[niceguyliu]

I think for companies with a huge portfolio of headphone models, it's hard to say they have a single "house sound". Like you mentioned Sony's, but Sony products all have very different sound signatures. The MA900s with huge soundstage, the MDR-V6s with in-your-face sound. XBAs have the fat bass. It would be clearer if you could list the exact Sony models that are annoying to you. 

 

[Lumos]

Sennheiser, I have owned/heard, HD518/558/598 HD580/600/650 HD700 HD25 1 ii
 
All open headphones of them have same issue blurry bass and somewhat confused sound, not clear separation and low resolution overall
 
HD25 was best Sennheiser I have ever owned

 

[DivineCurrent]

  Sennheiser, I have owned/heard, HD518/558/598 HD580/600/650 HD700 HD25 1 ii
 
All open headphones of them have same issue blurry bass and somewhat confused sound, not clear separation and low resolution overall
 
HD25 was best Sennheiser I have ever owned

I'd have to agree with you. At least about the HD 580s, don't know about the rest. Vocals kind of sound strange, unnatural. I find that even AKG bests Sennheiser in that area, Beyerdynamic too. 

 

[ProtegeManiac]

  Sennheiser, I have owned/heard, HD518/558/598 HD580/600/650 HD700 HD25 1 ii
 
All open headphones of them have same issue blurry bass and somewhat confused sound, not clear separation and low resolution overall
 
HD25 was best Sennheiser I have ever owned

 
I only get those when I'm not using my amp to drive them, especially the blurry bass. Sounds like a mudslide directly out of an iPod. Amps like the Cantate.2 (mine), Burson Soloist, Asgard all had clear and defined bass; Ibasso PB-2 (with iPod 5g as source) had slightly boomy, too warm bass, although not that the notes got blurrred.
 
Quote:

  I'd have to agree with you. At least about the HD 580s, don't know about the rest. Vocals kind of sound strange, unnatural. I find that even AKG bests Sennheiser in that area, Beyerdynamic too. 

 
Like too throaty? I get that with an iPod driving the HD600/650; with the HD580 it's possible that it's caused by the resonance, particularly with the grill (overall the frame has a lot of resonance, everything they addressed on the HD580J and HD600). Same iPod on the K701, and it's unnatural in another way: somewhat plasticky-sounding upper midrange that seems like there's a hole in the response. Basically the Sennheisers sound too full bodied it's more like fat and ungainly, while the AKG's can sound like the sound isn't anywhere near full-bodied.

 

[Lumos]

   
I only get those when I'm not using my amp to drive them, especially the blurry bass. Sounds like a mudslide directly out of an iPod. Amps like the Cantate.2 (mine), Burson Soloist, Asgard all had clear and defined bass; Ibasso PB-2 (with iPod 5g as source) had slightly boomy, too warm bass, although not that the notes got blurrred.
 
Like too throaty? I get that with an iPod driving the HD600/650; with the HD580 it's possible that it's caused by the resonance, particularly with the grill (overall the frame has a lot of resonance, everything they addressed on the HD580J and HD600). Same iPod on the K701, and it's unnatural in another way: somewhat plasticky-sounding upper midrange that seems like there's a hole in the response. Basically the Sennheisers sound too full bodied it's more like fat and ungainly, while the AKG's can sound like the sound isn't anywhere near full-bodied.

I mean compared to AKG Q701 and Beyer DT800 (600ohm) Senns have blurry bass, I was driving them with O2 or Magni with Modi DAC. However both Bayer and AKG have their issues. Besides uncomfortable headband (can be fixed) and famous 2K spike of Q701 (which could be solved by eqing) I believe Q701 is one of most clear sounding headphone on the market today (below $500). DT880 have more bass but resolution and separation Q701 have is no-brainer. Unfortunately Q701 also have less bass among all above mentioned competitors.
 
Generally every headphone have some flaw, especially open back headphones have more significant flaws, considering this I would choose Q701 if I am about to buy open back and save money. Besides tonal balance HD600 is winner, I would like to hear good resolution and separation which they lacking. Cured Q701 can provide both.
 
Also asking price $399 for HD600 is a blatant robbery hence better save some money
 
Cheers
 
P.S. I had all of them together and compared side by side for months.

 

[obsidyen]

AKG Q701s have no bass whatsoever. HD650s are much better.

 

[Lumos]

  AKG Q701s have no bass whatsoever. HD650s are much better.

Yeah quality and quantity is different things. Just play any well recorded music (classical, jazz) and you will hear clear difference in quality.
Yes I do agree partially, AKG is little bass light. not good for electronic music
 
cheers

 

[ProtegeManiac]

 
I mean compared to AKG Q701 and Beyer DT800 (600ohm) Senns have blurry bass, I was driving them with O2 or Magni with Modi DAC. However both Bayer and AKG have their issues. Besides uncomfortable headband (can be fixed) and famous 2K spike of Q701 (which could be solved by eqing) I believe Q701 is one of most clear sounding headphone on the market today (below $500). DT880 have more bass but resolution and separation Q701 have is no-brainer. Unfortunately Q701 also have less bass among all above mentioned competitors.
 
