[JohanK]

I am beginning to become interested in a second pair of full size headphones as I miss the comfort and open sound of my home rig based on the DT880, which I can not bring with me on every longer vacation. Even though my IEMs are hardly crap, they still can not serve as a complete replacement for a good full size headphone as the sound is crammed into the middle of my head, and the isolation is a bit too much for regular home use with other people in the house.

My current secondary full size headphones, Philips SHP895, are hardly the solution either as the comfort is bugging me together with a not very open sound. How they managed to create open headphones that do not sound open is beyond me, if anything, these headphones deserve the description “semi open”, not the DT880, as they isolate quite a lot as well. What I want out of a second set of cans is this

1.An open soundstage that does not seem to be crammed into my head
2.A fast and clean bass
3.A lack of treble roll off with a clean general sound signature
4.If possible, a decent ability to be driven by a DAP (X5L) or a laptop as my home rig is obviously not with me if I am not at home

One of the most promising headphones so far is the AKG 501 as it seems to match the first three. Getting the fourth right seems harder though, as people has previously portrayed the K501 as a really nasty beast to tame. As I can drive the DT880 with my X5 without having a problem with the volume (generally no need to go above 29/40), could the K501 work, or will the difference in the type of load result in that this beast make my poor little DAP its chew toy, spits it out and eventually stomps on the remains? Thus far, unamped high end cans still beat cheap easy to drive cans IMO.

Another worrying sign is the fact that this headphone is seen as being very anemic in terms of bass. When looking at the headroom graphs, the DT880 and the K501 look very close except for the roll off in the bass on the K501 and a difference in the higher highs. Does anyone know at which frequencies the K501 begins to truly roll off? I have no problems with bass on my DT880, I believe that it suffices, so if this roll is primarily in the very deep bass, it should not pose a very big problem in most music, besides, it is not that I need a true all rounder can this time.

Finally I wonder if there are any other good alternatives in this price range that have an open enough sound stage that approaches the one on the DT880. How does the old DT990 and the HD595 compare?

 

[spacemanspliff]

ATH700 Airs are worth a try. I like mine for comfort mostly but the sound signature is open with fairly tight, fast bass. Not as bright as Senns. More neutral but thus are easier on the ears for long listening sessions.

 

[HFat]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohanK As I can drive the DT880 with my X5 without having a problem with the volume (generally no need to go above 29/40), could the K501 work

IMO, the K501 is only slightly harder to drive.
If you're satisfied with the X5/DT880 you certainly have enough voltage but I don't know if you have enough current. In my experience, Korean players can output enough current but I may not listen as loud as you do... and I never owned an iaudio anyway. What are the specs of that DAP? IIRC, one of mine is rated at 13mW per channel.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohanK Does anyone know at which frequencies the K501 begins to truly roll off?

All I know is that I can hear deep bass so I don't think it rolls off that much. The bass is definitely different however... it sounds distant, light yet somewhat punchy, precise yet somewhat weird to me. Overall, it's not unlike the DT880's bass but I think the Beyer's bass is a lot better... unless the recording has annoying and/or overpowering bass (the K501 would rule for such material).

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohanK How does the old DT990 and the HD595 compare?

I only have the 990 from the 80s and the 555. For what's that's worth, they would be better all-rounders (especially the Senn) but they're definitely not as open.

 

[JohanK]

Quote:

Not as bright as Senns.

Do you mean something other than senns? If the AX00 Audio Technica phones are less bright than senns, I am certainly not interested in them for serious listening. I might pick up a set of DT770s or another similar can though for gaming and such things just for the hell of it in a distant future.

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According to this page:

http://www.minidisc.com.au/product_i...&display=specs

The X5L is rated at 25 mW/channel with the iPod at 30 mW which means that it is a farily powerful player, especially compared to smaller flash based players.

I will try to see what I feel about these potential issues when I get access to my beyers this evening. I could try to kill the lower bass with the EQ in foobaar for example to see the difference. I can't do it now though, as I need a pair of headphones that actually has bass extension to see what happens when I remove it

I can't but help to feel though that a lot of people who slam the K501 for being devoid of bass has the the same feelings about the DT880. As someone who managed to really enjoy some not overly well produced thrash metal (which is THE headbanging genre) on my DT880s, I am certainly not a bass addict.