[erich6]

Hence my purchase of the 9500's. I really like them. A lot but if I can get more of what I like for a moderate further investment, that's what I'd like to do. The brand is absolutely required because I have to be able to enter that into the Amazon search field. The price tag is necessary because I have imposed a cap on what I'm willing to spend. If more of what the 9500 has is many of hundreds of dollars more then no deal I'd rather indulge in the collection of the music.

I totally get this and would be interested in the same information.

 

[HotIce]

There is little more I would like to do than visit a place I could spend a great deal of time Just trying headphones. Permit me to just indicate my surroundings with the words "you ain't from around here are ya fella?" The nearest population center of any size is about 3 really dull hours drive with a population of maybe 50k and undoubtedly a great selection of beats and bluetooth. As I write this the sun has set and it's -2 degrees F. I would love to just stroll in to a place that had a wide variety of headphones on display and take a listen but needless to say, I'm a very loyal patron of both Amazon and the Bay.
I understand the differences in human anatomy that causes variations related to the perception of external stimulus, that much of what we experience is both objective and subjective in nature and interpreted in wildly different ways. One person loves jazz for this reason, another prefers classical for that reason. Most people prefer speakers, I'm sure the bulk of those are just fine with the Bluetooth offerings with terrible compressed streams from whichever service is currently the biggest advertiser on Facebook. I'm not one of those. I had been previously a hifi speaker guy, still am in many respects. I certainly don't want to collect a bunch of headphone gear I'm not likely to use. Most of my listening at this point is done at night once my toddler is asleep after I get off of an evening shift. I bought ad700x's in an attempt to keep my enjoyment down to a dull roar and became infatuated with the intimacy of those cans but was unimpressed with the sound of them. Hence my purchase of the 9500's. I really like them. A lot but if I can get more of what I like for a moderate further investment, that's what I'd like to do. The brand is absolutely required because I have to be able to enter that into the Amazon search field. The price tag is necessary because I have imposed a cap on what I'm willing to spend. If more of what the 9500 has is many of hundreds of dollars more then no deal I'd rather indulge in the collection of the music. That's what I wish to collect but I want to hear my music faithfully reproduced. My sources are excellent and I've gone to great pains to acquire them. The music I listen to is procured online in physical form and is of varied genre with the exception of EDM, mainstream pop, country and current hip hop though 90's and some current indie hip hop I find entertaining. My current favorites are the sounds of Wilco and Calexico, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, New Orleans jazz. I'm not seeking superior in all genre but a jack of all trades is more like it. While soundstage can be considered heavily a subjective finding, depending heavily on the unique individual auditory mechanics of the person listening. However, I do feel while also subjective the quality of neutral range reproduction, clarity and detail can be established objectively as well. In the end what I was hoping for here is some opinions. From people that have engaged in the use of higher quality headphones for much longer than I. I am open to opinion on both planar and dynamics and I have never ever heard better sound from headphones other than the 9500 but I have to figure given the shear number of cans out there, the number of people who swear by this one or that one, there have got to be some suggestions out there. I've so far gotten info on the dt880 and the venerable hd600, both of them seeming to fall just a little shy of what the respective authors feel for their 9500's and that's awesome and helps me in my research.

 
Well, you did not fill up the Location part of your profile, so it is kind of hard to guess where you are from.
Anyway, look at my profile picture.
That's my preferred HP. It's like $80.
I have tried many of them, much more expensive, but that's my sound. Mind, I can afford any HP I want, at this stage of my life.
Even though I bought a few of them w/out listening them, that age is over for me.
Had I listened to what other folks said, I would have bought HPs which I had zero affinity with.
Now I own a few HPs, but they usually come and go. Or, come, and sit on the shelf after a while.
 
I wish audio stores had HP demo programs, like Tennis WareHouse has with racquets 

Good news for you is, if your real hobby is listening music, and the HP is just a tool for it, your SHP9500 (since you already own it - but many would fit the list) should get you 95% of the way.
Is it worth it for you to shell off extra $$ to get a few % more, especially because you'd be buying deaf?

 

[fumblingforward]

Well, you did not fill up the Location part of your profile, so it is kind of hard to guess where you are from.
Anyway, look at my profile picture.
That's my preferred HP. It's like $80.
I have tried many of them, much more expensive, but that's my sound. Mind, I can afford any HP I want, at this stage of my life.
Even though I bought a few of them w/out listening them, that age is over for me.
Had I listened to what other folks said, I would have bought HPs which I had zero affinity with.
Now I own a few HPs, but they usually come and go. Or, come, and sit on the shelf after a while.

