devwild
1000+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Mar 28, 2004
- Posts
- 1,447
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- 58
Yeah, I know, not supposed to trust reviews and all, but I like getting a little input. especially since my opportunities to comparison shop for more than a few headphones is fairly limitted.
My first pair of "real" headphones was a pair of HD525's I bought out of high school after listenning to my friend's 545's. Being my first set, I was happy with the purchase, especially for the price. 3 months later I sat on them and popped off one can. I felt devastated until I fixed it with a hot nail (predrilling in plastic is easy
) and a small screw through the hole of the metal strap. It's still firmly attatched to this day.
Couple years pass, and the same thing happened to me that happened to many a person with the old 5xx series, the bloody cable connectors crapped out. I can still use them (used them as work headphones) but I have to wrap the cable around my neck to keep the sound from dropping out when I move.
So I "emergency" purchased a pair of 570s. That's my current computer listenning pair (using them now). But I have never been fully satisfied with them. They were supposed to be the newer rev of the 545s according to Senn, but the 525s (and 545s from what I heard of them) sounded brighter and more detailed (if a bit more distorted in the case of the 525).
Advance in the years again, and now I'm feeling up to spending a bit more on a pair of headphones I will be happier with for casual use. A year ago I purchased a pair of Grado SR80s and while they sound great, they aren't suited for casual listenning like Sennheisers designs are. I love the comfort, and not being an audio geek to the extent of most of you here, that's a real factor for me. (Thanks for the tip about the Senn pads on the Grados BTW, waiting on them now)
Ok, to the meat of it. From what I've read this far, I am currently targetting either the 590 or the 595 as a new purchase. 595 more likely just because the two sound (this is without having a chance to hear for myself yet) fairly comparable but I like the 595 design better (another minor gripe about the 570).
Hopefully what I've said above gives you a bit of idea to my tastes. I like a bright, open soundstage (not overly bright though or my ears freak out, but anything of quality has never done that to me) over the dark, crowded feeling I've noticed in many newer models. I particularly like accuracy across the spectrum, but especially at the extremes, where distortion or insufficiant power becomes annoying. I don't, however, have perfect source material, and though I generally just live with hearing what I hear, this is part of the reason I'm not aiming real high.
Any thoughts are appreciated. I'd like to hear how the 595's cut it unamped on a device with decent power (non-portable). It shocked me to see anyone here mention an Audigy sound card. I'd throw mine out the window with a vengence if I wasn't using the firewire port. I replaced it with a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz and that did wonders for my listenning. (I know, again, far from the best, but far better sounding and much more power than Creative's crap)
I'm open to non-Senn options too, but I want something Open, comfortable, and obtainable for under $200. (595s are 190)
Any advice on "starter" (read - affordable) headphone amps is appreciated too.
Thanks,
dev*
My first pair of "real" headphones was a pair of HD525's I bought out of high school after listenning to my friend's 545's. Being my first set, I was happy with the purchase, especially for the price. 3 months later I sat on them and popped off one can. I felt devastated until I fixed it with a hot nail (predrilling in plastic is easy
Couple years pass, and the same thing happened to me that happened to many a person with the old 5xx series, the bloody cable connectors crapped out. I can still use them (used them as work headphones) but I have to wrap the cable around my neck to keep the sound from dropping out when I move.
So I "emergency" purchased a pair of 570s. That's my current computer listenning pair (using them now). But I have never been fully satisfied with them. They were supposed to be the newer rev of the 545s according to Senn, but the 525s (and 545s from what I heard of them) sounded brighter and more detailed (if a bit more distorted in the case of the 525).
Advance in the years again, and now I'm feeling up to spending a bit more on a pair of headphones I will be happier with for casual use. A year ago I purchased a pair of Grado SR80s and while they sound great, they aren't suited for casual listenning like Sennheisers designs are. I love the comfort, and not being an audio geek to the extent of most of you here, that's a real factor for me. (Thanks for the tip about the Senn pads on the Grados BTW, waiting on them now)
Ok, to the meat of it. From what I've read this far, I am currently targetting either the 590 or the 595 as a new purchase. 595 more likely just because the two sound (this is without having a chance to hear for myself yet) fairly comparable but I like the 595 design better (another minor gripe about the 570).
Hopefully what I've said above gives you a bit of idea to my tastes. I like a bright, open soundstage (not overly bright though or my ears freak out, but anything of quality has never done that to me) over the dark, crowded feeling I've noticed in many newer models. I particularly like accuracy across the spectrum, but especially at the extremes, where distortion or insufficiant power becomes annoying. I don't, however, have perfect source material, and though I generally just live with hearing what I hear, this is part of the reason I'm not aiming real high.
Any thoughts are appreciated. I'd like to hear how the 595's cut it unamped on a device with decent power (non-portable). It shocked me to see anyone here mention an Audigy sound card. I'd throw mine out the window with a vengence if I wasn't using the firewire port. I replaced it with a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz and that did wonders for my listenning. (I know, again, far from the best, but far better sounding and much more power than Creative's crap)
I'm open to non-Senn options too, but I want something Open, comfortable, and obtainable for under $200. (595s are 190)
Any advice on "starter" (read - affordable) headphone amps is appreciated too.
Thanks,
dev*
