[squee116]

I have different uses for headphones, and there's lots of different ways to grade the cans, but when it comes to which ones do I wish I was wearing?

1) AKG 712 Pro              (so wish they were more portable)
2) PSB M4U1                 (still my go-to for songs with female vocals)
3) Sennheiser HD-25 1 ii  (The sound quality is decent, but the clamping force is real on these)

 

[kman1211]

After doing a few power-related upgrades to my system, my rankings have changed a bit as more system upgrades come in this will change more.
 
1.) AKG K712 Pro: That weird haze/veil/grain in the upper midrange is finally gone, this is now my clearest and cleanest sounding headphone and is now non-fatiguing. Very natural sounding. Some extra energy in the upper treble.
 
2.) Sennheiser HD 600: Gorgeous midrange and beautiful tone, slightly loose bass.
 
3.) Beyerdynamic DT 150: Very clean and smooth sound, liquid smooth highs. Slightly too rounded sounding in bass.
 
? Sennheiser HD 545: Haven't tried on upgraded system yet.
 
? Fostex T50RP Haven't tried on upgraded system yet.

 

[cleverhandle]

Here's my eclectic collection.  I picked all of these up thanks to the fine members of the Head-Fi Deals thread - I guess I should've paid attention to the "dangerous to your wallet" warnings.
 
The amp/DAC I'm using now is a Fiio E18.  Amplifier upgrades are my current priority.
 
1) AKG K7XX.  I decided that Santa would gift me these this year.   What attracted me to purchase was the focus on improving the perceived weak points of the AKG Annies/K702s that they're based on.  I jumped in early enough to get a sub-300 serial number model, for whatever that's worth.  The sound is just about everything I'm looking for.  Bass is solid without being bloated - kick drums have that "whumph" before impact.  Mids aren't recessed or forward, just nicely balanced.  Highs aren't too bright or fatiguing, and the only sibilance I hear is if the track was recorded that way.  It's fast enough to handle anything I've listened to without smearing.  Comfort is great; I could probably wear these for 12 hours straight and not complain.  Soundstage is wider than my closed cans but could be wider - I chalk this up to the velour pads and the Fiio.  The velour memory-foam pads isolate fairly well, but I think the trade off is they lose some of the space.
 
2) Grado SR60i.  These are the first set of headphones I truly loved.  Hundreds and hundreds of hours listening to these.  I prefer the L-Cush pads flipped around, but the S-Cush pads are good too.  Some time ago I picked up a set of the big salad bowl pads - they're the most comfortable but the sound is WAYY too bright!  I've been through Bilavideo's thread on Grado modding more than once and I'm dying to break these open and do some of the serious mods. Now that I have a new favorite in the 7XXs I'll be clearing time to dive in.  I love them like I love a beater car - the faults just give them personality.  The bass could use some authority, especially down really low, and there's a peak in the treble that moves around based on what pads are used - but put on some rock 'n roll guitars and crank it up loud and you can't help but love them.  Yeah, the cable is big enough to tow a sled and some people complain about the comfort (they fit me fine) but that just builds character...
 
3) Velodyne vTrue.  I purchased these last month when they were on sale for $90 shipped.  For that price they'd be worth it just to sit on a headphone stand and admired - the build quality on these is unbelievable.  Rich brown leather, brushed stainless steel, chrome accents.  I'll have to build a set of cables for these because the bright blue fabric on the stock cables looks silly connected to cans this classy.  They probably weigh more than any two of my other headphones but are comfortable enough to wear for about 2 hours before taking a break.  Sound - the bass on these is incredible.  Just unbelievably good, like you can't believe the sound is coming from headphones and not a stage PA.  Other headphones accurately produce sounds at these frequencies but the Velodyne has actual IMPACT - you can feel the slam from a kick drum as you hear it.  It's never bloated or bleeding over into the mids either - these are no blatty Beats. I can't recall anything that stands out from the mids or treble (probably because I'm going "wow! Listen to that bass!"), but while they might not be notable they're not doing anything offensive.  Negatives - The soundstage is about 4 inches wide, small even for closed-back headphones; I'm not a fan of the cables even though they're fabric and Velodyne obviously gave them some love; the weight is unavoidable but definitely a detriment. I haven't reached for these much because they seem to be a one-trick pony - but it's a great trick.  I think I'd absolutely love them if they were more balanced instead of so bass-forward so they'd be a great headphone with incredible bass instead of just a headphone with incredible bass.  Typing this out I realize that I sound like I'm saying "These are great but would be better if they were a completely different headphone."  I don't feel that way though - I'm thrilled with them.  I'll probably play with an EQ and try and bring them back in line, but even if that doesn't work I'll still pull them out whenever I want to listen to something that really SLAMS.
 
