Alright my fellow headbangers, here's a nice big fat comparison of my current five dynamic headphones, just to make that next headphone purchase of yours easier.
Here's what's going on behind the 'phones first though:
Source - Denon DCM-370
Amp - Audio Valve RKV Mark II
CD albums - Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon soundtrack, Pearl Harbor soundtrack, Bond - Born, Final Fantasy VII Reunion Tracks (only one track used from this CD...Aeris' Theme, Symphonic version). No Aqua this time.
And away away we go...
Sennheiser HD-600 + Red Clou cable - the most prominent thing about them compared to the others is their soundstage...it definitely projects the farthest soundstage away from you out of all the headphones. You very noticeably feel like you're in the 3rd row compared to the other headphones. Strangely though, I have found that with certain amps, typically lower end ones, you can nonetheless feel right up close with all the action. Higher end amps tend to allow the HD-600s to project the stage farther and farther away. This extra wide soundstage makes these really perfect for orchestral music. Their sound is incredibly smooth, lush, and non-fatiguing. Their bass extension is definitely the strongest, as with drums I can totally feel waves of bass thrumming around my ears. Treble is laid back, and lacks a certain sheen to it...cymbals lack a certain bite, and string instruments don't sound as clear as with the other headphones, especially noticeable in Aeris' theme, which contains a big cymbal clash at the end. The midrange is what makes these headphones so lush sounding...it's just creamy smooth.
Allesandro Grado Music Series Pro - instant eye opener with these is the soundstage once again...in comparison, instruments feel as if they're playing right next to you. And I do mean, right NEXT to you. While this helps to increase the clarity of those instruments, at the same time I find it very unrealistic...and ultimately, you get a clump of the singer and instruments all stuck right in the center of your head. The treble on these is laid back, smooth, very similar to the HD-600s except there is a steely sheen to instruments that need if, if not nearly strong enough of a sheen. Bass is your typical Grado trademark bass, fast and whapping without too much extension. It gets in, and gets out quick...which has come to be known as the Grado impact. With the bass comes a bonus...if you run across drums among instruments, they will make good use of the wooden cups and sound extra realistic. Midrange is a shining factor on these...cleanly warm, but not quite as lush as the Sennheisers. Whereas the HD-600s midrange starts to tread into the upper bass region, the MSP keeps the midrange out of there.
Grado HP-1 - first thing to catch your attention is the airiness of everything...the details, the voices, the instruments. It's all hanging suspended on a soundstage spread out wide from left to right. I believe in details, these headphones are still the strongest at it out of the four...thanks to a slightly extra dosage of treble. These definitely give cymbals and strings their due sheen...the cymbal shines through very loudly on Aeris' theme, and yet through normal passages won't give off nasty sibilance. Midrange is missing that warm presence, and sounds clean. The bass is tight, and doesn't contain the typical Grado impact...it loses what extension the current Grados even have, and trades it in for accurate bass. The ultimate strength of these headphones is their balance...the treble, bass, midrange, and soundstage all perfectly compliment each other.
Sony MDR-CD3000 - their treble is clear and birght, with a slight bit of tizziness to the treble ("tsss" sound). They're brighter than the HP-1s, and maintain that slight sizzle to the treble throughout playback. There is no warm midrange to speak of compared to the other headphones, it's a clean one. I think the bass is the meat and potatoes of the CD3000s...it's very stong, has excellent extension, but at the same time, the bass has a quickness that can only be matched by Grados...it has the same "get in, get out" factor. While the HD-600s draw out the bass, the CD3000s maintain that deepness but cut off the extension a bit earlier. Soundstage is noticeably closed switching over from the Grados and the Senns, but you still get audio cues beyond the ear. So you're probably wondering, "well these sound good...why'd he sell them?" Because compared to the others, they lack a certain musical feel to them...I think these really belong in a recording studio than next to a tube amp and warm CDP at home. Something about the bass and treble remind me of a much higher class Sony MDR-V600...it sounds good, but it lacks a certain refinement to the overall sound.
Sony MDR-R10 - after going through each and every headphone, getting back to these was quite interesting. Putting these on, and then playing the music through shows off something that none of the other headphones could portray...the beautiful naturalness of the music. I couldn't help but grin as I went through my CDs for the fifth time...I felt like waving my arms around like Tom Hanks in Castaway and yelling "I...have MUSIC!!!"
