FLACm0nkEy
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jun 26, 2009
- Posts
- 106
- Likes
- 10
This thread has been long coming but was imminent.
I've had very few hits and too many misses as of late.
I'd like to upgrade but evidently higher price doesn't always yield higher satisfaction. In search for a different strategy I turned to these forums.
I need assistance in choosing a sound "direction" to purchase next full size headphones in.
To aid such a task I have compiled a list (short to some, long to others) of stuff I have heard and comments.
What I have tried:
Grado SR60 - ok...
Alessandro MS1 - miss
JVC HA-RX700 - miss
JVC HA-RX900 - MISS!
JVC HA-DX1 - HIT! <- headphone to compare to
JVC HA-DX3 - miss
Audio-Technica AD700 - MISS
AKG k601 - miss
Phillips SHP8500 - hit
Sennheiser HD212 - miss
Skullcandy GI - ok?
So the story goes that HA-DX1 is my current headphone of choice due to their clear and well laid out sound with a powerful and satisfying experience.
As great as they are, there are a few improvements that can be made, notably some very sharp tendencies for some notes in treble and perhaps slightly insufficient bass, which is easily corrected with a good equalizer. Even more clarity and texture is desired as well.
Along with desire for sound improvement there are some comfort issues that kept me looking. Since then I have acquired the bigger half of the list, and with very little satisfaction.
My listening taste consists almost entirely of rock, with tendencies of heavy metal, and other metal flavors, particularly the speedy stuff.
I consider busy tracks the ultimate test for a headphone as they are inherently more difficult to produce.
Here are some bands to give you an idea:
Megadeth, Iron Maiden, Metallica, Dragonforce...
As I understand some manufacturers favor a certain genre of music, so quite possibly I could be wasting time and money with those headphones.
One man's blessing is another man's curse. I am trying to find the next upgrade according to my very own taste in sound.
I will do my best to describe what I don't like about each headphone, and what I like if there is anything to like.
Source gear: Toshiba Gigabeat F running custom build of Rockbox 3.2, AMB Mini3 high performance edition amps, 2x and 5x gain, through interconnect or LOD.
Grado SR60
----------
Surprisingly good headphone, particularly for the price (cost me $45), pretty much OK across the board.
The mids are brought out a little too much, bass is not very convincing, and skinny on treble.
Open sounding, OK soundstage.
Does well with classic rock, a bit of Van Halen and Guns'n'Roses.
Somewhat muddy with Rust In Peace album by Megadeth, guitars and vocals lump together.
Alessandro MS1
--------------
My latest acquisition, also one of the more expensive ones. Very distant sounding compared to SR60, tendency to spike in mids.
Very low listening satisfaction.
No good for heavy metal, turns somewhat muddy. 18 and Life by skid Row is unbearable in these.
I honestly had high hopes for these, as I thought they will be an upgrade from SR60. Wrong direction.
JVC HA-RX700
------------
Entry headphones, OK across the board, good for the price, however nothing to write home about for a demanding listener.
Too much mids, not enough texture and clarity, particularly in treble. A little too confined sounding.
I heard them, but don't own. Pair I heard was already burned in.
JVC HA-RX900
------------
Supposedly an upgrade from RX700, but they are everything but.
What is heard is best described as "boomy noise". Outright nasty.
JVC HA-DX1
----------
My best purchase so far, and very early on. Mesmerizing. Captivating. The sound of these is a true eye opener.
After I figured out to give them +6db of bass, I started paying attention to the detail and heard a lot of new things of seemingly familiar tracks.
The clarity and texture of percussion is unbelievable! Yet at the same time bass has satisfying impact and mids are well laid out and not overpowering.
Guitars and vocals are in perfect harmony even on the busiest of tracks. These are fun to listen to loud, yet not tiring.
Very open sounding, soundstage is great.
Amazing all around, excel at fast metal.
Cons: bass response is a few decibels lower than wanted, treble has some sharp spikes at times.
This is the headphone I would like to improve on.
JVC HA-DX3
----------
Supposedly an improvement from DX1, these are my greatest heartbreak yet.
I bought these new after months of enjoying DX1. While JVC did "fix" the two cons of DX1, they also have made the sound less spacious and dull.
Bass has certainly improved, however the treble sunk, there is just not enough of it and it isn't as well textured. Mids are brought forwards and very acute.
