I will have a detailed AKG/Beyer/Sennheiser/Heed review/comparison coming up soon!

[daltonlanny]

Hi Guys,
I currently own and I am burning in a pair of Beyerdynamic DT880's, a pair of Sennheiser HD-600/HD-650, and I have a Heed CanAmp and another pair of AKG K701's on the way, and I will begin burning them in as soon as I get them.
So, in about 3 weeks I will begin reviewing them, and comparing their sounds head-to-head using the Heed CanAmp to drive each of them.
I will then post the results on this forum, and I will rate each of the headphones in categories of bass, mids, highs, soundstage, etc.
Remember though that this will be my own personal opinions and with my equipment...others may disagree or hear differently than myself, so do not take the results too seriously, or flame me over them!
I am looking forward to this comparison!

 

[finbad]

Thanks for the heads-up, but do you think you could at least give your initial impressions and expectations.... You know, just for splits and giggles

May be useful to folks wanting to buy now, and then you can edit with the changes....

Promise, no flames from this corner, only healthy disagreement at worst and thanks for the confirmation of what I agree with...

I'll bet you're awaiting the 880s high freqs to become more politely polished, which it shares in common with the k701s out of the box...

Happy burn-in~

 

[daltonlanny]

Hello Hi-Finthen,
I am using a Creek OBH-11 SE to drive the phones.
I only have 24 to 100 hours burn-in on the phones at this point.
Right now I am not too impressed with the DT-880's.
They sound too shrill and bright with lots of sibilance, and sound thin, sort of veiled, and lacking in the bass dept. They only have 24 hrs. of burn-in time, however.
The HD600's sound the best to me at this point. Their main weaknesses are a hump in the upper bass, slightly veiled, and have a slight grain in the mids/highs. Otherwise, they sound pretty balanced, dynamic, and have good detail.
The HD650's also sound pretty good at this point.
They sound very natural on pianos, guitars, etc., and have great dynamics and drive to them.
Their main weaknesses are they seem alittle bass heavy, and alittle rolled off on top, and seem emphasized in the lower mids.
To my ears they do not seem to have as much detail as the 600's or the Beyers, especially on top.
I did own a pair of 701's that had 300 hours of burn-in, but the Creek was pretty gutless driving them, so I could not gauge their full potential.
So, I was disappointed in them and sold them. [I regret it now].
They did have the widest and tallest soundstage of them all, and they had a very detailed upper midrange and top end.
My biggest disappointment in them was the weak bass, lack of drive, and a certain thinness and sterileness to their sound.
Like I said, I do have another new pair on the way and I am going to give them a fair shot using a long break-in and drive them with the Heed CanAmp that I also ordered.
I am looking for a very balanced sound with extended bass, great midrange and top-end detail and openness, and a great soundstage.
Hope this helps.

 

[Duggeh]

What do you mean by dynamics?

 

[finbad]

Ah, thanks for whetting my insatiable appetite for interesting reads here...
Very cool further fleshing out of the story, gear and history...

The Music Hall CD-25.2 a nice piece, should hold up well enough for you to conclude a favorite presentation; When matched to the Heed, pleanty of power to change your mind into finding the k701s to be a keeper, although I could fully understand the 600s to really better it in that set up for some folks preferances.

Looking forward to reading of your experience...

Have fun~

P.S. A nice helpful tool for reviewers, is the Glossary of Head-fi terms to help us all better explicitly express what it is we are hearing. A tougher endeavor than it seems at first. Also to find adjectives with proper weight so as to transpose the ideas of whats heard in degrees of intensity helps in clarity for readers.

You're off to a good start, and you have my interest

Good luck~

 

[daltonlanny]

Duggeh,
To me:
Dynamics = punch, good range between soft and loud passages. Good dynamic range.

 

[jinp6301]

make sure that you give them all a good listen during burn in. I'm in the camp that burn in is both physical and mental. Your ears have to get used to the different sounds of different headphones

also, what are you going to do with all the headphones after you reviewed them? Donate to a poor college head-fier? (aka me?

)

 

[daltonlanny]

I may sell one or two of the pairs that I like the least!....Maybe???

 

[daltonlanny]

As my profile will tell you, the ideal headphone to me would combine the following qualities:
The dynamics, slam, smoothness, and liquidity of the original Grado HP-2.
The treble extension, air, and detail of the Stax SR-Lambda Signature.
The low bass extension of the Sennheiser HD-650.
AND, the soundstaging of the AKG K1000 and K701!
and once again, unfortunately,...DREAM ON!

 

[iancraig10]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hi-Finthen /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'll bet you're awaiting the 880s high freqs to become more politely polished, which it shares in common with the k701s out of the box... Happy burn-in~

Any idea how long before the highs relax? I'm thinking of leaving them running for a couple of weeks myself to try and calm the top end.

ian

 

[dw6928]

rule of thumb is 200 hours.

 

[finbad]

Quote:

Originally Posted by daltonlanny /img/forum/go_quote.gif I may sell one or two of the pairs that I like the least!....Maybe???

LOL... Maybe(?)...Spoken as one rightfully deserving of the handle, "Can-Man" indeed

Welcome home

Quote:

Originally Posted by daltonlanny /img/forum/go_quote.gif As my profile will tell you, the ideal headphone to me would combine the following qualities: The dynamics, slam, smoothness, and liquidity of the original Grado HP-2. The treble extension, air, and detail of the Stax SR-Lambda Signature. The low bass extension of the Sennheiser HD-650. AND, the soundstaging of the AKG K1000 and K701! and once again, unfortunately,...DREAM ON!

And the very reason so many here own, well, so many

Quote:

Originally Posted by iancraig10 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Any idea how long before the highs relax? I'm thinking of leaving them running for a couple of weeks myself to try and calm the top end. ian

Couple of weeks is a good start, as with both my 990s('05e) and 701s...

However, after 6 months I decided to part with the 990s for this very reason, although the 701s continued to mature with regards to their previously overly excitable top end extention ...

The recent addition of a particular NOS DAC further polished the 701s treble extention into being beautifuly airy and sibilance free, at the same time as adressing previous shortcomings in the presentation of their lower registers with both depth, and in more forward, articulate and textured renditions.

I await the retrial of the 990s (sale fell through due to their not sonicly matching the expectations and system of the buyer), with my newly configured, more so analogue biased toned system .

No doubt in my experience, burn-in is all important with these particular cans, as well as rigorous system matching......

 

[daltonlanny]

Thanks Hifinthen!
I do feel at home indeed.

 

[krmathis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by daltonlanny /img/forum/go_quote.gif As my profile will tell you, the ideal headphone to me would combine the following qualities: The dynamics, slam, smoothness, and liquidity of the original Grado HP-2. The treble extension, air, and detail of the Stax SR-Lambda Signature. The low bass extension of the Sennheiser HD-650. AND, the soundstaging of the AKG K1000 and K701! and once again, unfortunately,...DREAM ON!

You pretty much described the Stax Omega II.

 

[daltonlanny]

Yeah, the my Stax Lambda Signature set up that I bought back in 1992 had some outstanding qualities to it.
The best top-end extension, detail, and openness I have ever heard from any transducer [headphone or speaker]. I also felt the bass was very good, believe it or not.
The only reason I sold it was the recessed lower midrange, a touch of grain and etch, and a relative lack of punch and dynamics.
I am also happy that I only paid $600.00 [new] for a $1,500.00 set up!