I wish audio stores had HP demo programs, like Tennis WareHouse has with racquets :rolleyes:
Good news for you is, if your real hobby is listening music, and the HP is just a tool for it, your SHP9500 (since you already own it - but many would fit the list) should get you 95% of the way.
Is it worth it for you to shell off extra $$ to get a few % more, especially because you'd be buying deaf?

I've been listening this afternoon and listening to some truly beautiful music I just received this afternoon and thinking about this very thing. One particularly atmospheric EP, just 4 tracks of singular delight. Everything sounds so good I'm not sure I'd even know what I'm missing if I'm missing anything at all. 5% "better"? It's not worth it. For the budget I set aside I could replace these 9500's 6 times and still have cash leftover for a decent meal. I'm coming to the conclusion I'm happier to sink that dinero into the source material. My amplifier is sublime I can't see upgrading that. Maybe a set of pads as these will wear out at some point. A nicer wire as the included bungee cord is a mess. If anyone has a pad recommendation I'm happy to hear it. Thanks to all so staunch in their support of a gem of a headphone.

 

[Vatnos]

The 95% figure depends very heavily on what type of frequency curve you prefer.
 
If you like headphones a bit warmer, a bit darker, then the SHP9500s may be less than 95% of the way to your ideal. And I think that's part of where the upgrading itch comes from. If a headphone matches the frequency curve you want, it's pretty easy to be content there. If it's very different from the frequency curve you want to have, then the incentive to look up a tier is greater. Perhaps the people that go all the way up to the Stax and Audeze are the ones that couldn't find the frequency curve they could be content with in anything they tried along the way?
 
Still, even though I'm one of those warmer-headphone people, the treble and soundstage on these SHP9500s is super impressive, so much so, I almost don't even care that there's more of it. These headphones are excellent for classical, and old school prog rock.
 
King Crimson - "Providence"... sounds absolutely amazing with them right now. 

 

[VRacer-111]

I've been listening this afternoon and listening to some truly beautiful music I just received this afternoon and thinking about this very thing. One particularly atmospheric EP, just 4 tracks of singular delight. Everything sounds so good I'm not sure I'd even know what I'm missing if I'm missing anything at all. 5% "better"? It's not worth it. For the budget I set aside I could replace these 9500's 6 times and still have cash leftover for a decent meal. I'm coming to the conclusion I'm happier to sink that dinero into the source material. My amplifier is sublime I can't see upgrading that. Maybe a set of pads as these will wear out at some point. A nicer wire as the included bungee cord is a mess. If anyone has a pad recommendation I'm happy to hear it. Thanks to all so staunch in their support of a gem of a headphone.

 
For cables, the V-moda works really well with the angled end into the headphone and the straight end into the source. For pads the Shure 1840 work really well, better than the Shure 1540 does as the 1540 loses some bass and kind of warms the sound some (also veils the sound unless you remove the foam backing). And the 1840 pads are half the price of the 1540 pads as well.
 
And if you want to improve comfort beyond what it is stock (which the Shure 1840 pads do as well), replacing the headstrap with a modified MrSpeakers Comfort Leather headstrap for the Fostex T50RP is a great thing to do... makes the SHP9500 the most comfortable headphone I've ever had on my head with the modified MrSpeakers strap and Shure 1840 pads.
 
V-Moda cable:
https://www.amazon.com/V-MODA-Extended-Audio-Cable-Black/dp/B00MYTR7KQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1483584950&sr=8-2&keywords=v-moda+cable
 
Shure 1840 pads:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007Q0POT4/ref=twister_B00B9BOHVW?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
 
MrSpeakers leather Comfort headstrap:
https://mrspeakers.com/shop/3-accessories/mrspeakers-leather-comfort-strap/
 
All you need to do is punch the 5/16" holes in the leather for mounting points and trim a little off the ends (just cut it off where the holes are for the T50RP mounting screws. For the hole pattern, you can take apart the stock headstrap and use the clear plastic inner piece as a jig for the punch.
 
So for about the price of two SHP9500's, you can get a headphone that sounds clearer, more detailed, and with more bass than a stock SHP9500 and is also one of the most comfortable headphones to wear, EVER...

 

[HotIce]

And what the prodigious HP would be? Drum roll ....

 

[Music Alchemist]

  Haven't heard the KTX, is that the same driver as the KSC75 and the PP?
 
I believe that the biggest weakness with the SHP9500s is the mids, not the bass as some people think. Ironically, the biggest strength with Koss headphones tends to be their mids. The PortaPros, KSC75s, and SportaPros are somewhat A-shaped headphones. Their treble is veiled and their bass rolls off rapidly below 100 hz, but from 100hz to 2000hz, those little Koss phones can trade blows with much more expensive headphones. There is a savoriness to their mids that kept me coming back to them for 10 years.
 