DX1 and DX3 relationship is somewhat similar to RX700 and RX900. These are difficult to listen to, tiring.
I have to strain myself to hear all the detail.
While these may be good headphones however the aren't an improvement on DX1. Wrong direction.
Audio-Technica AD700
--------------------
Comfortable and a little on the big side. I tried and didn't like what I heard. I figure sound is the primary function of headphones.
No bass, equalizer won't help. Mids are not convincing, treble is ok at times.
Zero listening satisfaction.
AKG k601
--------
Some say I underpowered these, however I can't support or deny that fact until I hear better.
I love hating these. The loving part comes from the weight and comfort, which is definitely great.
However the sound is muddy and lumpy. Almost all genres are difficult to listen to. Seem to highlight the most random notes. Favor trumpets.
They were somewhat OK with jazz, but DX1 excels there as well so k601 are bleak in comparison.
Low listening satisfaction.
Ran these out of 5x mini3 and a surround receiver. This pair had a fair amount of previous use. I had them for over a week.
Phillips SHP8500
----------------
Similar sound tendencies to DX1. Paid $16 for these new. Great value for gaming and movies.
Good response all around. More clarity and texture desired.
More or less satisfying.
Sennheiser HD212
----------------
Purchased new a number of years ago. Aside from obvious comfort problems, these are a little too "boomy" and not all that clear.
Very closed sounding, favoring bass over everything else. Dull sounding without much texture.
Skullcandy GI
-------------
Brand despised at this corner of the web, produced a product which raised no regrets on my end. These are the longest surviving member of this list.
At $30 they provide comfort in cloth earpads and headband which is much desired for long gaming sessions.
While the sound lacks much texture and a little short on clarity, they aren't closed sounding and have OK overall response.
Plastic has a tendency to break, but I have somehome managed to keep them in one piece with a little bit of help from glue.
Not exactly "Fi" but OK for computer use. Phased out by SHP8500 and DX1.
At this time I'd be comfortable in spending up to $120 for used, if there is some certainty to the yield.
I've had very few hits and too many misses as of late.
I'd like to upgrade but evidently higher price doesn't always yield higher satisfaction. In search for a different strategy I turned to these forums.
I need assistance in choosing a sound "direction" to purchase next full size headphones in.
To aid such a task I have compiled a list (short to some, long to others) of stuff I have heard and comments.
What I have tried:
Grado SR60 - ok...
Alessandro MS1 - miss
JVC HA-RX700 - miss
JVC HA-RX900 - MISS!
JVC HA-DX1 - HIT! <- headphone to compare to
JVC HA-DX3 - miss
Audio-Technica AD700 - MISS
AKG k601 - miss
Phillips SHP8500 - hit
Sennheiser HD212 - miss
Skullcandy GI - ok?
So the story goes that HA-DX1 is my current headphone of choice due to their clear and well laid out sound with a powerful and satisfying experience.
As great as they are, there are a few improvements that can be made, notably some very sharp tendencies for some notes in treble and perhaps slightly insufficient bass, which is easily corrected with a good equalizer. Even more clarity and texture is desired as well.
Along with desire for sound improvement there are some comfort issues that kept me looking. Since then I have acquired the bigger half of the list, and with very little satisfaction.
My listening taste consists almost entirely of rock, with tendencies of heavy metal, and other metal flavors, particularly the speedy stuff.
I consider busy tracks the ultimate test for a headphone as they are inherently more difficult to produce.
Here are some bands to give you an idea:
Megadeth, Iron Maiden, Metallica, Dragonforce...
As I understand some manufacturers favor a certain genre of music, so quite possibly I could be wasting time and money with those headphones.
One man's blessing is another man's curse. I am trying to find the next upgrade according to my very own taste in sound.
I will do my best to describe what I don't like about each headphone, and what I like if there is anything to like.
Source gear: Toshiba Gigabeat F running custom build of Rockbox 3.2, AMB Mini3 high performance edition amps, 2x and 5x gain, through interconnect or LOD.
Grado SR60
----------
Surprisingly good headphone, particularly for the price (cost me $45), pretty much OK across the board.
The mids are brought out a little too much, bass is not very convincing, and skinny on treble.
Open sounding, OK soundstage.
