Quote:
These ZMF's are all about lush mids, and not so much sparkly highs.
I hope you won't be disappointed.
Damn... well there goes that
I kid, it's not necessarily a dealbreaker for me. For some reason I've always associated 'lush mids' with inferior sound. I've listened to the Sennheiser range quite a bit and as the range progresses in quality (and expense) the mids follow suit by receding in the mix toward what I perceive as a flat response.
When I say I like a U curve, I think what I actually like is a flat curve. My 555's have what I would describe as a similar 'lushness' in the mids that I call to order with EQ, though I wouldn't call this signature lush, I would say the mids are bunched up and muddy. When I U curve the mids away the bass and highs are given space to express themselves more correctly. I've sat and AB'd my 555's with 598's, 600's, 650's and 800's. The 555's are the worst of the lot, in terms of this bunched, messy sound in the middle, the 598's sounded very similar, I was not impressed by them in comparison to my 555's, the 600's fare much better, the 650's even more so, but I still heard a tremendous bunching in them, I just knew that to my ears they were not reference flat. Then I put on the 800's and I eargasmed. They were perfect. The bunching was all gone, or should I say the 'lush mids' were gone. This leads me to conclude that 'lush mids' are actually a description of an n curve, or bell curve, and that a lot of sub-perfect drivers display this 'weakness'. Either that or my ears simply tuned to hear this way. Which is highly possible since I believe we all hear things differently, hence no one can agree on anything here.
That being said, I believe quality drivers respond well to EQ, as they are technically capable of reproducing sound well, their tuning just happens to emphasize certain parts over others, and not that they necessarily need to emphasize those particular parts. When I listen to 650's I EQ them and they sound terrific. I believe I would do so with t50rp's and they would probably sound terrific too.
@ Satwilson, I agree. We all have different preferences. I have a preference for an all in one unit with DAC and amp. I went to a shop and laid my card on the table to buy the Audinst HUD MX2 after I did my research and had sat there for 3 hours auditioning it. The guy went behind the counter for five minutes then returned and told me they were out of stock
. I suppose it was for the best since now I think an AudioGD unit, at about the same price, is the superior option. But I also think a Bottlehead Crack with ODAC will also sound terrific
and certainly be end game enough for me, at least for the next few years.
May the comparisons and dac/amp suggestions please continue in here.
PS. A comparison with the $299 Mad Dogs would certainly be nice
