Henmyr
1000+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Aug 17, 2006
- Posts
- 1,148
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- 11
1. Introduction
2. Build and comfort
3. Comparison
3.1 Midrange
3.2 Treble
3.3 Bass
3.4 Soundstage, air, separation
4. Conclusion
5. Comments
6. Some comments after I got the Little Dot MKIII
7. Artists/Albums used for the comparison
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[size=large]1. Introduction[/size]
This comparison can show how four mid-fi/hi-fi headphones compare when used in a low-end headphone rig.
Headphones compared:
Beyerdynamic DT880 version 2005, 250ohm.
Alessandro Music Series Two (MS2i), mushroom shape, 32ohm, bowls (I think bowls sound better than flats for 95% of all recordings).
Sennheiser HD650, originally bought 2004 (not by me), Oehlbach cable (from what I’ve read, supposed to be warmer and smoother than stock, I don’t have stock to compare with).
Audio-Technica ATH-AD2000, around 200 hours burn in (the sound changed a lot for the better for me during the first 100 hours, maybe burn in, maybe me getting used to them).
Source/amp used:
Hotrodded LM4562 Xfi
Zero DAC (dac: LT1364, amp: LT1361)
Meier Headfive
Comments about source/amp:
HD650 is a very warm headphone, and the headfive and zero are both slightly warm, and the combination might not be the best. I find the LT1364 to be on the warm side also, which mates well with AD2000, DT880 and MS2i, but less so with HD650.
Other comments:
I try to follow this post to use the right descriptions:
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f4/des...ossary-220770/
Note that when I say soundstage, if not specified otherwise, I mean the out of the head effect, not the imaginary soundstage which can appear in front of the head.
Comment about the comparison in the end: When I write ”X /> Y “ I mean “X and Y are very close to each other, but If I have to chose, I would say Y is less than X”.
Try to look beyond my spelling mistakes, as I can’t put any more time in this comparison. I will correct the grammar, spelling and badly written sentences as I find the errors. This is my first review, so if I find ways to improve the layout to make it more easy for the eyes, I will change it.
I’m a REALLY lousy photographer, so I will not take any pictures. If I did, they would be blurry and the colors all messed up.
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[size=large]2. Build and comfort:[/size]
MS2i:
Build quality is ok and I like the look very much. I like the “less is more” approach, not much which can break. The comfort is not the best, I did get used to it and can now wear it for hours, but it was a pain in the beginning.
AD2000:
Since I haven’t got the AD2000 for long, I can’t say how good the build quality is, but my first impression is that it might be easy to break them. The comfort was really really bad when I first got them, much worse than MS2i. My ears rest against the driver, and before I got used to it my ears were really sore. Now I’ve been used to it a bit, so I can wear them without much discomfort. The wings which are on top of the head are very light, after the first seconds of putting the phones on my head I do not feel them anymore.
DT880:
This is how every headphone should be created. The build quality is excellent. I’m pretty sure that these will not break no matter how badly they are handled. The looks are nothing special, they look good and are neutral enough to not make one look really bad while using them.
HD650:
The headband is not metal at all from what I can tell, so they seem to break easily. I got them second hand, so the headband was already stretched, which makes them very comfortable for me, no clamping force at all.
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[size=large]3. Comparison:[/size]
I will try to be as objective as I can for the comparison and will include personal thoughts last.
[size=medium]3.1 Midrange:[/size]
The midrange of the four headphones are very different from each other. It’s hard to say which has the more natural midrange. HD650 and DT880 both share a warm tone, HD650 more than DT880. AD2000 and MS2i are tilted slightly to the cold side of neutral, but not as much as HD650 tilt to the warm side. The question about which one is the most natural one often depends on the recording; all of the headphones compared can sound very natural when paired with the right song.
MS2i:
The MS2i have the sharpest midrange of them all. Everything in the midrange is extremely sharp and airy, which gives a very clear picture, but can also lead to fatigue if one is extra sensitive. The midrange is not as full sounding as the other headphones, and this works very well for female vocals, but less so with male vocals. The timbre is rather good, and paired with the very clear midrange, the instruments get a very good presence (as in; you can almost imagine being in the same room as the instrument). I find it to pair well with vocals, rock and metal alike.
AD2000:
The AD2000 have a very pronounced midrange. It is colored, maybe more than the other, but it can still make voices sound very natural and with a good presence. It can be slightly “honky” on some recordings, but very rarely(see description thread).
The midrange occupies a larger part of the sound on AD2000 than what it does with the other headphones. This is both a blessing and a curse, depending on song, but for me mostly a blessing. The AD2000 doesn’t have as sharp midrange as the MS2i, which makes it less fatiguing, but also slightly less clear (notice the “slightly”). It’s mostly sharper than both DT880 and HD650, but DT880 is sharper when it comes to brass instruments and saxophones.