Getting back to headphone basics 101 however...the soundstage is sealed in, and after just hearing the other headphones, it does sound noticeably closed. You still get a very good extending of instruments beyond your ear however. Strangely, while details aren't a strength of the R10s, their transparency is downright incredible...in fact, the best by far out of these four headphones. You can just really hear things clearly...it's like a veil that was on all the other headphones has suddenly been lifted away on the R10s. Details on the other hand suffer because in order to create the natural sound, the treble and bass are both recessed...both are simply "enough". The lack of excessive treble is perhaps why details don't stand out. On the other hand, that extra transparency makes the R10s details much better than the HD-600s, which by now definitely sounded heavily veiled and almost muddy in comparison. The midrange is very clean, almost a cross between being lush and being warm, without overdoing anything. Finally the bass is tight, without much extension. The final picture is a perfect blend of sounds, and the music just simply flows out naturally.
With this all said and done...some notes.
If I had to choose among these headphones and pick my favorites, I'd be hard pressed...but if there's one finding I have, it's that I'm discovering more and more that the HD-600s are getting outclassed and outgunned by the other four headphones. There's just a sense of clarity all the other 3 headphones possess that I find missing in the HD-600s. It could very well be I find the way the HD-600s increase the distance from me to the singer to be a bit too alienating...I prefer to hear those singers right up close and personal.
The Grado lineup is very complicated...'nuff said I think. Just when you think you've heard it all, along comes another one of their lineup to throw everything you think you know about Grados off. I thought the MSPs would be bright as a cheap earbud...but instead, I get no sibilance at all. I thought the HP-1 would follow along the current Grado lineup...and they sound so different that they're in another class totally. I'd still like to hear the 325s someday and see just how different those are from the MS-IIs I've heard.
Finally, I see more and more people getting interested in the Sony R10s. Before you make the jump, I would suggest the following to prepare yourself. 1. Listen to two or three other dynamic headphones...even better if you can own them and compare them to the R10s, when you get them. 2. For the love of God, make sure you have a good high end amp, preferably a tube based one...don't make the same mistake I made in driving them from an MG Head. I've discovered the R10s are VERY amp dependent, after putting them though four different amps. 3. Keep an open mind and ear...it is very easy to dislike the R10s right from the get-go because you're talking about a product that comes from Sony, who normally doesn't make very good products...and you're talking about something that costs $4000, a pricetag that looks like something Sony would tag on for the sheer hell of it. Give them some time, give them some love...and soon you'll be totally loving the way they present the music. Which is why you'll want to have the extra headphones on hand...it's almost a requirement to truly understand what makes the R10s special, since their signature sound is certainly nothing interesting. Nay, it's in the way they present the music. All natural, baby.
It just about took me all these steps to truly love the R10s...and love them I do now.
I can't even truly describe the way they sound...for example, I say they aren't as detailed simply because their treble and bass isn't so strong, but in reality they rival the HP-1s and Etymotics for detail. You'd have to hear it for yourself to understand...those that simply dismiss them out of hand are just simply missing out on a very unique way to listen to music.
*WHEW* I think that's it, after 40 minutes of typing and thinking of how to describe the sound...so you guys can go ahead and start reading now.
Here's what's going on behind the 'phones first though:
Source - Denon DCM-370
Amp - Audio Valve RKV Mark II
CD albums - Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon soundtrack, Pearl Harbor soundtrack, Bond - Born, Final Fantasy VII Reunion Tracks (only one track used from this CD...Aeris' Theme, Symphonic version). No Aqua this time.
And away away we go...
Sennheiser HD-600 + Red Clou cable - the most prominent thing about them compared to the others is their soundstage...it definitely projects the farthest soundstage away from you out of all the headphones. You very noticeably feel like you're in the 3rd row compared to the other headphones. Strangely though, I have found that with certain amps, typically lower end ones, you can nonetheless feel right up close with all the action. Higher end amps tend to allow the HD-600s to project the stage farther and farther away. This extra wide soundstage makes these really perfect for orchestral music. Their sound is incredibly smooth, lush, and non-fatiguing. Their bass extension is definitely the strongest, as with drums I can totally feel waves of bass thrumming around my ears. Treble is laid back, and lacks a certain sheen to it...cymbals lack a certain bite, and string instruments don't sound as clear as with the other headphones, especially noticeable in Aeris' theme, which contains a big cymbal clash at the end. The midrange is what makes these headphones so lush sounding...it's just creamy smooth.
