[Bvachon29]

Hi all,

First post here. Have the itch to get some new ear candy and thought it was going to be an easy impulse buy, until I started surfing these forums. Looking for my first shot at a higher end headphone. Most of my listening is done from my iPhone, iPad, or my laptop where I have an Audioquest dragonfly usb dac, no headphone amp as of yet. Looking for a well rounded headphone as I'm sure many others are. I listen to primarily rock of all genres, blues and then a random mix of pop and edm.

So now down to the nitty gritty. Based off of reading here and some other reviews my shortlist is as follows; PSB M4UI, Sennheiser Momentum, HD 598, HD 600, B&W P7, NAD VISO HP50, and finally the Focal Spirit One and Classic.

Went to Best Buy today and auditioned the P7, Momentum, HD558, AKG545, Crossfade M-100, and the noise canceling version of the PSB's. The demo was kind of working for crap so only got a really good listen to the Sennheisers and the P7. I enjoyed the detail and fit of the P7s quite a bit. The Momentums surprised me, the lightweight was very appealing and my ears fit in the cups! My brother has the 558's so I'm familiar with them and is why I was looking at the 598 and the 600. I was surprised by the AKG545 so now I'm kind of searching for other AKG headphones. The m-100s I found heavy and a tad too bassy. The PSB demo had a ton of feedback going on so I can't say much for them.

Anyone have any impressions on the others?

 

[Kozic]

If you liked the AKG sound the AKG-550 the ones you are looking for.

 

[Bvachon29]

I may have to check those out. Any word on how they compare to the P7's?

 

[elwappo99]

Hi!!! 
 
Welcome to head-fi 

 
 
Quote:

I was surprised by the AKG545 so now I'm kind of searching for other AKG headphones. 

 
 
Why were you surprised by those? Why did/didn't they have that makes you search for more AKG headphones?

 

[Bvachon29]

Thanks for the welcome!
 
I would say I was surprised by them based off of the reviews that I read of AKG closed headphones. To me they seemed like they didn't lack any detail in the treble and the bass was fine to my ears, granted the only song that worked on the demo was some Taylor Swift. 
 
My only gripe with them was they needed to be sealed very properly to get the best out of them which may not be the best if moving around at all.

 

[elwappo99]

  Thanks for the welcome!
 
I would say I was surprised by them based off of the reviews that I read of AKG closed headphones. To me they seemed like they didn't lack any detail in the treble and the bass was fine to my ears, granted the only song that worked on the demo was some Taylor Swift. 
 
My only gripe with them was they needed to be sealed very properly to get the best out of them which may not be the best if moving around at all.

 
 
So you mostly liked them! AKGs usually divide people a bit over the bass. Some people say its good, others say it's totally thin and lacking.Funnily enough, many people also complain about getting a good seal. There's always some people debating where one says there's not enough bass, and the other says it didn't have enough bass because you didn't get the seal right 

 
 
I owned the K550 and K551 for awhile and auditioned the K545. I found the K550 to be less comfortable, and have a little less bass. But it did have a slightly better midrange presence. The K545 does also have a more "standard" pad size, so you can later on swap out pads with thicker ones (I have big pointy ears that end up hitting headphones so I like bigger pads). 
 
The audio world has a lot of mixed reviews on lots of headphones and gear, but Tyll from innerfidelity's got a lot of experience, and I trust his opinion quite a bit. He's got a list of some of his favorite closed headphones here: http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/innerfidelitys-wall-fame-full-size-sealed
 
I would suggest you read over the K550, Sony MDR-1R, Focal Spirits, and maybe the UE6000. If you weren't a super big fan of the momentum, you probably wouldn't pick the UE6000 first, but Ultimate Ears made a ton of those headphones. Refurbished units can easily go for $60, and some deals sites have had them down to the $40 range. Prices dropped on these I think due to over production.

 

[Bvachon29]

The Focal spirit's are very intriguing but I have no way of auditioning them. I wouldn't say I wasn't a fan of the momentum's, I just feel like the P7's were better. I have always been a fan of sony headphones so that's another option.

 

[elwappo99]

The Focal spirit's are very intriguing but I have no way of auditioning them. I wouldn't say I wasn't a fan of the momentum's, I just feel like the P7's were better. I have always been a fan of sony headphones so that's another option.

 
That's super tough. I don't know if you are in the U.S. but in California it is really hard to audition headphones. Luckily Best Buy started to carry some nicer headphones. 
 
If you happen to be located near a larger city, you might have a big head-fi meet-up you can attend. 
 
http://www.head-fi.org/f/24/local-regional-head-fi-meets-parties-get-togethers

 

[Bvachon29]

A best buy is actually where I listened to them. Next neatest place is Chicago, and I live in Green Bay, WI. There's just too many choices out there. Haha.

 

[Shonky Donky]

I have the Sennheiser HD 518 and they are extremely comfortable and sound incredible. Great headphone for the price, chect it out if you lost your wallet .

 

[Bvachon29]

I have the Sennheiser HD 518 and they are extremely comfortable and sound incredible. Great headphone for the price, chect it out if you lost your wallet .

That's my problem with the HD's. I think they sound great for the price, especially after hearing my bothers 558s. Idk what to do.

 

[Bvachon29]

Bump