Generally every headphone have some flaw, especially open back headphones have more significant flaws, considering this I would choose Q701 if I am about to buy open back and save money. Besides tonal balance HD600 is winner, I would like to hear good resolution and separation which they lacking. Cured Q701 can provide both.
 
Also asking price $399 for HD600 is a blatant robbery hence better save some money
 
Cheers
 
P.S. I had all of them together and compared side by side for months.

 
Barring worn out earpads, ever since I got my current amp, I haven't put any headphone on it that had blurry bass. Even the DT990 that had that on my Little Dot MkII had very precise bass. In a lot of cases the amp tends to be the problem, even with speaker systems. My NAD304 never had any speaker on it, including multiple bass driver towers, that had blurry bass; by contrast, some HT receivers with higher rated power at 8ohms (but usually no ratings at how it does at 4ohm, continuous or current) tended to have blurry bass with complex loads (multiple driver towers; also, weak and blurry on 4ohm Dynaudios).
 
BTW try the Q701 on a Burson Soloist if you can - precise bass and hard-hitting percussion like I haven't heard from anything else. Not even Grados (I have not tried one on C-Pads), plus it has more precise soundstaging. I would have purchased both if the Burson wasn't a enough to buy several Q701s online (local prices by the Harman distributor here still has it around $500). Maybe in a few years I can get a Conductor for a lot less.

 

[kman1211]

House sound I dislike. Hmm, there are generally headphones I like and dislike from every manufacturer I have tried. I prefer not to list manufacturers I only heard one or two headphones from. And some brands are so all over the place I just can't come to a conclusion on. Other than some cheap off-brands and many overpriced mainstream brands there isn't really any house sound I truly dislike.

 

[takato14]

God, this is a tough one.
 
Sennheisers are overly diffuse and warm sounding, Grados are weaponized distortion cannons, Audio-Technicas are nasally and shrill, Sonys are either shrill or super farty, Beyers are hissy up top...
 
Idk, I'd say it's a tie between Audio Technica and Grado. Grado for the lack of cleanliness, Audio-Technica for the ear bleeding.
 

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Quote:

  AKG Q701s have no bass whatsoever. HD650s are much better.

Try again. The Qs have plenty of bass, its just a lot cleaner (or as audiophiles like to call it, more "ethereal") than the HD650's. The HD650 places emphasis on the low end by being more diffuse and having worse driver control. The Qs do have slight upper midrange emphasis but other than that there's no contest.

 

[wigglepuff]

  God, this is a tough one.
 
Sennheisers are overly diffuse and warm sounding, Grados are weaponized distortion cannons, Audio-Technicas are nasally and shrill, Sonys are either shrill or super farty, Beyers are hissy up top...

yup nearly died when dringking coffee and reading this.  lol
 
I find those headphones with bass that blast air right into your eardrums to be really annoying, and over emphasized highs make my eardrums ring and really hurt

 
 
I also like those headphones with an auditorium like (hollow?) sound profile, but this is just me as my friends find it kinda weird. lol

 

[Claritas]

Actually reminds me of various exes from back in the day. :evil:

Glad I never had a Sony girl then. But Grado girls, yup I've known those.

 

[kman1211]

  God, this is a tough one.
 
Sennheisers are overly diffuse and warm sounding, Grados are weaponized distortion cannons, Audio-Technicas are nasally and shrill, Sonys are either shrill or super farty, Beyers are hissy up top...
 
Idk, I'd say it's a tie between Audio Technica and Grado. Grado for the lack of cleanliness, Audio-Technica for the ear bleeding.
 

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Try again. The Qs have plenty of bass, its just a lot cleaner (or as audiophiles like to call it, more "ethereal") than the HD650's. The HD650 places emphasis on the low end by being more diffuse and having worse driver control. The Qs do have slight upper midrange emphasis but other than that there's no contest.

I only heard one Audio-Technica, the M50 and that was pretty much my impression of them.
 
I have to agree with that, I never understood why people say the Q701, etc. don't have bass. It's a very clean and textured bass.

 

[Hisoundfi]

Has anyone on this thread mentioned beats or monster? I love bass and warm signatures, but many (not all) of their products have bass that is fatiguing and unenjoyable to my ears.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Has anyone on this thread mentioned beats or monster? I love bass and warm signatures, but many (not all) of their products have bass that is fatiguing and unenjoyable to my ears.

 
Beats already have multiple dedicated bash threads going on in this forum so likely if anyone mentioned them in this thread it might not have led to much discussion.