azmodien
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Dec 17, 2004
- Posts
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I just bought some Sennheiser 555's to upgrade from my old beat up Portapros and I after making some comparisons, the Senns did not deliver.
I listened to them in the store and thought they sounded very detailed and airy and my first impression was that they were significantly better than my Koss phones at home. When I took them home and plugged them into my Onkyo to test them out, I was satisfied but not blown away. Then after a few songs, I plugged in the Portapros and I found that they sounded better than I remembered. As I switched back and forth, I realized they actually performed slightly better than the Senn's in certain areas.
On the positive side, the Senn's have more bass detail and are not quite as bloated on the low end like the Koss'. They have a spacious sound and reasonably good detail, but the highs are slightly sibilant with hard S's on the vocals. The sound is also not quite as full-bodied, possibly due the weaker bass response. Overall the Koss are a little more engaging and pleasant to listen to. I am surprised how well a pair of $79 phones held up against the $200 ones ($CAD).
Any suggestions as to an alternative to the Senn 555's? I considered the 595s but they aren't sold in my area and I am not confident enough in their superiority to buy blind. I just want something that sounds more refined than my Portapros with good instrument distinction and natural sounding vocals (on a budget if possible).
Thanks.
I listened to them in the store and thought they sounded very detailed and airy and my first impression was that they were significantly better than my Koss phones at home. When I took them home and plugged them into my Onkyo to test them out, I was satisfied but not blown away. Then after a few songs, I plugged in the Portapros and I found that they sounded better than I remembered. As I switched back and forth, I realized they actually performed slightly better than the Senn's in certain areas.
On the positive side, the Senn's have more bass detail and are not quite as bloated on the low end like the Koss'. They have a spacious sound and reasonably good detail, but the highs are slightly sibilant with hard S's on the vocals. The sound is also not quite as full-bodied, possibly due the weaker bass response. Overall the Koss are a little more engaging and pleasant to listen to. I am surprised how well a pair of $79 phones held up against the $200 ones ($CAD).
Any suggestions as to an alternative to the Senn 555's? I considered the 595s but they aren't sold in my area and I am not confident enough in their superiority to buy blind. I just want something that sounds more refined than my Portapros with good instrument distinction and natural sounding vocals (on a budget if possible).
Thanks.