[TF1216]

Hey guys,

I have been deciding on a pair of headphones to buy.  I have multiple sets of speakers here at home.   I like the speaker with polypropolene drivers the most.  Which headphones have a mare musical sound to them?

It is not my intentions on starting a large debate.  I was considering the AKG 701 cans.  Am I going the wrong route?  Maybe Sennheiser 580 or 650?  Any advice?

[pbrstreetgang]

Senn 650 sounds sonos faber-ish the senn 600 sound totem-ish the 701s sound more b&w-ish. I think a lot of grados sound Theil-ish Stax Maggies. Very generalized of course the thing with Senns is they scale very nicely with better source and amplification.

[pbrstreetgang]

Also if you are looking at 650s and 701s try the Beyer 880

[TF1216]

Cool, thank you for the reply.  I love the sound of AudioTechnology drivers and I think I would also like the sound of ScanSpeak drivers.  Maybe I will try something from Sennheiser instead of AKG.

[slwiser]

For myself speaker like quality comes from my Ultrasone Edition 9.  If you can find one to hear please do yourself a favor.  Make sure that it has some time on it.

[santacore]

I think pbrstreetgang did a pretty good job with the comparisons. My current faves are the Sennheiser HD650 which are warm and full sounding with slightly rolled off high end. The other phones I dig are the AKG K701's. These are little leaner, a little more detailed, and faster sounding. I like them both for different reasons. I tried the Beyerdynamic 880's once and found them to be too forward, bright, and harsh sounding. In a dull setup these might be the ticket, but not for me.

Hope this helps. I think the bottom line is that you need to try a pair in your own setup to truly know if you like them. Everyones tastes are different so take all opinions, including mine, with a grain of salt.

[randytsuch]

One other consideration is do you have, or are you planning to get an can amp?

Most of the better cans need an amp to sound best.

I have heard, but never owned any senns.  Had an older version of the 880's, but I liked my K501's better.  I am thinking about trying the 701's someday myself.  But, I like the AKG sound, their mids.

Randy

[saisunil]

pbrstreetgang did a nice job.

I would rather give my impressions about the character of various headphones.

Grados give an "on-stage" sound - great impact - excellent for Rock or similar generes. Well rounded cans - albeit a bit forward sounding for me. BTW Grado GS1000 is a very different animal compared to the rest of the line.

Senn 600 and 650 sound like back of the symphony hall - warm - obscured detail but amazingly musical - can listen to them for a long time and are comfortable too. Senns 595 give us a nice balance - more forward than 600/650

AKG 701 - they need hundreds of hours of break in before they really open up - they have the most "out of head" sound for me (of the cans that I am mentioning) - very well balanced - great highs and mids, a lot of sense of air and space - just like listening to good speakers.

For all these headphones - a good head-amp is a must for them to make them do their best job.

Cheers

[TF1216]

Hey guys,

I started listening to some Sennheiser 580s (stock cable) today that I bought used.  I am assuming they have considerable hours on them.  I am waiting for a reply from the seller on that.

My signal chain looks like:

PC -> EMU 0404 (USB) -> Millet Maxxed Hybrid -> 580s

I have a pair of Yamaha HP-2s to compare against.  At first I loved the 580s until I took a 45-minute break from listening.  I came back and realized they are missing something to me.  Going back to my Yamahas I hear a much darker sound.  The 580s are not dark enough.  I am not getting any passion from the vocals I am hearing.  i keep telling myself they are not milky enough for me like my AudioTechnology drivers.  I feel like the 580s maybe lacking a high end. 

Anyone have any input for me?

[Frihed91]

I only own 2 I use a lot.  I like them both even though they sound quite a bit different.

AKG K-701 = accurate like BBC monitors (LS3/5A - up)
HD-595 (older high impedance version) = Vandersteen-like sound.

[Russell Dawkins]

I would say the 701s sound real-ish, like SP Tech speakers, or Thiels.
Grados sound like B&W 805s or old JBL Century 100s to me - hyped bass on both.

Sennheiser 650s sound very muffled on top to me - like reality with a thick blanket over it.
Possibly, as I've read, they need a very good dedicated amp, but I have no patience for that if it's true. They should sound decent with anything if they're that good.

Haven't heard Beyers recently enough to comment.

701s would be my easy choice if I didn't need the isolation of closed back. Additionally they are very comfortable for long listening sessions.

[BradJudy]

I really need to try a pair of 701's sometime.  I prefer my Beyer DT880's to either the Senn HD-600's or Grado SR-225's that I owned before them (although either of those were nice phones).  I consider the DT880's to be very detailed and fairly balanced.