[Tympan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nirmalanow /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
I just bought them for about $240. Can't resist a deal like that

 
Geezz Nirmalanow, it's not the first time you get me in trouble... I resisted two days!!!...thanks a lot again

 

[AnakChan]

Gelocks, great job! Makes me feel like getting a pair & burning in longer than just the shop demo.

 

[Lorspeaker]

from gelock's comments... i would like to hear response from people who have heard this kef out of the dacportLX.

 

[LCfiner]

I got my KEF M500 yesterday afternoon. I've been running it from an iphone 5 and from a Burson 160D.
 
First thing I noticed when I listened to them out of the box was an upper midrange shout or glare. It's not as big as from a Grado but it reminded me of the HP1000 glare, just a little stronger. A few of the female vocal songs I use to catch this came up and hurt my ears a little bit if I had volume at an enjoyable level. In case you're wondering, songs are Lorena McKennit "Blacksmith" and Neko Case "Maybe Sparrow" Live from Austin album.
 
Aside from that, everything else about them is really smooth. They are slightly warm. there's a midbass bump that's there and thickens the lower mids a bit. bass is nice. not overwhelming or boomy. I might like to have a bit more impact but I appreciate what's there.
 
I decided to let the M500 run overnight and this morning the glare I noticed out of the box seems to be much less strong. Same volume level as before and those same tracks no longer jolt my ears at key moments. So that's good. it's still there a bit but it no longer feels Grado-ish.
 
But, whenever I compare the M500 the the hifiman HE500 or the Sennheiser IE800, it becomes clear that the M500 mids are a little fuzzy or cupped sounding (hard for me to describe this difference). Part of it is the M500 lower mids sounding thick because of the midbass bump but the other part is just a lesser resolution. It sounds a little less real and a little more like a recreation of sound than the real thing. I admit this is probably unfair competition but it's what I have handy. Plus, after all the praise in here, I figured I'd compare the M500 to some of the best I've heard.
 
It's not quite able to compete with the real high end stuff but I think it's around the best I've heard for ~300. I really, really liked the Momentum back when I had them. Those are darker than the M500 but didn't have the midrange shout. 
 
Not sure if I will keep these as I prefer IEMs now for portable use but I do think they're a solid bet for 300 (although I used the razordog audio deal and got them for around 270 after shipping) I think whether or not someone prefers them over the Momentum will have to do with how sensitive they are to the midrange glare and how dark they like their sound.

 

[gelocks]

Quote:

Gelocks, great job! Makes me feel like getting a pair & burning in longer than just the shop demo.

 
Thanks Anak!
BTW, I should mention that my Mad Dogs are version 3.0 and not the latest 3.2, so that bit of tuning might bring about a difference, especially in the low-end I believe.

 

[Nirmalanow]

Quote:

 
Geezz Nirmalanow, it's not the first time you get me in trouble... I resisted two days!!!...thanks a lot again

Glad to be of service

 

[blueangel2323]

Cool, somebody else who listens to salsa! Cheers gelocks I've been rocking out Marc Anthony's new album for the past week

 

[gelocks]

Quote:

Cool, somebody else who listens to salsa! Cheers gelocks I've been rocking out Marc Anthony's new album for the past week

Marc's a beast!!
I think most of my family has personally met him at one point or another! LOL Great voice and this latest CD is awesome! Felt bad for people having "fits" because of him singing "God Bless America" on MLBs All Star game... racism still rampant on the States and the worse part is that HE WAS BORN IN the USA! LOL! But he's as professional as they come and handled it with grace!

 

[LFC_SL]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gelocks /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
All in all, the KEFs are good, similarly sounding to the Mad Dogs, maybe a bit more warmer (especially at lower volumes), but can provide good attack, clarity and details when cranked up.
Sound Quality is a toss up so I cannot rank it. though if you value sound stage/separation, that might be a problem on some tracks.
Comfort, definitely the Mad Dogs take the cake... (the KEFs become uncomfortable to me after 3+ hours... and yes, I have headphones on my head for at least 6 hours a day at work...) but this will probably vary per person too (I use glasses...)
Build, Both are alright. I do hate the 2.5mm entry on the KEFs though... I wanted to use my V-Moda cable on both headphones! LOL!
 
For $250, the KEFs are a good buy if you want an very good sounding on-ear, highly portable, easily driven, good-looking headphone!
If you don't mind portability, if you want more comfort, and if you are going to be using an amp and don't care about looks, still would recommend the Mad Dogs!
 
Oddly enough, I'd still pick the KEFs over some other headphones such as Sony MDR-1Rs (fatiguing upper-mids for me...), V-Moda M80s (look good, sound good, but missing highs...), etc.
 
So again, good effort from KEF!
Wonder if they'll come out with a full over-ear one soon... Hmmmm... that'll be one to watch!

 
Been reading up on the Mad Dogs and the comparisons to the HE500 are favourable so it is most interesting you say the Dogs vs KEF M500 are so similar

 

[blueangel2323]

Marc's a beast!!
I think most of my family has personally met him at one point or another! LOL Great voice and this latest CD is awesome! Felt bad for people having "fits" because of him singing "God Bless America" on MLBs All Star game... racism still rampant on the States and the worse part is that HE WAS BORN IN the USA! LOL! But he's as professional as they come and handled it with grace!

 
Yeah I've been a huge Marc fan for a long time. Haven't met him backstage yet though - the last time I saw him live was in 2007 and it looks like he might have cancelled Canada in his upcoming tour  
In regards to the racist comments, I think he's just been doing it for so long and taken so much s**t from people that it doesn't bother him anymore. He was born in New York and his parents are from Puerto Rico, which has been part of the USA for over a century now, so either way he's American lol.

 

[Change is Good]

I just opened these babies up. They have that brand new shoe smell...

 
My initial impressions are similar to yours, gelocks, they sound really nice but there's no wow factor until you crank up the volume. I also did some A/B ing with the MDs and while the sound sigs are similar, MDs eat em up alive. I had to separate the two because the MDs were quite jealous and they don't play nice... they really are bad dogs, gelocks lol.
 
I have the 3.2, by the way, so they match up better with the M500 than what it sounds like with your impressions. I'm happy with them, because they have similar sound sigs (which is what I was looking for from my portable alternate). Still, they're poodles compared to the MDs... grrrrrrrrrr...
 

 

[Lorspeaker]

this point about the need to crank it up before it comes more alive sounds familiar...same tot i had on the UE9000 

 
thats it....i am outta here. No ON-ears for me. Will check in when the OVER the EAR version is/ever out...

 

[dweaver]

I actually find the M500 to be a bit to aggressive at mid-hi volume except for genres like classical or New Age.

I had a listen to the Loreena Mckennit song "Blacksmith" mentioned in an earlier post and like that poster do notice a bit of shoutiness in the song which would only get worse as the volume goes up. For me these are good low volume HF for detailed listening and a great mid volume headphone for detail plus dynamics.

 

[Taliesin]

Has anyone compared the Kef M200 to the B&W C5?

 

[blueangel2323]

Has anyone compared the Kef M200 to the B&W C5?

 
C5 is quite bass-centric, and overpriced IMO as it only sounds a bit better than the much cheaper Velodyne vPulse. I haven't heard the M200 personally but from what others have said it would probably be much more neutral in comparison.