gamingdave
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Feb 27, 2013
- Posts
- 37
- Likes
- 11
I am looking for advice concerning a new purchase of some closed back headphones. The primary use will be in an office environment during the day, but they will also be used for travelling and possibly some late night gaming or film watching. I currently own a pair of Sennheiser HD 595 which are my current late night headphones and some Etymotic HF2 which I use out and about. I like both of them but the Senns are obviously useless in any sort of noisy environment and a bit shy on bass (I compensate for this with my AV amp when watching films or gaming), and the HF2s can get a little uncomfortable when used for long periods.
I listen to a range of music including country, rock (all sorts), blues, soul, funk, rap, hip-hop and drum and bass with a bit of classical. I don’t listen to jazz or many female vocalists (with the exception of vintage soul like Motown and Stax) and don’t really listen to any pop and no modern R&B (to me R&B is Dr. Feelgood, Tom Jones and Otis Redding). Some listening is done via high quality Spotify but a great deal is from my own rips which are all either 320kps MP3 or FLAC with the odd high resolution download. At work my source will be my laptop, but I am planning on buying a FiiO E17 or E07k to use as an external DAC and amp. Depending how they compare to my current Sennheisers I will also possibly use them at home for films and games.
I’ll say now I do love my bass, but only in a controlled way. In my home cinema setup I have a 500W Monolith+ sub, but it is well balanced in the system and not used to be a dominate the overall sound, rather just to add really well controlled low frequencies with plenty of punch. I tend to like listening to music as intended but when listening on the move I have been known to slightly boost bass and treble to suit and give a bit more of a “fun” sound. I don’t want bass for the sake of it though and wouldn’t want it to either dominate to the detriment of other frequencies or come at a cost (too boomy or too slow). One thing I do appreciate is a decent soundstage.
Having spent the last couple of weeks looking at a lot of reviews online and reading a lot on here I have narrowed it down to a few choices and would really appreciate any input. Here is my list with a summary from what I can gleam on here, and UK prices.
Sennheiser HD 25-1 II - £140 – completely rebuildable and would appear to have a fun sound with a punchy bass. Most portable of my shortlist, but on ear and with a small soundstage so not great for some of my genres or all day listening.
Audio-Technica ATH-M50S - £125 – very well regarded and frequently recommended. A bigger soundstage than the Sennheiser with a good all round sound but can be uncomfortable for all day listening.
AKG K 550 - £150 – I think these look superb, but they are large so the least portable (but do rotate so are transportable). Huge soundstage and super comfy but a solid seal is really important, I have a relatively large head so hope they would fit well. A very accurate sound though some report having issues with a treble spike and a possibly weak bass (though reposts vary on this).
Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro-80 - £130 – soundstage second only to the AKGs but still very good. Comfortable for long session, though can get hot. Mids are a bit recessed and require a long burn in but have a more balanced sound once done.
Price wise there is very little in it, though some came out at a considerably higher cost originally, with a lot of the (very good) reviews for the AKGs being written when they cost nearly twice as much. My gut is leaning me away from the Sennheiser as I do want them to be comfortable for all day listening and I do want a decent soundstage. Out of the remaining 3 the AKG and Beyeres are currently highest in my list.
A few direct questions…
When people talk about the AKGs lacking bass (even after getting a good seal) is this something that can be compensated for at all in EQ? Is it just that they are well balanced when run without any EQ, and that even with a slight boost from an amp or software are they still lacking energy or depth?
Compared to the Beyers is the soundstage of the AKGs that much bigger and are they cleaner and more accurate generally?
Are the Beyers that much more “fun”?
I don’t intend to blast my ears all day, but sometimes I do like to pump up the volume. How do these all fair when driven harder?
If I am going to be using an amp (portable one at that) what are the advantages (and disadvantages) to the 250ohm Beyers over the 80ohms?
Generally speaking, how easy/hard is it to compensate for a particular headphones weaknesses at certain frequencies with a bit of EQ?
