[RP2X]

I own both the AKG 550 and AT900 headphones and was surprised no ones mentioned the Audio technic 900s,   they are perhaps one of the most popular and top closed headphones going.

Very nice cans,  ok isolation,  comfy nice large wide sound stage and mids and vocals clear and bright and happy cans.

K550s much better isolation,  just as comfy and a better build/durable looking cans,  accuracy is better with the K550s also,  sound stage is impressive but not as big as the A900s.

Both very good headphones,  Id be half tempted to sell the A900s but there the jacks iffy and one pads gone so ill just keep them for now besides least I can do more comparisons. 

Im using the K550s for now simply since of the noise isolation factor... far better then the A900s its night and day difference.

Id love to go Open headphones when I borrowed a mates Senn HD595s I was blown away and I cant recall but I belive my music sounded much better with the issue that everyone in the house could hear it also....

Perhaps for those days when its quiet and no ones around Open headphones may favour !

For now I dont think you can go wrong with the K550 or the Audio Technics A900s

 

[Acix]

I also vote for the GMP 8.35, I mean I like the Sony CD-3000...but if I'll need to chose between them, I'll take the 8.35 again. In the studio will be interesting to compare the GMP 8.35 to the Sony MDR 7520 studio headphones.

 

[Marleybob217]

I've seen some interesting headphones for sure.
 
I would like to compare some of the frequency responses of these headphones. 
 
Frequency respones do say a lot about a headphone.
 
 

 

 
While the Sonys should sound good, these charts tell something else. A 15 Db dip in the 3Khz dip says don't buy me! The gmp 8.35D does look much more balanced. I don't think I would improve the sound much more by buying the sonys.
 
The K550s look really good though, a big midbass hump, which can be very pleasent, but other than that, pretty balanced i'd say!
The ath-a900 look like they are a bit confused in the high end, I think a headphone is better of with a straight dive in the treble area, since this is easier to equalize, than all these humps and bumps. If I had to guess I would say that the ath-a900 are excellent for vocals.
 
So the K550s are a solid contender for the best closed headphone, but these go for 270 euros. That's over 100 euros more than the gmp 8.35Ds which is just way too for this poor, poor student.

 

[Mortalcoil]

One rule of thumb which may apply here is "dont let the graphs be the judge", let your ears tell you what works for you.  There are some top notch hps out there that on paper shouldnt sound nearly as good but somehow they manage to pull it off.
 
The ATH-A900 is an "old school" reccomendation, they were at one time FOTM around here.  For good reason also, a nice hp indeed.

 

[Marleybob217]

Quote:

One rule of thumb which may apply here is "dont let the graphs be the judge", let your ears tell you what works for you.  There are some top notch hps out there that on paper shouldnt sound nearly as good but somehow they manage to pull it off.
 
The ATH-A900 is an "old school" reccomendation, they were at one time FOTM around here.  For good reason also, a nice hp indeed.

True, true. 
 
Just thought it would be useful to compare the headphones in a bit more technical way.
 
Off topic, I want to buy the hifiman HE-400, which has a pretty 10+ decibel dip between 2khz and 6khz, but they still sound fantastic.

 

[zazex]

Quote:

I also vote for the GMP 8.35, I mean I like the Sony CD-3000...but if I'll need to chose between them, I'll take the 8.35 again. In the studio will be interesting to compare the GMP 8.35 to the Sony MDR 7520 studio headphones.

 
From all the info I could gather about them, they're the 'same' headphones
as the MDR Z1000.
 
The same sonically, with only cosmetic differences between them -
as with the MDR V6 and MDR 7506.

 

[zazex]

Quote:

I've seen some interesting headphones for sure.
 
I would like to compare some of the frequency responses of these headphones. 
 
Frequency respones do say a lot about a headphone.
 
 

 

 
While the Sonys should sound good, these charts tell something else. A 15 Db dip in the 3Khz dip says don't buy me! The gmp 8.35D does look much more balanced. I don't think I would improve the sound much more by buying the sonys.
 
The K550s look really good though, a big midbass hump, which can be very pleasent, but other than that, pretty balanced i'd say!
The ath-a900 look like they are a bit confused in the high end, I think a headphone is better of with a straight dive in the treble area, since this is easier to equalize, than all these humps and bumps. If I had to guess I would say that the ath-a900 are excellent for vocals.
 
So the K550s are a solid contender for the best closed headphone, but these go for 270 euros. That's over 100 euros more than the gmp 8.35Ds which is just way too for this poor, poor student.

 
Marleybob217, please don't be overly influenced by the Headroom FR graphs
(about which so much as been written on these forums).
 
 
For example, the K550's, which I owned for a few months when they first came out,
are incredibly placement-sensitive.  If you read through the threads on them,
you'll see over and again comments about insufficient clamping force as well
as comments about the sound quality being affected by the slightest change in
placement on the ears.
 
Of course, neither issue is addressed by the Headroom FR graphs.

 

[namaiki]

Are there any sound differences between the gmp 8.35D and gmp[size=small] 8.300 D? Is one better than the other?[/size]

 

[machoboy]

From [size=small]www.german-maestro-shop.de[/size]: "[size=small]Particularly well suited for use in discos"[/size]
 
[size=x-small]Now I must have them.....[/size]

 

[machoboy]

Quote:

Are there any sound differences between the gmp 8.35D and gmp[size=small] 8.300 D? Is one better than the other?[/size]

For one thing, the 8.35 is 35 ohms and the 8.300 is 300 ohms

 

[john53]

I own Shure SRH 840 and I really like it.
 
