[emericanchaos]

setup is in my sig. i would like less bass, lots more mid-upper mid and not as much brightness in the highs. something more fluid sounding.

 

[tom hankins]

Quote:

Originally Posted by emericanchaos /img/forum/go_quote.gif setup is in my sig. i would like less bass, lots more mid-upper mid and not as much brightness in the highs. something more fluid sounding.

Judging by your needs, I think the 650 would be a worthy upgrade over the DT990s.

 

[dkjohnso]

Quote:

Originally Posted by emericanchaos /img/forum/go_quote.gif setup is in my sig. i would like less bass, lots more mid-upper mid and not as much brightness in the highs. something more fluid sounding.

Yeah, you're pretty much describing the HD650. It should sound fantastic with the Darkvoice as well. Give it a try.

 

[Herandu]

Based on your requirements you'll be less than impressed with the HD650. The K701 is a more likely candidate and fits your needs like a glove. The fluid highs will come with time and with a fluid headphone socket output. The K701 needs ages of burn in though. Mine took a whole month of usage before it started producing results to match its price.

The HD650 has very good bass, but the tops are subdued on anything other than a high output voltage headamp. Many people tend to buy both the HD650 and K701 as a complementary pair. I have done the same, and it was one of the best decisions I made headphone wise.

 

[Kees]

HD600 more likely.

 

[emericanchaos]

seems like i'm getting a few suggestions here.

to give y'all some more info, i mostly listen to rock, "extreme metal" and 80's metal. i throw in some ambient stuff for sleep once in awhile. that will range from various beethoven sonatas and chopin to sigur ros and such. i'd say finding a good rock can is more important than finding something to fulfill the latter of my listening materials listed.

 

[Mr.Sneis]

Hrm, if you do go with HD650 you'll likely need some sort of expensive aftermarket upgrade cable to hide the thick Senn veil. I like my hd600's, they are more flexible imo than the hd650 across several genres, supposedly they are actually more tonally accurate than the 650's when it comes to "clean bass" as well.

I just threw a Dowin DW-12 cable on the hd600's, they seemed to make sound more up front with even tighter bass.

 

[emericanchaos]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr.Sneis /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hrm, if you do go with HD650 you'll likely need some sort of expensive aftermarket upgrade cable to hide the thick Senn veil. I like my hd600's, they are more flexible imo than the hd650 across several genres, supposedly they are actually more tonally accurate than the 650's when it comes to "clean bass" as well. I just threw a Dowin DW-12 cable on the hd600's, they seemed to make sound more up front with even tighter bass.

lots of people mention recabling the 650. i may go this route but not straight off. i'd like to get a feel for what the 650 does in my setup on it's own before i go changing things. it's good to have a name to go on though if that route should appear. it also seems that TTVJ sells that product so all in all it should be a pretty simple affair.

would just like to get more opinions before i purchase. $300 headphones are quite the expenditure. i'd hate to buy all three mentioned products at once and do a shoot out.

 

[Herandu]

If you want a kick between the ears from your rock music then the HD650 won't bash you about. It is more subtle than that. Listening to "Hotel California", the drum attack is present, but not "dead awakening" so. I slip on my Denon D1000 in those instances. They also have outstanding highs and are less than U$200, which is a steal to be frank.

One thing to do is do an on-line search for headphone dealers close to you, then just call or email them to find out if it is OK to pass by and try out a set of cans. I have made myself a test CD and drag my portable CD player with me for such trials. It is not a perfect way to listen to them in a shop in hurry, but you can separate the chaff from the wheat with relative ease and the satisfaction of knowing that you didn't have to buy anything in order to make that choice. Word of advise here: when 1st contacting the shops to ask if you can try out their cans, let it slip in the discussion that you are looking for something between U$200 and U$500 and that you are not interested in anything cheaper. They like spenders who have a minimum spending limit

.

As for re-cabling: don't factor that in as far as your choice of cans is concerned. I once had the misfortune to follow that trend and found out afterwards that the new cables made the tops brighter and the bass lighter. It changed the sound, but didn't make it sound better to me. So tread with caution and have a clear idea what you expect from a re-cabling.

 

[hughwi]

Have you considered any of the grados? if you like rock/metal, the 650's may seem a little laid back for your liking (i love my 325i's for classic rock/metal such as Megadeth, etc)

 

[whaleyboy]

I personally like the HD650 for rock and electronica. They are extremely comfortable, on my head, and the sound is not fatiguing in any way.

I tried the AKG701s pretty extensively and found them to be uncomfortable on my head and overly bright to harsh on rock tracks. Other people like that brighter sound - for me it is too distracting.

 

[jh4db536]

650 are that laidback? only slightly (depending on setup). I think mine are quite forward. They have a "Polite" maybe "Prude" signature, but not laidback. You'll see what that means when you listen to recordings with offensive artifacts.

The veil, is something that can be corrected with upstream modification/changes as the 650 responds very well. The 650 basically needs a source/IC/amp/Signal processor that is NOT neutral (bright, aggressive, forward) to make it sound better. This is where silver cables, exciter processors, opamp/tube rolling, synergies come into play with the 650.

the 650 benefits greatly from balancing. The 650's flabbiness is mostly covered up by the smoothness/richness, and polite signature that it has, but it's there and ugly. Balancing fixes this IMO.

i think the only attribute that is hopeless for the 650 is soundstage. The width is definitely there. Something is jacked up with the width and depth proportions. In the process of forcing the 650 to be more "forward and agressive" i think this suffers even more. That's why i have a 701 too, just in case i need something with good soundstage

the K701 That's very laidback.

i dont think the 701 is bright at all EXCEPT when it is new (ive had the opportunity to devirginize a couple extremely low mileage or new 701s to confirm that). it becomes a lot darker when it's broken in...pretty much neutral.

 

[emericanchaos]

on the topic of Grado's. i don't have an issue with them but i think they're too one-trick for what i need right now. my setup isn't really in line with what it takes to do a Grado set properly. i'm trying to stick with high impedance phones so i can get the best out of my setup. once i figure out this setup Grado's may be the way to go to contrast but i'm not there yet.