I find the timbre of the AD2000 to be ok, but still the worst out of the four. The coloration which gives a very euphonic midrange signature also makes the instruments sound slightly unnatural compared to the other headphones. The distorted electrical guitar is not as sharp, crisp and raw as that of the MS2i and DT880, but slightly better than the HD650.
Over-all, I REALLY like the midrange of AD2000. It’s very euphonic/musical and works well with any genre.
DT880:
The first impression I get from the DT880 midrange is that it is slightly warm, slightly dry and slightly dark. The midrange is kind of two sided with the DT880; I can be sharp and clear, nearly to the MS2i level when listening to brass instruments and distorted electric guitars, but slightly recessed and dry when it comes to vocals. It is the only headphone of the four which I find just slightly sibilant, the other headphones are very rarely sibilant. I find that the DT880 has got the darkest midrange of the bunch, with the HD650 a very close second.
DT880 is the worst of the four when it comes to euphony, for me there is almost no euphony at all in the midrange. The timbre of the DT880 is very good, and perhaps the best overall. HD650 and AD2000 are slightly better with piano, and MS2i is slightly better with guitars, but the DT880 is not far behind. It does brass and saxophones very well, perhaps best of all four.
Over-all, I would say that the midrange does what it should do, but nothing more.
HD650:
The first impression with HD650 midrange is warmth. The HD650 is the definition of warmth. It is slightly dark compared to AD2000 and MS2i. I do hear a very slight hint of veil, but it does not get in the way (it might be the Oehlbach which reduce the veil a bit, since I’ve heard HD650 at other times where it was much more veiled).
Compared to the DT880, the midrange of HD650 is kind of inverted. The vocals on the HD650 are sharp and clear (not to the extent of MS2i and AD2000) and the instruments are slightly dry instead.
The timbre is rather good, almost as good all-round as DT880 and better than AD2000. The vocals of HD650 have a lot of emotion in the form of euphony. The midrange of the HD650 has more weight than the other three headphones. There is not a hint of thinness. This can be both good and bad, good when listening to male vocals, bad when it makes the sound thick.
[size=medium]3.2 Treble:[/size]
There isn’t as much to be said about the treble, so I will make this section slightly smaller.
DT880 has clearly more treble than the other headphones. MS2i and HD650 are very close actually, much closer than what I though before I got the HD650. The AD2000 is just very slightly behind MS2 and HD650 when it comes to treble amount.
DT880:
DT880 has got a very sparkly treble. It is also very airy and slightly thin in comparison to the other headphones. It is very present and a large part of the sound of the DT880. It wasn’t until I got HD650 and AD2000 that I realized really how much treble DT880 has got compared to other headphones (I do not find it fatiguing however).
MS2i:
MS2i has also got a nice sparkly treble. The treble isn’t as thin and airy as the treble of DT880. It is thicker and has more body to it, if one can describe it that way. I hear no warmth at all in the treble. The color is very neutral, clear, silvery (the housing fits the sound very well) and sparkly.
HD650 Oehlbach:
The treble has got more presence and is more sparkly than what I first though it would be. The warmth of the HD650 is also present in the treble. The color is rather gold than silver when compared to the other headphones. I do not find any harshness in treble, and no veil either.
AD2000:
The treble isn’t as sparkly as the other headphones. It is neutral in coloration, not warm and not quite as silvery as the MS2i’s. It’s more to the airy side (DT880) than the thick (MS2i) side. It doesn’t add much to the music and doesn’t subtract anything either. I would call it slightly recessed compared to the treble of the other three. It’s the driest treble of them all, this is both good and bad; the treble doesn’t bring as much toe-tapping excitement as DT880/MS2i, but it’s also less fatiguing. It sound like it’s slightly hidden behind the midrange.
[size=medium]3.3 Bass:[/size]
The bass amount of the four headphones varies a bit with the recordings. HD650 is always the more bassy one, but the other three take turns being on second place.
DT880:
DT880 are commonly known as bass-light headphones. This is something which I cannot agree with. I find the bass to be well in line with the midrange and treble. The bass is tight and has a thump to it. The bass has got a subwoofer like coloration (the bass hits mostly in the deep registers), very black. I find it to hit hard when comparing to the other three headphones.
AD2000:
The bass of the AD2000 is a bit different than that of the DT880. It’s a bit faster and tighter, and a bit less of the deep register “thump” which the DT880 has. The “thump” is a bit higher up in the registers, but not as high up as MS2i.
My impression from reading before I got the AD2000 was that it had more bass than DT880, I did however not find this to be the case at all.
MS2i:
The MS2i has more prominent bass peak than the DT880, but the peak is not as deep down as the one on DT880. This difference makes it sound like the DT880 has got as much bass as the MS2i even though the MS2i has got a higher amplitude bass peak. The bass of MS2i is not the tightest and most detailed of the bunch, it’s rather the famous Grado punch, no more no less.
