Headphones

Started by Bonehelm, June 10, 2007, 02:50:21 PM

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ElliotViola

Quote from: Scots John on February 01, 2013, 07:24:20 AM
SHIT!  I'm off to HMV tomorrow to scour the shelves for this.  Only 15 quid?

***STAMPEDES OUT OF THE ROOM***

Bad luck Scots, I bought these about a year ago ;)
'Competitions are for Horses, not Artists' -Bélà Bartók.

Visit my website: http://www.elliotviola.co.uk

DavidW

I bought the Beyerdynamic dt880s, and wow are they neutral and such a wide and deep sound stage.  I actually tricked myself into thinking that I was accidentally listening to my speakers.  I feel that the Sennheiser 650s are more resolving of detail, but like how uncolored and flat the dt880s sound.

mc ukrneal

Quote from: DavidW on February 10, 2013, 04:57:11 AM
I bought the Beyerdynamic dt880s, and wow are they neutral and such a wide and deep sound stage.  I actually tricked myself into thinking that I was accidentally listening to my speakers.  I feel that the Sennheiser 650s are more resolving of detail, but like how uncolored and flat the dt880s sound.
Funny how we hear things. I was quite disappointed by these. I find them excellent for voices (jazz and classical both), decent for pinao, but totally underwelming with orchestral sounds. I've even plugged them directly into my big rig thinking that perhaps I had an issue with the amp, but absolutely no difference. I find the Senn 580 much better. I think the thing you like is what dislike. I find them colorless and bland (and neutral is not the word I'd use, though they are more that than the Senns).
Be kind to your fellow posters!!

DavidW

I had to warm up to the sound, I didn't actually like it out of the box.  What is your favorite headphone mc?  Oh wait never mind you answered that.  It's been along time since I've had the 580 and was thinking of picking up the 600 for home.  As it should be as I recall closer to neutral as compared to the 650 but still having that dark, warm sound Senn is known for.

mc ukrneal

Quote from: DavidW on February 10, 2013, 05:18:04 AM
I had to warm up to the sound, I didn't actually like it out of the box.  What is your favorite headphone mc?  Oh wait never mind you answered that.  It's been along time since I've had the 580 and was thinking of picking up the 600 for home.  As it should be as I recall closer to neutral as compared to the 650 but still having that dark, warm sound Senn is known for.
Yes, I believe that is the signature, though I have not heard them myself. The 580 is the best I've heard so far (of course, getting a tremendous deal on them just before they were discontinued didn't hurt!). I also have the Senn 280 (ok for what it is) and the ATH-AD900, which I really disliked. I have pulled back a bit in terms of headphones as you can just spend and spend and spend and I'd rather focus on getting more music, since what I have is pretty good. Perhaps one day I'll just go all in and get the HD800 and a great amp and call it a day for 20 years! :)
Be kind to your fellow posters!!

Coopmv

Quote from: DavidW on February 10, 2013, 04:57:11 AM
I bought the Beyerdynamic dt880s, and wow are they neutral and such a wide and deep sound stage.  I actually tricked myself into thinking that I was accidentally listening to my speakers.  I feel that the Sennheiser 650s are more resolving of detail, but like how uncolored and flat the dt880s sound.

I have the Beyerdynamic DT990 PRO and am quite satisfied with the sound.  I also have the AKG K701 and the Sennheiser HD600.  I have not modded any of these headphones, as a number of folks in another forum specialized in audio system modded their AKG's and Sennheisers with special cables, which I am not sure if they are worth the money ...

Coopmv

Quote from: mc ukrneal on February 10, 2013, 05:52:00 AM
Yes, I believe that is the signature, though I have not heard them myself. The 580 is the best I've heard so far (of course, getting a tremendous deal on them just before they were discontinued didn't hurt!). I also have the Senn 280 (ok for what it is) and the ATH-AD900, which I really disliked. I have pulled back a bit in terms of headphones as you can just spend and spend and spend and I'd rather focus on getting more music, since what I have is pretty good. Perhaps one day I'll just go all in and get the HD800 and a great amp and call it a day for 20 years! :)

I have heard Yamaha makes pretty good headphones.  After all, the company has been making musical instruments for over a 100 years.  Yamaha audio equipments are also quite well regarded.  I rate Yamaha higher than the regular Sony audio line.

