[Meloncoly]

I have ran my friend's Bose OE from my iPod before, and I can chime in. This is all from MEMORY. THIS MIGHT BE INACCURATE. This is also my opinion. Now that that's out of the way...

I'm not great with describing audio but here it goes.

Comfort: Bose wins. Circumaurals are usually more comfortable for me than supraaural, but that's not saying that the HD25s aren't comfortable. I have a small head, and ears, so I don't have the clamping issue many spoke of, and I know what clamping is, I used to own the Senn HD280, which I thought was comfortable. The Bose is also light, not saying that the HD25-1s aren't, but the Bose is lighter, so it has a feeling of not being on your head.

Lows:
The Bose has tons of mid-bass. Tons. It caters to the audience that feels that more mid-bass booming is higher sound quality. I hate this bass because it distracts me from music the most. When I think of mid-bass, I think of huge subs from some person's car that I can hear from far away. It distracts me from the music, and it definitely takes a hit on detail. The bass is also very one noted. What I mean by that is, it just sounds like boom boom boom, with little to no variation at all in terms of different musical notes. The midbass is too much for me.

The HD25-1s (I was using the steel cable that came with it at the time), has mid bass too, but it is toned down, which is good, because it won't block out as much detail as the Bose OE. But the good thing I love about the HD25-1s is the low bass, the vibrating type. I'm a basshead, but not one that loves boomy bass, but one that loves vibrating bass. The bass detail is really good, and pretty accurate, and it just went lower and lower and lower, without sacrificing too much of the highs. I have this audio clip where it's a trance beat, comprised mostly of low bass changing "tones". With the Bose I really had to put effort into deciphering the different tones, but with the HD25s, I can just sit and enjoy the vibration. Yum. The bass on the HD25-1s are more satisfying to listen to than my DT770, which I also adore.

Mids: I don't really understand how to describe mids. I read many descriptions online, but I can never actually hear it myself, but I will describe it as I understand it. When I hear about mids, I usually think to myself human voices, like when people sing. So when I listen for mids, I listen to how believable the artist sounds from my headphones. That's what I will go by.

Bose: If the Bose is good at anything, it would be the mids. But the thing is, I wouldn't be so fast to say that either. Oh, Bose has forwardish mids, it's more in your face than Sennheiser, but not in your face like the Alessandro MS1/MS2i. I have this nice song that I always use to test mids, it's called True Love by Mikuni Shimokawa. The reason I use this track is that I love it. A valid reason would be that it's just acoustic guitars and her singing. It doesn't get more cooler than that, for me at least coming from a synth scene. The way she sings this song, there isn't too many high notes that she sings, usually in the middle, semi-deep. Sorry for the bad explanation. With the Bose, I think that she sounds really nice. It has a human like attribute to her, nothing wrong that I can hear. Now comes to when she does sing a higher note. Fail. Her high voice looses the human lushyness that enveloped me, and has turned into raspy-like also synthesized like voice. I'm guessing that's what they called honky? I think that was the term. So I didn't like that.

I found someone who posted the song I use online.
Mikuni Shimokawa TRUE LOVE -Toori Gakari Hiki Katari Version- - Song - MP3 Stream on IMEEM Music

I didn't post this up. I am just directing you to this source. Please don't blame me.

HD25s: Sennheisers are known for their warm, lushy mids, and I can hear it. She has this "ehem" in the beginning to clear her throat, and the first time I heard that, I thought it was my sister. Now I don't know if that describes mids or not, but that's my experience. Her voice sounds really nice, and the HD25s make me believe that I'm sitting a little bit away from her. The upper registers still retain the warmness of her voice, and not at all did I hear anything sound electronic. I still get goosebumps listening to this song on the HD25, but I never got that feeling with the Bose.

Highs: On highs, I usually play that Ultrasone CD track with the bells and the other one wiht the tuning forks.

I don't remember too much of the highs, so take this with a grain of salt.

Bose:
I remember this cracked A LOT. Tons of distortion, and everything sounded fake. I didn't like it. There was also some track that had trumpets, and whatnot. That sounded fake as well. The bell track had the bell noises all convoluted and whatnot. It was just one big blob...not satisfying.

Senn:
Although the highs are the best on the HD25s, and they sound a little bit veiled, never did I once get the feeling that it sounded fake. The tuning forks came in with super clarity, and the speed was good enough when the bells came that it never blended together to create a big blob. That's all I can remember.

Sorry this review sucks, hope it helps a little.

