[Heartstrings]

I've been lurking around the forums reading reviews on headphone, yet I'm having trouble gauging the mids between these two headphones. I've read some reviews claiming that the ESW9 has a more forward mids than the SRH840 and vice versa and would love if someone who has heard both to chime in.
 
I often listen to music through my Westone UM3x and Cowon J3, but am looking for a pair of headphones mainly to listen through the Cowon at home. I really enjoy the laidback sound from the UM3x and my search has somehow landed me with these two headphones so far. My main criteria is to be able to hear the smooth male vocals from them with the instruments somewhat taking a step back. I'd love to know which these headphones has a warmer sound and more upfront mids. Of course, I'm open to any suggestions of other headphones that suits my taste too. Thanks! =)

 

[andychen]

esw9 has noticeably warmer and more forward mids.

 

[Heartstrings]

Thanks! That certainly helped me in estimating how the ESW9 would sound as I've only managed to demo a pair of Shures 840 recently.
 
I've also been given the Audio-Technica W1000x, JVC HP-DX700 and Denon D5000 as a choice. Has anyone listened to these headphones previously that would be able to provide some comparison on their mids?

 

[TMRaven]

Denons make male vocals very heavy and upfront, because they have quite beefy lower mids, but their upper mids are recessed and treble a bit peaky.

HD650 is generally warm, but because of less low end sounds a bit more brighter than Denons often times, although there's no denying the strength in its mids. It also doesn't have the treble spike of the Denons, and they're by no means rolled off in the treble, either.

 

[MalVeauX]

Quote:

I've been lurking around the forums reading reviews on headphone, yet I'm having trouble gauging the mids between these two headphones. I've read some reviews claiming that the ESW9 has a more forward mids than the SRH840 and vice versa and would love if someone who has heard both to chime in.
 
I often listen to music through my Westone UM3x and Cowon J3, but am looking for a pair of headphones mainly to listen through the Cowon at home. I really enjoy the laidback sound from the UM3x and my search has somehow landed me with these two headphones so far. My main criteria is to be able to hear the smooth male vocals from them with the instruments somewhat taking a step back. I'd love to know which these headphones has a warmer sound and more upfront mids. Of course, I'm open to any suggestions of other headphones that suits my taste too. Thanks! =)

The ESW9A is warmer to me. Butter smooth. Beautiful too. But it's on-ear, I found them comfortable to wear, even being on-ear, compared to other on-ears (Vmoda & Grado, which are uncomfortable to me).
 
Very best,
 

 

[Heartstrings]

 
Quote:

Denons make male vocals very heavy and upfront, because they have quite beefy lower mids, but their upper mids are recessed and treble a bit peaky.
HD650 is generally warm, but because of less low end sounds a bit more brighter than Denons often times, although there's no denying the strength in its mids. It also doesn't have the treble spike of the Denons, and they're by no means rolled off in the treble, either.

I remember testing out a friend's Denon D2000 and found that the mids were rather recessed. I hoped that it would have changed drastically with the D5000 but it seems like that isn't the case. Thanks for letting me know about it!
 
I've heard loads of good reviews about the HD650, but I believe it requires an amp in order to have it at it's full potential? I've not done any research on amps, having only used IEMs and a pair of Grados on my Cowon. Will definitely have a look at the Senns again.

 
Quote:

The ESW9A is warmer to me. Butter smooth. Beautiful too. But it's on-ear, I found them comfortable to wear, even being on-ear, compared to other on-ears (Vmoda & Grado, which are uncomfortable to me).
 
Very best,
 

Thanks for letting me know that they are comfortable to wear. I have a pair of Grados and they were pretty uncomfortable after 15 minutes or so, which made me rather reluctant to purchase the ESW9. Seems like comfort is a non-issue when compared to the Grados.
 

 

[TMRaven]

Only upper mids are recessed on the Denons. Lower mids (ie male vocals) are extremely dominant. The Denons are flat to 1000hz. When comparing HD650 and D2000 I found all male vocals meatier and weightier on the Denons. The crunch of electric guitars and some brass were more noticeable on the HD650, though.