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Hey,
Just wondering with your knowledge of the SR850's and the HD 280's if it would be a worthy upgrade to go from the 280's (which I own) to the SR850's. Since the 280's are the only decent HP that I own, it's hard to get a gauge for whether they are "good" or "bad," but there are lots of people here that seem to rag on them for being inferior. I'm only somewhat satisfied with them at this point.
I have been considering the Grados SR60i's or the ATH-M50, but at this price point I would be willing to give the 850's a run for their money.
So is it worth it to buy the 850's if I already have a pair of 280's?
Thanks in advance,
Cheers.
I only heard the the HD280s for an hour or 2 a long time ago, but I think the SR850s would be a noticeable upgrade in SQ. The HD280s are good cans, but I think there is better available for their price nowadays. They have a good neutral frequency response but I felt they had nothing particularly stand out about them.
I think the SR850s are on par or even better than the M50s, though they might just be on par and the low price is influencing my opinion. Still I believe they are technically on about the same level, with a bit different sound signatures. The M50s has slightly more recessed mids, and bass which is not as quite as linear. a bit more of a mid-bass hump than the SR850s have. I also found treble on those to be noticeably harsher.
Do note that for the above description to apply, the SR850s have to be well burned in. 100-300 hours. My Denon D1100s, which have a V-shaped sound signature had more forward mids than my SR850 did out of the box. The SR850 are now very noticeably more forward in the mids. Treble tames and bass gains control. Burn in is pretty important for these imo.
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Just to add another phone that I have been looking at as an option has been the Denon D1100's. Any input on these options would be SWEET! Thanx much.
The D1100 are great, but a totally different sound! What genre's do you listen to the most, and are you looking for a specific sound signature? The D1100s have huge, impactful bass, which barely bleeds into the midrange for the amount of bass it has. At first it seems to roll of at the bottom quite sharply but burn in seemed to help that. Otherwise, I noticed no burn in changes. They have a good soundstage (particularly surprising depth and imaging) for a closed can, especially one with sooo much bass. They are the cans with most bass impact (impact does not always equate to quantity) I've tried yet in a full size besides maybe the XB500. But again, I think once you get used to the bass you'll find the headphone is surprisingly good. If I were a basshead, I would prefer the Denon to the Samson, but as someone who looks for decently impactful bass yet otherwise neutral signature, I prefer the samsons.
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And I might as well throw the superlux hd-668 b in the mix, because I'm also considering them, too! I wish I could throw them all in a cage fight of sound and see who emerges on top - I would go with that one.
FWIR(From what I've read), the HD668B are basically comparitively bass-light, more detailed versions of the Samsons. I get the impression soundstage is a bit bigger on those two, but that may be totally wrong.
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Or would I get the best quality of sound output for the money by just holding onto my cash and spending it on a nice amp? Maybe the uDAC-2.
Amps are important, but none of these mentioned cans really need one. I wouldn't worry about cashing out for an amp too much until you start looking in the 200+ range, and I don't vouch for spending more money on your amp than your headphones, at least not at this performance level. However, maybe a source upgrade would be good. What is your source?
