Marximus
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The PANASONIC RP-HTF600-S headphones. More fun than the HD650?
Mozu
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Eeeeexcellent.
RPGWiZaRD
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I finally decided to review the purchase on amazon.co.uk too http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002R5ABPU/ref=cm_cr_thx_view
It's been out of stock on amazon.co.uk where it's cheapest for a few days now.
It's been out of stock on amazon.co.uk where it's cheapest for a few days now.
Dsnuts
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Quote:
I finally decided to review the purchase on amazon.co.uk too http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002R5ABPU/ref=cm_cr_thx_view
It's been out of stock on amazon.co.uk where it's cheapest for a few days now.
Nice review..
palmfish
Headphoneus Supremus
MalVeaux - thanks for the review and pics of the mod. Very informative and articulate.
Gelocks - I'm an Emotiva fan too. I was on the list last year for their UMC-1 when I was updating my home theater. It was still buggy back then so I went with a Pioneer Elite AVR instead. Their subs are a crazy good value.
Marx - I got my HTF-600's today and I must admit my first impression is very different than yours. Right out of the box, they sound bloated and muddy, with very little true deep bass compensated by exaggerated mid bass that has poor definition and bleeds into the mids. They do resemble the HD 650 in that they are rather dark, with recessed treble. To their credit, the mids are nice and forward, but not too forward, and the overall sound, while smeared and lacking detail, is non-fatiguing - rare in a cheap headphone. There is no sense of air around instruments, and the soundstage sounds very crammed together to me. I think the HTF600 has a nice appearance, but they do feel somewhat fragile, with some key stress points (size adjust slider and pivot points) made of lightweight, thin plastic that could break. The ear cushions look decent for pleather, but are actually a little plasticky feeling - not really soft or compliant enough. Velour would be a definite inexpensive and effective upgrade.
Bottom line for me - they do seem to play above their class. Build quality and sound out of the box I feel like they are a steal for $30 though I don't agree they beat $150 headphones. At lower volumes with jazz and rock, they have a laid back, easy going sound that's non-fatiguing and easy to listen to. Louder and punchier music just turns flabby and smeared to my ears. Also, I'm not a fan of dark headphones (I ditched the Sennheiser HD 650 in favor of the HD 600), so I admit my opinion may be slanted towards the negative on these. If they break in like some have said (brighten and tighten up), then I think they do have a chance to sound nice. I'll report back after 50 hours.
Gelocks - I'm an Emotiva fan too. I was on the list last year for their UMC-1 when I was updating my home theater. It was still buggy back then so I went with a Pioneer Elite AVR instead. Their subs are a crazy good value.
Marx - I got my HTF-600's today and I must admit my first impression is very different than yours. Right out of the box, they sound bloated and muddy, with very little true deep bass compensated by exaggerated mid bass that has poor definition and bleeds into the mids. They do resemble the HD 650 in that they are rather dark, with recessed treble. To their credit, the mids are nice and forward, but not too forward, and the overall sound, while smeared and lacking detail, is non-fatiguing - rare in a cheap headphone. There is no sense of air around instruments, and the soundstage sounds very crammed together to me. I think the HTF600 has a nice appearance, but they do feel somewhat fragile, with some key stress points (size adjust slider and pivot points) made of lightweight, thin plastic that could break. The ear cushions look decent for pleather, but are actually a little plasticky feeling - not really soft or compliant enough. Velour would be a definite inexpensive and effective upgrade.
Bottom line for me - they do seem to play above their class. Build quality and sound out of the box I feel like they are a steal for $30 though I don't agree they beat $150 headphones. At lower volumes with jazz and rock, they have a laid back, easy going sound that's non-fatiguing and easy to listen to. Louder and punchier music just turns flabby and smeared to my ears. Also, I'm not a fan of dark headphones (I ditched the Sennheiser HD 650 in favor of the HD 600), so I admit my opinion may be slanted towards the negative on these. If they break in like some have said (brighten and tighten up), then I think they do have a chance to sound nice. I'll report back after 50 hours.
Marximus
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It's the weirdest thing. I owned the HD 650s briefly, and my impression has pretty much been different from everyone else's on the planet
. I found them to be clean, tight, and bright, but certainly not veiled or dark. I also received HE-300s today (which are quite nice in their own right; might sell the FA-003s in favor of them), so I've been doing some listening on those, too; I'll get back to the Panasonics later and see if burn-in does something. They are definitely warm, bassy headphones, though.
. I found them to be clean, tight, and bright, but certainly not veiled or dark. I also received HE-300s today (which are quite nice in their own right; might sell the FA-003s in favor of them), so I've been doing some listening on those, too; I'll get back to the Panasonics later and see if burn-in does something. They are definitely warm, bassy headphones, though.
