[Armaegis]

I would not consider the HD25 an upgrade. Definitely a side step, maybe even a bit of a downgrade. However, these two headphones serve very different purposes. One is full sized and semi-open and difficult to drive. The other is portable, highly isolating, and easier (relatively) to drive. Determine what you need.

 

[yhong26]

actually i got a home use headphone, like Yamaha HP-3,Pioneer SE-700, both sound very nice...
 
and i dun have any portable rig,so is time to own it... this decision may sound like not worth...but DT880 really not under my expectation...so jz give up on it...

 

[Armaegis]

The DT880 is really big for portable use. I'd stick with the HD25-1-ii. If you're looking at a Beyer, then the DT1350 or T50p are options. 

 

[yhong26]

gonna try HD25-1, i think i will regret if no try it out~haha....
 
next time only upgrade to DT1350....

 

[dark_chyld]

Armaegis, really nice review. What would you consider a worthy upgrade to the Sennheiser HD 25-1 II. I have owned one for a couple of years now and i love how they isolate and the bass. Though i with sometimes the vocals could be more prominent

 

[roma101]

Quote:

Armaegis, really nice review. What would you consider a worthy upgrade to the Sennheiser HD 25-1 II. I have owned one for a couple of years now and i love how they isolate and the bass. Though i with sometimes the vocals could be more prominent

 
Agreed about the HD25 ^^. I love my M-80 (very nice complement to the HD25) but the HD25 has better isolation for portable use in trains/buses. Those DT1350s are still calling my name to try them out, but I always get the feeling they may disappoint me in comparison. Only time will tell.

 

[Armaegis]

If you're willing to experiment a bit, you can mod the HD25-1-ii a bit to help bring up the vocals. It's mostly taming down the treble spike a bit to help round out the mids. 

 

[dark_chyld]

what sort of mod will you recommend? Well i got a lil cash burning a hole in my pocket so im thinking of spending it on some new cans

 

[Armaegis]

Unplug the cups, unscrew the cable clamp, remove the pads... now holding the cup by the edge, press down on the square knob and that should pop the driver assembly right out. Try filling the cup chambers with felt or acoustic foam if you have any. I've also tried filling them with putty which is ok. If you have any vibration damping material (dynamat, fatmat, etc), you can try laying some in the cup chambers and/or on the flat surfaces. There's space on the driver assembly too. 
 
Even easier is to just replace the foam circle behind the pads with something like felt or velour. No crazy opening stuff up required except for removing the pads. 
 
It's possible to open up the driver assembly and add damping material inside as well, which has a pretty good effect on sound, but you want to be very careful not to damage the driver or more importantly the voice coil wire (which is very hard to see). 

 

[dark_chyld]

thanks i will give it a try this weekend and see how it goes. In your opinion are there any cans better than the HD 25-1 II, which also offer very good isolation?

 

[Armaegis]

I personally prefer the HD25-13 over the 25-1. They're ok without amp, but do shine more with one. I find the vocals on them to be more prominent and smoother, but you trade a bit of bass impact and treble zing for that. 
 
The best isolating cans I have ever heard (or rather... not heard?):
HD25
Beyer T50p
Beyer DT1350
Beyer DT770
Senn HD280
Senn HD380
B&W P5
AKG K271 (maybe the 171... that was a while ago and I didn't have a good reference point)
 
In terms of sound quality though... well that's a different bag entirely. My personal tastes would lean maybe more towards the HD380, but I hate treble spikes and like dark bass. If you really like the HD25, I can't think of anything else with the same isolation and sound aside from trying to find the HD25-13 (typically only found in Europe).
 
There's the "new" HD25 Amperior that might be worth a look, but I haven't tried it. 

 

[yhong26]

Quote:

Unplug the cups, unscrew the cable clamp, remove the pads... now holding the cup by the edge, press down on the square knob and that should pop the driver assembly right out. Try filling the cup chambers with felt or acoustic foam if you have any. I've also tried filling them with putty which is ok. If you have any vibration damping material (dynamat, fatmat, etc), you can try laying some in the cup chambers and/or on the flat surfaces. There's space on the driver assembly too. 
 
Even easier is to just replace the foam circle behind the pads with something like felt or velour. No crazy opening stuff up required except for removing the pads. 
 
It's possible to open up the driver assembly and add damping material inside as well, which has a pretty good effect on sound, but you want to be very careful not to damage the driver or more importantly the voice coil wire (which is very hard to see). 

ya,i plan to add the damping material on the behind driver, since there already got damping material in original state, have go through many tests n errors only can come out the best result~
 
until now,i very happy with me HD25-1 II...although it is still  going burn in process....but already stick with the sound produce...haha

 

[Armaegis]

Forgot to mention another quick mod you can do: apply some clear nail polish/varnish to the edges where the cup and driver capsule connect (so basically the outer rim and inner square) to improve the seal. 

 

[yhong26]

Quote:

Forgot to mention another quick mod you can do: apply some clear nail polish/varnish to the edges where the cup and driver capsule connect (so basically the outer rim and inner square) to improve the seal. 

ya,but it will be the un-reversible mod...
if the sound not improve or more worse...
 
but a good suggestion~need more solid like Sennheiser Amperior~

 

[bowei006]

The T50p and Vmoda M80 are on my list. From what I see here, polar opposites. I have a consumer bass heart inside with a love for showing off the headphones to the world. But I also have an audiophile heart of exact and correct "sounding" music and a treble head for many genre's. It is really hard to choose. I will be using these to France probably and will be selling a few things I no longer use to pay for them.
 
I want them to be stylish, but I also want sound. I could get an HD 25 as that sounds great for what I want but I also want looks. The trebley ness of the T50p from your review sounds so well to fit my needs but my bass eccentric DJ type house and EDM music require that bass oomph! Such a hard descisioin.