So I can see how someone could prefer them. I don't think they're better though. The treble is simply in another league on the 9500s. The bass impact is very fixable with a good amp, and it is going to scale better, coming from a 50mm driver, compared to the quarter-sized Koss drivers that can't move as much air. (The corollary to that is that Koss cans are very non-fatiguing so... there is that).

 
Sorry for the delayed reply.
 
I believe the KTXPRO1 has the same (or at least similar) titanium-coated drivers as the KSC75.
 
I know the Porta Pro has different drivers made of different materials, but I have not heard it.
 
The KTX and KSC sound very different.
 
The only two things I like more about the KSC are the soundstage (since it rests away from your ears) and clarity. The rest of the sound comes off as lo-fi to me, especially in the bass, which hardly sounded better than cheap earbuds. (Though it's worth mentioning that the one I had was refurbished. It's entirely possible that a brand new one would sound better.) Pressing the pads against my ears did not improve things either. But, er..."veiled treble"? The KSC is bright and sparkly. That's one of the things it's famous for.
 
The KTX has a different enclosure and has far superior overall sound, in my opinion. The bass impact (along with higher frequency impact such as drums) is also way beyond the SHP9500, which, in my tests, did not sound any different whether I drove it from the headphone outputs of my laptop or a Schiit Magni 2 Uber amp. (However, if you were to equalize the headphones, you could obviously increase or decrease their bass impact to an extent.)
 
Anyway, I was talking about the KTX, not any other Koss models. (I have owned others that are more expensive, but still easily prefer the KTX.) Since it's only $10, I highly recommend it to everyone. It sounds better to me than many headphones that cost hundreds!
 

I've been thinking a lot about the 880 beyers. The 250 ohm and the 600 and the 770 pros in the 250 ohm. I'd read about the treble being so bright, does that change with amplification? Does better or different amplification reduce that?

 
I had the DT 880 Edition (aka Premium) 600 ohm. I think it's clearly better than the SHP9500, but not by a large amount. They sound fairly similar. Both are a little bright to my ears, but not a major problem.
 

What I'm most concerned with is sound quality. Neutral, clear and detailed reproduction of my source material with a wider sound stage. I really enjoy the 9500's for these reasons but am wondering aloud here if clarity, detail and sound stage can be increased by a large margin for $500 or less; beyond what the 9500 is capable of. Inversely if a large margin of improvement can not be had for less than $500 I'd rather spend the money on source material. If the 9500 sounds better than the 880/250 that's info I want. What sounds better? What other set of cans has what the 9500 has but in spades, and at what cost.

 
If you want the best (as in most accurate) sound you can get for under $500 (which can also compete with or even outperform headphones that cost thousands), go for used STAX. It sounds worlds better than the SHP9500—markedly greater than a mere 5% improvement.
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/676272/the-entry-level-stax-thread
 

  The 95% figure depends very heavily on what type of frequency curve you prefer.
 
If you like headphones a bit warmer, a bit darker, then the SHP9500s may be less than 95% of the way to your ideal. And I think that's part of where the upgrading itch comes from. If a headphone matches the frequency curve you want, it's pretty easy to be content there. If it's very different from the frequency curve you want to have, then the incentive to look up a tier is greater. Perhaps the people that go all the way up to the Stax and Audeze are the ones that couldn't find the frequency curve they could be content with in anything they tried along the way?

 
Well, I'm sure you know there's more to sound than just frequency response. Impulse response (like the timing of transients) and distortion are factors, among others. And different driver technologies are going to sound different regardless. (Even when equalized to have the same FR.)
 
Personally, I'd say the SHP9500 is only maybe half as good as the best headphones. At its price, though, it's the best circumaural open-back I've heard.
 

V-Moda cable:

 
My V-MODA Audio Only Cable (which is the same as the one you linked to) sounds...a little bad. I used it as an interconnect on various systems and it blatantly reduced the sound quality compared to other cables. Made things sound more etched and nasty. But when used as a headphone cable, it wasn't so bad. I talked with a guy who designs cables about this particular one. He's one of the skeptics who insists most cables sound the same...and even he admitted it's a poorly-made cable that acts more like a resistor than well-made ones, and wasn't surprised at all when I reported its negative effects. But at least it's cheap and looks cool. Just a few of my thoughts on the matter.

 

[SHAMuuu]

   
Sorry for the delayed reply.
 
I believe the KTXPRO1 has the same (or at least similar) titanium-coated drivers as the KSC75.
 
I know the Porta Pro has different drivers made of different materials, but I have not heard it.
 
The KTX and KSC sound very different.
 
The only two things I like more about the KSC are the soundstage (since it rests away from your ears) and clarity. The rest of the sound comes off as lo-fi to me, especially in the bass, which hardly sounded better than cheap earbuds. (Though it's worth mentioning that the one I had was refurbished. It's entirely possible that a brand new one would sound better.) Pressing the pads against my ears did not improve things either. But, er..."veiled treble"? The KSC is bright and sparkly. That's one of the things it's famous for.
 