Does well with classic rock, a bit of Van Halen and Guns'n'Roses.
Somewhat muddy with Rust In Peace album by Megadeth, guitars and vocals lump together.
Alessandro MS1
--------------
My latest acquisition, also one of the more expensive ones. Very distant sounding compared to SR60, tendency to spike in mids.
Very low listening satisfaction.
No good for heavy metal, turns somewhat muddy. 18 and Life by skid Row is unbearable in these.
I honestly had high hopes for these, as I thought they will be an upgrade from SR60. Wrong direction.
JVC HA-RX700
------------
Entry headphones, OK across the board, good for the price, however nothing to write home about for a demanding listener.
Too much mids, not enough texture and clarity, particularly in treble. A little too confined sounding.
I heard them, but don't own. Pair I heard was already burned in.
JVC HA-RX900
------------
Supposedly an upgrade from RX700, but they are everything but.
What is heard is best described as "boomy noise". Outright nasty.
JVC HA-DX1
----------
My best purchase so far, and very early on. Mesmerizing. Captivating. The sound of these is a true eye opener.
After I figured out to give them +6db of bass, I started paying attention to the detail and heard a lot of new things of seemingly familiar tracks.
The clarity and texture of percussion is unbelievable! Yet at the same time bass has satisfying impact and mids are well laid out and not overpowering.
Guitars and vocals are in perfect harmony even on the busiest of tracks. These are fun to listen to loud, yet not tiring.
Very open sounding, soundstage is great.
Amazing all around, excel at fast metal.
Cons: bass response is a few decibels lower than wanted, treble has some sharp spikes at times.
This is the headphone I would like to improve on.
JVC HA-DX3
----------
Supposedly an improvement from DX1, these are my greatest heartbreak yet.
I bought these new after months of enjoying DX1. While JVC did "fix" the two cons of DX1, they also have made the sound less spacious and dull.
Bass has certainly improved, however the treble sunk, there is just not enough of it and it isn't as well textured. Mids are brought forwards and very acute.
DX1 and DX3 relationship is somewhat similar to RX700 and RX900. These are difficult to listen to, tiring.
I have to strain myself to hear all the detail.
While these may be good headphones however the aren't an improvement on DX1. Wrong direction.
Audio-Technica AD700
--------------------
Comfortable and a little on the big side. I tried and didn't like what I heard. I figure sound is the primary function of headphones.
No bass, equalizer won't help. Mids are not convincing, treble is ok at times.
Zero listening satisfaction.
AKG k601
--------
Some say I underpowered these, however I can't support or deny that fact until I hear better.
I love hating these. The loving part comes from the weight and comfort, which is definitely great.
However the sound is muddy and lumpy. Almost all genres are difficult to listen to. Seem to highlight the most random notes. Favor trumpets.
They were somewhat OK with jazz, but DX1 excels there as well so k601 are bleak in comparison.
Low listening satisfaction.
Ran these out of 5x mini3 and a surround receiver. This pair had a fair amount of previous use. I had them for over a week.
Phillips SHP8500
----------------
Similar sound tendencies to DX1. Paid $16 for these new. Great value for gaming and movies.
Good response all around. More clarity and texture desired.
More or less satisfying.
Sennheiser HD212
----------------
Purchased new a number of years ago. Aside from obvious comfort problems, these are a little too "boomy" and not all that clear.
Very closed sounding, favoring bass over everything else. Dull sounding without much texture.
Skullcandy GI
-------------
Brand despised at this corner of the web, produced a product which raised no regrets on my end. These are the longest surviving member of this list.
At $30 they provide comfort in cloth earpads and headband which is much desired for long gaming sessions.
While the sound lacks much texture and a little short on clarity, they aren't closed sounding and have OK overall response.
Plastic has a tendency to break, but I have somehome managed to keep them in one piece with a little bit of help from glue.
Not exactly "Fi" but OK for computer use. Phased out by SHP8500 and DX1.
At this time I'd be comfortable in spending up to $120 for used, if there is some certainty to the yield.
If you like the Grado SR60 the logical step would be to upgrade to a SR225i so that could be an option. They're really good for metal. I always wanted to try that new Sennheisher HD598. I REALLY enjoy my HD580. Those are actually my favourite cans right now. The HD650 was too dark for me. 