 

[beg2differ]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meloncoly /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have ran my friend's Bose OE from my iPod before, and I can chime in. This is all from MEMORY. THIS MIGHT BE INACCURATE. This is also my opinion. Now that that's out of the way... I'm not great with describing audio but here it goes. Comfort: Bose wins. Circumaurals are usually more comfortable for me than supraaural, but that's not saying that the HD25s aren't comfortable. I have a small head, and ears, so I don't have the clamping issue many spoke of, and I know what clamping is, I used to own the Senn HD280, which I thought was comfortable. The Bose is also light, not saying that the HD25-1s aren't, but the Bose is lighter, so it has a feeling of not being on your head. Lows: The Bose has tons of mid-bass. Tons. It caters to the audience that feels that more mid-bass booming is higher sound quality. I hate this bass because it distracts me from music the most. When I think of mid-bass, I think of huge subs from some person's car that I can hear from far away. It distracts me from the music, and it definitely takes a hit on detail. The bass is also very one noted. What I mean by that is, it just sounds like boom boom boom, with little to no variation at all in terms of different musical notes. The midbass is too much for me. The HD25-1s (I was using the steel cable that came with it at the time), has mid bass too, but it is toned down, which is good, because it won't block out as much detail as the Bose OE. But the good thing I love about the HD25-1s is the low bass, the vibrating type. I'm a basshead, but not one that loves boomy bass, but one that loves vibrating bass. The bass detail is really good, and pretty accurate, and it just went lower and lower and lower, without sacrificing too much of the highs. I have this audio clip where it's a trance beat, comprised mostly of low bass changing "tones". With the Bose I really had to put effort into deciphering the different tones, but with the HD25s, I can just sit and enjoy the vibration. Yum. The bass on the HD25-1s are more satisfying to listen to than my DT770, which I also adore. Mids: I don't really understand how to describe mids. I read many descriptions online, but I can never actually hear it myself, but I will describe it as I understand it. When I hear about mids, I usually think to myself human voices, like when people sing. So when I listen for mids, I listen to how believable the artist sounds from my headphones. That's what I will go by. Bose: If the Bose is good at anything, it would be the mids. But the thing is, I wouldn't be so fast to say that either. Oh, Bose has forwardish mids, it's more in your face than Sennheiser, but not in your face like the Alessandro MS1/MS2i. I have this nice song that I always use to test mids, it's called True Love by Mikuni Shimokawa. The reason I use this track is that I love it. A valid reason would be that it's just acoustic guitars and her singing. It doesn't get more cooler than that, for me at least coming from a synth scene. The way she sings this song, there isn't too many high notes that she sings, usually in the middle, semi-deep. Sorry for the bad explanation. With the Bose, I think that she sounds really nice. It has a human like attribute to her, nothing wrong that I can hear. Now comes to when she does sing a higher note. Fail. Her high voice looses the human lushyness that enveloped me, and has turned into raspy-like also synthesized like voice. I'm guessing that's what they called honky? I think that was the term. So I didn't like that. I found someone who posted the song I use online. Mikuni Shimokawa TRUE LOVE -Toori Gakari Hiki Katari Version- - Song - MP3 Stream on IMEEM Music I didn't post this up. I am just directing you to this source. Please don't blame me. HD25s: Sennheisers are known for their warm, lushy mids, and I can hear it. She has this "ehem" in the beginning to clear her throat, and the first time I heard that, I thought it was my sister. Now I don't know if that describes mids or not, but that's my experience. Her voice sounds really nice, and the HD25s make me believe that I'm sitting a little bit away from her. The upper registers still retain the warmness of her voice, and not at all did I hear anything sound electronic. I still get goosebumps listening to this song on the HD25, but I never got that feeling with the Bose. Highs: On highs, I usually play that Ultrasone CD track with the bells and the other one wiht the tuning forks. I don't remember too much of the highs, so take this with a grain of salt. Bose: I remember this cracked A LOT. Tons of distortion, and everything sounded fake. I didn't like it. There was also some track that had trumpets, and whatnot. That sounded fake as well. The bell track had the bell noises all convoluted and whatnot. It was just one big blob...not satisfying. Senn: Although the highs are the best on the HD25s, and they sound a little bit veiled, never did I once get the feeling that it sounded fake. The tuning forks came in with super clarity, and the speed was good enough when the bells came that it never blended together to create a big blob. That's all I can remember. Sorry this review sucks, hope it helps a little.

I really can't say how much I really appreciate everyone's reply to my thread.