Fafner



I bought Beyerdynamic DT440 as my first pair of serious headphones. I don't have much comparison to higher level models, but I am quite satisfied with them. Although next time I might rather buy closed headphones. I am currently living in a one room appartment and you would not believe how much noise a fridge makes when I want to listen to music.
"Remember Fafner? Remember he built Valhalla? A giant? Well, he's a dragon now. Don't ask me why. Anyway, he's dead."
   --- Anna Russell

Coopmv

Where are the Sennheiser headphones made these days?  My HD600 headphones were made in Ireland.  My AKG K701 headphones were made in Austria but I heard the model is made in China these days - no doubt the decision of its American parent company Harman International.  My Byerdynamic headphones were made in Germany.  I prefer my audio equipments made in the US/Canada, Europe or Japan, even if it means I have to pay up for them ...

Coopmv

Quote from: Fafner on February 10, 2013, 06:29:37 AM


I bought Beyerdynamic DT440 as my first pair of serious headphones. I don't have much comparison to higher level models, but I am quite satisfied with them. Although next time I might rather buy closed headphones. I am currently living in a one room appartment and you would not believe how much noise a fridge makes when I want to listen to music.

It appears there are many more open or semi-open headphone models out there than closed ones ...

Mirror Image

#591
Quote from: Brian on November 12, 2012, 02:59:00 PM
Mine are Audio-Technica ATH M50s. I've never heard of the brand and don't know much about how they compare to Sennheisers or Beyers; I've never purchased from those brands. Even these were a Christmas present. But they're the best headphones I've had yet: plugged directly into my laptop, I get clear highs, good representation of the string sections, audible and impactful bass, and a soundstage that on a good recording (now: Eschenbach conducts Tchaikovsky on Ondine) sounds like my chair is hovering above the orchestra.

I just bought these Audio-Technica ATH M50s headphones and it's good to hear your feedback here, Brian. I've heard nothing but good things about these. I definitely can't wait to give these a crash course. They will be used mainly as my iPod headphones. I run my iPods through an Audio-Technica HA20 headphone amplifier which sounds great.

Brian

Quote from: Mirror Image on March 30, 2013, 07:05:52 PM
I just bought these Audio-Technica ATH M50s headphones and it's good to hear your feedback here, Brian. I've heard nothing but good things about these. I definitely can't wait to give these a crash course. They will be used mainly as my iPod headphones. I run my iPods through an Audio-Technica HA20 headphone amplifier which sounds great.

I plug 'em straight into my laptop to listen to MP3s or (much more commonly) CDs in the disc drive... haven't used any headphone amplifiers before, as that's something I don't know anything about.

71 dB

Quote from: Brian on March 30, 2013, 09:06:43 PM
I plug 'em straight into my laptop to listen to MP3s or (much more commonly) CDs in the disc drive... haven't used any headphone amplifiers before, as that's something I don't know anything about.

Headphone amplifiers ensure low output impedance. Damping factor is calculated as load impedance/output impedance. The higher the damping factor is the stronger control the amplifier has over the headphones. Better control means better sound quality (lower distortion and faster transients). Damping factor should be at least 8.

If the output impedance of your laptop is 100 ohms and the impedance of your phones is 38 ohms, damping factor is 38/100 = 0.38 which is very poor. If the output impedance is only 10 ohms, you get a damping factor of 3.8 which is still under the recommended value 8.

Now, if you use a headphone amplifier that has output impedance of 2, your damping factor becomes 38/2 = 19!

Some headphone amplifiers have crossfeeders that mix left channel to right channel and vice versa at lower frequencies reducing channel separation that gets easily unnaturally large with recordings that are optimized for loudspeakers (crossfeeding happens acoustically as right year hears sound from right loudspeaker). Crossfeeding is ESSENTIAL with headphones since most stereophohic recordings don't really work well with headphones. The sound image is broken and annoying. Ever since I found out the bliss of crossfeeding I have called headphone listening without crossfeeding madness because that's what it is with most recordings.

I don't use a headphone amplifier but a self-constructed headphone adapter that is used with my amplifier (it's connected to the B-speakers terminals). The passive adapter has output impedance of 1 ohms, attenuates the signal about 30 dB (louspeakers need about 1000 times more power than headphones) and creates the crossfeed-effect (three different levels for different kind of recordings for best results). My damping factor is about 60 with Sennheiser HD-598 and the sound is sooo clear. Crossfeeding makes listening extremely enjoyable. Construction of the headphone adapter cost about 30 euros.  :)

Spatial distortion is a serious problem deteriorating headphone listening.
Crossfeeders reduce spatial distortion and make the sound more natural
and less tiresome in headphone listening.

