[Xander]

The K401s are VERY open headphones. At a decent level, on a head, they sound like those cheap walkman speakers from a few feet away.

A lot of people complain they eat power. They definatly wont drive off a portable, but a receiver, preamp, or integrated amp of any respectable nature should drive them fine. My Sony CDP's output doesnt drive them very loud, and not to mention sounds like poo anyway. My Sansui integrated on the other hand has gobs of power (eyeblinking levels before I hit 10 o clock on the dial). Not to mention it sounds superb. You definatly need a nice amp to let these headphones shine, though. They sound terrible when under powered. And you can guess how bad they sound on poor sources.

 

[Neruda]

Chris, the DT250's will work great for that style of music.

Quote:

The 831s do sound a lot flatter and less coloured than the others, but you can fix this by running them through an eq (don't hit me!) to increase the bass response and they actually sound a little punchier this way...

I'm sorry. You want to...increase the bass so they won't be flat anymore? as in, make them innaccurate because they were accurate before? Because they were accurate, you need to fix them to make them innaccurate? Can i get some help here?

 

[Xander]

I'm speechless.

 

[Neruda]

as am I...

 

[coolvij]

I think he meant they sounded a bit life-less.....("flat).....and added some bass to warm things up a bit - to increase the "life-like factor," if you will.

I'm still confused, tho......

 

[Neruda]

Quote:

Originally posted by coolvij ...to increase the "life-like factor," if you will.

that's the problem coolvij, and one that i think many people seem to be ignorant to: accurate is life-like. Warm is not. Warm is coloration. Maybe this is why people dislike the K501's? Because they don't want a lifelike sound?

 

[Snufkin]

... which is why I added "don't hit me" in brackets

I don't know if it was my source or the headphones, but they did sound lifeless at the lower end and a little too shrill at the higher end, it basically meant that if I turned them up a little higher to listen to some -louder- music, the bass response didn't increase and the high-end became too apparent and actually painful.

Remember that headphones -do- sound different from some sources and while I agree that a flat response is what a lot of people strive to achieve, I found that for some reason a 'flat' setting with the 831s sounded.. uninteresting but agressively so.

Keep in mind though, if I'd not heard the 250s and 770s, I would have thought the 831s sounded fantastic on a flatter setting.

I'm probably just digging myself in deeper here, but I think what I'm trying to say is that it sounded to me like the low-end was actually missing, it sounded not flat or cold, but something else.

(edit) ok, I re-read a little, and I think I might not be using the right words in some places

When I initially said they sounded flat, I think a better word would be 'deflated'. IMHO bass response is something that's fairly important, especially with some types of music and what I found is that -there wasn't any noticable bass response- for some reason, I could hear basslines as such, but only if I really listened. Maybe I need to clean my ears or something

flame-proof suit is now ON

 

[Tim D]

I have Beyer DT931, I agree that as you ramp up the volume treble will ramp up aggressively. I think the the x31 Beyers sound best at lower volumes. Also higher output impedance does act to EQ the tonality of the headphones, basically attenuating highs and bumping up a little more midbass. In fact I'd say a higher output impedance is a minimum requirement for them.

The DT931 seems very similar in construction to DT831. I find it even more comfortable than AKG501, SennHD600, and certainly Grados. However if the 250 is lighter and even more comfortable...thats very impressive. If you think DT831 squish your head, you need to try HD600.

As for bass, supposedly the DT931 are a little better than 831 in this area. I know some headwizers have had a fair share of time with both so they would know more. With proper output impedance I prefer its bass to many other full-size cans. DT931 bass out of low impedance is overly tight.

 

[coolvij]

Neruda: Perhaps the 501 don't SOUND life-like to some people?

In all seriousness, tho....everyone hears differently.

Though the fact he said "less coloured" does confuse me....

 

[MacDEF]

Quote:

accurate is life-like. Warm is not. Warm is coloration. Maybe this is why people dislike the K501's? Because they don't want a lifelike sound?

LOL, Neruda, are you copying and pasting from Beagle's posts now?

Some people dislike the K501 because they don't feel they have a lifelike sound. Others like them because they feel they do. Probably as simple as that.

 

[Neruda]

I guess so...

 

[Snufkin]

... I think I was distracted/tired when I wrote that initial post, reading back over it I've thrown words in there that don't belong

In regards to comfort - the 250s are lighter and less 'squishy' than the 831s, but the cups are a different shape that would probably cause people with larger ears a little discomfort, I found they cramped my ears just a tad so after a while it was a relief to take them off.

Tim D: thanks for the insight, I guess I'm not going mad, but you've managed to confirm what I thought - I think I'll end up sending the 831s and 250s back and buying the 770s