4) Sennheiser Momentum On-Ear.  Another incredible deal, $80 from Newegg.  These sound great and look great, which were Sennheiser's goals when they built these.  Larger soundstage than I'd expect from closed cans.  If I push them too far they bottom out and go BLAAT, but that's probably beyond safe listening levels.  The case and the cables are great, but I can clearly tell the difference between the cable with the mic/controls and the straight cable.  I'm having a hard time getting these to be comfortable on my ears, though.  They pinch at the top of the pinnae and therefore I can't wear them for more than 30 minutes or so.  The earcups just need to rotate more laterally, something that I'll solve by crimping the headband a little bit with pliers.
 
5) Shure SRH240.  Balanced more towards high/mids.  Bass is lean.  Vocals sound incredible on these, but everything else is kinda dry.  Least forgiving of all the headphones I own - anything wrong in the track is going to jump out instantly.  I guess that's why they're uses as studio monitors, right?  I like them enough to keep them, but not enough to use them regularly.
 
6)  Sennheiser HD439.  They're comfortable but I can think of little else to recommend them.  The bass has some impact but still manages to sound thin, and the bass is supposed to be the defining feature of these cans.  I opened them up to mod them by poking holes through the acoustic fabric covering the venting holes behind the driver, but opened up just one on each side.  This brought out the bass somewhat but now they sound muddy.  I keep them in my desk at my office, where I can't do any serious listening anyway.  I liked the Sennheiser HD202 II set that I had previously, but I gifted these to a coworker and can't bring myself to ask for them back.
 
7) Sennheiser HD229.  I plug them in and sound comes out.  They don't do anything to offend my ears, but don't do anything to move me either.  I guess my rating is "Meh."

 

[preproman]

HE-6
 
HD800
 
AKG K7XX

 

[BobFiggins]

1) Audio Technica ATH-M50
- Clear highs, deep lows. Sounds great unamped, and amped it becomes a monster. Velour pads made these even better. Soundstage is a bit annoying. Feels a bit inverted and always inside my head.
 
2) Audio Technica ATH-AX1IS
- Similar sound to the M50 (lower quality, but the sound signature feels mostly the same), but a very portable light version. The clamping force is my only issue with it. I think if I stretched it out a bit I'd love it a lot more.
 
3) Skullcandy Aviator
- Sounds pretty bad at high volume. Sharp highs with a weak treble. It's a strange combination that does not sound good. The bass tries too hard and becomes a muddy mess. What's surprising to me is how good this headphone sounds at lower volume levels though, it's like everything that was bad with the volume high goes away at 50% volume or less. At first I thought it was just the source, but seems that anything I use it with sounds the same, even amped. Used this pair at work for a long time, very durable, very comfortable.
 
4) Sony MDR-XB500
- High pressured and boomy. Used this pair for around 5 hours, then never again. I thought I was all about the bass at first when I started getting better headphones, turns out I am not all about that bass. After adjusting the EQ to sound more reasonable, the seal just made my ears too hot. It also made it feel like there was a lot of pressure from the sound due to the isolation. Taking the headphones off after listening felt like being in an airplane that finally got back to the ground and my ears thanked me.

 

[wppk]

Hello

I didn't read all the pages of this post  but a question seems very important to me : which headphones for which use ?
for instance, as a (french) sound engineer, if I am mixing music, my favorite ones are the sony mdr sa 5000. Because they are so detailed and as far as I know and have tested headphones, no other one can give this so excellent balance for mixing. mix with a sr007 from stax, and if you listen to the result with other headphones it will be strange or even messy, and not at all what you intended to mix. but mix with the sa5000 and the result will be perfect on all other heapdhones. so, it is defficult to give a good rate , not knowing what use for what headhones. the sa 5000 are far not the most pleasant to just listen to music
if we are just talking about listening to music, here is my rating between the headphones I own
1 stax lambda signature
2 stax sr 007 (or first ex eaquo, but with different ways of giving the best sound)
3  Akg k 340 dependig on the type of music. (please, stop inviting people to mod these, they sound much better without modding).
4 sony mdr sa 5000 (must change the cables because the original are too fragile.)
5 sennheiser hd 800
 6 sennheiser baby orpheus
7  Sennheiser hd 580 precision ( second on my list after the sa 5000 for mixing)
8 Audiotec CES. a very rare model, and historical. When it was released, said on newspapers  to be better than the stax srx mark III. And I think it is a bit better, in fact. More detailed in the highs
9 Stax srx markIII normal bias
10 Bose qc 3 (just for the efficiency in a train or plane)

 

[wppk]

I forgot to add my akg k 242 whixch I would rank very close to the sennheiser hd580, maybe just after.
also, I used to have an  akg k701 wich I found rather poor sounding. I would rank it at tenth position and the bose eleventh

 

[Tasty Mushroom]

1) Hifiman HE500
2) ZMF x Vibro
3) Sennheiser HD600
 
Driven from a NFB 11.32 - I know not exactly "high end" dac/amp.
 
