1st time demoing headphones. Impressions and ???'s
Oct 11, 2008 23:07:01 GMT
Post by justinp on Oct 11, 2008 23:07:01 GMT
Hi all,
I'm in the process of building the Jaycar headphone amp and went out demoing some decent headphones today, Grado's & Audio Technica's. The Grado's were 60's, 80's and 125's, the AT's were A700, a900, w1000.
Note: Not being used to writing about hifi I'm likely to use words as they come to me rather than anything that might be more usual for equipment reviewers.
Impressions:
SR60 - Nice, I see what all the fuss is about, but to me they seemed a bit 'boomy', overly full and almost 'pushy' in their presentation.
SR80 - More open, less woolly and with better separation of instruments, more accurate and cleaner.
SR125 - cleaner more accurate still, but slightly cold compared to the 80's.
For the money, the 80's to me seem to be the best value.
AT's.
700 - warm, comfortable, more isolating. Less 'live' sounding the grado's, more like listening in a small club than an open concert. Seem accurate, more so than the SR60's with a bit more richness, about the same as the 80's.
900 - Slightly more clarity than the 700's but not enough to justify the price jump.
w1000 - Oh god, why did I have to try these. Don't think I've ever heard headphones like them. Less weighty sound than the 7/900's but much, much more accurate to my ears, stunning separation, vocals that send shivers up your spine, detailed everything. That said, less 'full' than the others. Incredibly comfortable.
Overall, I'm amazed at how good some headphones can be. I want the w1000's but they're 4 times the price of the SR80's, which for me are a stunning bargain.
Now, The grado's were demo models, as I think were the 7//900's. The w1000's were fresh out of the box unused. All listening was done on a marantz cd/sacd player through the players own headphone output.
Questions.
Do my untutored impressions sound reasonable to others in what I'm hearing?
Would the depth on the 1000's expand with use do you think, and would using a proper headphone amp be likely to change the sound significantly for any/all of these phones.
Any others you'd recommend reviewing?
Thanks.
J.
I'm in the process of building the Jaycar headphone amp and went out demoing some decent headphones today, Grado's & Audio Technica's. The Grado's were 60's, 80's and 125's, the AT's were A700, a900, w1000.
Note: Not being used to writing about hifi I'm likely to use words as they come to me rather than anything that might be more usual for equipment reviewers.
Impressions:
SR60 - Nice, I see what all the fuss is about, but to me they seemed a bit 'boomy', overly full and almost 'pushy' in their presentation.
SR80 - More open, less woolly and with better separation of instruments, more accurate and cleaner.
SR125 - cleaner more accurate still, but slightly cold compared to the 80's.
For the money, the 80's to me seem to be the best value.
AT's.
700 - warm, comfortable, more isolating. Less 'live' sounding the grado's, more like listening in a small club than an open concert. Seem accurate, more so than the SR60's with a bit more richness, about the same as the 80's.
900 - Slightly more clarity than the 700's but not enough to justify the price jump.
w1000 - Oh god, why did I have to try these. Don't think I've ever heard headphones like them. Less weighty sound than the 7/900's but much, much more accurate to my ears, stunning separation, vocals that send shivers up your spine, detailed everything. That said, less 'full' than the others. Incredibly comfortable.
Overall, I'm amazed at how good some headphones can be. I want the w1000's but they're 4 times the price of the SR80's, which for me are a stunning bargain.
Now, The grado's were demo models, as I think were the 7//900's. The w1000's were fresh out of the box unused. All listening was done on a marantz cd/sacd player through the players own headphone output.
Questions.
Do my untutored impressions sound reasonable to others in what I'm hearing?
Would the depth on the 1000's expand with use do you think, and would using a proper headphone amp be likely to change the sound significantly for any/all of these phones.
Any others you'd recommend reviewing?
Thanks.
J.