Allesandro Grado Music Series Pro - instant eye opener with these is the soundstage once again...in comparison, instruments feel as if they're playing right next to you. And I do mean, right NEXT to you. While this helps to increase the clarity of those instruments, at the same time I find it very unrealistic...and ultimately, you get a clump of the singer and instruments all stuck right in the center of your head. The treble on these is laid back, smooth, very similar to the HD-600s except there is a steely sheen to instruments that need if, if not nearly strong enough of a sheen. Bass is your typical Grado trademark bass, fast and whapping without too much extension. It gets in, and gets out quick...which has come to be known as the Grado impact. With the bass comes a bonus...if you run across drums among instruments, they will make good use of the wooden cups and sound extra realistic. Midrange is a shining factor on these...cleanly warm, but not quite as lush as the Sennheisers. Whereas the HD-600s midrange starts to tread into the upper bass region, the MSP keeps the midrange out of there.
Grado HP-1 - first thing to catch your attention is the airiness of everything...the details, the voices, the instruments. It's all hanging suspended on a soundstage spread out wide from left to right. I believe in details, these headphones are still the strongest at it out of the four...thanks to a slightly extra dosage of treble. These definitely give cymbals and strings their due sheen...the cymbal shines through very loudly on Aeris' theme, and yet through normal passages won't give off nasty sibilance. Midrange is missing that warm presence, and sounds clean. The bass is tight, and doesn't contain the typical Grado impact...it loses what extension the current Grados even have, and trades it in for accurate bass. The ultimate strength of these headphones is their balance...the treble, bass, midrange, and soundstage all perfectly compliment each other.
Sony MDR-CD3000 - their treble is clear and birght, with a slight bit of tizziness to the treble ("tsss" sound). They're brighter than the HP-1s, and maintain that slight sizzle to the treble throughout playback. There is no warm midrange to speak of compared to the other headphones, it's a clean one. I think the bass is the meat and potatoes of the CD3000s...it's very stong, has excellent extension, but at the same time, the bass has a quickness that can only be matched by Grados...it has the same "get in, get out" factor. While the HD-600s draw out the bass, the CD3000s maintain that deepness but cut off the extension a bit earlier. Soundstage is noticeably closed switching over from the Grados and the Senns, but you still get audio cues beyond the ear. So you're probably wondering, "well these sound good...why'd he sell them?" Because compared to the others, they lack a certain musical feel to them...I think these really belong in a recording studio than next to a tube amp and warm CDP at home. Something about the bass and treble remind me of a much higher class Sony MDR-V600...it sounds good, but it lacks a certain refinement to the overall sound.
Sony MDR-R10 - after going through each and every headphone, getting back to these was quite interesting. Putting these on, and then playing the music through shows off something that none of the other headphones could portray...the beautiful naturalness of the music. I couldn't help but grin as I went through my CDs for the fifth time...I felt like waving my arms around like Tom Hanks in Castaway and yelling "I...have MUSIC!!!"
With this all said and done...some notes.
If I had to choose among these headphones and pick my favorites, I'd be hard pressed...but if there's one finding I have, it's that I'm discovering more and more that the HD-600s are getting outclassed and outgunned by the other four headphones. There's just a sense of clarity all the other 3 headphones possess that I find missing in the HD-600s. It could very well be I find the way the HD-600s increase the distance from me to the singer to be a bit too alienating...I prefer to hear those singers right up close and personal.
The Grado lineup is very complicated...'nuff said I think. Just when you think you've heard it all, along comes another one of their lineup to throw everything you think you know about Grados off. I thought the MSPs would be bright as a cheap earbud...but instead, I get no sibilance at all. I thought the HP-1 would follow along the current Grado lineup...and they sound so different that they're in another class totally. I'd still like to hear the 325s someday and see just how different those are from the MS-IIs I've heard.
Finally, I see more and more people getting interested in the Sony R10s. Before you make the jump, I would suggest the following to prepare yourself. 1. Listen to two or three other dynamic headphones...even better if you can own them and compare them to the R10s, when you get them. 2. For the love of God, make sure you have a good high end amp, preferably a tube based one...don't make the same mistake I made in driving them from an MG Head. I've discovered the R10s are VERY amp dependent, after putting them though four different amps. 3. Keep an open mind and ear...it is very easy to dislike the R10s right from the get-go because you're talking about a product that comes from Sony, who normally doesn't make very good products...and you're talking about something that costs $4000, a pricetag that looks like something Sony would tag on for the sheer hell of it. Give them some time, give them some love...and soon you'll be totally loving the way they present the music. Which is why you'll want to have the extra headphones on hand...it's almost a requirement to truly understand what makes the R10s special, since their signature sound is certainly nothing interesting. Nay, it's in the way they present the music. All natural, baby.
*WHEW* I think that's it, after 40 minutes of typing and thinking of how to describe the sound...so you guys can go ahead and start reading now.
