hd650 fails to bring accuracy speed and realism of guitar string or saxophone , piano or drum...it fails all instruments , one of the reasons for that is treble roll off...

and that sweet dark sound becomes boring really fast if you listen to demanding music , and all kind of music genders and not only pop music in mp3 format ...

hd650 sounds like a toy comparing to he400i , as simple as that , it lacks both in realism of timber, richness of tonality , layering and body of midrange  and most of all BASS , low end of hd650 , comparing to he400i is bloat loose and lacks detail layering and accuracy to it , its simple booming your ears with air pressure , such bass  bores me  to be honest ...   now he400i is another story , planar bass is in another league ...

i am surprised anyone would prefer hd650 over he400i, 2 my ears hd650 is way too colored and boring.... everything on hd650 sounds the same, you never hear recording as it is , as it meant to sound , hd650 takes over and colors all in one flavor , its kind pleasant and euphonic , the way hd650 sound at first but then you feel like all kind of music sound the same three them ...

with he400i you  can actually hear how it sound very different , depending on type of recording you play , how it hits you with lots of low end when its  in the recording , something like infected mushroom - noon  , that deep tight bass simply breath taking , hits you with authority and rich layering...

then you put some gentle blues song , and vocals and instruments sound gentle , you hear different type of presentation , word of speak ...

one other thing is , hd650 plays all on one note , if in a track there is vocal , drums , guitars and piano , it all will have same type of bass notes and smoothness to it

when he400i plays vocals with different notes and overtones of bass at the same time it plays drums with other tones of bass , giving it authority and high energy and still remain vocals gentle and sweet , it also manage to keep all musical instruments " as they are " not confusing them with each other and bringing different bass notes and layering all over the track.

hd650 is simply sweet and dark, has lots of wooly one note bass , and very euphonic , also forgiving to bad recordings ...
its fine headphone to start with, but no way it can be compared to something like he400i ...period .

Planars are not necessarily better than dynamics but they do reveal many faults with many dynamics for sure, the HD 650 isn't really all that fast or high fidelity of a dynamic driver. It's nicely tuned and a pleasant listen but honestly not a good example of what dynamics are capable of. I do agree about the HD 650 not being all that great though, how good it is quite exaggerrated imho.

 

[Arttt]

planars are better than dynamic, planar technology offers less distortion , thats not news ...
it gives you cleaner more detailed sound without sounding analytical ,it gives warmth smoothness without sounding "veiled or way too colored"
dynamic drivers , even the best of them , can't give you black background  of planar headphones , that sensation when sound appears from total silence is very special thing ...
 
planars have unmatched low end , its speed and authority combined with rich tone and complex layering can't be done by dynamic drivers...
 
to put it short , planar magnetic headphones sound more substantional , theres "more sound" in the air .. and planar drivers produce sound so effortlessly with such ease and speed , its really another way of listening to a music.
 
after i owned some of the best dynamic drivers and had lots of good times with them , specialy hd800 and t5p 2end gen, i never go back to dynamic drivers for ultimate listening experience and long listening sessions ...
 
the only dynamic headphones i left  are dt150 and yamaha mt220 , very special headphones i couldn't not sell )
 
now its hifiman he560 , i am simply hypnotized by how it sounds , and i am rediscovering all my music library again because of this not so expensive but really reference headphones from hifiman !
 
 
i think i got carried away a little here and will stop going on about planars, my final word is - get hifiman he400i , you won't be sorry )