Defiant00
1000+ Head-Fier
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Or in other words, a comparison of the main cans I currently happen to have around
But no, in all seriousness, I've gotten a few questions recently about various cans, and since I just got the DT 150 in this past week I figured now would be a good time to do a bit of a writeup.
All listening was done with Laptop > USB Modi > Asgard 2 (high gain). I made no real attempt to accurately volume match, so these are just more general impressions than anything and should be taken with a grain of salt, YMMV, to my preference, etc.
First, the setup:
And the contenders:
So, on to the comparisons!
Bass
DT 150 > HD600 > SRH840 > MA900
DT 150 goes lowest, is quite clean, and has good impact.
HD600 is nicely balanced and, while it does roll off, the lower frequencies are still mostly there, just a little subdued.
SRH840 is quite good and clear for the range it covers, but it's missing some of the lowest frequencies. It's not really obvious unless you listen to something like the DT 150 though.
MA900 is good for an open can, but doesn't go as low or as detailed. I suspect bass was sacrificed for soundstage.
Mids
No rankings, these are just different.
HD600 is the clearest and most balanced. The best for most music to my preference.
MA900 has an emphasis on the mids which makes it great with certain types of mid-centric music (acoustic guitar and voice for example).
DT 150 is a bit recessed, but clear enough and don't get overwhelmed by the bass.
SRH840 is more recessed than DT 150, but has impressive detail (it's just a little quieter than I'd consider 'correct').
Highs
HD600 = SRH840 > MA900 > DT 150
HD600 has very natural sounding treble, it's not as present as the SRH840, but it's just as detailed (if not more).
SRH840 has excellent treble, with a bit of extra emphasis without sounding overly bright.
MA900 is only a small step below HD600 and SRH840, but it feels like it has slight less treble detail while still being a noticeable step beyond DT 150.
DT 150 has rolled off highs. Not horribly so, but there is a bit of sparkle missing from the top end when compared with the other cans.
Soundstage and Instrument Separation
MA900 > HD600 > DT 150 > SRH840
This is the MA900's strength. It has the largest soundstage of the bunch, and excellent positioning within that soundstage. Easily the most out-of-your-head out of these. Instrument positioning and separation is also great with these; the soundstage makes it quite easy to pinpoint where each sound is coming from.
HD600 has similar instrument separation as the DT 150, but a bit larger overall soundstage. Surprisingly similar though, and they all lose to the MA900.
DT 150 is quite good at instrument separation. Soundstage isn't huge, but less in-your-head than SRH840s. Open cans are better though.
SRH840 is very in-your-head. Separation and positioning is good, but it's all within a fairly confined area.
Build Quality
DT 150 > HD600 > MA900 > SRH840
DT 150 is all very durable thick plastic and metal.
HD600 is quite durable as well, but I get the sense that if I gave them to my kids there's a chance they could break them, which isn't a concern with the DT 150.
MA900 feels very flimsy, but is actually pretty well put-together with metal where necessary. Still feels like you have to baby them though, since they're so light.
SRH840 is very plasticy and doesn't really inspire confidence. Mine hasn't broken yet, but it doesn't surprise me that the plastic yokes (?) that hold the cups in place have broken on people. This is also the only one that has any real creaking issues.
Comfort
HD600 > The Rest
HD600 clamps a good bit, but it isn't uncomfortable, just firm.
SRH840 is okay for a couple hours, but eventually the headband starts to irritate my head.
MA900 is weird. It's super light with little clamp, but the points that it does come in contact with are apparently just the right/wrong points for me and give me a headache after a couple hours.
DT 150 has a lot of clamp and a weird headband. So far it's right in the middle of these for comfort, but I've only had them for about a week so I wouldn't commit to exactly where they belong on this list.
Conclusions
To me the HD600 is the most pleasant, balanced, comfortable and overall enjoyable headphone I currently own. It's a little rolled off on both ends, and some cans do certain things better than it does (eg, MA900 soundstage), but it's a great all-rounder.
SRH840 is a noticeably V-shaped headphone with some nice sparkle and clarity. Soundstage is pretty small, but it's quite fun with some genres (electronic music, rock) and it's not a huge emphasis on certain frequencies, so it makes a pretty good all-around can as well.
MA900 has a bass rolloff and a bit of mid emphasis. It also has a pretty remarkable soundstage and good clarity without any sort of harshness. Not as good overall as the HD600, but really great for acoustic music. Also really excels in picking apart details in music, as the separation is excellent, making it much easier to track individual sounds or instruments.
DT 150 has a definite bass emphasis and treble rolloff, but still pulls off the impressive trick of having a lot of detail in the frequencies it does cover. Comparing it to the SRH840 it's obvious it's missing some sparkle, but that also makes it a great headphone for less-than-stellar recordings, as it is easily the least-sibilant can here. It also has the best bass of the group, going lower and hitting harder than any of the others.
...and unfortunately, I don't know if that's any real conclusion at all. It certainly was interesting comparing them, and gave me more of a handle on their actual sound signatures, but I don't know if it answered any real questions of which is properly better. Each is certainly pretty unique and different, so I guess it really depends what I'm in the mood for at the time as to which would be the best.
Edit: Wow, I wrote a lot
Update: Man, hearing is a fickle thing. Listening to the DT 150 again today and they sound way more balanced than they did yesterday. Unfortunately, I'm at work so I don't have my other cans to directly compare them to, but at least on their own I wouldn't call their mids or highs recessed; they actually sound quite nicely balanced. Certainly not a complaint, but this is definitely closer to my normal preference than I remember them sounding like yesterday.
