vvanrij
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Mar 23, 2008
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Ok I'v had alot of people asking me to compare these. I waited for my Phonitor to be properly burned in and me getting used to the sound before I wanted to write this review, so here goes. I'm not gonna post all kinds of pictures, just google em haha.
First up ED9 vs ALO780J.
I borrowed a ED9 from a friend of mine living up north who was kind enough to let me borrow them for some extensive time. I bought the ALO780J second-handed from a headfi-er, it was already properly burned-in, but offcourse I put some more hours on it.
I don't like to write huge reviews, but more straight to the point. For me it was as simple as this:
-They sounded identical in a way that I couldn't even tell what the difference was between the two. I do know that one sounded better on that music and the other better on that music, however not in a way that I could say that one is better than the other. So for the sound they just scored equal to me. Sure people won't agree with me on this (Larry heard an exact percentage of 5% difference), this is all on my ears tested on a SPL Phonitor with a NAD C542 -> Vecteur C2. Its all in my sig.
So which did I prefer, well the ED9 thats for sure, why? The cable of the ALO780J is really stiff and annoying, and the pads of the ED9 are also softer. Would I buy one for the price they are going for now, no. And how about the ALO780J? Well if you check out the FS forum on head-fi, these babies are going for prices they are definetly worth. These headphones must be your taste, but if they are they are magic. How do they sound? Well thats been described lots of times already before.
So now, Pro 900 vs ED9/ALO780J
Also gonna keep it short. The Pro900 at first was a pretty accurate headphone, but the bass was a bit muddy, the midrange didn't get the chance to shine because it was overruled by the bass, and the highs could definetly sound a bit plasticy . With the kees mod (and as you can read in my Pro900/modded review), these bad things are as good as gone. They are really balanced, the bass is tight, extends deep, but gives you that feeling that it should. The midrange, though not as magical as some grado's can be, are just right, and sound like they should, and the highs extend well and are not plasticy anymore at all. I can listen to these headphones forever, no fatigue whatsoever. The soundstage is accurate, but not huge, I would say medium-big. A clean sound with a tad of warmth, but overall balanced is what I would use as my 'main term' to describe them (I'm not good at describing sounds
).
The ED9/ALO780J are a more 'exciting' headphone. When tried them (especially the ED9) on my Corda 3Move, the bass was well overwhelming, when I tried them on my phonitor the bass became much tighter and better. They are still on the 'exciting' side, but not overwhelming anymore. Imo the bass and treble are slightly boosted, but without really sacrificing the mids. I couldn't listen to exciting music on these cans for a long time, because they would just become fatiguing, but when I want to be 'wow'd' by a headphone, the ED9/ALO780J are my weapon of choice. Especially for music you just really want to get into (think dance music / rock / hip-hop) these are my choice. The Pro900 don't do anything wrong, I can't say that for the ED9's/ALO780J, who I find for some music just plain wrong.
So well, with these descriptions you should actually be able to 'compare them' for yourselves.
The whole s-logic/s-logic plus blabla is just a term for me and nothing more. Do I hear it or not, I have no idea. They both have a decent soundstage, the 900's is slightly larger then the ED9/ALO780J's, but not really significant. I don't hear like a '3d surround sound', and I don't think that can be expected from these headphones either. But I think it is important that this S-logic is not a dis-advantage!!. I can't say if I see it as a pro or not, but its definetly not a con to me.
If you have questions let me know, so I can ammend this little write-up.
Cheers!
-Victor
Update: I later thought that maybe the Phonitor's crossfeed/speakerangle could conflict the s-logic somehow. I just can't stand hard-panning so I'm never gonna turn it off lol, thank god for the Phonitor.
First up ED9 vs ALO780J.
I borrowed a ED9 from a friend of mine living up north who was kind enough to let me borrow them for some extensive time. I bought the ALO780J second-handed from a headfi-er, it was already properly burned-in, but offcourse I put some more hours on it.
I don't like to write huge reviews, but more straight to the point. For me it was as simple as this:
-They sounded identical in a way that I couldn't even tell what the difference was between the two. I do know that one sounded better on that music and the other better on that music, however not in a way that I could say that one is better than the other. So for the sound they just scored equal to me. Sure people won't agree with me on this (Larry heard an exact percentage of 5% difference), this is all on my ears tested on a SPL Phonitor with a NAD C542 -> Vecteur C2. Its all in my sig.
So which did I prefer, well the ED9 thats for sure, why? The cable of the ALO780J is really stiff and annoying, and the pads of the ED9 are also softer. Would I buy one for the price they are going for now, no. And how about the ALO780J? Well if you check out the FS forum on head-fi, these babies are going for prices they are definetly worth. These headphones must be your taste, but if they are they are magic. How do they sound? Well thats been described lots of times already before.
So now, Pro 900 vs ED9/ALO780J
Also gonna keep it short. The Pro900 at first was a pretty accurate headphone, but the bass was a bit muddy, the midrange didn't get the chance to shine because it was overruled by the bass, and the highs could definetly sound a bit plasticy . With the kees mod (and as you can read in my Pro900/modded review), these bad things are as good as gone. They are really balanced, the bass is tight, extends deep, but gives you that feeling that it should. The midrange, though not as magical as some grado's can be, are just right, and sound like they should, and the highs extend well and are not plasticy anymore at all. I can listen to these headphones forever, no fatigue whatsoever. The soundstage is accurate, but not huge, I would say medium-big. A clean sound with a tad of warmth, but overall balanced is what I would use as my 'main term' to describe them (I'm not good at describing sounds
The ED9/ALO780J are a more 'exciting' headphone. When tried them (especially the ED9) on my Corda 3Move, the bass was well overwhelming, when I tried them on my phonitor the bass became much tighter and better. They are still on the 'exciting' side, but not overwhelming anymore. Imo the bass and treble are slightly boosted, but without really sacrificing the mids. I couldn't listen to exciting music on these cans for a long time, because they would just become fatiguing, but when I want to be 'wow'd' by a headphone, the ED9/ALO780J are my weapon of choice. Especially for music you just really want to get into (think dance music / rock / hip-hop) these are my choice. The Pro900 don't do anything wrong, I can't say that for the ED9's/ALO780J, who I find for some music just plain wrong.
So well, with these descriptions you should actually be able to 'compare them' for yourselves.
The whole s-logic/s-logic plus blabla is just a term for me and nothing more. Do I hear it or not, I have no idea. They both have a decent soundstage, the 900's is slightly larger then the ED9/ALO780J's, but not really significant. I don't hear like a '3d surround sound', and I don't think that can be expected from these headphones either. But I think it is important that this S-logic is not a dis-advantage!!. I can't say if I see it as a pro or not, but its definetly not a con to me.
If you have questions let me know, so I can ammend this little write-up.
Cheers!
-Victor
Update: I later thought that maybe the Phonitor's crossfeed/speakerangle could conflict the s-logic somehow. I just can't stand hard-panning so I'm never gonna turn it off lol, thank god for the Phonitor.
