H20Fidelity
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Feb 11, 2012
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New owner of HD 25's here.
Don't want to criticise too much but I'm a little bit disappointed with the HD 25-1 II as my first good headphones. Payed 200$ for them. I received them yesterday and listen to them all the time, and comparing sections of the songs with the Monoprice 8323 which cost around 27$. My source is Macbook Air (VOX music player), and LG G2. I use flac or alac only.
Is my hearing dumb? I notice better instrument separation and clearer sound. But the difference doesn't seem big to me. Of course they sound nice but the sound seems a little weak and unfulfilling. They sound underpowered although many say they don't really need amping. I've read a lot of reviews and I don't notice that punchiness, sparkliness, and overall in your face sound. Ok, when I turn up the volume really high they come alive, but I don't like listening at high volume.
Am I missing something, was I expecting too much? Is price tag of expensive headphones all about the build quality, detail and instrument separation? I was really hoping for a fun, engaging sound that will blow me away since I have never listened to a 200$ headphones.
I've already ordered Topping portable amp, and I'm burning them in with pink noise while I'm not listening.
I hope I will be able to delete this comment after/If I change my opinion when I receive the amp
And no, they are not not HD 25 SP![]()
In my opinion sounds like you want something with a brighter sound signature.
HD25 are good, I enjoy mine a lot though I wouldn't say they blow me away, not for my standards anyway. They're quite a thick and to some extent warmish in tonality which isn't going to give you that absolute clarity and detail for thrill seekers. In saying that though they're well suited for long listening. I enjoy my SRH940, Grado 325e because they can blow me away in detail and clarity on levels HD25 cannot. Despite this, I still reach for the HD25 a lot over those headphones because I enjoy their sound and don't expect those kinds of levels.
Sounds to me you worked yourself up pretty high, read a lot of reviews which depending on the user experience with sound quality and expectations of audio gear are true. those people heard what they said but when you plugged those HD25 into your laptop fireworks didn't come out the earcups and you're disappointed. You've also worked out that $200 doesn't instantly buy you freedom and 'insane sound quality' in portable audio.
if you want something more engaging then consider something like SRH840, 940.