alphas vs Yamaha HPH-MT220
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Definitely two different beasts!
Overall sound signature, the Alphas are still warmer and cleaner throughout the whole frecuency range and a bit more "laid back"! The Yammies are a bit colder, brighter but no slouch when it comes to represent the low-end (i.e. it is NOT a Shure SRH940/Spider Moonlight "monitoring"/"pro" type headphone). In a bit more detail,
Highs are "boosted" up a bit on the Yamaha's. In fact, this "boost" actually introduce a bit of "hiss" to some already badly recorded songs. It definitely extends higher than the Alpha's but they are NOT as pleasant sounding, though they are never harsh.
Mids are forward and clean but compared to the ADs, the Yammies sound more "in-your-face". Mids on the Alphas are lovely, and again, they're more warmer and I prefer them for straight-up music listening... too good! Bass... Both have excellent extension down there, both sound clean but the Yammies DO have more impact. Their sub-bass is more plentiful and enveloping as well so bassy tracks are, well... bassy. On the other hand on the Alphas, the same tracks lack "punch", the bass is there and it hits just not as hard! Finally imaging or what I call instrument separation is worlds apart, I just think that Dan knows how to tweak that T50RP driver cause it trounces the Yamaha's (and a lot of headphones I've tried) and kicks it's butt all over the place!
Due to their nature, I actually like the Yamaha's for movie watching and gaming. Their sound-stage is a bit narrower than the ADs but their clean, brighter, in-your-face sound help them over the ADs to my ears. But For straight up music listening, the Alphas are just too good!
Comfort definitely goes to the Alpha Dogs. The Alpha pads are just so good and since they are deep as well, your ears never touch the driver enclosure. Not so with the Yamaha's. Even though the earpads are big enough to envelop the whole ear, since they are not deep pads, the ear RESTS on the driver. Is it bad? No, not really but I can see people having problems with how they "feel".
Miscellaneous, well, no detachable cables, no stand, no bags (that I remember), etc. for the Yamaha's. Alpha Dogs, well, you have probably read with all the things that it comes with. Yammies are well constructed though, they feel good, they are lighter but built to last with good materials. With the ADs I'm super careful, not so with the Yammies.
Over all, I like both.
I feel that the MT220s can provide some things that the AD is missing (mostly more bass impact and a brighter more in-your-face sound that's never harsh to my ears!) but all in all the Alpha Dogs are the winners on this battle! As with everything though, it comes to a battle of... Price. For $250, the Yamaha's are an EXCELLENT choice if you are looking for a brighter (north of neutral definitely) sound with pleasant in-your-face mids and slamming bass... but I have to ADMIT that at $600 the Alpha Dogs do offer a whole lot for the price, maybe not a whole lot of "air" nor brightness and a bit more laid back but they are a lot of headphone....
Now I can't wait to compare against the Shure SRH1540 and the Beyer T5p... :eeeeeeeeeekkkk:
Hope it helped.