HD650:
HD650 is the bassiest of the four. It has got a larger peak than MS2i but a bit deeper down, but not as deep down as DT880. The tightness is slight less than DT880, but not as loose as I though the bass would be before I got it. It’s not as detailed as the bass of AD2000, nor that of DT880.
[size=medium]3.4 Soundstage, air, separation:[/size]
DT880:
With this low-end rig, DT880 is clearly the most technical one. It has the best separation of all, largest soundstage and most air. Every instrument is separated, which makes it very easy to follow every little thing in the music. It handles complex music very well.
HD650:
The soundstage is large but not as large as DT880. The separation and air is good, but the sometimes thick midrange can reduce the air and make the sound rather thick as a whole.
MS2i:
MS2i is a Grado in disguise, and the soundstage is what immediately gives it away. It’s the smallest of the four by a large margin, but the neutral and airy midrange keeps it from getting too closed in. The separation is good, and the sound is presented more as a whole rather than very separated like DT880 and HD650 to an extent.
AD2000:
The soundstage of AD2000 is smaller than both DT880 and HD650, but still much larger than that of MS2i. The air and separation is still good despite not having the largest soundstage, though not as good as that of DT880. I find it to not do complex music quite as well as the DT880. Due to this, the AD2000 would not be my headphone if classical music was my main genre.
The MS2i could never be my only headphone due to the small soundstage, but the soundstage of AD2000 is big enough for this to not be an issue for me.
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[size=large]4. Conclusion:[/size]
[size=medium]Midrange:[/size]
Timbre:
DT880 > HD650 /> MS2i > AD2000
Clarity: (tricky one, DT880 > AD2000 for distorted guitars and brass, but AD2000>>DT880 for vocals):
MS2i > AD2000 / DT880 / HD650
Grain: Less - More
MS2i /< AD2000 < HD650 /< DT880
Euphony: (this is highly subjective): More - Less
AD2000 > MS2i / HD650 >> DT880
Warm-Cold
HD650>DT880>MS2i /> AD2000
Dark-Bright
DT880 /> HD650 > AD2000 > MS2i
Amount of midrange: More - Less
AD2000 > MS2i >> HD650 / DT880
[size=medium]Treble[/size]
Treble amount:
DT880 >> MS2i /> HD650 /> AD2000 (The MS2i/HD650/AD2000 are all close to each other here)
Treble brightness: Bright>Dark
DT880 > MS2i > AD2000 > HD650 (the slight warmth of the HD650 treble make it sound rather dark)
Fatigue due to treble (this is relative compared to each other, I do not find anyone harsh due to treble):
DT880 > MS2i > HD650 / AD2000 (the warmth of the HD650 get’s to me, and makes the AD2000 sound less harsh/annoying to me)
Warm treble – Cold treble: (coloration):
HD650 > DT880 > AD2000 > MS2i
[size=medium]Bass[/size]
Perceived bass amount (how bassy does the headphone sound, see the detailed comparison of the bass for explanation):
HD650 >> DT880 / MS2i /> AD2000
Tightness: Tight - Loose
AD2000 > DT880 > HD650 / MS2i
Texture (how much detail is there in the bass? Is it just a thump, or can you hear what the bass drum is made of?) Much – Not much:
AD2000 > DT880 > HD650 > MS2i
[size=medium]Other factors[/size]
Soundstage: Large – Small
DT880 > HD650 > AD2000 >> MS2i
Speed: Fast – Slow (I find this hard to hear, so take it with a grain of salt)
AD2000 > MS2i / DT880 > HD650
Detail (I will leave this out as details is not something I prioritize, and thus I do not listen for it very often, thus I’m not good at describing it)
Separation: Well separated – Less separated
DT880 > MS2i / AD2000 / HD650
Air (combination of separation and soundstage): More – Less
DT880 > AD2000 > MS2i / HD650
Fun and prat: Much – Not much
AD2000 > MS2i / DT880 > HD650
[size=medium]HD650:[/size]
The bass is clearly in focus in the HD650, and the warmth is found everywhere over the register. In passages with a lot of things happening, the bass is what HD650 wants one to follow. It is very smooth, musical and not harsh at all, and I found it to work with every genre. It even worked ok with metal and rock.
[size=medium]DT880:[/size]
I would say bass and hights are in focus. The midrange isn’t really recessed, just when compared to the other headphones in this review. The soundstage is big and airy. DT880 is the most analytical headphone in this review, not very musical when compared to the other three. The timbre is very good. It works well as an all-round headphone, as I’ve been listening to every genre with it and it never found it a bad match.
[size=medium]MS2i:[/size]
Balanced, but slightly more focus on the midrange. The midrange is extremely clear and sharp, which works very well for metal and rock. Distorted electrical guitars sound very raw with a lot of power. I use it mostly for vocals, mostly female, rock and metal. Never use it for classical, since the soundstage is a too small. I find it to suit female vocals much better than male vocals due to the thinner midrange than the other headphones.