And Meloncoly, thank YOU in particular. You were just the type of audiophile that I was trying to reach out to. I really appreciate the extensive review you gave of both and glad that there was someone in this forum who has been able to try both the cans that I've been debating on getting.

I've been reading a lot of mixed review of both these cans, but considering what you've been telling me, I think I have finally decided which one to get.

To be honest with you, I completely understand how the bass on the Bose "caters to the audience that feels that more mid-bass booming is higher sound quality."

But I also believe having a distinguishable and "vibrating" bass as you put it is more important.

The overall appeal of the sennheiser's ability to do this as well as keep a very good high sounds awesome to me. Plus, if i'm not mistaken, replacing the steel cables of the HD25's would greatly improve the mids, will it not?

Thank you once again. I really don't know how I would have decided was it not for such a community here at Head-Fi. I'll be ordering me a pair of senns right now!

And also considering that this will be my first "REAL" headphone purchase, I believe I will officially be joining the audiophile community. (An official goodbye to my wallet. lol)

 

[DemonicLemming]

Quote:

Originally Posted by beg2differ /img/forum/go_quote.gif ...I will officially be joining the audiophile community. (An official goodbye to my wallet. lol)

Oh yes, and quicker than you can imagine, too...

 

[moonboy403]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DemonicLemming /img/forum/go_quote.gif Oh yes, and quicker than you can imagine, too...

Very true! Since you're getting a closed can, why not consider the HIGHLY popular and raved Denon D2000 for about the same price while you're at it!

Get the most out of your money!

 

[Oya?]

Quote:

Originally Posted by beg2differ /img/forum/go_quote.gif Which bass would you be referring to? The Bose OE or the HD25?

The HD25-1.

Just took a good half hour to an hour to adapt to it, since I was used to my MS-1 which have almost no bass to speak of.

And I see Meloncoly has given you some excellent SQ impressions and that you've made up your mind. You won't be disappointed!

Regarding the comfort, a last resort would be to stretch the phones with a hairdryer. You should be able to get comfortable by playing with the fit: with the headbands closed or almost closed together (like on the pic on the Sennheiser website), the clamp is quite light. With the headbands spread apart the clamp is stronger. I prefer the latter because I need the isolation and I don't want the phones to slide around when I'm moving.

 

[Meloncoly]

Hey Beg2differ, if you can hold out spending money, you should. There are many choices out there, and it's best to research them all. I'm not saying the HD25-1 isn't good, otherwise I wouldn't have bought them, but there are other phones out there that might be interesting to try. You can give the M-Audio Q40(?) a try or the Ultrasone HFI-780. Or the Beyerdynamic DT770/80, Equation Audio Rp21s, and many more. There are so much to choose from, hone your decision down more. Find out exactly what you like in music, and drill at it. It took me a lot of headphone buying before I finally settled down to the dark bassy signature that I liked. I jumped from Sonys, ATs, Grados, Alessandros, Beyers, Etymotics, Shures, Westones, and just a whole bunch before I found out. I wish I would have sat down and really concentrated on what I really wanted, and I would have saved so much money, but at least the journey was fun :3

Edit: If you're lucky, and Provantage has it in stock, aim for a Denon D2000. The bass on that thing is good. It would be my next purchase, but I'm aiming for a Audio Technica ATH-ESW9, which I personally like better :3

 

[Nocturnal310]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aaron313 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I wouldn't say we are biased against Bose, just that we are being honest. We often bash the products of manufacturers we like, if it is warranted. Yes, some might not have heard or owned Bose products, and jump on the bashing bandwagon, but that is against the spirit of this site. If Bose is your sound, I can't degrade you in any way, as that is your preference. Just use your gut instinct.

The Honesty still doesnt help the average consumer. Most of the consumer-level buyers feel Bose is the ultimate sound equipment manufacturer.

 

[beg2differ]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meloncoly /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hey Beg2differ, if you can hold out spending money, you should. There are many choices out there, and it's best to research them all. I'm not saying the HD25-1 isn't good, otherwise I wouldn't have bought them, but there are other phones out there that might be interesting to try. You can give the M-Audio Q40(?) a try or the Ultrasone HFI-780. Or the Beyerdynamic DT770/80, Equation Audio Rp21s, and many more. There are so much to choose from, hone your decision down more. Find out exactly what you like in music, and drill at it. It took me a lot of headphone buying before I finally settled down to the dark bassy signature that I liked. I jumped from Sonys, ATs, Grados, Alessandros, Beyers, Etymotics, Shures, Westones, and just a whole bunch before I found out. I wish I would have sat down and really concentrated on what I really wanted, and I would have saved so much money, but at least the journey was fun :3 Edit: If you're lucky, and Provantage has it in stock, aim for a Denon D2000. The bass on that thing is good. It would be my next purchase, but I'm aiming for a Audio Technica ATH-ESW9, which I personally like better :3

