[Gilly87]

Has anyone made this comparison? I own the DT770 LEs and am curious how they would compare, amped and unamped from a portable source, especially in terms of isolation, soundstage, and vocal performance. I love my LEs but their mids are somewhat underwhelming compared to the detail and texture in the rest of the spectrum, they are a bit glossy and lack intimacy, detail, and texture, my Phiaton MS400 outperformed them significantly in this regard, despite falling short everywhere else, and I am missing that. I had my eye on the M100 for a while, but after hearing the M80 I felt certain that the M100 would have a similarly colored sound and unnatural mids; I'm curious if this is the case for the M100s compared to the DT770.
 
It's just impossible to get natural sounding mids, a good soundstage, neutral treble, and well-extended bass in one closed, quasi-portable package. I'm convinced, it's just not going to happen in a closed phone...maybe I should quit the full-size game and just be happy with my SM3s! I have no intention of going for open cans and desktop amps and all that over-priced madness, which I assume means I will be stuck with some kind of tonal compromise since my tastes don't fit into the salient categories that nearly all mid-tier headphones seem to fall into: "bass-light with good treble and mids," "v-shaped," and "bassy and colored."
 
What's a mid-fier to do?

 

[Gilly87]

Yuck. Thank you. Unfortunately I expected as much; I have no idea why there is so much hype for the M80. To me it sounded like a glossier, less bassy step up from the Beats Solo. Thoroughly unimpressed, and I don't think it merits comparison to phones like the HD-25 or my old Phiaton MS400; it was clearer sounding than my MS400, and had more technically capable treble, but not nearly as natural or detailed in the midrange, and the bass felt one-note-ish and artificially punchy. Phones on the level of the HD25 and my DT770 absolutely put it to shame IMO.
 
The M50 is another phone I have never understood the hype for. It always felt so boring and lifeless to me, poor mids for the price and no soundstage.

 

[Gilly87]

Really what I want is a closed, portable HD650...sigh.

 

[Katun]

Quote:

Really what I want is a closed, portable HD650...sigh.

 
Momentum comes to mind.

 

[Gilly87]

You know I've been looking at it a lot lately, I'm mostly concerned it won't live up to my expectations in terms of soundstage now that I have the DT770...I'd rather keep what I have and try to be satisfied with it until I find something that seems like a safe upgrade. Also looking at the graphs, I am just worried that it will be dark...I loved my MS400 despite its darkness, but what I am after is more true-audiophile-style sound now that I have experienced some nicer, truly technical proficient cans like the DT660, 770, and 880, the HD598, etc, and based on reviews I am afraid the Momentum will sound dark, congested, and colored to my spoiled ears.
Quote:

 
Momentum comes to mind.

 

[Docks]

Just wanted to bump this thread as it is quite interesting. I have the DT770/80s and XB500s. I am wondering if the M100, UE6000 (I've heard), Momentums or Philips L1s can add anything to the DT770s. I am looking for fantastic sub bass (I want ALOT of sub bass) and a warmer phone without sounding boxy.

 

[Gilly87]

I don't think the DT770 is your best bet. They are fairly neutral and while the bass presence is good, its not the tightest through subbass; my SM3s have more articulation and grip way down low.

I auditioned the UE6000 at a Best Buy and I think it might be worth a shot. Probably not the best built of the bunch you mentioned, but they had very nice subbass and a reasonably open sound for a closed portable.