[trivium911]

Maybe listen to Zeo's sound demos for both cans. It's not exact, but should give you a general idea as to what the low end sounds like

just curious im listening to the demo videos but they all sound very similar with the exception of the soundstage through my 400i's. Lol its a bit a bit funny to be listening to headphones through headphones...cool though.

 

[Mhog55]

just curious im listening to the demo videos but they all sound very similar with the exception of the soundstage through my 400i's. Lol its a bit a bit funny to be listening to headphones through headphones...cool though.

Listen to several different demos. Makes it a little easier to discern any differences. Once you find a few you like, listen to them a few more times

 

[trivium911]

Found this:

https://www.innerfidelity.com/content/innerfidelity-february-2014-update

Looks like this guy prefers the hp50 over the b&o hp50

 

[SilverEars]

Found this:

https://www.innerfidelity.com/content/innerfidelity-february-2014-update

Looks like this guy prefers the hp50 over the b&o hp50

You shouldn't take a single person's preference too seriously even if it's Tyll's. I think he tries to be fair in terms of performance and pricing, but there will be disagreements from his recommendations.

All audiophile equipment should come with a money back guarantee due to fake reviews out there.

 

[trivium911]

You shouldn't take a single person's preference too seriously even if it's Tyll's. I think he tries to be fair in terms of performance and pricing, but there will be disagreements from his recommendations.



All audiophile equipment should come with a money back guarantee due to fake reviews out there.

This is true and where it comes down to personal preference and genres.

 

[SilverEars]

Looking at all these noise isolation grapha with lower isolation in the lows compared to highs, I wonder if increasing bass makes up for the low frequency noise (if not using ANC)?

Something like this (CA Cascade) which has lots of bass.



Full-backs generally have noise isolation response like this, with bass area with the least amount of isolation. Boost the bass for such situation to hear bass better? For balanced sound, of course ANC would be better (so you don't have to boost to compete with the noise).

 

[rkw]

Yeah i understand that just curious as to how they are doing it or what concept its based on.

The basic concept of ANC is that a microphone picks up external sound, and an opposite signal is played into the headphone driver to cancel it.

 

[SilverEars]

Looking at the noise reduction response with ANC on, the noise reduction is uneven, so in noisy situations you get this uneven noise reduction. Same thing for passive isolation in noisy situations. Lower frequency noise is passed through the most.

I think the ideal ANC or the goal would be a linear noise reduction response. That's when ANC would be most practical and perfect.

 

[PointyFox]

Yeah i understand that just curious as to how they are doing it or what concept its based on. In either case the IEMS might be all you need, my knockoff SE846s isolate extremely well with memory foam tips...adequate for noisy flights

Active headphones have microphones that pick up incoming noise. The electronics inverts the noise and plays it through the speaker. When the inverted wave is played over the noise, they cancel each other out through "destructive interference".

Edit: Oh, what rkw said.

 

[highfell]

Maybe listen to Zeo's sound demos for both cans. It's not exact, but should give you a general idea as to what the low end sounds like[/QUOTE

Found it on You Tube, thanks - will have a listen

 

[trivium911]

one thing i didnt talk about with the HP50s is the build quality which is not great and they may require some modding for comfort or to seal properly. I find that the they dont seal well on the bottom and the rear of the ear cup if you move around alot, i was putting tissue behind the cups which worked really well and gave the pads a nice angle which increased soundstage but it got annoying when it fell out. Im going to try some closed cell foam tape tonight from home depot which after reading the forums works extremely well. The other thing people mentioned is some creaks which there are fixes for aswell. I haven't had any creaking issues however i've only owned them for about a month. Majority of people on the forums seem to agree that these are the best sounding headphones that punch above their class even at the $300 original MSRP. The 2nd issue for me was having a small head, i had to use closed cell foam tape on the underside of the headband otherwise there was nothing touching the top of my head and they were not that secure otherwise. This was not the first time i have had to do this with headphones though even my hifiman 400i's fit just perfect at the smallest setting so i think i just have a small head, lol.

One other pair of headphones that i forgot to mention that may be more comfortable is the PSB M4U, they are basically the same headphones designed by Pual Barton with the same sound signature. I think they dont look as classy though and even look a little bit funky.

Update: looks like the closed celll foam tape works well and cured any issue with comfort or sealing for the HP50s

 

[keroro0071]

ANC headphones are the ones to go if you would spend long time on transportation every day.

 

[highfell]

I found the Z reviews & sound demos both entertaining and useful and they have proved helpful in focusing my mind.

B&O H6 are similar to the mezes but not as comfortable and there is an issue about pad replacement. But probably they are a bit cheaper.
HP50s build quality and that square headband put me off
I don’t want ANCs as they affect the sound quality.

For the Mezes are they are fun, every part replaceable, you can change the sound quality with pad replacements which could be fun, I like the idea of wood and they look great (but maybe a bit blingy),sound is smooth and confrtable to listen to and yet they seem to have a bit of pzaz about them. A bit bass heavy but with the Hugo2 I think they will pair well.

Now I have to decide new/used and gold/silver

Thanks for the comments

 

[rkw]

I don’t want ANCs as they affect the sound quality.

I would say that it really isn't an issue with the higher quality ANC headphones of today. For a commuter headphone, you have to balance it with the fact that external noise also affects sound quality. The best thing to do is listen for yourself if you have local shops where you can try headphones.

 

[highfell]

I would say that it really isn't an issue with the higher quality ANC headphones of today. For a commuter headphone, you have to balance it with the fact that external noise also affects sound quality. The best thing to do is listen for yourself if you have local shops where you can try headphones.

Noted.

My commute though is on a fairly quiet train but more importantly I have getting an extra (not really needed) & relatively cheap pair of headphones which are closed back (instead of my very nice SE846 iems) and I want to maximise the sound quality and don’t want to pay for the ANC part. I would prefer a good naturally isolating pair and accept any outside nose