fjhuerta
I gave Jude an Orpheus and all I got was this lousy title.
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2001
- Posts
- 492
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- 78
After receiving my new AKGs, and lovingly cleaning my headphone collection, I decided to post a review on how the different headphones I own stack up.
It'll be pretty interesting, since the rankings have moved since my new baby arrived.
From worst to best:
B&O A8's
List price: $150 USD (?)
Strengths: They have the most beautiful aluminum frame out there.
Weaknesses: They sound like crap.
Similar to: An AM radio speaker (with bad reception).
Needs what kind of power: Anything will do.
Description: For an earbud, they have decent bass response. Mids are not very clear, but they are passable. Unfortunately, frequency response rolls off faster than a Cedar Point rollercoaster after that. There are no highs whatsoever. Surely this makes for an easy-listening earphone for people with deep pockets and no interest in high end audio. Blah.
Koss SportaPro / Sennheiser 490 frame
List price: $20 / $49 (?)
Strengths: The Koss el-cheapo sound and the comfort of the 490's frame (plus the single entry cable) combined!
Weaknesses: Can't take too much power; combined, the cost is similar to a Grado 60.
Similar to: Cerwin-Vega! speakers.
Needs what kind of power: A 5 mW Minidisc is the bare minimum.
Description: I tried to make the 490's sound decent by cutting a hole in their thick foam. No luck. Then I discovered the drivers are very similar in size to the Sporta's drivers. So after a bit of surgery I ended up with the best looking SportaPros out there. Sound is exactly what you would expect from a SportaPro, but with less bass (the foam in the earpiece rolls off the bass nicely). They are definitely not as detailed as the next step up in my headphone collection, but considering the price (of the Sportas), I can only say they are a great deal. It's my everyday headphone, actually.
Alessandro MS-1 / Donut foams / Radio Shack pads
List price: $ 99
Strengths: Sound. Headbanging, powerful sound. They also can be stored flatly.
Weaknesses: They look like my grandfather's headphones. The cable is way too thick. Some people think Grados are uncomfortable (I find them mostly OK).
Similar to: good old JBL speakers.
Needs what kind of power: Not picky at all about the power source, but I'd definitely use an amp for best performance. Out of a 5mW MD they are clearly lacking.
Description: These are the ugly ducklings of my collection. I have two of them; one of them was bought from Onyx. I seem to have a love-hate relationship with them, since before I owned my x-Can, I used to think they were better than my Sennheisers. After I got my amp, I was under the impression they sounded terribly with it, so I stopped using them. After a couple of months I started using them again. I found they have a very punchy sound, highly aggressive, but quite livable with. The difference between the home-made donut pads and the Radio Shack ones is interesting; with the donut pads they have a calmer sound, the Radio Shack ones add punch and take off some soundstaging. They are the lowest ring on my hi-fi gear, and they remind me a lot about some JBL LX-66 speakers I have around. Those things are huge towers, with two 8" woofers, one 4" mid and the ubiquitous JBL titanium tweeter. They can move you, not emotionally but physically! I bet if my Grados were bigger, they would try to do the same.
AKG 501
List price: $149 USD (?)
Strengths: Immense soundstage, sweet mids & highs, comfort.
Weaknesses: Rolled off bass response, debatable styling.
Similar to: Very fast English mini-monitors.
Needs what kind of power: The mother of all amps + an independent power generator. Some nuclear power would help, too.
Description: How much power can these babies take? Well, the answer is, as much as you can give them. They are power hogs. You should pay a luxury tax on extra energy consumed. You might need the energy of 20 hamsters on a cage to power them to a barely minimum level. Which would basically suck, since all that racket would distract you from their nice mid and calm highs. And from yourself searching for the elusive bottom end, which, although listenable, is definitely lacking. They are fast, detailed, sound great, and have a marvelous midrange. Just like English mini monitor speakers. Also, the styling takes a while to get used to; I don't like it at all, actually. OTOH, they are very comfortable, and you never have to adjust the headband. Nice!
Sennheiser 580
List price: $Widely variable, from $150-$249 USD (when new)
Strengths: Comfy, great, calm sound, oodles of detail, good bass response, nice looks. A keeper.