[size=medium]AD2000:[/size]
Midrange, no doubt about it, is what the AD2000 is about. The AD2000 clearly wants the listened to follow the singer if there is one. It is very musical, and not very analytical at all. The timbre is not the best, as tonal accuracy has been sacrificed for euphoria instead. This is an all-rounder like DT880, but in my case even more so. If one wants timber over euphony, one should choose DT880, otherwise I feel that AD2000 is better/more fun.
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[size=large]5. Comments:[/size]
From the comparison one could think that I do not like the AD2000 much. This couldn’t be further from the truth though. Since I got them they are my most used headphone. They can play any genre, and it does it well.
I listen to a lot of metal, and a common problem with this genre is the fine line between a harsh headphone and a boring one, either you get an exciting headphone which can be harsh, or an un-harsh headphone which is boring. To get metal exciting you need prat and bite, two abilities which can also make the sound harsh. With HD650, the sound is very unharsh, but the cost is the prat and bite, which is not very present. DT880 is better, more prat and bite, but it’s getting close to the harsh line. MS2i is very similar, it has got a lot of bite and prat, but can make bad recordings sound very bad. The AD2000 however, has got a lot of prat and bite, but I still do not find it harsh. It’s the first headphone I’ve heard that can play all of my metal recordings. Before AD2000 I had to use both DT880 and MS2i to do it, now AD2000 seems to be enough. It shares the midrange of the MS2i, and the bigger soundstage and deeper bass of DT880, while still not harsh.
I need to have the AD2000 much longer to really decide if they should be my only headphone. What could hold me back is the smaller soundstage, worse separation, timbre and comfort than DT880. I find the bass to be enough, but a bit more than “enough” would have been nice. It is pretty much the only headphone I listen to at the moment, but this might just be the “new toy syndrome”, or it really is that good.
HD650 is not my favorite headphone at all, and I hope that didn’t shine through too much in the comparison. It’s too warm for me. I could never live with the HD650 as my only headphone, at least not in its current state, perhaps it’s much less warm with a better amp/source. It sounds better using only the Zero DAC/AMP than using Zero DAC + Headfive.
I could not live with MS2i as my only headphone either. It needs another headphone to do every genre, especially classical. DT880 pair well with MS2i for this. Over-all a good metal headphone, but the small soundstage keeps it from being my ONLY metal headphone.
DT880 is a good all-round headphone. It’s an ok fun headphone, much more so than HD650, but it lacks the clear neutral midrange I want. It can be used with good results on every genre I’ve tried, metal, rock, vocals, jazz, classical, trance and so on. The dry midrange is what’s keeping it from being my only headphone. Sometimes I just need the crystal clear neutral/cold midrange which MS2i and AD2000 have.
Due to the semi-closed build, I find the DT880 to have a slightly less “open” sound than the rest. As an example;. The soundstage is big, and the air is good, but it sound like being in a very large room/cave.
I feel that I rather have one headphone if I can find one which does everything I need it to do. As it seems now, AD2000 is a clear candidate. If I have more than one headphone, I start to swap between them a lot, for comparison and whatever, and I then feel that I don’t really know how the recording should sound.
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[size=large]6. Some comments after I got the Little Dot MKIII:[/size]
This part was written much later than the rest of the chapters.
My experience after getting the LD MKIII is that all of the headphones improved with it. The first thing I noticed was the larger soundstage with all of the four headphones. The bass was also increased just slightly with every headphone.
I had the HD650 for only a day after I got the LD MKIII, so I can’t give a lot of information of that pairing, but my impression was an improvement on all fronts, and less warmth. This made me really hesitant to sell the HD650, but I’d already made the deal and I don’t want four headphones, so it had to go.
The DT880 gained a bit less dry midrange, which I liked a lot. It also gained a larger soundstage and a bit more bass, both very welcome changes.
The AD2000 was the one I found gained the most from the LD MKIII. The soundstage increase was rather big, and the timbre improved a lot. I do no longer find the timber to be much worse than the other headphones. The acoustic guitar was what I found had a rather bad timbre before, but now sound rather natural. The AD2000 have also gained a bit of bass which was very welcome. There is also a bit more warmth, for both good and bad.
I haven’t listened critically to the MS2i since the review/comparison above which was before I got the LD MKIII, so I can’t really tell what it gained from the LD MKIII.
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[size=large]7. Artists/Albums which were used during the comparison[/size]
Metal:
Mastodon
Tool
Opeth
Sylvan
Machine Head
Baroness
Meshuggah
Green Carnation
+ more
Jazz (not my main genre):
Miles Davies
Diana Krall (is this Jazz?)
+ more
Vocals, rock, pop + more:
Allan Taylor - Colour to the Moon
Morphine - Cure for pain
Katie Melua
Hikaru Utada (J-pop I think)
Dire Straits
Norah Jones
+ more
Classical (not my main genre):
Mostly Beethoven Symphonies, piano sonatas, chamber + more.
