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500+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Dec 13, 2002
- Posts
- 693
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...well not exactly, but it's what it felt like when I was just listening to Jethro Tull's "Thick as a Brick" with my HD590s... the sibilance is excrutiating! I mean not to insult the headphones directly, but WOW, it caused me to cringe whenever I would hear a cymbal.
The reason I bring this up is because I received my third pair of PortaPros back from Koss yesterday... so now I have something relatively decent to compare the sound of my 590s to.
The Portapros condensce everything, putting the voice right next to the instruments and making every spacially awkward. Also, the bass is far too boomy and much too sure of itself (if you know what I mean - it just seems to take over the entire song.)
The 590s have a much wider soundstage and music sounds like it should. That's why I have such a hard time insulting those phones because they sound wonderful but are way too bright sometimes - listening to jazz and to classical is a triumph, a literal extravaganza for my ears. Listening to rock hurts me, though - I actually prefer the PortaPros when listening to Jetho Tull, Led Zepellin. The original mono recordings and primitive stereo mixing actually favours a smaller soundstage and the boomy sound of the Pros. The cymbals do not sting and the guitar sounds right next to your ears - when listening to guitar solos, it is a dream. I know that I should invest in some Grados (for rock) but I'm not in the market to buy any more open phones. Maybe the Eggo 66's? Are those closed?
I can't afford anything major at the moment as I just bought a new mp3-cd player and a Fixup Mini V4 Amp... perhaps the amp will make the 590s a little less bright? I am listening through a speaker amp, a Creek 5050 IA. Nice sound, but who am I kidding? I've never heard music through a dedicated headphone amp before.
Thanks for reading this semi-rant.
Trounce
The reason I bring this up is because I received my third pair of PortaPros back from Koss yesterday... so now I have something relatively decent to compare the sound of my 590s to.
The Portapros condensce everything, putting the voice right next to the instruments and making every spacially awkward. Also, the bass is far too boomy and much too sure of itself (if you know what I mean - it just seems to take over the entire song.)
The 590s have a much wider soundstage and music sounds like it should. That's why I have such a hard time insulting those phones because they sound wonderful but are way too bright sometimes - listening to jazz and to classical is a triumph, a literal extravaganza for my ears. Listening to rock hurts me, though - I actually prefer the PortaPros when listening to Jetho Tull, Led Zepellin. The original mono recordings and primitive stereo mixing actually favours a smaller soundstage and the boomy sound of the Pros. The cymbals do not sting and the guitar sounds right next to your ears - when listening to guitar solos, it is a dream. I know that I should invest in some Grados (for rock) but I'm not in the market to buy any more open phones. Maybe the Eggo 66's? Are those closed?
I can't afford anything major at the moment as I just bought a new mp3-cd player and a Fixup Mini V4 Amp... perhaps the amp will make the 590s a little less bright? I am listening through a speaker amp, a Creek 5050 IA. Nice sound, but who am I kidding? I've never heard music through a dedicated headphone amp before.
Thanks for reading this semi-rant.
Trounce
