RunsWithScissors,
Well I'm glad my review was of some help to you even if it wasn't what you ended up with. Like yourself when I wrote it I was completely new here. I had done some research and got to audition them. I'm really starting to get a better feel for them now though and can fully understand why some people aren't overly fond of them.
I haven't filled out much in my profile because, well, I'm lazy and I've been waiting to complete my purchases. I went back and forth on what I was going to get for quite awhile. (just ask Highwaystar, he's been helping me along). Now that you point it out I will get to that soon.
You can get a D-25S from Silicon Salvage for $45.00 plus shipping. It's a bare bones player only. No adapter, no battery, no nuthin' just the player. They usually have them on ebay so do a search there and when you find one I would recommend contacting them directly to order.
As for my thoughts on the D-25S. Well I don't want to go into too much detail because I'm still just getting first impressions and it's still needs to be burned in. I got about an hour with it and the 580's last night and compared it to my wifes Sony D-EJ621. Remember though, these are both unamped and rather unfair for the 621 which doesn't have near the gain to drive the 580's. Again, these are only first impressions and my opinions only so read into them what you will.
I found the D-25S to have more high end extension which has a tendency to err slightly towards brightness. Cymbals and highhats do have a certain "rightness" to their sound though. There is less bass than the 621, this is not to say the bass is light, it's just not as full sounding as the 621. The lower registers of piano and drums don't have the weight and fullness of the 621. Soundstaging is quite nice, more spacious and better precision than the 621. In my opinion the D-25S is an analytical player. In comparison the 621 sounds much thicker and less detailed than the D-25S but to tell you the truth the D-25S may be the better player but I tended to relax and enjoy more with 621. The D-25S kind of kept me on the edge of my seat. Don't get me wrong though, I really like the D-25S it's an incredible value and I'm hoping for a magical combination when this is paired with a decent amp.
As a side note I would just like to say that the D-25S unamped and the HD280's, with they're somewhat analytical presentation, may not be a great combo. It works but the slight brightness of the D-25S is only accentuated by the 280's and may be too much on some recordings for some people.
I will get to a review and comparison of the 580's and 280's, I just really want to do it under the right conditions and have both phones on equal footing.
I understand your sticker shock. I've been there as well. I started out with the intention of buying a decent pair of closed headphones for work and a couple of months later I've got two pair phones, a new/old pcdp and in the process of getting an amp built, with all kinds of upgrade plans. I look at it this way though. If I were to try to get the same out of my home system it would be costing more like thousands instead of hundreds so it really is a great value for what you get.
Well I've done it again, rambled on and on. Oh well I hope it was what you were looking for.
Phil