2. Build and comfort
3. Comparison
3.1 Midrange
3.2 Treble
3.3 Bass
3.4 Soundstage, air, separation
4. Conclusion
5. Comments
6. Some comments after I got the Little Dot MKIII
7. Artists/Albums used for the comparison
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[size=large]1. Introduction[/size]
This comparison can show how four mid-fi/hi-fi headphones compare when used in a low-end headphone rig.
Headphones compared:
Beyerdynamic DT880 version 2005, 250ohm.
Alessandro Music Series Two (MS2i), mushroom shape, 32ohm, bowls (I think bowls sound better than flats for 95% of all recordings).
Sennheiser HD650, originally bought 2004 (not by me), Oehlbach cable (from what I’ve read, supposed to be warmer and smoother than stock, I don’t have stock to compare with).
Audio-Technica ATH-AD2000, around 200 hours burn in (the sound changed a lot for the better for me during the first 100 hours, maybe burn in, maybe me getting used to them).
Source/amp used:
Hotrodded LM4562 Xfi
Zero DAC (dac: LT1364, amp: LT1361)
Meier Headfive
Comments about source/amp:
HD650 is a very warm headphone, and the headfive and zero are both slightly warm, and the combination might not be the best. I find the LT1364 to be on the warm side also, which mates well with AD2000, DT880 and MS2i, but less so with HD650.
Other comments:
I try to follow this post to use the right descriptions:
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f4/des...ossary-220770/
Note that when I say soundstage, if not specified otherwise, I mean the out of the head effect, not the imaginary soundstage which can appear in front of the head.
Comment about the comparison in the end: When I write ”X /> Y “ I mean “X and Y are very close to each other, but If I have to chose, I would say Y is less than X”.
Try to look beyond my spelling mistakes, as I can’t put any more time in this comparison. I will correct the grammar, spelling and badly written sentences as I find the errors. This is my first review, so if I find ways to improve the layout to make it more easy for the eyes, I will change it.
I’m a REALLY lousy photographer, so I will not take any pictures. If I did, they would be blurry and the colors all messed up.
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[size=large]2. Build and comfort:[/size]
MS2i:
Build quality is ok and I like the look very much. I like the “less is more” approach, not much which can break. The comfort is not the best, I did get used to it and can now wear it for hours, but it was a pain in the beginning.
AD2000:
Since I haven’t got the AD2000 for long, I can’t say how good the build quality is, but my first impression is that it might be easy to break them. The comfort was really really bad when I first got them, much worse than MS2i. My ears rest against the driver, and before I got used to it my ears were really sore. Now I’ve been used to it a bit, so I can wear them without much discomfort. The wings which are on top of the head are very light, after the first seconds of putting the phones on my head I do not feel them anymore.
DT880:
This is how every headphone should be created. The build quality is excellent. I’m pretty sure that these will not break no matter how badly they are handled. The looks are nothing special, they look good and are neutral enough to not make one look really bad while using them.
HD650:
The headband is not metal at all from what I can tell, so they seem to break easily. I got them second hand, so the headband was already stretched, which makes them very comfortable for me, no clamping force at all.
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[size=large]3. Comparison:[/size]
I will try to be as objective as I can for the comparison and will include personal thoughts last.
[size=medium]3.1 Midrange:[/size]
The midrange of the four headphones are very different from each other. It’s hard to say which has the more natural midrange. HD650 and DT880 both share a warm tone, HD650 more than DT880. AD2000 and MS2i are tilted slightly to the cold side of neutral, but not as much as HD650 tilt to the warm side. The question about which one is the most natural one often depends on the recording; all of the headphones compared can sound very natural when paired with the right song.
MS2i:
The MS2i have the sharpest midrange of them all. Everything in the midrange is extremely sharp and airy, which gives a very clear picture, but can also lead to fatigue if one is extra sensitive. The midrange is not as full sounding as the other headphones, and this works very well for female vocals, but less so with male vocals. The timbre is rather good, and paired with the very clear midrange, the instruments get a very good presence (as in; you can almost imagine being in the same room as the instrument). I find it to pair well with vocals, rock and metal alike.
AD2000:
The AD2000 have a very pronounced midrange. It is colored, maybe more than the other, but it can still make voices sound very natural and with a good presence. It can be slightly “honky” on some recordings, but very rarely(see description thread).
The midrange occupies a larger part of the sound on AD2000 than what it does with the other headphones. This is both a blessing and a curse, depending on song, but for me mostly a blessing. The AD2000 doesn’t have as sharp midrange as the MS2i, which makes it less fatiguing, but also slightly less clear (notice the “slightly”). It’s mostly sharper than both DT880 and HD650, but DT880 is sharper when it comes to brass instruments and saxophones.
