Koss Pro DJ 100 - The Budget King
Jul 11, 2012 at 8:05 PM Post #646 of 2,344
I mainly listen to hip-hop, so do you think the sound signature of these would be good for that?  How would you compare the sound signature of these to the Monoprice 8323's?  I really don't know if I want these or the Monoprices, I keep on changing my mind!
Edit:What are the best velour pads you have tried out so far?
 
Jul 11, 2012 at 10:42 PM Post #647 of 2,344
Jul 12, 2012 at 12:32 AM Post #648 of 2,344
Quote:
I mainly listen to hip-hop, so do you think the sound signature of these would be good for that?  How would you compare the sound signature of these to the Monoprice 8323's?  I really don't know if I want these or the Monoprices, I keep on changing my mind!
Edit:What are the best velour pads you have tried out so far?

 
Is the Monoprice 8323 a clone of the Kicker HP541? If so (please nobody hate me for this), its the worst headphone i've heard. The only thing that could save it for me was a few mods and new pads. Most people might like it.
 
What's strange is that the Monoprice doesn't measure to be some bass monster like the HP541 was to my ears. The Kicker HP541 was severely muffled and had awful bass bleed. I gave it a second chance and spent maybe 3 hours modding it.
 
The DJ100 IMO has slightly above neutral bass. As long as you don't want bloated bass, you'll be fine. I'd say the DJ100 has very accurate bass and won't magically change the recording and bloat the bass.
 
I should point out that the HP541 just doesn't have a signature I like. Probably a total opposite.
 
The Panasonic headphone people are raving about is decent for $30, but it's signature makes the DJ100 look like some neutral studio monitor and it's most definitely NOT! The RTF whatever seems to have more mid-bass and low mids than the DJ100. It's better for bassheads. Yet I still think the DJ100 might have better bass extension.
 
I actually think the mids on the Panasonic are more forward than the DJ100! Just not the upper mids.
 
I actually killed my Panasonic due to modding it. Got tired of it's goofy signature. I think it just had a tad more bass than I like. Even more than the M50.
 
The XB500 is actually better than both of them if you EQ the heck out of it. Without an EQ the XB500 is unlistenable to me. If I couldn't EQ it, I'd take the Panasonic.
 
Believe it or not an XB500 with classical and a massive EQ change is very impressive (for the price) with classical music. An EQ couldn't fix the HP541 for me.
 
Jul 13, 2012 at 9:24 AM Post #651 of 2,344
Picked up the TBSE1 yesterday.  Sounds good out of the box, but the smaller round shape of the headphone still need some getting use to.  One thing that I did right away was used a spare V-Moda cable (ordered 2 for my Fostex T50RP, one in red/black and one grey/black).  The grey/black cables goes real well with the headphone and is much much lighter then the coil.  So far, I'm a happy camper
beyersmile.png

 
Jul 13, 2012 at 11:17 AM Post #652 of 2,344
By the way, I don't really get the mono/stereo switch. I was under the impression that if I switched to mono, all the sound from one earpiece would disappear. This was clearly not the case for me. Most of the sound was gone, but there was still a little coming out.
 
Jul 13, 2012 at 11:35 AM Post #653 of 2,344
The mono switch pushes a stereo signal into both cups at the same levels if I'm not mistaken. It's for mixing. It's on the those 'DJ' features that no one uses on the DJ100.
 
Quote:
By the way, I don't really get the mono/stereo switch. I was under the impression that if I switched to mono, all the sound from one earpiece would disappear. This was clearly not the case for me. Most of the sound was gone, but there was still a little coming out.

 
Jul 13, 2012 at 2:48 PM Post #654 of 2,344
Amazon wants to send these cans in a priority package.  $35 for postages + taxes, k thx. I managed to find them for 55e, tho.
 
