The older HeadRoom Cosmic vs the newer HeadRoom Cosmic Reference and the Sennheiser HD 600's vs
the Beyerdynamic DT 880's.
This amature "mini" review was performed with the following equipment:
SOURCE:
1) Sony DVP-NS755V SACD/DVD player, using the 2 analog two channel outputs only.
2) Bright Star Audio IsoNode large feet (4) under SACD/DVD player.
INTERCONNECTS:
1) Magwire Nakeds, two identical 1 meter pairs.
2) StraightWire twin RCA to 1/8" phono.
AMPS:
1) Older HeadRoom Cosmic with LZR Electronics, Inc. 5 volt/800mA regulated wall-wort. (O-amp)
2) Newer HeadRoom Cosmic Reference with Rat-Shack 6 volt/1800mA regulated wall-wort. (R-amp)
3) Newer HeadRoom Total AirHead with fresh 3AAA batteries. (T-amp)
HEADPHONES:
1) Sennheiser HD 600 with stock cable.
2) Beyerdynamic DT 880.
SOME OF THE MUSIC FOR THE REVIEW:
1) Diana Krall - Love Scenes (DVD-Audio with DTS)
2) Peter Gabriel - UP (SACD Hybrid)
3) Pink Floyd - The Dark Side Of The Moon (SACD Hybrid)
4) Gustav Holts - The Planets (SACD Hybrid)
5) U2 - The Joshua Tree (24kt Gold Original Master Recording)
6) Fleetwood Mac - Say You Will (DVD-Audio)
7) Ton Koopman - Organ Spectacular (DVD-Audio)
8) Madonna - American Life (Redbook CD)
9) Diana Krall - The Look Of Love (SACD Hybrid)
10) Zubin Mehta - Mahler Symphony No. 2 (DVD-Audio)
For starters, I will be the first to admit that I am kind of new to headphone listening. I am,
however, an audiophile. When I was younger, I used to listen to cans alot due to living with
my parents, and them not wanting to listen to my stereo. But now, I have a big home theater
system based off of my two channel system, and my parents live up north now.
Anyway, one of my friends has gotten me back into headphone listening, but now at the
audiophile level. I just joined the Head-Fi forum 2 weeks ago. Two weeks before that, I
bought a pair of Sennheiser HD 525's and a DSP 360 amp from him. Since then, I have sold
both of those to another friend, bought a pair of HD 580's two weeks ago on AudioGon, found
and bought a pair of HD 600's two days later here in the forums, sold the 580's last week to
someone else here, and last weekend, bought the HeadRoom Cosmic, also here in the forums. Can
you see what's happening here?! lol
Now, on to the review.....
(NOTE: Crossfeed processing was not used durring set-up and fist listening session.)
To start things off, I hooked up both amps to my source with MagWire Nakeds interconnects of
1 meter lengths. I then plugged in the Beyer cans just to match the levels of the two amps as
close as possible. While doing this, I noticed with the R-amp, that when I flipped the
"gain" switch from low to mid to high, not only did it get louder, which is obvious, but
the sound got a little brighter and forward, and the bass got a little more pronounced and
firm. The results were the same with the Senns. Because of this shift in the sound and to get the
volume control positions on both amps close to the same for the same output level, I had to
turn the "gian" switch to medium on the R-amp. To compensate for the brightness of the R-amp, I
flipped on the "brightness filter" on the O-amp and left the filter off on the R-amp.
After doing this initial set-up, with either the Beyers or Senns connected, both amps sounded
virtually the same with all types of CDs, SACDs, and DVD-Audio CDs. At times, I would have to
check to see which amp I was listening to. Just for $hits and giggles, I tried switching the
wall-worts between both amps to see if that would change anything, considering the 1 volt and
1000mA increase of the Rat-Shack wall-wort. Durring some carefull listening, I could not tell a
difference between the two. All in all, with the exception that the R-amp has a firmer grip on
the actual headphone plug due to the better, newer style jack, and a red power L.E.D., I see no
reason why I would want to upgrade to the newer amp.
In fact, after further listening, I actually lean more towards the O-amp because eventhough both
amps sound very similar, the O-amp just seems to have a slightly warmer, smoother sound without
softening up the bass, or muddying up the midrange, or making the treble too muted. I'm not saying
that the R-amp is too clinical, it's just different. Kind of like having two identical tube amps
with the tubes in one of them biased a little bit differently.
All I can say is that eventhough my amp has a few blemishes on it, and it doesn't have as many
settings as the new ones, there is absolutely no way I could have gone wrong buying this amp for
200 bucks when the new ones go for $730, and the Reference for $880. For me, that's equal quality
for a 1/3 to a 1/4 of the price, and more cash to put towards an upgraded power supply and
headphone cable.