I find the timbre of the AD2000 to be ok, but still the worst out of the four. The coloration which gives a very euphonic midrange signature also makes the instruments sound slightly unnatural compared to the other headphones. The distorted electrical guitar is not as sharp, crisp and raw as that of the MS2i and DT880, but slightly better than the HD650.
Over-all, I REALLY like the midrange of AD2000. It’s very euphonic/musical and works well with any genre.
DT880:
The first impression I get from the DT880 midrange is that it is slightly warm, slightly dry and slightly dark. The midrange is kind of two sided with the DT880; I can be sharp and clear, nearly to the MS2i level when listening to brass instruments and distorted electric guitars, but slightly recessed and dry when it comes to vocals. It is the only headphone of the four which I find just slightly sibilant, the other headphones are very rarely sibilant. I find that the DT880 has got the darkest midrange of the bunch, with the HD650 a very close second.
DT880 is the worst of the four when it comes to euphony, for me there is almost no euphony at all in the midrange. The timbre of the DT880 is very good, and perhaps the best overall. HD650 and AD2000 are slightly better with piano, and MS2i is slightly better with guitars, but the DT880 is not far behind. It does brass and saxophones very well, perhaps best of all four.
Over-all, I would say that the midrange does what it should do, but nothing more.
HD650:
The first impression with HD650 midrange is warmth. The HD650 is the definition of warmth. It is slightly dark compared to AD2000 and MS2i. I do hear a very slight hint of veil, but it does not get in the way (it might be the Oehlbach which reduce the veil a bit, since I’ve heard HD650 at other times where it was much more veiled).
Compared to the DT880, the midrange of HD650 is kind of inverted. The vocals on the HD650 are sharp and clear (not to the extent of MS2i and AD2000) and the instruments are slightly dry instead.
The timbre is rather good, almost as good all-round as DT880 and better than AD2000. The vocals of HD650 have a lot of emotion in the form of euphony. The midrange of the HD650 has more weight than the other three headphones. There is not a hint of thinness. This can be both good and bad, good when listening to male vocals, bad when it makes the sound thick.
[size=medium]3.2 Treble:[/size]
There isn’t as much to be said about the treble, so I will make this section slightly smaller.
DT880 has clearly more treble than the other headphones. MS2i and HD650 are very close actually, much closer than what I though before I got the HD650. The AD2000 is just very slightly behind MS2 and HD650 when it comes to treble amount.
DT880:
DT880 has got a very sparkly treble. It is also very airy and slightly thin in comparison to the other headphones. It is very present and a large part of the sound of the DT880. It wasn’t until I got HD650 and AD2000 that I realized really how much treble DT880 has got compared to other headphones (I do not find it fatiguing however).
MS2i:
MS2i has also got a nice sparkly treble. The treble isn’t as thin and airy as the treble of DT880. It is thicker and has more body to it, if one can describe it that way. I hear no warmth at all in the treble. The color is very neutral, clear, silvery (the housing fits the sound very well) and sparkly.
HD650 Oehlbach:
The treble has got more presence and is more sparkly than what I first though it would be. The warmth of the HD650 is also present in the treble. The color is rather gold than silver when compared to the other headphones. I do not find any harshness in treble, and no veil either.
AD2000:
The treble isn’t as sparkly as the other headphones. It is neutral in coloration, not warm and not quite as silvery as the MS2i’s. It’s more to the airy side (DT880) than the thick (MS2i) side. It doesn’t add much to the music and doesn’t subtract anything either. I would call it slightly recessed compared to the treble of the other three. It’s the driest treble of them all, this is both good and bad; the treble doesn’t bring as much toe-tapping excitement as DT880/MS2i, but it’s also less fatiguing. It sound like it’s slightly hidden behind the midrange.
[size=medium]3.3 Bass:[/size]
The bass amount of the four headphones varies a bit with the recordings. HD650 is always the more bassy one, but the other three take turns being on second place.
DT880:
DT880 are commonly known as bass-light headphones. This is something which I cannot agree with. I find the bass to be well in line with the midrange and treble. The bass is tight and has a thump to it. The bass has got a subwoofer like coloration (the bass hits mostly in the deep registers), very black. I find it to hit hard when comparing to the other three headphones.
AD2000:
The bass of the AD2000 is a bit different than that of the DT880. It’s a bit faster and tighter, and a bit less of the deep register “thump” which the DT880 has. The “thump” is a bit higher up in the registers, but not as high up as MS2i.
My impression from reading before I got the AD2000 was that it had more bass than DT880, I did however not find this to be the case at all.
MS2i:
The MS2i has more prominent bass peak than the DT880, but the peak is not as deep down as the one on DT880. This difference makes it sound like the DT880 has got as much bass as the MS2i even though the MS2i has got a higher amplitude bass peak. The bass of MS2i is not the tightest and most detailed of the bunch, it’s rather the famous Grado punch, no more no less.