How Does Pro DJ compare to Sony mdr-v6 or zx700? I could get either of them for 60 odd euros. Again, mostly for portable use. I'd carry my Brainwavz hm5 around if they weren't so big. Sounding good unamped is a plus, but I might pick one up for longer voyages. I'd love to get CAL!s (50e), but I've heard their isolation might not be good enough for outside use (I'm travelling pretty often on bus/train/car).
 
I came here to find me a nice new pair for home use. Now I want (closed) one for portable use too. Mac'n'Cheese diet, here I come!
 
Jul 13, 2012 at 3:18 PM Post #655 of 2,344
Quote:
Amazon wants to send these cans in a priority package.  $35 for postages + taxes, k thx. I managed to find them for 55e, tho.
 
How Does Pro DJ compare to Sony mdr-v6 or zx700? I could get either of them for 60 odd euros. Again, mostly for portable use. I'd carry my Brainwavz hm5 around if they weren't so big. Sounding good unamped is a plus, but I might pick one up for longer voyages. I'd love to get CAL!s (50e), but I've heard their isolation might not be good enough for outside use (I'm travelling pretty often on bus/train/car).
 
I came here to find me a nice new pair for home use. Now I want (closed) one for portable use too. Mac'n'Cheese diet, here I come!

 
I compared the 7506 to the DJ100 awhile back. I think the 7506 sounds a bit better than the V6, but supposedly they're the same thing.
 
The DJ100 has more forward mids, less mid-bass and better low bass extension. The 7506 definitely has more treble I think, but a smaller soundstage.
 
I actually felt the 7506 wasn't as clear sounding as the DJ100.
 
Here's an old comparison I did of the DJ100 vs the KRK KNS-8400, 7506, Sextett, HD-598:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/540079/five-headphones-compared-kns-8400-dj100-hd-598-sextett-and-mdr-7506
 
I liked the 7506 quite a bit, but it's mid-bass annoyed the heck out of me. Stuck out way too much and I never saw that in it's graphs (I think).
 
I prefer the 7506 to the ZX700. ZX700 is a downgrade from the V6/7506 IMO.
 
BTW another good option is the KRK KNS-6400. I think it's cheaper in europe than in the USA. Maybe not..
 
Jul 13, 2012 at 3:58 PM Post #656 of 2,344
I found KNS6400 for about 100euros ($120). I set my budget to ~60e and am not sure if I want to put that much for cans that will inevitably suffer a bit of abuse.
 
E: I already have V-Jays, TTEsport Isuruses and Px100-II, so I'm not really in dire need of portables. However I moved into a city (on our scale, atleast) and soon started to appreciate noise isolation.
 
Jul 14, 2012 at 1:55 AM Post #657 of 2,344
I did some more testing today in gaming with about 4-5 different headphones. Very surprised about some things. Nobody will probably find this useful, but i'm really bored.
 
Tony Bennett/DJ100
 
Between all my headphones, this had the most present low-bass. Almost too much so. I would say next it was the HD-580 followed by the KNS-8400, Q701 and K601 (in that order). I was shocked that the K601 actually seemed to have worst sub-bass than the Q701. I was nearly positive it was the other way around!  For gaming, the mids  were more forward than on any of the other headphones. I would say this sounded almost as full and realistic as the HD-580. It actually sounded clearer at times too. The mids on the DJ100 are definitely more forward than those of the HD-580! The 580 also has more mid-bass.
 
KRK KNS-8400
Everything on this for gaming was fairly full sounding, clear and very detailed. Very immersive for gaming. The mids were about as "thick" as the Q701. Certainly not like an HD-600. Treble was a bit of an issue. At one point I had accidentally put on the 6400 and everything became so much thinner sounding and the sub-bass had gone out the window! I would say the 6400 has slightly smoother treble. At times the 8400 seems even fuller sounding than the Q701. I don't find it's mids thin or lacking.  The Q701 and KNS-8400 have very many similarities. Want a closed Q701? Try the 8400!
 
