[ServinginEcuador]

To update my list a little with the recent addition:

Sony E77LP ear buds.........3
Senn 600.........................6
Senn 600 w/ Equinox.........7
AT W2002........................7 (liked the below cans better due to colorations I didn't like.)
AT W1000........................8 (sold due to comfort issues, liked them otherwise.)
Grado RS-1 w/ Senn pads....8.1 (lack of comfort, but excellent soundstage.)
Sony CD3K.......................9.2 (extra point for comfort & slight edge to sound of AT)
Sony R10.........................9.5 (lack of bass deducts .5 points, but oh momma did it sound good!!!)
Grado HP-1.......................9.6 (incredibly neutral response with the added bass the R10s lacked. WOW do they sound great.)

 

[Mike Scarpitti]

Quote:

Originally posted by Flasken ... Where would you place 5??? No, really... What headphones do you own, and where would you place those on a scale from 1 to 10?

Stax Lambda normal bias: 9.5

Sony V6: 7
Sony MDR-D77: 8
Sony MDR-85: 6.5
Sony MDR-84: 6
Sony MDR-E575: 8
Sony MDR E888: 8.5

 

[KnightRT]

Grado SR-80: A solid 8 all-around, at least 9 with certain vocal recordings. To the point where I couldn't imagine better.

Koss TD-61: 2 on an absolute scale. Not much detail, muddy, no low bass, more color than a tie-dyed t-shirt. But then, for $15, not bad. Quite comfortable, great for portables. Jaw makes noise against pad material when I chew things.

Klipsch Promedia v.2-400: 6. Sharp highs, lacks a bit of midrange and of detail. But very competent overall. Impressive bass, particularly below 60 hz. Exceptional when one factors (~$250) price.

DI

 

[Sol_Zhen]

Quote:

Originally posted by KnightRT Klipsch Promedia v.2-400: 6. Sharp highs, lacks a bit of midrange and of detail. But very competent overall. Impressive bass, particularly below 60 hz. Exceptional when one factors (~$250) price.

That's a headphone?

 

[nArKeD]

Quote:

Originally posted by Sol_Zhen That's a headphone?

Anything is a headphone with the proper spacing

 

[Duncan]

There is one fatal flaw (on the most part) with this listing...

...It doesn't say what the headphones were used with...

That could play a major part in why one person finds a set of 'phones great, and another... terrible...

Good lists though...

 

[elrod-tom]

Quote:

Originally posted by Duncan There is one fatal flaw (on the most part) with this listing... ...It doesn't say what the headphones were used with... That could play a major part in why one person finds a set of 'phones great, and another... terrible... Good lists though...

I would tend to agree with Duncan's observation here. Although we should remember that good headphones will generally shine if provided with decent amplification. It is certainly true that some headphones are a better match with certain amps. For example, I can't figure out why I can't get decent sound out of my AKG K240's when I'm using a Stax amp. I think that it must just be a bad match.

 

[KnightRT]

;~)

For the sake of comparison.

And I'd like to revise my notes. The more I listen to the Grados, the less I want to hear my ProMedias. Back to back in classical recordings, the latter sounds terrible.

Boy that's harsh. But I don't know how else to put it. How is this flimsy foam and suede contraption trashing my main system?

DI

 

[sacriste]

Quote:

Originally posted by sacriste This could be interesting for another poor newbie, so: HD-495, 8.5 (very balanced sound, nice highs, controlled bass) KSC-35, 7.5 (a little bright for me, but the bass is amazing) Sony Mid-Fi, 3.5 (blurred) Sony Discman earbuds, 3 (bassy and bright) Philips Stock, 3 (forgetable) Sony Stock, 2 (good to give away and look good) Anything bellow this don´t deserve a rating.

Now I think the KSC-35 are a better overall performer, good for everything.
Now I have the MX-500, 6.5 (nice present voices, weak bass, but not cheaply colored)
I think that the one thing that separates a good headphone from the crappy crowd is their transparency. The MX-500 is a little over the limits of sound-crappyness. For their price that's amazing.

Little story: Last week, I had a visitor from US at the office, and he brought a nice Sony Sport PDCP, I brought my MX-500 to try it and he told me. "Wait, it sounds better with the original headphone". It was a vertical model, I try it. Crappy. I plug the 500s and told him: "You better try this!". He did it and said (eyes wide open) "Where did you get this?"

By the way, the Sony Mid-FI is a MDR-34. I called that way because are stock-style but better than stock.

 

[screwdriver]

Audio Technica ATH W1000 = 9
AKG K501 = 8
Beyer DT770pro = 7.5
Sennheiser HD575 = 6
Sony V6 = 5

 

[Dusty Chalk]

I'll try, but if someone starts tallying these and averaging them, I reserve the right to withdraw my numbers:

Sennheiser HD600 (with some upgrade cable, be it Cardas, StefanArt, or Clou)
- 9
AT A100Ti
- 9
AT W2002
- 8.5
Beyer DT770Pro/250
- 8
Sony MDR-V6/7506
- 7.5
Beyer DT770Pro/600
- 8
AKG K1000
- omega

(The K1000 is just such a completely different beast, I don't feel it's fair to compare it to the others.)

gerG, in particular, you are too harsh. No headphone will do what you ask (save maybe the K1000) unless you are listening to a binaural recording. So I blame the recording. You need to hear a good binaural recording.

 

[Sol_Zhen]

I hope no one averages these. I simply find it interesting to see what each user thinks of the phones relative to their experience.

I find it particularly interesting when the user has one or two of the same cans I have and I can see how they rank them relative to their others.

 

[Duncan]

Don't forget that this thread was originally around in December last year...

...right now i've got way bigger fish to fry than thinking about tallying the totals

 

[Rizumu]

Ultrasone HFI-650 8.0: easy to drive and great isolation and sound, though a bit uncomfortable for long periods of time. They sound great with everything and don't have any clear sonic weaknesses. Sound a bit closed in, though while the soundstage may not be too spacious, the sound placement is great.

Sennheiser HD580 7.5: beautiful sounding headphones but I don't like their sound presentation for much of my music, sort of uncomfortable too with the pressure they put on your jaw. Some stretching would help I'll reckon; I didn't own them long enough to really do so. A soundstage that reaches outside of your head - having said that it's a bit exaggerated. Nice for classical though. Rock sounds far too muddy and indistinct. These headphones work great for quiet listening levels. A step up in fidelity but not for me!

Grado SR60 6.5 (w/ yellows): COMFY! A tad bright and very open, but they have a great soundstage and an aggresive, though colored sound. Definitely a more hi-fi sound than the KSC-35's. Less bass than the Kosses but better impact. These phones still have a strange coloration though, it must be the Grado "house sound". I really can't say whether I like the SR60 or KSC-35 more, they both sound quite different but are very enjoyable. This coloration can be quite enjoyable for rock though I'd prefer a more neutral sound...

Koss KSC-35 6.5: A different kind of comfy, you don't even feel like you're wearing anything. Low-profile to wear and great balanced sound. Bass is just right, highs are nice. They sound quite warm to me, very nice with vocals. Very fun. They still have somewhat of a cheap headphone sound though that non-full size headphones suffer from.

Koss Portapro 5.5: Comfy but you know they're there. A little too bassy with muffled highs compared to the KSC-35's, though still great budget phones. Less open sounding as well.

 

[fractus2]

Bump because this was an interesting thread.

9.5: ER-4S [META42]
9.0: SRS-4040 Signature System II*
8.0: ATH-A1000*
7.5: ER-6 [META42]
7.0: KSC-35 [META42]

* Short showroom listen

I've got to get to a meet.