HD650:
HD650 is the bassiest of the four. It has got a larger peak than MS2i but a bit deeper down, but not as deep down as DT880. The tightness is slight less than DT880, but not as loose as I though the bass would be before I got it. It’s not as detailed as the bass of AD2000, nor that of DT880.
[size=medium]3.4 Soundstage, air, separation:[/size]
DT880:
With this low-end rig, DT880 is clearly the most technical one. It has the best separation of all, largest soundstage and most air. Every instrument is separated, which makes it very easy to follow every little thing in the music. It handles complex music very well.
HD650:
The soundstage is large but not as large as DT880. The separation and air is good, but the sometimes thick midrange can reduce the air and make the sound rather thick as a whole.
MS2i:
MS2i is a Grado in disguise, and the soundstage is what immediately gives it away. It’s the smallest of the four by a large margin, but the neutral and airy midrange keeps it from getting too closed in. The separation is good, and the sound is presented more as a whole rather than very separated like DT880 and HD650 to an extent.
AD2000:
The soundstage of AD2000 is smaller than both DT880 and HD650, but still much larger than that of MS2i. The air and separation is still good despite not having the largest soundstage, though not as good as that of DT880. I find it to not do complex music quite as well as the DT880. Due to this, the AD2000 would not be my headphone if classical music was my main genre.
The MS2i could never be my only headphone due to the small soundstage, but the soundstage of AD2000 is big enough for this to not be an issue for me.
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[size=large]4. Conclusion:[/size]
[size=medium]Midrange:[/size]
Timbre:
DT880 > HD650 /> MS2i > AD2000
Clarity: (tricky one, DT880 > AD2000 for distorted guitars and brass, but AD2000>>DT880 for vocals):
MS2i > AD2000 / DT880 / HD650
Grain: Less - More
MS2i /< AD2000 < HD650 /< DT880
Euphony: (this is highly subjective): More - Less
AD2000 > MS2i / HD650 >> DT880
Warm-Cold
HD650>DT880>MS2i /> AD2000
Dark-Bright
DT880 /> HD650 > AD2000 > MS2i
Amount of midrange: More - Less
AD2000 > MS2i >> HD650 / DT880
[size=medium]Treble[/size]
Treble amount:
DT880 >> MS2i /> HD650 /> AD2000 (The MS2i/HD650/AD2000 are all close to each other here)
Treble brightness: Bright>Dark
DT880 > MS2i > AD2000 > HD650 (the slight warmth of the HD650 treble make it sound rather dark)
Fatigue due to treble (this is relative compared to each other, I do not find anyone harsh due to treble):
DT880 > MS2i > HD650 / AD2000 (the warmth of the HD650 get’s to me, and makes the AD2000 sound less harsh/annoying to me)
Warm treble – Cold treble: (coloration):
HD650 > DT880 > AD2000 > MS2i
[size=medium]Bass[/size]
Perceived bass amount (how bassy does the headphone sound, see the detailed comparison of the bass for explanation):
HD650 >> DT880 / MS2i /> AD2000
Tightness: Tight - Loose
AD2000 > DT880 > HD650 / MS2i
Texture (how much detail is there in the bass? Is it just a thump, or can you hear what the bass drum is made of?) Much – Not much:
AD2000 > DT880 > HD650 > MS2i
[size=medium]Other factors[/size]
Soundstage: Large – Small
DT880 > HD650 > AD2000 >> MS2i
Speed: Fast – Slow (I find this hard to hear, so take it with a grain of salt)
AD2000 > MS2i / DT880 > HD650
Detail (I will leave this out as details is not something I prioritize, and thus I do not listen for it very often, thus I’m not good at describing it)
Separation: Well separated – Less separated
DT880 > MS2i / AD2000 / HD650
Air (combination of separation and soundstage): More – Less
DT880 > AD2000 > MS2i / HD650
Fun and prat: Much – Not much
AD2000 > MS2i / DT880 > HD650
[size=medium]HD650:[/size]
The bass is clearly in focus in the HD650, and the warmth is found everywhere over the register. In passages with a lot of things happening, the bass is what HD650 wants one to follow. It is very smooth, musical and not harsh at all, and I found it to work with every genre. It even worked ok with metal and rock.
[size=medium]DT880:[/size]
I would say bass and hights are in focus. The midrange isn’t really recessed, just when compared to the other headphones in this review. The soundstage is big and airy. DT880 is the most analytical headphone in this review, not very musical when compared to the other three. The timbre is very good. It works well as an all-round headphone, as I’ve been listening to every genre with it and it never found it a bad match.
[size=medium]MS2i:[/size]
Balanced, but slightly more focus on the midrange. The midrange is extremely clear and sharp, which works very well for metal and rock. Distorted electrical guitars sound very raw with a lot of power. I use it mostly for vocals, mostly female, rock and metal. Never use it for classical, since the soundstage is a too small. I find it to suit female vocals much better than male vocals due to the thinner midrange than the other headphones.