The KTX has a different enclosure and has far superior overall sound, in my opinion. The bass impact (along with higher frequency impact such as drums) is also way beyond the SHP9500, which, in my tests, did not sound any different whether I drove it from the headphone outputs of my laptop or a Schiit Magni 2 Uber amp. (However, if you were to equalize the headphones, you could obviously increase or decrease their bass impact to an extent.)
 
Anyway, I was talking about the KTX, not any other Koss models. (I have owned others that are more expensive, but still easily prefer the KTX.) Since it's only $10, I highly recommend it to everyone. It sounds better to me than many headphones that cost hundreds!
 
 

There are so many different views about the KOSS drivers it confuses me.
What about ur40 (same as ktx) ? or ksc? I had thought porta pro were same as 75s and sporta pros were 35s. because i saw on youtube these people saying to buy sporta pro and take drivers out, and put them into ksc75 clips to have 35s which clip on.  Or getting sporta pro and using the drivers to replace porta pro ones if they died because the 35s sound better than 75s. Then some others saying 75s sound best with kramer mod > 35s. Maybe they were confused.
 
ANyone can clear this up once and for all?

 

[MisterMudd]

There are so many different views about the KOSS drivers it confuses me.
What about ur40 (same as ktx) ? or ksc? I had thought porta pro were same as 75s and sporta pros were 35s. because i saw on youtube these people saying to buy sporta pro and take drivers out, and put them into ksc75 clips to have 35s which clip on.  Or getting sporta pro and using the drivers to replace porta pro ones if they died because the 35s sound better than 75s. Then some others saying 75s sound best with kramer mod > 35s. Maybe they were confused.

ANyone can clear this up once and for all?

Maybe in the many other Koss threads?

 

[Music Alchemist]

@SHAMuuu
 

Spoiler: off-topic

  There are so many different views about the KOSS drivers it confuses me.
What about ur40 (same as ktx) ? or ksc? I had thought porta pro were same as 75s and sporta pros were 35s. because i saw on youtube these people saying to buy sporta pro and take drivers out, and put them into ksc75 clips to have 35s which clip on.  Or getting sporta pro and using the drivers to replace porta pro ones if they died because the 35s sound better than 75s. Then some others saying 75s sound best with kramer mod > 35s. Maybe they were confused.
 
ANyone can clear this up once and for all?

 
The Porta Pro drivers are definitely different, and they don't have a titanium coating like the KSC75, KTXPRO1, and UR40 do. I believe the KSC35, Porta Pro, and Sporta Pro have the same drivers, but am not sure. You can look on their website for (limited) info on the different models. I had the UR40. Some say it has the same drivers as the KTXPRO1 and KSC75, and some say it doesn't. (Some even say those two headphones have slightly different drivers. I've opened them up and didn't see a difference, but who knows...I didn't look at them side by side.) The enclosure is much larger, so I at first thought it didn't, but it does have enough similarities that it very well could.
 
I suppose someone could contact Koss for an official answer as to which headphones share the same drivers.

 

[Butter123]

The philips shp9500 really needs aftermarket ear pads to make them truly great. With a simple hm5 pad, the comfort and fit improved greatly, no longer does it fall off my head from just turning my head around. The sound also improved, especially tuning down the silibance and increase mid bass slightly. Pair it with a vmoda boom pro, you have a killer open back headset

 

[HotIce]

it really needs them, for you 

 as for me, they are perfectly comfortable as they are.
Though, I don't jump around when listening music.

 

[SomeTechNoob]

Yeah I tried the HM5s, but I prefer the stock pads since they are lighter and don't make your ears sweat as much.  Too much bloated bass with the HM5s imo.
 
But if you like that bass, more power to ya.

 

[Kloud]

Just now getting into the audiophile game, and this thread is making me feel good about my first, low budget, purchase decision. Even though I don't understand all the whippersnapper jibber-jabber (yes, i've read the definitions for words like warm, bright, airy but i still dont get it.) i see the words like "bright" and I'm like "these are bright? guess i like bright." 

 

[erich6]

  Just now getting into the audiophile game, and this thread is making me feel good about my first, low budget, purchase decision. Even though I don't understand all the whippersnapper jibber-jabber (yes, i've read the definitions for words like warm, bright, airy but i still dont get it.) i see the words like "bright" and I'm like "these are bright? guess i like bright." 

​Welcome! Glad you are enjoying the SHP-9500s. 
 
The terms warm, bright, etc. are all relative and subjective so hard to say what they mean relative to what you like unless you have some "reference" both you and the person describing the sound have heard in similar conditions.