Dsnuts
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@palmfish. Burn in is for real on these all be it a minor one but they do get better. The velours lifts a layer on the highs giving them a bit more clarity and definition..The sound signature is maybe not high end and won't compete with the high ends you have. But once you adjust to the sounds on them they start to grow on you. When I opened my HTF600s I wasn't too impressed myself. The bass was there but it didn't open up like it does until I did an overnight burn. Everything will be more cohesive. The mids on mine were harsh as well.
I remember when I had my Panasonic HT770... Those needed a good burn in and I even heard the driver crackle while doing the burn. It seems Panasonic phones in general need burn ins...If Panasonic threw on a bit more refinement these would be out of this planet good. I hope they do one day..Not everyone is a fan of the warmer sound signature so these aren't gonna please everyone I suppose.
I remember when I had my Panasonic HT770... Those needed a good burn in and I even heard the driver crackle while doing the burn. It seems Panasonic phones in general need burn ins...If Panasonic threw on a bit more refinement these would be out of this planet good. I hope they do one day..Not everyone is a fan of the warmer sound signature so these aren't gonna please everyone I suppose.
palmfish
Headphoneus Supremus
The HD 650 was my first high-end headphone. I really wanted to like them and I tried hard to like them, but in the end, I couldn't get past their dark, treble recessed sound.
Now I hope you don't think I'm knocking these Panasonics. For $30, I think they sound very impressive. My critique of their sound was made with the same criteria and level of discrimination I would use for the $300 HD 600 (which is my personal favorite and benchmark), or $1500 HD 800.
I'm burning the Panny's in with some Pandora Techno right now and my daughter just sat down and put them on after asking me about them. First words out of her mouth were, "yeah, these are super nice!" So out of the box, they already blow the Porta Pro away.
I'll revisit the Panny's in a couple of days.
Now I hope you don't think I'm knocking these Panasonics. For $30, I think they sound very impressive. My critique of their sound was made with the same criteria and level of discrimination I would use for the $300 HD 600 (which is my personal favorite and benchmark), or $1500 HD 800.
I'm burning the Panny's in with some Pandora Techno right now and my daughter just sat down and put them on after asking me about them. First words out of her mouth were, "yeah, these are super nice!" So out of the box, they already blow the Porta Pro away.
I'll revisit the Panny's in a couple of days.
iceshark
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Does anyone know a way to contact HeadRoom and suggest them to stock these headphones? I know I've already purchased them, but they test the frequency response and other technical information that would prove useful for me, and just by showing them this thread they may think it isn't a bad marketing choice.
Dsnuts
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Quote:
I always imagined the beats phones having this type of signature with highs and mids as well as the bass. Ya the great thing is. You didn't spend $300 to find out..But trust that they will grow on you. I can safely say everyone so far that got them.. They did in fact grow on them..I remember when I first heard these I was like these are just ok... My cans have over 150 hours on them since and I have to tell you. I have many cans that can't do what these cans do...Ever since I threw on the velours these have been permanently attached to my head with the occasional Jazz and trance session using my D2000...But that is about it.
If I was stuck on an island I would be a happy camper with my Mp3 and my HTF600.
RPGWiZaRD
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I just love listening to this album on these headphones, it's a very unknown artist that didn't exist for a long time but the album they put out was amazing, nicely mastered too (the soundstage and positioning of all sounds is just awesome). If you like Electro-pop / trance then this is a must. I think the headphones do exceptionally well for this genre. The vocals are so soothing and the mids are clear and forward and bass is perfect with these headphones.
Some teasers from youtube:
Some teasers from youtube:
palmfish
Headphoneus Supremus
It's the weirdest thing. I owned the HD 650s briefly, and my impression has pretty much been different from everyone else's on the planet
It just goes to show how personal and subjective this hobby is.
What equipment are you using upstream? I ask because I tried the NuForce Icon HD (and later returned it) and was surprised at how much it brightened up my headphones compared to all the other amps I tried.
It wasn't until i visited and spent several hours at 32 Ohm / ALO Audio listening to a bunch of headphones and amps that I found a good match.
iceshark
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Not to sound rude but the number of YouTube links you posted with anime pictures in it were a little amusing.
But I probably shouldn't critique since my favorite song of this year has been tied with these two (though I like the first a little better):
Don't ask me why I found Derezzed so addictive, I still don't know that one. But to me, that is what god's voice would sound like.
But I probably shouldn't critique since my favorite song of this year has been tied with these two (though I like the first a little better):
Don't ask me why I found Derezzed so addictive, I still don't know that one. But to me, that is what god's voice would sound like.