I like it's slightly warm and sweet,non offensive sound signature,with good tonality for a closed pair at this price,good detail,and nice soundstage and imaging capabilities.Maybe soundstage is not very wide,but things sound right,not fake.The sound has good amound of energy while remaining smooth and attractive,and performs nicely with many different genres of music.It is also performing well at low volumes without being boring and lifeless(closed design helps here a bit too,I suppose).
 
Only problem I had with sound was a little emphasis at some frequencies (mid bass to bass),which gave it a bit "fat" and fuller sound than I prefer,but after some experiments with placement on the head and rotating the pads a bit,I finally found  a good position on my head,which gives more neutral sound and a bit better comfort too.So everything fine now with it.
 
I bought them 3 years ago,and the last 1.5 year I use them almost every day with my ipod nano 5g.I like this combination,the sound is very satisfying without using a portable amp.This is one big plus for these headphones,they are easy to drive.
 
They look big and funny on the head,so I'm not using them on the road.Built quality seems to be good,no problems until now with my pair,but I'm not very sure if they can stand rough usage.I'm careful with them,I handle them with care (I do it with all my more expensive gear anyway).
 
I chose them after trying some other closed pairs (sennheiser hd280pro,sony 7509hd,akg 27* series,german maestro 8.35,beyer dynamic dt 770,dt 660) because the shure's sounded more natural to my ears,they lacked that coloration you usually hear when listening closed phones (like the sound is "hollow" and coming from a closed box).I've also heard shure 940's but didn't like the sound signature compared to 840's,especially the treble,which I found it to be bright for my taste.
 
I also own a pair of KRK KNS 6400 which I bought recently after trying them a few times and liking them,but I don't use them very often cause I finally prefer the shures.Maybe I'll sell them in the future.They're good sounding cans,but they sound a bit "cheaper" and of lower fidelity,not so refined,compared to shures.Not a bad phone at this price though.Also,I didn't like KRK 8400,Because the fit of the pleather pads (they feel very nice by the way,and of good quality) gave the sound a bad effect,some mid to lower frequencies had a weird emphasis because of the isolating fit,and sound was unnatural.I had to reduce the pressure of the cups with my hands,to make them sound good (and they sounded good and balanced this way I have to say).Maybe this fit problem happened just to me,because I see people here describing them as neutral,bass light,and a bit bright maybe.So maybe it was a fit/positioning problem with my head,so I guess other people won't have this problem.
 
Some other pairs I'd like to audition are AKG K550,Brainwavz HM5/Fischer Audio FA 003 etc,audio technica M50's,sony mdr z1000,and new sennheiser momentum,to see how they perform compared to 840's,and if I like any of them better than the shure's.

 

[RP2X]

Quote:

The K550s look really good though, a big midbass hump, which can be very pleasent, but other than that, pretty balanced i'd say!
The ath-a900 look like they are a bit confused in the high end, I think a headphone is better of with a straight dive in the treble area, since this is easier to equalize, than all these humps and bumps. If I had to guess I would say that the ath-a900 are excellent for vocals.

 
Yes the Vocals on the ATH-900s are pretty forward and direct and done nicely
 
I found it sorta odd perhaps am hearing it wrong but I found female vocals more nicer on the ATH900s and male voices more better on my
K550s. 
 
Sound stage I would say the ATH900s were overall better though,  but again not sure if this is due to the driver being 53mm and it has an
angeled driver....

 

[RP2X]

Quote:

 
Marleybob217, please don't be overly influenced by the Headroom FR graphs
(about which so much as been written on these forums).
 
 
For example, the K550's, which I owned for a few months when they first came out,
are incredibly placement-sensitive.  If you read through the threads on them,
you'll see over and again comments about insufficient clamping force as well
as comments about the sound quality being affected by the slightest change in
placement on the ears.
 
Of course, neither issue is addressed by the Headroom FR graphs.

 
Yes ive noticed this after 2 weeks of use my right ear seems to almost rub on the inside of the K550 cup    im wondering if further break in
will be better,  and I noticed yesterday the placement and adjustment of the headphones can change the sound.
 
These are major factors in the K550s I guess I can see why so many jumped back to there ATH A900s or AX900s or DT660s.
Someone posted a mod on the K550s here:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/613707/the-akg-k550-appreciation-discussion-thread/15
 
Im gonna give my K550s more time so far I like them over my ATH900s the accuracy and isolation is great compared to my ATH900s
but I do miss the the fact I can just throw them on and enjoy them aspect and the bigger sound stage,  Perhaps I just have to
get use to a good fit though.

 

[Eargasmo]

Quote:

 
Yes ive noticed this after 2 weeks of use my right ear seems to almost rub on the inside of the K550 cup    im wondering if further break in
will be better,  and I noticed yesterday the placement and adjustment of the headphones can change the sound.
 
These are major factors in the K550s I guess I can see why so many jumped back to there ATH A900s or AX900s or DT660s.
Someone posted a mod on the K550s here:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/613707/the-akg-k550-appreciation-discussion-thread/15
 
Im gonna give my K550s more time so far I like them over my ATH900s the accuracy and isolation is great compared to my ATH900s
but I do miss the the fact I can just throw them on and enjoy them aspect and the bigger sound stage,  Perhaps I just have to
get use to a good fit though.

Someone who makes a better earpad for the K550s is gonna make a lot of money.  A stiffer velour pad like those found in the Beyer DT990 Pros would be AMAZING.  Pleather has no place in headphones.  Atleast give me real leather, that way it'll breath.

 

[CollectoR13]

I really like my modded Fostex T50RP, they sound exactly like my dream closed headphone.

It is crazy what you can get out of some 100$ studio monitors, 10$ crafting materials and 2h of tuning it to your liking.
You can tune them to your ears and create a reference closed headphone for under 120$?
Simply amazing!
 
BTW: I need to listen to the AKG 550's, they seem to have kind of a clearer Denon-sound which I find quite interesting.