I have the Sennheiser HD650s and AKG K701s. Used to have the HD595 also. I tend to prefer the latter for most music, as well as speech. The Senns I find more preferrable for movies and classical music.
I also have an ancient pair of Grado SR-80s (or SR-60s?), which are by no means an expensive high-end headphone. But I still like their sound on some things.
Other people prefer considerably bassier headphones and I can see how that is a valid preference, especially considering how some electronic music is mixed.. in fact, I wouldn't mind having such a pair for myself.
I've got a nice set of GE monitors from probably the mid 70s and they sound fantastic for music that's not incredibly bass heavy and were a quarter so that was nice.
Have you tested the Senn Momentums? They are closed and have a lot more low end than the 600/50s. I really liked them but, since I'm mostly alone at work, I went with the 650s.
http://mikebeauchamp.com/misc/sennheiser-hd-555-to-hd-595-mo...
I've got a pair of HD558s which I quite like; indeed, they're the best headphones I've ever owned. What I'm curious about is this: Can someone who's actually done the foam mod give me an idea of whether the result is worth the risk? I'm pretty sure I can complete the modification without damaging my headphones, but I'd like to know it's worth my while before I carry it out. Thanks in advance!
I'd be more interested in a carefully controlled double blind trial.
I suspect most people would not be able to tell the difference between modfied and unmodified headphones, and that is before making adjustments for the terrible source quality of most people's MP3 collections.
I'd like to see a double-blind trial as well, but that's not what I'm after here; all I'm looking for, in the comment to which you replied, is a sense of whether it's worth my time to modify my headphones. Will I hear a difference? If I do, will it be genuinely there or simply a result of the placebo effect? Who knows? Who cares? If we were talking about $1000 cables, then, sure, it's worth asking those questions. But this is a non-destructive, easily reversible fifteen-minute modification to a pair of $150 headphones I already own, and can afford to replace if I slip and impale a driver or something. Given the minimal stakes, I'm strongly inclined to just go ahead and see what happens. If it makes, or seems to make, a difference, then great! I'll stick with it. If not, I'll put the foam back. Either way, I figure it's worth a shot.
Whether that difference is real, or some psychological boost you get from the "free upgrade to better headphones" is debatable.
I wouldn't do it because I'm a ham-fisted klutz and I'd probably damage something. Other people are not as clumsy as me!
None whatsoever, actually, with either music (1938 Karajan/Berliner Philharmonic recording of the overture to "The Magic Flute"), or the "Ultimate Headphone Test" files; any difference made by removing the foam is evidently so subtle as to be completely lost on me. I don't feel like dismantling my headphones again to put the foam back right now, so I'll leave it out (stuck to the inside of a Zip-loc bag, since I don't have any proper backing paper handy to preserve the adhesive) until the next time I take the pads off for cleaning, and put the foam back in then. I doubt I'll notice any more difference in sound at that point than I do now.
> I wouldn't do it because I'm a ham-fisted klutz and I'd probably damage something.
On the other hand, the modification really is as simple as its adherents purport it to be, especially since the cord is detachable; the only even vaguely dicey moment I had was when I took out the left driver and found that its connection to the cord socket PCB is made by a wire that's both quite short and very fine, and that the foam would have to come out past the wires to both drivers. If I'd dropped the driver, I'd probably have needed to trim the wire and heat up my iron, so I'm glad I didn't do that. Other than that, it was a snap; anyone can do it in ten minutes who has screwdriver, tweezers, and reasonably steady hands.
Edit: Now I think about it, what I really should have done was take the foam out of one side, but leave it in the other, and see if I could pick out any difference that way; having both sides in the same state makes it essentially impossible to compare. Perhaps, when it next comes time to clean my pads, I'll give that a try.
I now use the Beyerdynamic DT990's (32 ohm version, because the FUD about needing a headphone amplifier scared me away from the higher resistance versions) and couldn't be more happy with them.
I've been dragging my feet selling them. Now I kind of want to. Thanks. :)
http://www.head-fi.org/f/62/meets-get-togethers-factory-tour...
here's buyer's guide also http://www.head-fi.org/a/2013-head-fi-summer-buying-guide-in...
A lot of older music gets remastered the same way when it's re-released; this is one of the legitimate reasons for preferring vinyl, since you can be sure you won't find that problem on an LP. (Granted, you'll have to put up with Rice Krispies instead, but some find that preferable to trying to suffer through modern mastering, and I can't really say I blame them.)
These plus a good USB-DAC (like those based around NwAvGuy's ObjectiveAmp) will make your listening experience much nicer.
How do audiophiles get a chance to do this? I've never seen a "headphone store" on a street corner.
(source: I was an audio engineer in a previous life. I also own 3 pairs)
I returned them and grabbed the V-MODA CrossFade LP. Its bass response is heavier than even the ATH-M50s, and a much better high frequency response. Their only downside is a dip in the middle frequencies. It gives them that club sound (DJs general dip the mids in clubs, as it makes it easier for people to hear one another). I like it for most of my music, but they definitely suck the life out of classical music and other similar, balanced sounds.
I'll probably grab pair of open Sennheisers to compliment my V-MODA. I'm hesitant only because Sennheiser, despite the HD-280 Pro being built like a tank, they've burned me multiple times now on shoddily constructed portable headphones.
Since I was working in a cubicle environment at the time, I figured I'd keep the 280s at work, primarily for their excellent isolation, and the 558s at home, where I maintain a quiet environment in which open headphones' lack of isolation doesn't pose a problem. That lasted about a week before I started carrying the 558s to work, because I could simply no longer stand to wear the 280s.
It really is a shame the 280s are so big and clunky, because they are, as you say, quite good headphones otherwise, albeit IMHO a little weak in the lower part of the frequency range. HD558s being as cheap as they are, and from all I can gather being also the price/performance sweet spot of the Sennheiser 5x8 range, my experience leads me to suggest that it'd be worth your while to consider picking up a pair.
(And I hear elsethread that the 558 foam mod makes them effectively indistinguishable from the twice-as-expensive and even more neutral HD598; I can't speak to that from personal experience, as I have yet to do the mod, but if true then the HD558 is most certainly the standout performer of its range.)
However, they're really hard on most music that hasn't been mastered well. And that is pretty much all modern music.
It really does seal you off from your environment a bit... I can't hear my cell phone ring in my pocket when I have them on.
I believe they use the same drivers (and superficial design) as AKG K240s.
In this case, they passed the tests reasonably well I think. Great frequency response (cut in at the limits of my hearing), no rattle, all the rest... I might put together a few sets for this test, though I suspect the Grados will fail rattle :)