Sextett
This sounded almost identical in gaming as the DJ100. It just had worse low bass extension and less treble. The DJ100's soundstage is obviously more closed in and it has more forward mids. The imaging on the Sextett is very impressive! Everything sounded very lifelike, just like on the DJ100. Sound clarity was worse than the DJ100 I think. It could be just that it's more revealing of how bad the soundtrack was in quality. Who knows. My Sextett does lack a bit of treble.
 
HD-580
This was the fullest sounding headphone, but the DJ100 wasn't that far behind. I was actually surprised at times this seemed to have better imaging than the Q701, but less treble. The soundstage is quite small and it's mids sound more forward than the HD-600. Very smooth treble. Fairly clear.
 
Q701
Probably tied with the KNS-8400 as having the most detail and the clearest sound. The low-bass was there, but similar in quantity to the 8400. It seem to make some soundtracks sound clearer than they really should be. Not sure how that's possible. Tons of detail, but imaging seems slightly worse than the HD-580 and K601. This had the largest soundstage. I had a hard time pin-pointing some sounds. On the Sextett it was stupid easy. The treble during gaming is often kind of bothersome. Not bad enough to give me fatigue, I just need to not crank the volume up. The treble on the 8400 is much worse.
 
K601
I was pretty positive this had better sub-bass than the Q701, but I found this to not be true. I don't have a clue why, but this didn't seem to have forward sounding mids and the sound seemed thinner than it normally is. It felt as if all the background detail had gone missing and was not as present as on the 8400 and Q701. Still pretty good. Definitely sounds less clear and detailed than the Q701.
 
All of them were pretty much perfect for gaming and there's none of them I wouldn't use. Lately it's been the HD-580 over the DJ100 due to comfort. The DJ100 actually sounds clearer than the HD-580 to me in gaming sometimes but doesn't have a large soundstage.
 
Jul 14, 2012 at 7:49 AM Post #658 of 2,344
Quote:
I found KNS6400 for about 100euros ($120). I set my budget to ~60e and am not sure if I want to put that much for cans that will inevitably suffer a bit of abuse.
 
E: I already have V-Jays, TTEsport Isuruses and Px100-II, so I'm not really in dire need of portables. However I moved into a city (on our scale, atleast) and soon started to appreciate noise isolation.

Hm, Philips Downtowns seem to be a good pair too. Anyone used those?
 
Maybe I should go to recommendations thread instead of derailing this one.
 
Jul 14, 2012 at 9:56 PM Post #660 of 2,344
I recently sold my Koss Pro DJ 100s (my first real headphone) and bought the AKG K550. I would have kept the dj100s, but their poor comfort was a dealbreaker. On paper the k550s seemed like everything I ever wanted in a headphone. Additionally, about 1/3 of the music I listen to is classical, and I heard the k550s blow the stock dj100s out of the water in both soundstage and imaging. However, after a few days of using the k550s, I found some major issues (mainly the light clamp force, their massive size, lack of bass, and this one spot in the upper mids with ridiculous glare), and am almost certainly going to sell them. While everything on the k550s except bass presence and some treble sounds better than the pro100s to at least some degree, I find nothing except the soundstage, imaging, and comfort to truly be worth the extra money, and the problems that is has cancel out those benefits to make it just not a good match for me.
 
My main contenders to replace it are the dj100s + m50 pads, and the jaycars (hm5, fa-003 clones). Both come out to $70. I do not want to invest in an amp, but my sources are pretty good.
 
My first question: do the m50 pads significantly improve both the comfort and soundstage/imaging on the dj100? Those were the the two big issues I had with the stock dj100s. The k550 solved both of them with flying colors. I might be able to live with the dj100s even if they don't improve much for classical, as they were still okay before. However, comfort MUST improve significantly. The stock pads were much too shallow and not large enough for my ears.
Second: are the jaycars better than the dj pro100? I ask this in regards to comfort, isolation/leakage, and sound when both are unamped. Also, I found the bass on the pro100s to be almost perfect, how much less do these have?
 

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