 
I tend towards a dark/warm sound signature myself. I've tried a lot of cans like the HD800, TH600, Beyer T1 but the the treble kills my ears quite a bit with my type of music - which is understandable as they show up the flaws. Also I can't budget for summit level amps and dacs. I'm mostly into Metal, 70s Rock, 90s Alt and Grunge and 90s Goa + Psy-trance stuff. I'm far from a bass head as well, the TH600 was too much for me. LCD cans are beyond my weight tolerance - too uncomfortable for me. I don't think I'd ever spend more than $6-700 on a headphone.
 
Hopefully the Oppo PM-3 works out. The PM-3 looks like my perfect headphone for portable usage, both in looks/design and form factor.

 

[wppk]

in a pm, a head-fier tells me
“Amazed you rank the K340 so highly... I love mine un-modded too!”
Hi , yes, they are really wonderful headphones. but not on any music. And that doesn't depend on it to be classical or modern or whatever. is depends ont the recording, probably, but I never could figure out how it comes to be so good on some songs and rather pleasant but not exceptionnal on others. It played wonderful on a rachmaninov concert,  and really top on technotronic, also... hard to understand. Needs a good power anyway.

 

[Mikeopellos]

1. Philips Citiscape Uptown
2. Sennheizer IE80 (Although I prefer the mids of the Ma-350)
3. RHA Ma-350
4. Shure Se-215
5. Crappy Iphone Headphones

 

[intlsubband]

 
Hello

I didn't read all the pages of this post  but a question seems very important to me : which headphones for which use ?
for instance, as a (french) sound engineer, if I am mixing music, my favorite ones are the sony mdr sa 5000. Because they are so detailed and as far as I know and have tested headphones, no other one can give this so excellent balance for mixing. mix with a sr007 from stax, and if you listen to the result with other headphones it will be strange or even messy, and not at all what you intended to mix. but mix with the sa5000 and the result will be perfect on all other heapdhones. so, it is defficult to give a good rate , not knowing what use for what headhones. the sa 5000 are far not the most pleasant to just listen to music
if we are just talking about listening to music, here is my rating between the headphones I own
1 stax lambda signature
2 stax sr 007 (or first ex eaquo, but with different ways of giving the best sound)
3  Akg k 340 dependig on the type of music. (please, stop inviting people to mod these, they sound much better without modding).
4 sony mdr sa 5000 (must change the cables because the original are too fragile.)
5 sennheiser hd 800
 6 sennheiser baby orpheus
7  Sennheiser hd 580 precision ( second on my list after the sa 5000 for mixing)
8 Audiotec CES. a very rare model, and historical. When it was released, said on newspapers  to be better than the stax srx mark III. And I think it is a bit better, in fact. More detailed in the highs
9 Stax srx markIII normal bias
10 Bose qc 3 (just for the efficiency in a train or plane)

 
That's quite a collection. I'm surprised the Baby Orpheus are rated this low (though it's up against some tough competition!). I'd love to hear it one day.

 

[wppk]

there is no low heaphone in this list, in fact, but it is true that when you put the baby orpheus next to the two stax there is no comparison possible. I was told many things about the baby, that is why I took them. They are of course very good headphones, but...
btw, an info that could be important for some baby orpheus owners. it is said on this forum to have a known issue with dust. so I asked spritzer, who is an expert here, and who very kindly told me that one could avoid that puting over the drivers thin plastic like mylars. I did. spritzer told me that it would not affect the sound. but in fact it does very much on the voices. I am a voice talent, so I often record a capella voices. and there is a big difference with the nylon sheets. I told Spritzer about it, and he was rather surprised. but he hadn't tryied with a capella voices.
anyway, of course, it is a pleasure to listen to the baby o's. but once you have heard these other ones on my list, you make the difference.
I d really like to try the beyer t1. and the koss 950. do you know how they compare to the list I gave ?
thanks
luc
 
 

 

[wppk]

I'd like to add an odd story I went through. Maybe this is not the place to post it... Anyway, when I bought the sr 007, i came to the seller's house with my stax trm t1 amp and my lambda signature pro headphones to hear the difference. the seller had a sr007, then, and a sr009, and a srm 006 amp. must have been the ts because it seemed totally brand new and modern. I plugged my lambda in it and in my tr r1, and could easyly notice that the sound was much better with my trm 1. tried the same with the sr 007, and it was the same. better with the trm1.I told it to the seller, who, very surprised, tried too.... And said the same. then, he started to hesitate selling is 007... but he finally did. a month after, he wrote to me to ask if I would like to buy his 006 amp , because he had just bought a better one (which was not a trm 1) . of course, I reminded him of what had happened, and said I was not interested in buying an amp which would not be as good as mine...
 I found it funny. I made lots of tests this very day, and I know I made comparisons with the 009 too. But I am not sure of which amp sounded better with it. Can't remember well, because it was not my point and prefered the 007. 
good info, isn't it ?

 

[Slapaplis]

Same I really want some Grados

 

[Wild]

1. HE-500
2. K712
3. HD558
4. Zero Audio Carbo-Basso
5. HD439
6. Bose QC15