Quick background:
I started on head-fi nearly a year and a half ago. Since then I bought a few cans and sold most of them since they didn't have what I was looking for. At this point I trust my ears are experienced and fair at making judgement.
First Impressions:
I vaguely remember not enjoying them out of the box. The treble was a bit strident and the bass was quite boomy. I let them burn in at 8 hour intervals for about two weeks before I really started to enjoy them. Call it headphone burn-in or brain burn-in, but it worked. So I lived with them for 2 months; time to review.
150 hours later:
"Holy Beyers Batman!" Here goes the review. I used mostly .flac files running from Winamp for this review.
Amping - Necessary
This may be a caveat for some, but is fundamental in my review. I'm running the dt770 pro 80 from my Project Sunrise II. It sounds wimpy and muddy out of my laptop and worse out of my iphone. I can imagine tubes would be preferable for these headphones to smooth out the highs and bring the mids forward.
Build Quality - 10/10
We all know these are built like a tank.
Comfort - 8.5/10
These aren't eactly the last word in comfort though they do a good job. I found that keeping the headband stretched on some books for a few nights really helps reduce clamp, but the pads are still pretty stiff. I do find these to be more comfortable than the ath-m50 with stock pads and the hfi580 with velour pads.
Isolation - 9/10
Surprisingly good. I wasn't expecting them to isolate so well since they're ported for better bass response. However, they're good. I normally have a fan running 24/7 in my dorm room (3rd floor, hot beyond belief) and they do a good job of blocking out most of the noise. When I'm listening at a moderate level I find that they even muffle a lot of my mechanical keyboard strokes.
Channel Balance - 10/10
A lot of people don't include this in reviews, but I feel like I should especially since I have some experience with one or two headphones having pretty bad channel imbalance. Sometimes people even accuse Beyer quality control of not being up to snuff because of some channel imbalance. Luckily, my pair is perfect so I don't have to stress.
Bass - 9.5/10
Easily my favorite aspect of this headphone. The bass makes every variety of EDM and hip-hop enjoyable. At times it teeters on boomy, but in general it's well defined and separate from the other elements in the music. It's omniscient and gutteral yet detailed and dynamic, easily the best bass I've heard thus far.
Song Impression: Magnetic Man - The Bug
Sounded gorgeous, deeep bass tone in the singers voice sounded very good. The somewhat complex beat in the background also sounded great. The breakdown toward the end makes me smile.
Mids - 8.5/10
The mids sound surpsingly lush. I was expecting them to sound very recessed per the v-shaped frequency response, but they were quite pleasant. They are not sharp and strident for vocals as I've experienced in other headphones, nor do they smother vocals like the hfi2400 I had. Rather they handle most vocals well. I regularly enjoy Adele, Amy Winehouse, PJ Harvey, and Sufjan Stevens with these cans.
Treble - 9/10
I have to note that for best treble experience you should wear them more forward so that the back of your ear is touching the back of the earpads. This subdues the highs in many situations and helps bring out the lovely mids. I'd say after burn in the treble become quite smooth. Hints of sharpness don't linger and they are overall enjoyable, quite detailed as well I must say.
Song Impression: Lana Del Rey - This Is What Makes Us Girls
I like to use the song to gauge sibilance. These headphones do a good job of keeping all the S's in "This is what makes us girls" from sounding overly sharp.
Soundstage/Imaging/Separation - 8.5/10
The soundstage is good for most kinds of music except large live performances because they have a chamber kind of soundstage. Intimate performances sound superb. Imaging and separation is nice as well.
Song Impression: Monolake - Toku
Listening to this song, I get a sense that I'm in the center of the creepy, ethereal space the song creates. I can pinpoint every noise with precision.
Value - 10/10
Stop playing games and just buy them! Ugh
I started on head-fi nearly a year and a half ago. Since then I bought a few cans and sold most of them since they didn't have what I was looking for. At this point I trust my ears are experienced and fair at making judgement.
First Impressions:
I vaguely remember not enjoying them out of the box. The treble was a bit strident and the bass was quite boomy. I let them burn in at 8 hour intervals for about two weeks before I really started to enjoy them. Call it headphone burn-in or brain burn-in, but it worked. So I lived with them for 2 months; time to review.
150 hours later:
"Holy Beyers Batman!" Here goes the review. I used mostly .flac files running from Winamp for this review.
Amping - Necessary
This may be a caveat for some, but is fundamental in my review. I'm running the dt770 pro 80 from my Project Sunrise II. It sounds wimpy and muddy out of my laptop and worse out of my iphone. I can imagine tubes would be preferable for these headphones to smooth out the highs and bring the mids forward.
Build Quality - 10/10
We all know these are built like a tank.
Comfort - 8.5/10
These aren't eactly the last word in comfort though they do a good job. I found that keeping the headband stretched on some books for a few nights really helps reduce clamp, but the pads are still pretty stiff. I do find these to be more comfortable than the ath-m50 with stock pads and the hfi580 with velour pads.
Isolation - 9/10
Surprisingly good. I wasn't expecting them to isolate so well since they're ported for better bass response. However, they're good. I normally have a fan running 24/7 in my dorm room (3rd floor, hot beyond belief) and they do a good job of blocking out most of the noise. When I'm listening at a moderate level I find that they even muffle a lot of my mechanical keyboard strokes.
Channel Balance - 10/10
A lot of people don't include this in reviews, but I feel like I should especially since I have some experience with one or two headphones having pretty bad channel imbalance. Sometimes people even accuse Beyer quality control of not being up to snuff because of some channel imbalance. Luckily, my pair is perfect so I don't have to stress.
Bass - 9.5/10
Easily my favorite aspect of this headphone. The bass makes every variety of EDM and hip-hop enjoyable. At times it teeters on boomy, but in general it's well defined and separate from the other elements in the music. It's omniscient and gutteral yet detailed and dynamic, easily the best bass I've heard thus far.
Song Impression: Magnetic Man - The Bug
Sounded gorgeous, deeep bass tone in the singers voice sounded very good. The somewhat complex beat in the background also sounded great. The breakdown toward the end makes me smile.
Mids - 8.5/10
The mids sound surpsingly lush. I was expecting them to sound very recessed per the v-shaped frequency response, but they were quite pleasant. They are not sharp and strident for vocals as I've experienced in other headphones, nor do they smother vocals like the hfi2400 I had. Rather they handle most vocals well. I regularly enjoy Adele, Amy Winehouse, PJ Harvey, and Sufjan Stevens with these cans.
Treble - 9/10
I have to note that for best treble experience you should wear them more forward so that the back of your ear is touching the back of the earpads. This subdues the highs in many situations and helps bring out the lovely mids. I'd say after burn in the treble become quite smooth. Hints of sharpness don't linger and they are overall enjoyable, quite detailed as well I must say.
Song Impression: Lana Del Rey - This Is What Makes Us Girls
I like to use the song to gauge sibilance. These headphones do a good job of keeping all the S's in "This is what makes us girls" from sounding overly sharp.
Soundstage/Imaging/Separation - 8.5/10
The soundstage is good for most kinds of music except large live performances because they have a chamber kind of soundstage. Intimate performances sound superb. Imaging and separation is nice as well.
Song Impression: Monolake - Toku
Listening to this song, I get a sense that I'm in the center of the creepy, ethereal space the song creates. I can pinpoint every noise with precision.
Value - 10/10
Stop playing games and just buy them! Ugh
What's your set up?
