[Rob80b]

Ok so I’ve had my Bryston BHA-1 all of 3 weeks and resurrected my life as a semi-serious head-fier after a hiatus of 5 years or so.
Spending hours with my past collection of phones; those being the AKG K501s, AKG701s (balanced), Senn HD 580s (600 grills w/ nylon mesh mod, balanced) and Grado SR325is, the BHA-1 bring out the best and the faults of each phone.
I like neutrality but find myself reaching more for the Senns, probably due to the encroaching winter months as they remind me more of cozy ear muffs

, but their rich (warm) mid-range and bass is currently more enticing than the others on hand.
The Grados and AKGs being more neutral sounding but still impart a signature, the AKGs have a more reticent, distant centre image with less bass, and the Grados falling behind the others but only because of the less expansive sound stage but IMO the better chameleon.
So here’s my gripe; with my speaker set-up running my Dynaudio Special 25s powered by a Bryston 4BSST and source Bryston BCD-1, each recording is distinctively different from tonality, sound stage, ambience etc, etc,
the Special 25s impart no overall signature of their own and make me feel I’ve been transported to a different venue or sound studio with each recording.
With each headphone I’m constantly reminded of their individual characteristics, not unpleasant but the illusion is not complete,
and without access or time to try all the current offerings I’d be interested to know which of the current offerings of headphones produce a similar disappearing act if possible.
Haven’t heard any of the planar models and my time with the HD800 was limited and not under optimum conditions, the new AKG K812s may be another contender or even the higher end Grados, so which ones should I focus on, I want it all though; staging/depth, ambience, focus and bass.
Keep in mind that a neutral system IMHO is anything but cold; a rich full bodied recording should be portrayed as just that but a Spartan, sterile performance ought to come across completely differently.

 

[jonathan c]

Ok so I’ve had my Bryston BHA-1 all of 3 weeks and resurrected my life as a semi-serious head-fier after a hiatus of 5 years or so.
Spending hours with my past collection of phones; those being the AKG K501s, AKG701s (balanced), Senn HD 580s (600 grills w/ nylon mesh mod, balanced) and Grado SR325is, the BHA-1 bring out the best and the faults of each phone.
I like neutrality but find myself reaching more for the Senns, probably due to the encroaching winter months as they remind me more of cozy ear muffs

, but their rich (warm) mid-range and bass is currently more enticing than the others on hand.
The Grados and AKGs being more neutral sounding but still impart a signature, the AKGs have a more reticent, distant centre image with less bass, and the Grados falling behind the others but only because of the less expansive sound stage but IMO the better chameleon.
So here’s my gripe; with my speaker set-up running my Dynaudio Special 25s powered by a Bryston 4BSST and source Bryston BCD-1, each recording is distinctively different from tonality, sound stage, ambience etc, etc,
the Special 25s impart no overall signature of their own and make me feel I’ve been transported to a different venue or sound studio with each recording.
With each headphone I’m constantly reminded of their individual characteristics, not unpleasant but the illusion is not complete,
and without access or time to try all the current offerings I’d be interested to know which of the current offerings of headphones produce a similar disappearing act if possible.
Haven’t heard any of the planar models and my time with the HD800 was limited and not under optimum conditions, the new AKG K812s may be another contender or even the higher end Grados, so which ones should I focus on, I want it all though; staging/depth, ambience, focus and bass.
Keep in mind that a neutral system IMHO is anything but cold; a rich full bodied recording should be portrayed as just that but a Spartan, sterile performance ought to come across completely differently.

• It may be that - because of the immediate proximity of the earspeakers, the directness of sound propagation - parameters such as driver integrity and stiffness, absorption / reflection from speaker housing walls, have a much larger effect for headphones than for loudspeakers.
• Various headphones, such as Custom Cans UK modded HD-600 and Grado PS2000e, do a good job of getting out of the way spatially. I have concluded, without regret, that headphone listening and loudspeaker listening are different experiences - each to be savoured.

 

[headstef]

...I want it all though; staging/depth, ambience, focus and bass.
Keep in mind that a neutral system IMHO is anything but cold; a rich full bodied recording should be portrayed as just that but a Spartan, sterile performance ought to come across completely differently.

How close are requirements are! (If yours remain the same).

Ten years later, it seems that searching for the "holly grail" (actually, something close to that) has become just a little easier (more makers understand the above criteria though little decide to follow them because they don't mean more sales automatically). But it surely takes a lot of personal time and listening!

 

[Rob80b]

How close are requirements are! (If yours remain the same).

Ten years later, it seems that searching for the "holly grail" (actually, something close to that) has become just a little easier (more makers understand the above criteria though little decide to follow them because they don't mean more sales automatically). But it surely takes a lot of personal time and listening!

Funny, as I have no notices turned on so I'm just seeing these posts. lol
But after decade or more I've resigned to the fact headphones will never emulate a stereo speaker setup, on the other hand one can bring speakers next to ones head for total immersiveness, I used to do that back in the late 60s so as not to bother my 5 siblings.

 

[headstef]

Funny, as I have no notices turned on so I'm just seeing these posts. lol
But after decade or more I've resigned to the fact headphones will never emulate a stereo speaker setup, on the other hand one can bring speakers next to ones head for total immersiveness, I used to do that back in the late 60s so as not to bother my 5 siblings.

I think that we all learn to enjoy music with the means that are available each time. When the phonograph became widely available people started to have great fun without an orchestra or a singer present. Same thing happened with the radio and later with the first portable "all transistor" little radios. Technologies not even remotely hi-fi but the fun was high! We can really adapt to appreciate and enjoy what we have. When I listen to my speakers system I don't miss my headphones and vise versa. Different presentations but each one has it's charms and strong points and, of course, limitations. So I often try to remind my self that there is no need (or end to it) to try to discover "the best" possible headphone. Even if this was feasible, I believe that I would not enjoy music more than I do now or more than when I was a student with just a basic system. But here I am, always waiting for something "better" or more interesting to appear!