Now for the Beyerdynamic DT 880 and Sennheiser HD 600 shoot-out!....
I have been listening to both of these cans extensively today, and even quite a bit last night.
Most of the time, I used my O-amp, but for good measure, I also used my friend's R-amp just to
get a full feel for every possible chance to compare both headphones as equally as possible.
First up, the Beyers:
These are really good sounding cans. They have great bass output that tickles your ears when the
music calls for it. You can hear each and every note loud and clear, though most times it tends to
be a little too much. Dare I say they can be a little sluggish at times, bringing down the tempo
of the music.
The treble could be a little better too. Not that it is shrilly or anything, but it can become
too artificial with certain types of music, like having an equalizer boosted on the top end. To
resolve this problem, I usually listened to them with the "brightness filter" on the Cosmic amps
turned off.
The biggest problem I had with the DT 880's was in the midrange. To me, it is too thin and distant
sounding. With some bass-heavy vocals, this was a bonus because they would help "lighten up" the
load some, making the recording more pleasurable to listen to. Most of the time, vocals were
buried under the music. This really didn't agree with me at all.
I felt that the imaging was pretty good, but the soundstage, even with the Cosmic's processing
engaged, still sounded a little closed in. It was like it was being held back by something, not
being able to streach it's legs, so to speak. Maybe this has something to do with the weaker
midrange of these cans.
(An advised tweak) When being powered by my friend's Cary Audio SLi80 integrated amp, these cans
sound great. The bass gets a little lighter, the treble gets a little smoother, and because of
the KT88 tubes, the midrange fills in very nicely. If matched up to the Senns being powered by
the Cosmic and the Beyers on the SLi80, they are a very close match. Even the soundstaging is
is increased by tube power. However, let's not forget about the Cardas upgrade for the Senns. I'll
get to that a little later below.
Lastly, the Senns:
These are all around great sounding headphones. I know they have been reviewed a million times,
and everyone has mixed feelings about them, but for me, they are just right on every time.
The bass these cans reproduce is very clean, detailed, natural and accurate. They do not have
that weighted, slow feeling of the Beyers. Nor does it ever try to overtake the rest of the
music. People say that the 600's lack bass. I don't think they do. In fact, they seem to be very
true and faithful to the music. If the music calls for heavy, deep slamming bass, they deliver. If
the music calls for quick, tight and responsive bass, they deliver. The bass from these 600's
often remind me of the bass my twin, dual 15" dipole subs reproduce in my main system. The Beyers
have bass more like my old 15" sealed subwoofer that sat in the corner of the room. It wasn't
boomy, just a little too much at times with some slight overhang.
Yes, the treble is laid back, but I'm not sure if that's an accurate term for the sound. I don't
know about you, but when I used to play in an orchestra, or attended a concert, I never noticed
the violin section having an overabundance of sibilance to it. It just appeared there in the air
and had space and openness to it. That is exactly how the 600's portrey their treble. It's not
"laid back", it's natural. And since it seems that more and more recordings these days exaggerate
the extreme ends of the frequency range on music to make it more exciting, people think it sounds
good and that the 600's don't have enough treble output, or "laid back".
A perfect example of this is Madonna's latest album, "American Life". In all reality, the quality
of this recording stinks. There is just way too much treble content, and I do mean WAY TOO MUCH!
The bass is quick and tight, though it almost sounds like the recording level was too high and
distorted throughout the disc. And the midrange is almost completely buried under everything else.
Now if you have access to both the DT 880's and HD 600's, and this album, I strongly urge you to
try listening to both pairs and see which ones you prefer. I bet you will choose the Senns over
the Beyers. For me, I couldn't even survive through the first song without cranking the volume
almost all the way down with the DT 880's. After I adjusted to volume, I tried finding anything
good that the headphones could pull out of the music. Except for the lack of body in the midrange,
they did a pretty good job. However, the Senns did an even better job, plus they were able to pull
the vocals up front out of the mud and add some body to the midrange of the music.
And remember that Cardas upgrade for the 600's? Well, that pretty much puts the Senns over the
top again, past the Beyers in almost all aspects.
Summing things up.....
My older HeadRoom Cosmic sounds great and is not all that different from the new
Cosmic or Cosmic Reference for that matter. Other than a couple more options on the "brightness
filter" and the ability to adjust the gain for different cans on the newer Cosmics, I won't worry
about upgrading anytime soon, and I'm happy that I got this one for such a steal. At least now I
know I am not missing out very much from not having the newer Cosmics.
As for the Beyerdynamic DT 880's and Sennheiser HD 600's, everything the Beyers do, the Senns do
better and more accurately. I could easily live with the DT 880's, and they could help out on
some of my older, not so good quality CDs, but they could never replace my HD 600's.
