[The Third]

For those of you who never have never seen the graph comparisons, here you can see the HD25-1-II vs Amperior vs Aluminium from Innerfidelity's graphs. I never had seen the Aluminium graphs myself until I dug up an old pdf file which has all Tyll's measurements archived and noticed it was in there.

A few take away points here:
Aluminium has:
*boosted bass but bass is more neutral with more focus on sub-bass with better bass extension than both Amperior and HD-25-1-II
*most neutral mids of the bunch
*is more L shaped than W shaped in it's frequency response
*has significantly lower bass distortion than the HD-25-1-II (mids/high distortion seems about the same). In fact, the distortion is so low even the HD 800's bass distorts surprisingly more.
*5khz-7khz recessed region inherent to all HD25 models

Looks like my ears were on point, I perceived the Aluminium having superior sub-bass and midrange tonality/timbre than the stock HD-25. The aluminium cups, better pads alongside that legendary 70ohm driver really seem to improve the HD25. I am also incredibly surprised how low the distortion of this headphone is , other than a nasty distortion peak in the highs which make sense due to the closed design. Perhaps Aluminium enclosures should be more common? It's a shame they are discontinued really...

 

[gimmeheadroom]

For those of you who never have never seen the graph comparisons, here you can see the HD25-1-II vs Amperior vs Aluminium from Innerfidelity's graphs. I never had seen the Aluminium graphs myself until I dug up an old pdf file which has all Tyll's measurements archived and noticed it was in there.

A few take away points here:
Aluminium has:
*boosted bass but bass is more neutral with more focus on sub-bass with better bass extension than both Amperior and HD-25-1-II
*most neutral mids of the bunch
*is more L shaped than W shaped in it's frequency response
*has significantly lower bass distortion than the HD-25-1-II (mids/high distortion seems about the same). In fact, the distortion is so low even the HD 800's bass distorts surprisingly more.
*5khz-7khz recessed region inherent to all HD25 models

Looks like my ears were on point, I perceived the Aluminium having superior sub-bass and midrange tonality/timbre than the stock HD-25. The aluminium cups, better pads alongside that legendary 70ohm driver really seem to improve the HD25. I am also incredibly surprised how low the distortion of this headphone is , other than a nasty distortion peak in the highs which make sense due to the closed design. Perhaps Aluminium enclosures should be more common? It's a shame they are discontinued really...

Lower bass distortion than HD 800, or HD 800S? Either way, seems kinda unlikely.

 

[The Third]

Lower bass distortion than HD 800, or HD 800S? Either way, seems kinda unlikely.

Yea I thought so too, than the HD 800, I am aware the 800S bass does not do so well on the distortion charts.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

Yea I thought so too, than the HD 800, I am aware the 800S bass does not do so well on the distortion charts.

Where's Tyll!? I think we should demand an explanation

 

[The Third]

Where's Tyll!? I think we should demand an explanation

I know right, miss his views

 

[iFi audio]

A bit pricey 300€, current ones are 99€

From what I remember, Amperiors were always on the pricey side versus HD 25.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

From what I remember, Amperiors were always on the pricey side versus HD 25.

That's right, they were always at least 2X the price depending which country. And very few made in comparison. With a 70 ohm driver swap it's probably worth buying for anybody who has some cash right now.

 

[iFi audio]

That's right, they were always at least 2X the price depending which country. And very few made in comparison. With a 70 ohm driver swap it's probably worth buying for anybody who has some cash right now.

Since we're talking Amperiors, it would be cool having them in wood instead of aluminium.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

Since we're talking Amperiors, it would be cool having them in wood instead of aluminium.

You lost me, was there a language thing there? Anyway I agree, I asked for some woodies in one of the Sennheiser threads. I think a pair of closed HD 600s with a few choices of wood cups would be awesome. They pointed me at the Neumann thread and said there is a closed pair of Sennheisers already. No, fellas, not really

 

[iFi audio]

You lost me, was there a language thing there?

Sorry, perhaps I should give a bit more context. Earcups on Amperiors were CNC-machined AFAIK, which probably is one of key reasons why they were expensive. And that bit about wooden parts was just something I'd like to see

 

[gimmeheadroom]

Sorry, perhaps I should give a bit more context. Earcups on Amperiors were CNC-machined AFAIK, which probably is one of key reasons why they were expensive. And that bit about wooden parts was just something I'd like to see

Yes, as far as I know, all the aluminum earcups (Aluminum and Amperior/Adidas) were machined. I'd like to see a timeline on this model but when I asked Sennheiser here with a PM I didn't receive a response.

 

[iFi audio]

Yes, as far as I know, all the aluminum earcups (Aluminum and Amperior/Adidas) were machined. I'd like to see a timeline on this model but when I asked Sennheiser here with a PM I didn't receive a response.

I understand. As for Adidas, I really liked a touch of blue on them. Easy enough to notice, but tastefully applied and not in-your-face blue

 

[Hooster]

My take on the HD25. 600 Ohm drivers, alu cups, aliexpress pads and Oyaide cables. Yes, they are very good. The Alu cups are works of art, this is not just some alu coating, those cups are machined from a block of solid aluminum. I am sure they were very expensive to make and I suspect they will never be made again.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

I understand. As for Adidas, I really liked a touch of blue on them. Easy enough to notice, but tastefully applied and not in-your-face blue

Ask and you shall receive

My take on the HD25. 600 Ohm drivers, alu cups, aliexpress pads and Oyaide cables. Yes, they are very good.

Ok, time to buy the pair of adidas earpads and headband pads from @jfunk

 

[Hooster]

Ok, time to buy the pair of adidas earpads and headband pads from @jfunk

I have tried many different earpads and the ones I have are the ones I like the best. The Adidas stuff looks cool though.