Thanks for the advice.
However, I did check out the Ultrasone HFI-780's but they're a lil bit too big for practical/portable use. They're twice as heavy as either the HD25's or the Bose OE's. I've also heard the beyerdynamic DT770 would be a good choice, but I've found them to be a little bit too big for portable use as well. :/

Thanks for your concern and I can only hope that I will be fully satisfied with the HD25's when i get them. lol

 

[Meloncoly]

Yeah. Another choice that most people swing for when going portably, would be the RP21s from Equation Audio, but I think they look too funky, and the Audio Technica ATH-ES7, which I would turn schizophrenic about keeping it scratch free. The HD25 is great as a portable, and that's what I use when I go portably, moreso than my Sleek SA6. It's durable, it's rugged, it's light, it isolates really well, even with teh velour pads, and it just works for a portable application. Hope you like the sound signature too, cause you're buying a great phone. Another option being, in the future, get a HD650 cable from Sennheiser and ask somoene on the forum to reterminate it for you to a mini plug. The cable makes the bass much more sharp and accurate, and clears up a lot of the "muddiness" people say the phone has. It just made it a cleaner experience for me, and I personally think it's a good upgrade down the road. You could purchase the higher end cables, but I don't feel that investing on a cable that's worth as much as your headphones in a portable application, where there is introduction of outside noise, and only having a headphone out on a source, would merit that purchase. Please do chime in when you get your headphone and compare them to something you have heard as I did. Might help prospective buyers ^_^

 

[Akabeth]

Nice post, Meloncoly

I've heard them both through an iPod on different occasions. If I had to pick one it would be the HD-25's. I think someone started a similar thread about the HD-25 as their options not a day ago

 

[supadupa]

Like what was previously mentioned, the HD25's has lots of bass to go around. Unless you are a basshead you wouldn't complain about the amount of bass. Also, they sound a bit dark.
These are a very good choice if you do not want to mess with IEMs as they are very portable (bullet proof) and sound very good.

 

[captian73]

After testing my 11 year old HD25-1's against the My Bose OE's i concluded that as a purely portable option, the Bose was lighter and more comfortable.

The bass on the HD25-1's is enough to satisfy your average basshead. I've seen a few Denon 2000 suggestions, but i can only comment about the Denon 1000's. although better in the bass department than the Grado/Alsessadro's, they still fell quite short of the mark, for deep bass.

I can't help but think the 2000's would be a bit bass shy compared to the HD25-1's...but that's just an opinion.

I've heard many people say that the Bose sound is congested, I found in some instances that the Bose picked out details a bit better than the HD 25-1's. even with that said if i had to pick one pair of headphones, for every occasion, it would have to be the HD25-1's.

 

[moonboy403]

Quote:

Originally Posted by captian73 /img/forum/go_quote.gif After testing my 11 year old HD25-1's against the My Bose OE's i concluded that as a purely portable option, the Bose was lighter and more comfortable. The bass on the HD25-1's is enough to satisfy your average basshead. I've seen a few Denon 2000 suggestions, but i can only comment about the Denon 1000's. although better in the bass department than the Grado/Alsessadro's, they still fell quite short of the mark, for deep bass. I can't help but think the 2000's would be a bit bass shy compared to the HD25-1's...but that's just an opinion. I've heard many people say that the Bose sound is congested, I found in some instances that the Bose picked out details a bit better than the HD 25-1's. even with that said if i had to pick one pair of headphones, for every occasion, it would have to be the HD25-1's.

D2000 is VERY bass heavy.

 

[3X0]

ATH-ES7 might give you what you're looking for, though out of the two you mentioned given your context I'd choose the HD25-1 because it's more portably hardy and I have a complete disregard for ear comfort. The ATH-ES7 has a middling comfort between the HD25-1 and Bose OE's (closer to the HD25-1, though). It's brighter than the HD25-1 (which, indeed, can sound outright dark) and I am confident that the bass level (more than the HD25-1 easily, while still maintaining control).

The ES7s are far more durable than they look if you affix 2.5" BestSkinsEver/Invisible Shield discs onto the surface.

 

[mr.khali]

I was trying to decide between HD-25 and ES7's myself. I have just bought the HD-25's so I will be able to give my opinion shortly. Hope I made the right choice.