[Ctn]

Porta Corda Review
==================

Source: Sony DEJ925 pcdp
Headphones: HD580 and HD590
Anp: Porta Corda with crossfeed off.

cds:
(1) Sheryl Crow: the globe sessions "My Favorite Mistake"
(2) Dawsons Creek soundtrack: "Ready for a fall"
(3) Anastasia soundtrack "Once upon a December"
(4) The Corrs unplugged: The best of "Radio (unplugged)"
(5) The Corrs unplugged: The best of "Lough Erin Shore (unplugged)"
(6) City of Angels soundtrack "Uninvited"

Comparing to (home rig): CD6000ose, Silver Stage BL-4 interconnects, RedGum RGi60, Legend Acoustices Kama2

This review is going to be somewhat biased as I dont have any other headphone amps to compare with so
Im going to be comapring the two headphones mostly.

(1) Sheryl Crow: the globe sessions "My Favorite Mistake"
================================================== ========

HD580
-----
Sheryl's voice is a fair bit more airy with more detail with instruments at the start. Bass has more bite but no where near
my home rig. The bass sounds a little slow. Vocals are much better as it is more forward than the 590s and sweet.
Lower midrange is good. Upper midrage is better. There is not much high end detail like the 590s as the detail I can hear
much more detail with my home rig.

HD590
-----

Sheryl's voice is airy with this pair of headphones. Bass when she starts to sing is deep but not so
tight but there is a definite lack of bass. Vocals are not as forward and sweet as my home rig as it tends to sound a little dry.
Very laid back midrange. High end is sweet again laid back. Not the brightest headphones atleast for this song.


Verdict:
--------

The HD580 wins in every single way with this song.

(2) Dawsons Creek soundtrack: "Ready for a fall"
=================================================

HD580
-----

Very sweet and forward vocals at the start then drops to laid back later in the song. Has alot of detail in the midrange.
High end is detailed and sweet. Bass is nicely toned and deep but not very controlled. Has some noticable hiss in the background.
Intruments are nice and sharp with a nice bite.

HD590
-----

Vocals are very forward and airy at the start but not so sweet but sharp. Has more detail in the high end. Hiss is more promanent
with this pair of headphones. Bass is tighter but not as well extended as the 580. Lower midrange is not as dark as the 580.
Instruments again are nice and sharp with a nice bite.

Verdict:
--------

The 590 comes out tops in most catagories as it has the perfect tone for this song.

(3) Anastasia soundtrack "Once upon a December"
================================================

HD580
-----

The bells at the start are very natural as well as those that follow with less bite than the 590. The vocals at the start
are very warm. The low end is very good being nicely extended with less control. The "intense" moment is extremely good.
The trumpets sounds even better.

HD590
-----

The bells at the start sounds a unnatural but those that follow are better. The vocals here are not bad but are abit harsh.
The low end is very nicely extended and nicely controlled. The "intense" moment is very well done esp the trumpets but the
secondary vocals here are very laid back. Vocals later are warmer but still harsh.

Verdict:
--------

The HD580 inches ahead but not by much. Incomparison with my home rig. There is just no competition. The vocals is nicely
represented with a forward sound. Low end is just awesome being deep and tight. The bells at the start is just a moment
to be witnessed as its so captivating for something so simple.

(4) The Corrs unplugged: The best of "Radio (unplugged)"

HD580
-----

Very airy and natural overall. Bass is very well represented like my home system. Vocals are abit harsh. The violin doesnt
sound very natural and somewhat clogged up. Overall a very warm performance. Not much high end detail here. Midrange is
pretty phathetic.

HD590
-----

A brighter representation of this song. Vocals are also abit harse but does it better than the 580. Bass is very good but
less tight. Voilin is better with this that the 580. Vocals are better than the 580 as it sounds more natural. Bass is less
extended than the 580.

Verdict:
--------
The 590 wins in most places as its way less harsh. At times even though there is more detail, it is often sweeter.

(5) The Corrs unplugged: The best of "Lough Erin Shore (unplugged)"
================================================== ==================

HD580
-----

Overall a very sweet midrange. High end is harsh. The voilin is pretty harsh. The drums again are harsh. The piano is more
natural than the 590 but it sounds clogged up. The drums is very well represented with the air it deserves. The part that
follows has more detail and is sweeter.

HD590
-----

Overall a warm midrange but bright high end. Low end is terrible here. The lower freq drums dont have the deep bite as it
should. The piano doesnt sound very natural and is very harsh. The drum solo is very nice but doesnt have the air around it
and is laid back.

Verdict
-------

Neither pair could cope very well with this song but I would choose the 580 over the 590, since in the later stages of the
song is better played.

(6) City of Angels soundtrack "Uninvited"
==========================================

HD580
-----

Low end at the start is deep, extended and nicely controlled. Alanis's voice is very sweet and bright with a bit of harshness.
Intruments are very well played. Very impressive with this pair of headphones. Midrange is very good. High end is soso as it is
extremely laid back and mushy. The "intense" intrumental is very nicely played too but its a bit warm without much bite.
Overall not very harshly played. Enjoyable nonetheless.

HD590
-----

Bass is so deep and controlled its not funny. Very sweet and detailed vocals but not harsh like the 580. Midrange is even
better. High end is very detailed and sweet but a little on the harsh side but only a little. The "intense" intrumental is
magical with more air than the 580 and is very captivating and has alot of bite.


