[reifler]

I'm working with a pair of Sony MDR-v600 headphones. I want to upgrade. I've got a good budget, so that's not in question. (The quality of the headphone will decide how much I wanna spend.)
One thing though... I cannot find a good stereo shop in my area that has the high end headphones I've found. I did find one that had Grado sr325s, and RS2s. I disliked both headphones. My v600s had better bass (though much worse on mid and high end, of course.)
So Grados are a no-go.
After some research, I have a list of potential buys.

Sennheiser EH2270
Sennheiser HD 265
Beyerdynamic DT250-250
Beyerdynamic DT831

I have to have closed headphones, as I do 98% of my listening at work with people making noise.

One of my friends here has the Sennheiser HD 265s, so I got to compare them with my v600s. I found my v600s have better high end then the 265s... And I MUST have good high end.

To make a long story short, I would really appreciate if some of you who have heard these phones could speak into the situation.
I would like some nice bass. These v600s are OK, not great. the 265s are way better on that end.

On that list, which would you recommend?

Thanks very much, I'm so happy to have found a community of headphone freaks with audiophile ears. =)

 

[chych]

Go for the DT250, though I think the DT250-80 is the better version. You may like the DT770. The DT831 can be bright and may not have the bass you are looking for.

 

[Gluegun]

Um, the 831's SOOOO have the bass he needs... and the highs... get them...

 

[Audio-Me]

Grados give me headaches (unbalanced sound).
I don't get what the fuss is about open headphones. I use my Sennheiser HD600 in the streets/school/groceries/mall/etc with no noise problems. I don't care if others can hear my music, it's faint. If they have a problem with it, they can ignore it or get their own cans.

I guess it's a tolerance thing for both sides.

I liked the DT831, insane bass, but they are quite sparky though (make your ears bleed if you turn volume up too much).

I've tried the HD 535 (extremely light) which is same thing as the 265 just open. They sounded much too similar to the Sony MDR-V600. I haven't found one Sony headphone I liked.

You seem to be interested in cans meant for monitoring, have you given the HD 280 Professional any thought?

 

[RMSzero]

What kind of source did you audition the Grados out of? (Guys, is it possible that a bad source would cause him to think they didn't have full bass?)

Also, what is driving your headphones: a computer, PCDP, etc? Do you have an amp -- if not, you should look into one with some of the headphones you are naming.

 

[reifler]

Whew, great replies. Thanks guys!

Alrighty...

I'm using a pretty high end computer sound jack... gold plated..
I don't have an amp. That's #2 on my list. Already looking into them.

I had the thought that the grados might not have been getting pushed enough, but they were using a grado amp. wood case, one little switch on the back, plugged into a cd disk changer.

This was a high end stereo shop though... soo... oh well.
I did NOT like the feel of those grados though. I spend 9:15am to 6pm under these babies. Maybe grados are great for studio monitoring, but, man, not extended wear.

HD 280 huh? Are they as good as the DT 831s? They have a list price of $200... Lower then the DT 831 ($280 something)... Does lower price mean less?

I do studio monitoring sometimes, and I'm really, really picky. (like all good audiophiles!)

Thanks again!

 

[Gluegun]

Um, I do believe that DT831's are still the king of the "closed, attenuates outside noise, full sized headphone" hill...

You mean a PC sound card? Uh, which one? Most dont amplify sound.... but if you're getting a headphone amp, well, then, you'll be fine.

I still say, go with the DT831's.... they're worth it. Very accurate, crisp, incredibly detailed highs...

See, our new forum HD280 owner compares the DT280 Pro's to the 831's....

"In a nutshell, they are the best sounding closed cans I have heard that block out the most outside noise. They aren't as good as my Beyer DT 831's, but they block out close to twice as much outside noise as the Beyers do"

Just... get the 831's. They're the best out there, they block out plenty of sound.... you'll be quite happy with them.

 

[Xander]

Quote:

Originally posted by reifler I did find one that had Grado sr325s, and RS2s. I disliked both headphones. My v600s had better bass (though much worse on mid and high end, of course.)

Sorry, I hate trolling, but I have to ask. Are you actually using the MDR-V6, and not the V600? These are two different headphones, and there is pretty much no way in hell heavin purgatory earth and the Gray's home planet that the V600's bass is better then that of the SR325 and RS2... Just checkin'.

 

[reifler]

MDR-V600 (2 zeros) is what is printed on the side on my cans...

I brought my phones to the shop, and plugged them into the exact same jack as what was feeding the sr325... My headphones had better bass in THAT situatation... I needed a better demo... But the salespeople were not interested in helping that much, and I just wanted to listen to mine, and then the grados. same with the rs2s they had

 

[Gluegun]

Well, seeing as how we tend to agree that the V600's have no bass whatsoever, only a little midbass, and a whole lot of lower midrange BOOOOOOM, um, we find that hard to believe that they beat some of the best "for bass" headphones out there (SR-325)...

 

[Russ Arcuri]

The V600s have boomy, flabby bass. While there's definitely MORE of it with the V600s, the Grados have "better" bass because it's more accurate. If you like the sound the V600s present, you won't really like any accurate headphone. The V600s are simply inaccurate.

 

[Xander]

You didnt turn any bass knobs? Anything like that? This is odd. Maybe your V600's have different drivers in them then most others or something. Because the V600s don't even HAVE any bass. They sound like $8 Coby earbuds.

 

[Xander]

Hmm, yeah.. Maybe he's not used to accurately represented bass... Ok guys, let's go to work on him.

 

[Gluegun]

Oh wait, you ahve a sound blaster live?

That's about hte suckiest sound card out there.

And you need an amp--it can't drive the dt831's...

how do I know this? I have an amp, a sblive, and the dt831's. And the sblive hisses soooooooooooo much with the dt831's.... and it sounds crappy without the amp plugged in with the dt831's...

 

[Russ Arcuri]

Quote:

Originally posted by Xander You didnt turn any bass knobs? Anything like that? This is odd. Maybe your V600's have different drivers in them then most others or something. Because the V600s don't even HAVE any bass. They sound like $8 Coby earbuds.

The V600s I had about 6 years ago had LOTS of bass. It didn't go real deep, but from around 50 or 60 Hz on up, it was like somebody turned on a mega-bass switch. I bought them because I had them confused with the V6, and sold them when I managed to actually find a real pair of V6.

If reifler wants an inexpensive upgrade to the V600s, just to test the waters while he decides whether to spend a lot more, he should get a pair of Koss KSC-35s. They demolish the V600s for sound quality, and only cost $30.