[size=medium]AD2000:[/size]
Midrange, no doubt about it, is what the AD2000 is about. The AD2000 clearly wants the listened to follow the singer if there is one. It is very musical, and not very analytical at all. The timbre is not the best, as tonal accuracy has been sacrificed for euphoria instead. This is an all-rounder like DT880, but in my case even more so. If one wants timber over euphony, one should choose DT880, otherwise I feel that AD2000 is better/more fun.
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[size=large]5. Comments:[/size]
From the comparison one could think that I do not like the AD2000 much. This couldn’t be further from the truth though. Since I got them they are my most used headphone. They can play any genre, and it does it well.
I listen to a lot of metal, and a common problem with this genre is the fine line between a harsh headphone and a boring one, either you get an exciting headphone which can be harsh, or an un-harsh headphone which is boring. To get metal exciting you need prat and bite, two abilities which can also make the sound harsh. With HD650, the sound is very unharsh, but the cost is the prat and bite, which is not very present. DT880 is better, more prat and bite, but it’s getting close to the harsh line. MS2i is very similar, it has got a lot of bite and prat, but can make bad recordings sound very bad. The AD2000 however, has got a lot of prat and bite, but I still do not find it harsh. It’s the first headphone I’ve heard that can play all of my metal recordings. Before AD2000 I had to use both DT880 and MS2i to do it, now AD2000 seems to be enough. It shares the midrange of the MS2i, and the bigger soundstage and deeper bass of DT880, while still not harsh.
I need to have the AD2000 much longer to really decide if they should be my only headphone. What could hold me back is the smaller soundstage, worse separation, timbre and comfort than DT880. I find the bass to be enough, but a bit more than “enough” would have been nice. It is pretty much the only headphone I listen to at the moment, but this might just be the “new toy syndrome”, or it really is that good.
HD650 is not my favorite headphone at all, and I hope that didn’t shine through too much in the comparison. It’s too warm for me. I could never live with the HD650 as my only headphone, at least not in its current state, perhaps it’s much less warm with a better amp/source. It sounds better using only the Zero DAC/AMP than using Zero DAC + Headfive.
I could not live with MS2i as my only headphone either. It needs another headphone to do every genre, especially classical. DT880 pair well with MS2i for this. Over-all a good metal headphone, but the small soundstage keeps it from being my ONLY metal headphone.
DT880 is a good all-round headphone. It’s an ok fun headphone, much more so than HD650, but it lacks the clear neutral midrange I want. It can be used with good results on every genre I’ve tried, metal, rock, vocals, jazz, classical, trance and so on. The dry midrange is what’s keeping it from being my only headphone. Sometimes I just need the crystal clear neutral/cold midrange which MS2i and AD2000 have.
Due to the semi-closed build, I find the DT880 to have a slightly less “open” sound than the rest. As an example;. The soundstage is big, and the air is good, but it sound like being in a very large room/cave.
I feel that I rather have one headphone if I can find one which does everything I need it to do. As it seems now, AD2000 is a clear candidate. If I have more than one headphone, I start to swap between them a lot, for comparison and whatever, and I then feel that I don’t really know how the recording should sound.
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[size=large]6. Some comments after I got the Little Dot MKIII:[/size]
This part was written much later than the rest of the chapters.
My experience after getting the LD MKIII is that all of the headphones improved with it. The first thing I noticed was the larger soundstage with all of the four headphones. The bass was also increased just slightly with every headphone.
I had the HD650 for only a day after I got the LD MKIII, so I can’t give a lot of information of that pairing, but my impression was an improvement on all fronts, and less warmth. This made me really hesitant to sell the HD650, but I’d already made the deal and I don’t want four headphones, so it had to go.
The DT880 gained a bit less dry midrange, which I liked a lot. It also gained a larger soundstage and a bit more bass, both very welcome changes.
The AD2000 was the one I found gained the most from the LD MKIII. The soundstage increase was rather big, and the timbre improved a lot. I do no longer find the timber to be much worse than the other headphones. The acoustic guitar was what I found had a rather bad timbre before, but now sound rather natural. The AD2000 have also gained a bit of bass which was very welcome. There is also a bit more warmth, for both good and bad.
I haven’t listened critically to the MS2i since the review/comparison above which was before I got the LD MKIII, so I can’t really tell what it gained from the LD MKIII.
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[size=large]7. Artists/Albums which were used during the comparison[/size]
Metal:
Mastodon
Tool
Opeth
Sylvan
Machine Head
Baroness
Meshuggah
Green Carnation
+ more
Jazz (not my main genre):
Miles Davies
Diana Krall (is this Jazz?)
+ more
Vocals, rock, pop + more:
Allan Taylor - Colour to the Moon
Morphine - Cure for pain
Katie Melua
Hikaru Utada (J-pop I think)
Dire Straits
Norah Jones
+ more
Classical (not my main genre):
Mostly Beethoven Symphonies, piano sonatas, chamber + more.