Marximus
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"What equipment are you using upstream? I ask because I tried the NuForce Icon HD (and later returned it) and was surprised at how much it brightened up my headphones compared to all the other amps I tried.
It wasn't until i visited and spent several hours at 32 Ohm / ALO Audio listening to a bunch of headphones and amps that I found a good match."
I've got a uDAC 2 coming from my computer, and that's running to my Denon AVR-1000 receiver. I've heard that the uDACs are bright, and that may be true. It sounds good to me, so I haven't really messed around with my equipment (apart from headphones, of course) too much.
Well, I received two different headphones today: the HiFiMan HE-300s and the Panasonic RP-HTF600s. Guess which one is being returned? The HE-300s. Are they technically and materially superior? I think so. Are they more faithful to the original recording? Probably. But do I enjoy music out of them as much as I do the Panasonics? Nope. And the fact that the Panasonics cost a tenth of the price of the HE-300s may have been a factor. I prefer my FA-003s to the HE-300s, anyway, so that helped things as well. Should this be taken to mean that a pair of $30 headphones are better than a pair of $300 headphones? I suppose that depends on your definition of better. For my purposes, I prefer the Panasonics. And I think that's a testament to how well the RP-HTF600s perform. They're just too much fun!
It wasn't until i visited and spent several hours at 32 Ohm / ALO Audio listening to a bunch of headphones and amps that I found a good match."
I've got a uDAC 2 coming from my computer, and that's running to my Denon AVR-1000 receiver. I've heard that the uDACs are bright, and that may be true. It sounds good to me, so I haven't really messed around with my equipment (apart from headphones, of course) too much.
Well, I received two different headphones today: the HiFiMan HE-300s and the Panasonic RP-HTF600s. Guess which one is being returned? The HE-300s. Are they technically and materially superior? I think so. Are they more faithful to the original recording? Probably. But do I enjoy music out of them as much as I do the Panasonics? Nope. And the fact that the Panasonics cost a tenth of the price of the HE-300s may have been a factor
. I prefer my FA-003s to the HE-300s, anyway, so that helped things as well. Should this be taken to mean that a pair of $30 headphones are better than a pair of $300 headphones? I suppose that depends on your definition of better. For my purposes, I prefer the Panasonics. And I think that's a testament to how well the RP-HTF600s perform. They're just too much fun!
NamelessPFG
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After a bit of burn-in overnight at lower volumes (so I'm not kept awake by the leaked sound), I gave some of my acquaintances a chance to audition the HTF600s.
The first person was wearing some cheap Logitech headset at the time. I saw him have Spotify open and decided to ask if he wanted to listen to my headphones. He complied. The first thing I noticed after he put them on and started some music was his head movement, a subtle headbanging of sorts. Immediately, he told me he was thrilled with the dynamics and actually passed them on to someone else to audition, who then made a positive note about the bass and handed them back to the guy I asked to audition them. He also noted that they looked really nice.
Then I asked him how much he thought they cost. He said $100-150. Imagine his reaction when I told him the REAL price...
Another person I asked to audition them (who was playing a rhythm game of some sort) also complied. He was wearing some sort of Panasonic clip-on set. His reactions weren't as...thrilled, but he did compliment the bass. (Notice a pattern here?) His price estimate was $50, still overshooting a bit (but it would be right on if I had the velour pads).
While they still haven't had a solid 24 hours of burn-in yet, it's still quite impressive that these things can deliver the bass they do and still not compromise the rest of the spectrum horridly. There's still the sense of a balanced, full sound with nothing missing...well, you might miss some subtle details in the mids and treble, but this is only $30 we're talking about here!
The first person was wearing some cheap Logitech headset at the time. I saw him have Spotify open and decided to ask if he wanted to listen to my headphones. He complied. The first thing I noticed after he put them on and started some music was his head movement, a subtle headbanging of sorts. Immediately, he told me he was thrilled with the dynamics and actually passed them on to someone else to audition, who then made a positive note about the bass and handed them back to the guy I asked to audition them. He also noted that they looked really nice.
Then I asked him how much he thought they cost. He said $100-150. Imagine his reaction when I told him the REAL price...
Another person I asked to audition them (who was playing a rhythm game of some sort) also complied. He was wearing some sort of Panasonic clip-on set. His reactions weren't as...thrilled, but he did compliment the bass. (Notice a pattern here?) His price estimate was $50, still overshooting a bit (but it would be right on if I had the velour pads).
While they still haven't had a solid 24 hours of burn-in yet, it's still quite impressive that these things can deliver the bass they do and still not compromise the rest of the spectrum horridly. There's still the sense of a balanced, full sound with nothing missing...well, you might miss some subtle details in the mids and treble, but this is only $30 we're talking about here!
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