Weaknesses: Some people have had problems with intermittent connections.
Similar to: Magnepan speakers (if memory serves correctly)
Needs what kind of power: A decent amp. The more decent, the better the sound.
Description: Oh my. I can't seem to get enough of this, my first headphone set. Even after they have become outclassed, even after I began fearing for the life of their velvet cushion... I still love them. They have great, great sound... immense soundstaging (similar to the AKG501s), but with a bit more top end detail and a lot more bass response, they are comfortable to wear, look great on their (Radio Shack) stands, and furthermore, they are now cheap (if you can think a $199 headphone is cheap). Many people think they are not that great... not having listened to the RS-1 and the MDR-10 I'm not the one to comment on what great sound is at any price level, anyway. Again, for the price, I find very few things wrong with this headphone.
Etymotic Research ER4s
List price: $270 USD (?)
Strengths: Portability, sound quality, value.
Weaknesses: Sharp learning curve, they might gross you out the first couple of times you use them.
Similar to: Real life.
Needs what kind of power: A decent amp (even a TA will do, but sound quality goes up with a better amp).
Description: ER4s. Need I say more?
What is this, anyway?
Sennheiser Surrounder
List price: $?????
Strengths: If aliens ever invade us, I will surely convince them I'm one of them with these things on. Also, I can blast everyone in the office when playing Unreal Tournament.
Weaknesses: Not the best in hi-fi.
Similar to: An inverted toilet seat (thanks for the idea, Onyx!).
Needs what kind of power: A 12V, 1 amp wall wart. It has its own internal amp.
Description: I don't think Sennheiser will top itself. This thing is weird to the max. Everyone who sees it wants automatically to wear it and to make funny noises. It's a hit, definitely. It consists of a pair of high / mid frequency transducers mounted on front, with a pair of full - range speakers on the back. You wear it on your shoulders, and end up with 4 channels of surround sound. It has a volume pot and a "bass boost" pot at the front. Forget about listening to music with it, though. It sounds terrible. It works the best with surround DVD's (you will need a DSP-Pro to get surround sound out of a normal laptop, but you can get full surround with a home PC and a sound card with F/R outputs) and with games. I only paid $40 for it, actually, since it has been discontinued.
Phew.
It'll be pretty interesting, since the rankings have moved since my new baby arrived.
From worst to best:
B&O A8's
List price: $150 USD (?)
Strengths: They have the most beautiful aluminum frame out there.
Weaknesses: They sound like crap.
Similar to: An AM radio speaker (with bad reception).
Needs what kind of power: Anything will do.
Description: For an earbud, they have decent bass response. Mids are not very clear, but they are passable. Unfortunately, frequency response rolls off faster than a Cedar Point rollercoaster after that. There are no highs whatsoever. Surely this makes for an easy-listening earphone for people with deep pockets and no interest in high end audio. Blah.
Koss SportaPro / Sennheiser 490 frame
List price: $20 / $49 (?)
Strengths: The Koss el-cheapo sound and the comfort of the 490's frame (plus the single entry cable) combined!
Weaknesses: Can't take too much power; combined, the cost is similar to a Grado 60.
Similar to: Cerwin-Vega! speakers.
Needs what kind of power: A 5 mW Minidisc is the bare minimum.
Description: I tried to make the 490's sound decent by cutting a hole in their thick foam. No luck. Then I discovered the drivers are very similar in size to the Sporta's drivers. So after a bit of surgery I ended up with the best looking SportaPros out there. Sound is exactly what you would expect from a SportaPro, but with less bass (the foam in the earpiece rolls off the bass nicely). They are definitely not as detailed as the next step up in my headphone collection, but considering the price (of the Sportas), I can only say they are a great deal. It's my everyday headphone, actually.
Alessandro MS-1 / Donut foams / Radio Shack pads
List price: $ 99
Strengths: Sound. Headbanging, powerful sound. They also can be stored flatly.
Weaknesses: They look like my grandfather's headphones. The cable is way too thick. Some people think Grados are uncomfortable (I find them mostly OK).
Similar to: good old JBL speakers.
Needs what kind of power: Not picky at all about the power source, but I'd definitely use an amp for best performance. Out of a 5mW MD they are clearly lacking.