My Sound Cloud page <-- NEW Jan. 2024 "Harpeggiator"

Mirror Image

Received the Audio-Technica ATH M50S today and they're going straight back to Amazon for a complete refund. Some of the most uncomfortable headphones I've ever worn. The sound also isn't all that impressive. I know you have to burn in all headphones but I've read many reviews where the reviewers say they sounded great right out of the box. Well, not to me. They sounded just 'okay.' Nothing really special. After I gave these headphones a test drive through some music selections, I got back out my Samson SR850 and the difference was like night and day and it's not because I'm used to my trusty Samsons, it's just because the overall frequency and soundstage was just much fuller and natural sounding.

I'm quite disappointed, but if you don't take a risk every now and again, you'll never know what you're missing or not missing.

Holden

Just a couple of thoughts. I've not heard the M50s but just about everyone talks about the good sound quality, even out of the box. General comments on comfort lean towards the positive side but this is a personal thing. I don't think they are a great headphone for classical music based on what people say about the sound.

The again, regarding the sound quality - have you possibly been sold a fake? Who was the Amazon Seller? There are threads out there about his very subject. What is it about the sound that makes it ordinary?

Have a read of these for more info.

http://www.head-fi.org/t/601236/ath-m50-felling-uncomfortable
http://www.head-fi.org/products/audio-technica-ath-m50-studio-monitor-headphones/reviews

http://www.head-fi.org/t/546544/samson-sr850-superlux-oem-review-a-50-budget-champion

Just a last couple of thoughts. The M50s are closed back phones and will have a very different sound signature to the Samsons which are semi open. If you need closed back with good isolation have a look at the Shure SRH840s. I own a pair of these and their neutral (though slighltly warm) presentation makes them very easy to listen to. Their clarity, faithful reproduction of strings, voice and piano make them great classical phones. One caveat though, they are a bit heavy. I love them and use them at work via my laptop. They also handle rock music very well.

http://www.head-fi.org/products/shure-srh840/reviews

I now use the Sennheiser IE80 in ear monitors as my closed back phones but they are expensive. They blow the Shure's out of the water  but then again they blow my Senn HD580s out of the water as well. For the price, they should.
Cheers

Holden

Mirror Image

Hey Holden, no I wasn't sold a fake. I bought these directly from Amazon and not a MP seller. Regarding the sound quality, I just thought the mids were too recessed, the bass didn't have much depth, and the treble didn't have the kind of bite that I'm more accustomed to hearing, but, like I said, I obviously didn't give them adequate amount of time for a burn-in but I'm certainly not going to keep wearing, or own, a pair of headphones that are uncomfortable because I listen to music for long stretches of time (sometimes an hour, sometimes two hours).

Coopmv

Quote from: Mirror Image on April 06, 2013, 06:29:26 AM
Hey Holden, no I wasn't sold a fake. I bought these directly from Amazon and not a MP seller. Regarding the sound quality, I just thought the mids were too recessed, the bass didn't have much depth, and the treble didn't have the kind of bite that I'm more accustomed to hearing, but, like I said, I obviously didn't give them adequate amount of time for a burn-in but I'm certainly not going to keep wearing, or own, a pair of headphones that are uncomfortable because I listen to music for long stretches of time (sometimes an hour, sometimes two hours).

I still prefer to listen to music through speakers and my full-sized sound system and rarely ever listen through headphones for more than an hour at a time ...

Mirror Image

Quote from: Coopmv on April 06, 2013, 09:09:44 AM
I still prefer to listen to music through speakers and my full-sized sound system and rarely ever listen through headphones for more than an hour at a time ...

This is my preference too, but I live with my parents so there's not much time I have to crank up my stereo, but thankfully when my Mom is at work and my Dad is home (he's a huge classical fan and fully retired) he doesn't mind. :)

Coopmv

Quote from: Mirror Image on April 06, 2013, 05:36:18 PM
This is my preference too, but I live with my parents so there's not much time I have to crank up my stereo, but thankfully when my Mom is at work and my Dad is home (he's a huge classical fan and fully retired) he doesn't mind. :)

I actually have a pair of Sennheiser wireless headphones that allows me to listen to FM classical stations located in NYC.  But the signals required a rooftop antenna to be picked up and the stereo tuner is located on the top floor, the only way I can listen to any FM broadcast outside the top floor music room is via this pair of wireless headphones since I do not want to blast my sound system.  Well, that was almost 10 years ago and before the time of internet tuner, which I now have in my study ...