Sennheiser HD201 vs Koss KSC75

[incubusfan1209]

Which one is all around better for a long car trip, source being straight from an iPod?

 

[Borat]

I think the HD201 would be better for your situation. It is a closed headphone so it will be able to block external noise somewhat and it won't leak to bother other passengers in the car.

The KSC75's are excellent, too. But I would not recommend them for a road trip in a car because they are open. But you can be comfortable with either choice as they are probably the best headphones in the 15-20 US dollar range. You have done your research.

 

[TenaciousO]

KSC75.

Granted, my impressions of the HD201 were based on only the 20 minutes I had them before I put them up for sale on this site, but even in that short time, I realized that the HD201 is a bit power hungry and needs some juice so that it doesn't sound mediocre. Add some juice, and it sounds much better, but even then, I think I would prefer the KSC75.

Edit: In response to the above post, isolation is not a strong point of the HD201, and it also does leak a fair bit at a reasonable listening volume so I feel that the differences in isolation and leakage between the two headphones are pretty negligible.

 

[GreenEggs313]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TenaciousO KSC75. Granted, my impressions of the HD201 were based on only the 20 minutes I had them before I put them up for sale on this site, but even in that short time, I realized that the HD201 is a bit power hungry and needs some juice so that it doesn't sound mediocre. Add some juice, and it sounds much better, but even then, I think I would prefer the KSC75. Edit: In response to the above post, isolation is not a strong point of the HD201, and it also does leak a fair bit at a reasonable listening volume so I feel that the differences in isolation and leakage between the two headphones are pretty negligible.

yep.

plus the ksc-75 has more bass, which will be welcomed from the ipod.


i have both and the ksc-75 just sounds better from an ipod.

 

[incubusfan1209]

To add further, I am going to use a Monster car adapter for my iPod. Also, the sound leakage will not be a factor, for the fellow passangers will undoubteldy not have a problem with it.

 

[incubusfan1209]

Regarding the car adapter, I am not sure if that will be a factor.

 

[GreenEggs313]

Quote:

Originally Posted by incubusfan1209 Regarding the car adapter, I am not sure if that will be a factor.

no, no it will not

 

[ls1powah]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TenaciousO Granted, my impressions of the HD201 were based on only the 20 minutes I had them before I put them up for sale on this site, but even in that short time, I realized that the HD201 is a bit power hungry and needs some juice so that it doesn't sound mediocre. Add some juice, and it sounds much better, but even then, I think I would prefer the KSC75.

Does this mean it benefits from an amp? I heard an amp does nothing for them..

 

[TenaciousO]

My sources were a IBM laptop and Sony mini-hifi stereo. Out of the laptop, the HD201 did not sound that great at all with strange resonance and poor separation. I know that most laptops don't produce great sound, but my laptop actually sounds better than a Rio Karma that I used to have. When I plugged the headphones into the stereo, the sound was noticeably fuller with much better separation. The stereo has much more power than the laptop so I believe that the HD201 would benefit from an amp, although I'm not sure at what level amp the benefits would become noticeable.

 

[kramer5150]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ls1powah Does this mean it benefits from an amp? I heard an amp does nothing for them..

Im not sure who started that "Low impedence cans dont benefeit from amp" rumor... but that guy should be banned from head-fi. All my low imp cans sound noticeably better amped. Even with an entry level PA2 or govibe. Even my MDRV6 bass seems to extend just a little lower amped. E2c is a whole different animal amped.

IMHO you havent really heard a headphone till you amp it with at least a cmoy or govibe.. especially current hungry low impedence cans.

IMHO of course...
Garrett

 

[EdipisReks]

basically, here is how it works. low impedance cans are easy to get loud, but hard to get good sound out of. it's fairly easy to get nice sound out of high impedance cans, but harder to get lound volumes. the low impedance cans require good current output from an amp, for good sound quality, which is harder to acheive than the voltage swing that high impedance cans require. this makes low impedance cans harder to drive properly, on average.

 

[Max Minimum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by EdipisReks basically, here is how it works. low impedance cans are easy to get loud, but hard to get good sound out of. it's fairly easy to get nice sound out of high impedance cans, but harder to get lound volumes. the low impedance cans require good current output from an amp, for good sound quality, which is harder to acheive than the voltage swing that high impedance cans require. this makes low impedance cans harder to drive properly, on average.

So by that theory I should be able to plug a pair of HD650's into my receiver and it'll sound good but I'll need to turn it up higher than I do with my HD595's?

 

[EdipisReks]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Max Minimum So by that theory I should be able to plug a pair of HD650's into my receiver and it'll sound good but I'll need to turn it up higher than I do with my HD595's?

yup, pretty much.

 

[adhoc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by EdipisReks basically, here is how it works. low impedance cans are easy to get loud, but hard to get good sound out of. it's fairly easy to get nice sound out of high impedance cans, but harder to get lound volumes. the low impedance cans require good current output from an amp, for good sound quality, which is harder to acheive than the voltage swing that high impedance cans require. this makes low impedance cans harder to drive properly, on average.

one of the best 'explanation'-type posts i've seen here in a long time!

anyway, OT, but does anyone know what exactly determines a headphone's impedance?

 

[sgrossklass]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Max Minimum So by that theory I should be able to plug a pair of HD650's into my receiver and it'll sound good but I'll need to turn it up higher than I do with my HD595's?

If your amp has an output impedance of 100-odd ohms (like mine) or lower, this is what's to be expected. If, however, it features a higher one (like 300-odd ohms or yet more, as encountered when using the power amps to drive headphones), the 650 would be louder. On my amp, the HD590 (120 ohms) is the loudest along with the KSC50 (60 ohm, but more sensitive -> 101 vs. 97 dB SPL/1 mW), while I have to turn up the volume a good bit higher in case of the DT231 (32 ohms, 95dB/mW) and yet a bit more when attaching the HD424 (2kOhm). Given a bunch of cans with the same sensitivity per mW but varying impedance and an output with a fixed impedance, you'd get the highest volume when headphone (load) impedance = output impedance.
Thus low-impedance cans like the HD201 (and 50 ohm HD555/595) will prefer amps with a low output impedance, and for a given volume they'll require decent output current. High-impedance cans don't need a whole lot of current (nor the fattest output coupling caps -> Z_C = 1/(jwC)) but a reasonably high voltage. (The HD424 is an extreme example, even the line out of an AWE64 with its TL072s - very weak in terms of output current - could drive it without clipping, even if only to normal listening levels.)

Stephan