[dcfly]

I've been using Grado SR-80's for quite some time now, but I'm planning on buying some new 'phones soon and am seriously considering the HD 600's. Does anyone have any advice for me, since I can't listen to them beforehand? I should say that I enjoy the Grado's but am looking to expand my sonic horizons.

 

[blessingx]

My first real phones were the SR80s and now using the HD600s quite a bit (though the ER4Ss may still be my fave). The only thing I'd say is get something to really power them. You've heard it before, but I think they take even more than many comments (including from myself) state. I thought my meta did fine until a couple days ago. Contrary to all the "laid back" talk, they can sound surprisingly dynamic (I was shocked to find) with they right stuff before them.

 

[ooheadsoo]

My meta with elpac powersupply is dynamic enough to make my ears hurt. I'm kinda stumped on what to do. Crossfeed in foobar helps a lot.

BTW, you'll be missing a bit in the presentation when going to the senns. There are some things I liked about my old sr-80's that my senns can't match.

 

[MichaelFranks]

Both great phones, keep the 80's around and you can avoid any possibility of regret!

 

[mikey]

agreed, keep the sr80s and get the hd 600s. i have both and no regrets. i listen to the grados if the music calls for it - and i switch to the senns for jazz and classical - but i am not averse to using the senns for rock too - they are slightly laid back - warm woujld be more accurate whereas the grados are lively - having 2 phones gives you a choice. having more is even better

cheers

 

[lofi]

Absolutely agree with Mikey... I have made this very same move - I have kept the Grados around but I can't really say why I swap to them occassionally... I think I now prefer to sound of the Senns, but the brightness of the SR80s seems to fit certain kinds of music... I much prefer to listen to guitar driven stuff on the Grados, but I prefer to listen to electronica, jazz and classical on the Senns. Both headphones from what I've heard so far benefit from some amplification. If you can afford to keep the SR80s in addition to the Senns it's well worth doing.

The Senn hd600s reveal a lot of detail I've not heard before on some of my music (I have convinced myself I can now hear piano pedal actions). I agree with the 'laid back' sound assessment... in comparison to the Grados you might find it a bit dull at first.... I had a funny couple of days a couple of weeks back where I wasn't happy with the sound of my Senn 600s, but now I'm appreciating different things with them, especially after getting a headphone amp (the headphone socket on my CD was disappointing). They are retailing in the UK at half the price of the new 650s so are a *relative* bargain now.

lofi

 

[andrzejpw]

Are you set on the sennheisers? Have you thought about upgrading to a different pair of grados? SR-225s, or maybe even RS-1s? I just made the switch from hd580s to sr-225s. My gilmore didn't take away the veil. In case you're wondering, neither does the blockhead(ymmv).

 

[GlowWorm]

I made a similar upgrade a year ago buying some HD580's(still have my SR-80's though) But don't expect a huge improvement sonically, the difference is more subtle than you may think. The SR-80's are more colored compared to the HD580's, but not disagreeably so. The 580's are more transparent, and analytical. I prefer the Senn's mainly because of thier superior comfort, I love the way the 580's earpads envelope my ears("Set it, and forget it"), where as with the SR-80's I'm always fidgeting around with them. But it's nice to have both, if anything for comparitive purposes. BTW, the reason I chose the 580's over the 600's is because I couldn't tell any difference between the two(not to mention the $100 price difference), maybe I just don't have the "golden ears" some of the other Head-Fi members have?