Verdict
-------

The 590 wins but a HUGE margin with this song as its just highly enjoyable.

Final Verdict:
==============

I left out the comparason with my home rig since there just wasnt any competition

In the end both headphones has its pros and cons and one does better than the other with certain songs.
So Im stummped with this one. I think I prefer the 590 over the 580....JUST...

But in the end, I usually use my home rig as its the best thing Ive ever heard. It does everything just
the way I like it (personal taste as yours might vary). It has the sweetest midrange and treble. Bass
is mega tight but not very extended as a good sub. The speakers are a 2.5 way dual closed design by
Rod Crawford.

Final Word:
===========

The Porta Corda is lightyears better than the headphones out but doesnt compare much to most of your
home systems. But for portable music enjoyment, they just cant be beat !! esp for the price. Its compact,
runs on 9v for a very long time, sounds surberb. What more could you ask for !!. I am really happy I bought
this !!. Its so much better than my home buit cmoy (its much cleaner). Like comparing my Redgum amp to a
Marantz amp.

Oh if you dont have one? contact Jan and get one

Hope you enjoyed the long read

 

[Duncan]

Moderator moment...

I've added an extra field to the poll... I'm impartial, as Yes, and No is a bit hit or miss...

I personally think this was a good review, but maybe aimed more towards the headphones, rather than the amp (as stated)

Keep up the good work

 

[taoster]

I also purchased the porta corda + HD580 combo from Jan (highly recommend to deal with!

) maybe my expectation were too high, but i didn't found the porta corda to make the difference I was expecting to my Sony Compact Mini. Don't get me wrong, there is a noticable difference when used with the cdp and pcdp. Just that the difference was not that great with the cdp, however it did do justice on the pcdp with HD580.

With the Porta Corda and cdp the sound is a tad fuller, warmer but most importantly more enjoyable and sustainable.. I think I listened for 5hrs straight the first day!

(i might as well enjoy it while i burn it in) but I just can't justify the bang per buck ratio.. whereas the HD580 was worth every penny.. it took the sound to a whole new level, whether its on the cdp or pcdp.

I would say to those who is looking to improve the sound of their basic home system to invest in a good set of cans than purchase a quality headphone amp. bypass the portable headphone amp as a home rig system as the improvement is only ever so slight and save up for class A headphone amp.

All said, I am very glad with my purchase as Im sure Ill enjoy it for a long time to come, that is if i dont upgrade sooner =)

 

[Russ Arcuri]

I voted "impartial" too, because although it's supposed to be a review of the porta corda, it's actually a comparison of two sets of headphones using the amp. That's not a bad thing... it's just miscategorized.

 

[KR...]

I voted no, since you didn't review the amp, and I thought that was what I was going to read.

Nice 580 vs 590 review however

 

[dhwilkin]

Yeah, looks like false advertising to me!

 

[Nezer]

This review makes me want to buy the 580s, not the Porta. Besides, I already have a Porta.

 

[utdeep]

Ouch!
I wish I could vote again and give you a pity vote.
I think you should take out the poll... this isn't going to do wonders for your confidence.

 

[Ctn]

I didnt vote for myself so as long as there's one happy person then Im happy

I was going to review the Porta Corda but I thought to my self, what do I have to compare it with? so I ended up with the 580vs590. Orignally had the 888s and headphones out of the 925 as well but they were so far behind so I excluded them.

May I ask what most people hated about my review? so I may improve on that.

Thanks for the nice comments

although I think its out of pity

 

[Nezer]

I don't hate it. It just was more of a review of the headphones than anything.

Try comparing with/without the amp with the two headphones.

 

[Braver]

I didn't vote.

it's a good review tho. but I don't know the music, so it's kinda hard to imagine what you mean all the time. not too many reviews with music I do know (there's just too little sympho-freaks here), but I don't learn too much from these kind of reviews. and it's not much of a PC review, more the headphones (thats just titling the review wrong IMO)

 

[Ctn]

If I compared the Porta-Corda with the headphones out of the Sony 925. It would be pretty one sided. I noticed a huge improvement over the headphones out. Pretty much black and white.

If I compare my home rig with the Porta-Corda, I will end up slagging the Porta-Corda which is unfair since they are competing in different classes.

Will have to wait for another headphone amp

 

[Ctn]

Yeah thats true Braver

Wish I could do the Porta Corda justice.

I cant compare with my home built cmoy since it sounds like trash, thanks to my bad soldering skills.

I could send you the songs in a high bit-rate mp3 format if you promised to delete them after you hear them

These songs sound absolutely magical on my home rig.
I didnt try one of the tuffer sherl crow songs which has given every speaker system hell that I've heard except my home rig (main reason I bought it), on my portable combo.

cheers

 

[BenG]

Yes, the main thesis of this review was a comparison of your headphones vs. your speaker sysytem imo. You need a point of reference(ie. another competing portable headamp) to compare the PC with. Also, just as a form of constructive criticsm, you could have worded your sentences a little better so the reader could make out your points better.

But I like the Bass, Mids, Treble breakdown, and how you listed your review material.

 

[Ctn]

Hi BenG,

Yeah I compared the 580v590 then in turn compared them to my home system.

Im not too sure how to word the sentences in a way people would understand better as this is my first review of the "sound"

thanks for the comments

hmm maybe a moderator should change the topic?