[wower]

In general i like systems that get my foot tapping with great pace, rhythm and tempo. I have run forum searches but nothing gave me the info I was looking for, the topic doesn't seem to come up that often, so I decided to post a question that addressed it: Please rank the specific headphones or relate your experiences with the most rhythmic rig ever. Any infomation that would help my upgrade decisions would be appreciated.

 

[pmk]

No experience with the 650 or 990. Have the 701. And PRAT is something that is important to me. And I would say the 701s definitely get my foot tapping. I only compared them to the 555s (I know, not a fair comparison).

Not sure this helps any. I'm sure others have been able to try all three models though.

Pat

 

[Hi-Finthen]

Having had all three mated to the HeadFive, I'd say the fun factor of the DT-990se may well be due to its PRAT factor, and to a lesser degree the 701s being more nuetral and, well I returned the 650...

 

[braillediver]

Obviously My Opinion Only.

PRAT is synonymous with Grado. RS-1 for instance. Grado = Happy Feet for me.

Since you don’t mention soundstage I’d look into Grado.


Mitch

 

[pmk]

Hmmm ... and I thought I was done looking at headphones!

Mitch, the RS-1s are out of my price range. Have you tried the RS-2s? If so, do they provide the same toe tappin' experience?

Thanks,

Pat

 

[Iron_Dreamer]

FWIW to me the 990's have the PRaT/fun factor of Grados without the blatant colorations and roll-off.

 

[Mercuttio]

990's got the best PRAT to me of those listed. Doesn't touch a Grado though. In that price range, check out the MS2i... Alessandro sells em, and they turn up on the FS forum. RS2 for a little bit more money. Can't say which sound signature you'd like better though (Beyer vs. Grado), you'll really have to try them out for yourself.

As for the others, the Sennheisers are very slow unless powered EXTREMELY well through a solid state amp (haven't heard a tube that does the job as well, but a Dynamight really did the trick) and the K701 just strikes me as very boring in comparison to a Beyer or a Grado.

 

[cmirza]

Yeah, the amp your using will play a very important roll in whether your headphone has the 'PRaT' you're looking for. My old HD580s when powered through a PIMETA with AD8620/10 opamps had plenty of PRaT when I listened to them. When I rolled the AD8620 for OPA627s, they lost the PRaT and became very slow and laid back. Now that I have a Headfive, the HD580s totally lost their PRaT and I ended up selling them. I've only kept the most PRaT headphones to pair with my Headfive, Beyers and Grados, everything else just puts me to sleep.

In other words, laid back headphones are going to need aggressive amplifiers in order to get PRaT.

 

[pbirkett]

990 definitely for me as well, although ive not heard the k701, i do love a "pratty" sound, my system is actually built for it. The 650 is not good in this respect, IMO obviously.

 

[pbirkett]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cmirza In other words, laid back headphones are going to need aggressive amplifiers in order to get PRaT.

Not sure i agree with that.... being aggressive is not the same as having PRAT. My Onix integrated has a warm, smooth sound and is not aggressive in the slightest, yet it has great PRAT.

At the end of the day, if something sounds inherently "slow", theres only so much you can achieve with your front-end.

 

[wower]

Thanks to everyone for their input. I think the rs-1 is a bit out of my price range at this point but I will soon be ordering the sr225 to satisfy my grado sound needs, however, I will have to give special attention to the 990s in the future. Very helpful information on the 650. (Maybe the headphone fairy will drop a balanced rig onto my lap one day.)

I don't associate PRaT with aggressive sounds either. To me PRaT is a certian ease of presenation.