But no, in all seriousness, I've gotten a few questions recently about various cans, and since I just got the DT 150 in this past week I figured now would be a good time to do a bit of a writeup.
All listening was done with Laptop > USB Modi > Asgard 2 (high gain). I made no real attempt to accurately volume match, so these are just more general impressions than anything and should be taken with a grain of salt, YMMV, to my preference, etc.
First, the setup:
And the contenders:
So, on to the comparisons!
Bass
DT 150 > HD600 > SRH840 > MA900
DT 150 goes lowest, is quite clean, and has good impact.
HD600 is nicely balanced and, while it does roll off, the lower frequencies are still mostly there, just a little subdued.
SRH840 is quite good and clear for the range it covers, but it's missing some of the lowest frequencies. It's not really obvious unless you listen to something like the DT 150 though.
MA900 is good for an open can, but doesn't go as low or as detailed. I suspect bass was sacrificed for soundstage.
Mids
No rankings, these are just different.
HD600 is the clearest and most balanced. The best for most music to my preference.
MA900 has an emphasis on the mids which makes it great with certain types of mid-centric music (acoustic guitar and voice for example).
DT 150 is a bit recessed, but clear enough and don't get overwhelmed by the bass.
SRH840 is more recessed than DT 150, but has impressive detail (it's just a little quieter than I'd consider 'correct').
Highs
HD600 = SRH840 > MA900 > DT 150
HD600 has very natural sounding treble, it's not as present as the SRH840, but it's just as detailed (if not more).
SRH840 has excellent treble, with a bit of extra emphasis without sounding overly bright.
MA900 is only a small step below HD600 and SRH840, but it feels like it has slight less treble detail while still being a noticeable step beyond DT 150.
DT 150 has rolled off highs. Not horribly so, but there is a bit of sparkle missing from the top end when compared with the other cans.
Soundstage and Instrument Separation
MA900 > HD600 > DT 150 > SRH840
This is the MA900's strength. It has the largest soundstage of the bunch, and excellent positioning within that soundstage. Easily the most out-of-your-head out of these. Instrument positioning and separation is also great with these; the soundstage makes it quite easy to pinpoint where each sound is coming from.
HD600 has similar instrument separation as the DT 150, but a bit larger overall soundstage. Surprisingly similar though, and they all lose to the MA900.
DT 150 is quite good at instrument separation. Soundstage isn't huge, but less in-your-head than SRH840s. Open cans are better though.
SRH840 is very in-your-head. Separation and positioning is good, but it's all within a fairly confined area.
Build Quality
DT 150 > HD600 > MA900 > SRH840
DT 150 is all very durable thick plastic and metal.
HD600 is quite durable as well, but I get the sense that if I gave them to my kids there's a chance they could break them, which isn't a concern with the DT 150.
MA900 feels very flimsy, but is actually pretty well put-together with metal where necessary. Still feels like you have to baby them though, since they're so light.
SRH840 is very plasticy and doesn't really inspire confidence. Mine hasn't broken yet, but it doesn't surprise me that the plastic yokes (?) that hold the cups in place have broken on people. This is also the only one that has any real creaking issues.
Comfort
HD600 > The Rest
HD600 clamps a good bit, but it isn't uncomfortable, just firm.
SRH840 is okay for a couple hours, but eventually the headband starts to irritate my head.
MA900 is weird. It's super light with little clamp, but the points that it does come in contact with are apparently just the right/wrong points for me and give me a headache after a couple hours.
DT 150 has a lot of clamp and a weird headband. So far it's right in the middle of these for comfort, but I've only had them for about a week so I wouldn't commit to exactly where they belong on this list.
Conclusions
To me the HD600 is the most pleasant, balanced, comfortable and overall enjoyable headphone I currently own. It's a little rolled off on both ends, and some cans do certain things better than it does (eg, MA900 soundstage), but it's a great all-rounder.
SRH840 is a noticeably V-shaped headphone with some nice sparkle and clarity. Soundstage is pretty small, but it's quite fun with some genres (electronic music, rock) and it's not a huge emphasis on certain frequencies, so it makes a pretty good all-around can as well.
MA900 has a bass rolloff and a bit of mid emphasis. It also has a pretty remarkable soundstage and good clarity without any sort of harshness. Not as good overall as the HD600, but really great for acoustic music. Also really excels in picking apart details in music, as the separation is excellent, making it much easier to track individual sounds or instruments.
DT 150 has a definite bass emphasis and treble rolloff, but still pulls off the impressive trick of having a lot of detail in the frequencies it does cover. Comparing it to the SRH840 it's obvious it's missing some sparkle, but that also makes it a great headphone for less-than-stellar recordings, as it is easily the least-sibilant can here. It also has the best bass of the group, going lower and hitting harder than any of the others.
...and unfortunately, I don't know if that's any real conclusion at all. It certainly was interesting comparing them, and gave me more of a handle on their actual sound signatures, but I don't know if it answered any real questions of which is properly better. Each is certainly pretty unique and different, so I guess it really depends what I'm in the mood for at the time as to which would be the best.
Edit: Wow, I wrote a lot
Update: Man, hearing is a fickle thing. Listening to the DT 150 again today and they sound way more balanced than they did yesterday. Unfortunately, I'm at work so I don't have my other cans to directly compare them to, but at least on their own I wouldn't call their mids or highs recessed; they actually sound quite nicely balanced. Certainly not a complaint, but this is definitely closer to my normal preference than I remember them sounding like yesterday.