Description: These are the ugly ducklings of my collection. I have two of them; one of them was bought from Onyx. I seem to have a love-hate relationship with them, since before I owned my x-Can, I used to think they were better than my Sennheisers. After I got my amp, I was under the impression they sounded terribly with it, so I stopped using them. After a couple of months I started using them again. I found they have a very punchy sound, highly aggressive, but quite livable with. The difference between the home-made donut pads and the Radio Shack ones is interesting; with the donut pads they have a calmer sound, the Radio Shack ones add punch and take off some soundstaging. They are the lowest ring on my hi-fi gear, and they remind me a lot about some JBL LX-66 speakers I have around. Those things are huge towers, with two 8" woofers, one 4" mid and the ubiquitous JBL titanium tweeter. They can move you, not emotionally but physically! I bet if my Grados were bigger, they would try to do the same.
AKG 501
List price: $149 USD (?)
Strengths: Immense soundstage, sweet mids & highs, comfort.
Weaknesses: Rolled off bass response, debatable styling.
Similar to: Very fast English mini-monitors.
Needs what kind of power: The mother of all amps + an independent power generator. Some nuclear power would help, too.
Description: How much power can these babies take? Well, the answer is, as much as you can give them. They are power hogs. You should pay a luxury tax on extra energy consumed. You might need the energy of 20 hamsters on a cage to power them to a barely minimum level. Which would basically suck, since all that racket would distract you from their nice mid and calm highs. And from yourself searching for the elusive bottom end, which, although listenable, is definitely lacking. They are fast, detailed, sound great, and have a marvelous midrange. Just like English mini monitor speakers. Also, the styling takes a while to get used to; I don't like it at all, actually. OTOH, they are very comfortable, and you never have to adjust the headband. Nice!
Sennheiser 580
List price: $Widely variable, from $150-$249 USD (when new)
Strengths: Comfy, great, calm sound, oodles of detail, good bass response, nice looks. A keeper.
Weaknesses: Some people have had problems with intermittent connections.
Similar to: Magnepan speakers (if memory serves correctly)
Needs what kind of power: A decent amp. The more decent, the better the sound.
Description: Oh my. I can't seem to get enough of this, my first headphone set. Even after they have become outclassed, even after I began fearing for the life of their velvet cushion... I still love them. They have great, great sound... immense soundstaging (similar to the AKG501s), but with a bit more top end detail and a lot more bass response, they are comfortable to wear, look great on their (Radio Shack) stands, and furthermore, they are now cheap (if you can think a $199 headphone is cheap). Many people think they are not that great... not having listened to the RS-1 and the MDR-10 I'm not the one to comment on what great sound is at any price level, anyway. Again, for the price, I find very few things wrong with this headphone.
Etymotic Research ER4s
List price: $270 USD (?)
Strengths: Portability, sound quality, value.
Weaknesses: Sharp learning curve, they might gross you out the first couple of times you use them.
Similar to: Real life.
Needs what kind of power: A decent amp (even a TA will do, but sound quality goes up with a better amp).
Description: ER4s. Need I say more?
What is this, anyway?
Sennheiser Surrounder
List price: $?????
Strengths: If aliens ever invade us, I will surely convince them I'm one of them with these things on. Also, I can blast everyone in the office when playing Unreal Tournament.
Weaknesses: Not the best in hi-fi.
Similar to: An inverted toilet seat (thanks for the idea, Onyx!).
Needs what kind of power: A 12V, 1 amp wall wart. It has its own internal amp.
Description: I don't think Sennheiser will top itself. This thing is weird to the max. Everyone who sees it wants automatically to wear it and to make funny noises. It's a hit, definitely. It consists of a pair of high / mid frequency transducers mounted on front, with a pair of full - range speakers on the back. You wear it on your shoulders, and end up with 4 channels of surround sound. It has a volume pot and a "bass boost" pot at the front. Forget about listening to music with it, though. It sounds terrible. It works the best with surround DVD's (you will need a DSP-Pro to get surround sound out of a normal laptop, but you can get full surround with a home PC and a sound card with F/R outputs) and with games. I only paid $40 for it, actually, since it has been discontinued.
Phew.