Over the last few days I keep flitting between the AKGs and Beyers. I’m sure both will sound great but would really appreciate any input into my comparisons. Obviously there are higher quality phones available, but my budget is set at this time and so comments relative to what they will cost me, not what the original retail price are what I am after. I did post this in the mega thread but it seems to have gone unnoticed.
Cheers
Dave
I listen to a range of music including country, rock (all sorts), blues, soul, funk, rap, hip-hop and drum and bass with a bit of classical. I don’t listen to jazz or many female vocalists (with the exception of vintage soul like Motown and Stax) and don’t really listen to any pop and no modern R&B (to me R&B is Dr. Feelgood, Tom Jones and Otis Redding). Some listening is done via high quality Spotify but a great deal is from my own rips which are all either 320kps MP3 or FLAC with the odd high resolution download. At work my source will be my laptop, but I am planning on buying a FiiO E17 or E07k to use as an external DAC and amp. Depending how they compare to my current Sennheisers I will also possibly use them at home for films and games.
I’ll say now I do love my bass, but only in a controlled way. In my home cinema setup I have a 500W Monolith+ sub, but it is well balanced in the system and not used to be a dominate the overall sound, rather just to add really well controlled low frequencies with plenty of punch. I tend to like listening to music as intended but when listening on the move I have been known to slightly boost bass and treble to suit and give a bit more of a “fun” sound. I don’t want bass for the sake of it though and wouldn’t want it to either dominate to the detriment of other frequencies or come at a cost (too boomy or too slow). One thing I do appreciate is a decent soundstage.
Having spent the last couple of weeks looking at a lot of reviews online and reading a lot on here I have narrowed it down to a few choices and would really appreciate any input. Here is my list with a summary from what I can gleam on here, and UK prices.
Sennheiser HD 25-1 II - £140 – completely rebuildable and would appear to have a fun sound with a punchy bass. Most portable of my shortlist, but on ear and with a small soundstage so not great for some of my genres or all day listening.
Audio-Technica ATH-M50S - £125 – very well regarded and frequently recommended. A bigger soundstage than the Sennheiser with a good all round sound but can be uncomfortable for all day listening.
AKG K 550 - £150 – I think these look superb, but they are large so the least portable (but do rotate so are transportable). Huge soundstage and super comfy but a solid seal is really important, I have a relatively large head so hope they would fit well. A very accurate sound though some report having issues with a treble spike and a possibly weak bass (though reposts vary on this).
Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro-80 - £130 – soundstage second only to the AKGs but still very good. Comfortable for long session, though can get hot. Mids are a bit recessed and require a long burn in but have a more balanced sound once done.
Price wise there is very little in it, though some came out at a considerably higher cost originally, with a lot of the (very good) reviews for the AKGs being written when they cost nearly twice as much. My gut is leaning me away from the Sennheiser as I do want them to be comfortable for all day listening and I do want a decent soundstage. Out of the remaining 3 the AKG and Beyeres are currently highest in my list.
A few direct questions…
When people talk about the AKGs lacking bass (even after getting a good seal) is this something that can be compensated for at all in EQ? Is it just that they are well balanced when run without any EQ, and that even with a slight boost from an amp or software are they still lacking energy or depth?
Compared to the Beyers is the soundstage of the AKGs that much bigger and are they cleaner and more accurate generally?
Are the Beyers that much more “fun”?
I don’t intend to blast my ears all day, but sometimes I do like to pump up the volume. How do these all fair when driven harder?
If I am going to be using an amp (portable one at that) what are the advantages (and disadvantages) to the 250ohm Beyers over the 80ohms?
Generally speaking, how easy/hard is it to compensate for a particular headphones weaknesses at certain frequencies with a bit of EQ?
Over the last few days I keep flitting between the AKGs and Beyers. I’m sure both will sound great but would really appreciate any input into my comparisons. Obviously there are higher quality phones available, but my budget is set at this time and so comments relative to what they will cost me, not what the original retail price are what I am after. I did post this in the mega thread but it seems to have gone unnoticed.
Cheers
Dave
