mulveling
Member
I've owned and heard a LOT of the top-level cans, with the notable exceptions of the new-ish HD800 and the Grado PS1/GS1000/PS1000/i-series.
Have owned:
Sony MDR-R10, Qualia 010
Audio Technica L3000 (twice), W2002 (twice), W5000, W11jpn, W10vtg
Sennheiser HD580/600/650
AKG K1000, K340
Grado HP-2 (three times), HF-1, RS1 (two times), RS2, sr325, sr225
Ultrasone Edition 9
JVC HP-DX1000
Friend-owned (and extensively auditioned on my part):
Sennheiser Orpheus he90/hev90 System
Have heard a bunch of others over the years, including Denon D5000, AKG K501, K701, Stax Omega II, Stax Lambda Pro, etc...
There's a wide range of sonic flavors among ALL of these, which accounts for personal preference playing such a large role in individuals' selections and favorites. Most are technically quite good, though there are a few I've been less than impressed with - for instance the Grado SR & RS series (for the price) and the Ultrasone Ed 9 (again, for the price). Most are tonally at least somewhat reasonable, though a couple in the AT line will make you scratch your head, not in a good way (here's looking at you, W2002 and W5000).
The BEST midrange (tone, accuracy, resolution, musicality), IMO, belongs to the Sony MDR-R10. Hands down. However, they're rare and ridiculously expensive even heavily used ($5K+). The bass slam is lacking, to varying degrees depending on vintage, compared to some of the better-endowed (and much more affordable) cans. This can be a deal-breaker.
The BEST cans for metal & hard rock are the L3000. They have killer bass impact, nice warm tone, and a small/medium sized room intimate quality to their projected head-stage.
The BEST cans without the backing hifi gear (right out of a headphone jack, digital source) are quite possibly the RS1. For this, they might well be worth the money. Unfortunately they DON'T scale up, in my experience, with top-notch amplification and sources like many of the others.
The BEST cans for perceived "air" would be the top-range electrostats: Omega II and he90.
The BEST cans for overall speed/detail/resolution are the Qualia 010. Fitting them is a bitch - a millimeter here or there on your head can make a huge difference (watch them cheekbones!). The cold-ish tone can take some getting used to. They will sound "cavernous" (in a bad way) until you get the fit just right. Very rare and expensive.
MY choice for overall price/performance/musicality - is the Sennheiser HD650. Their coherence, integration, and musicality over the WHOLE spectrum is what makes them special. They do everything very well. It's not a case of "jack-of-all-trades, master of none", but rather "the whole is greater than the sum of parts". They scale like a devil with a top-notch analog source. They project a very nice, fairly large head-stage. They do all genres of music equally well (I don't buy the "Grado-for-rock, Senns-for-classical" cliche). Nice bass slam and dynamics, smooth non-fatiguing treble, slightly warm mids with a beautiful, natural overall tone. They're very reasonably priced. The Tannoy Dual-Concentrics are my favorite speakers for much the same reasons - I find the HD650 to be the Tannoy DC of headphones. Unfortuately, my Tannoy speakers set me back a LOT more than a set of the HD650
Have owned:
Sony MDR-R10, Qualia 010
Audio Technica L3000 (twice), W2002 (twice), W5000, W11jpn, W10vtg
Sennheiser HD580/600/650
AKG K1000, K340
Grado HP-2 (three times), HF-1, RS1 (two times), RS2, sr325, sr225
Ultrasone Edition 9
JVC HP-DX1000
Friend-owned (and extensively auditioned on my part):
Sennheiser Orpheus he90/hev90 System
Have heard a bunch of others over the years, including Denon D5000, AKG K501, K701, Stax Omega II, Stax Lambda Pro, etc...
There's a wide range of sonic flavors among ALL of these, which accounts for personal preference playing such a large role in individuals' selections and favorites. Most are technically quite good, though there are a few I've been less than impressed with - for instance the Grado SR & RS series (for the price) and the Ultrasone Ed 9 (again, for the price). Most are tonally at least somewhat reasonable, though a couple in the AT line will make you scratch your head, not in a good way (here's looking at you, W2002 and W5000).
The BEST midrange (tone, accuracy, resolution, musicality), IMO, belongs to the Sony MDR-R10. Hands down. However, they're rare and ridiculously expensive even heavily used ($5K+). The bass slam is lacking, to varying degrees depending on vintage, compared to some of the better-endowed (and much more affordable) cans. This can be a deal-breaker.
The BEST cans for metal & hard rock are the L3000. They have killer bass impact, nice warm tone, and a small/medium sized room intimate quality to their projected head-stage.
The BEST cans without the backing hifi gear (right out of a headphone jack, digital source) are quite possibly the RS1. For this, they might well be worth the money. Unfortunately they DON'T scale up, in my experience, with top-notch amplification and sources like many of the others.
The BEST cans for perceived "air" would be the top-range electrostats: Omega II and he90.
The BEST cans for overall speed/detail/resolution are the Qualia 010. Fitting them is a bitch - a millimeter here or there on your head can make a huge difference (watch them cheekbones!). The cold-ish tone can take some getting used to. They will sound "cavernous" (in a bad way) until you get the fit just right. Very rare and expensive.
MY choice for overall price/performance/musicality - is the Sennheiser HD650. Their coherence, integration, and musicality over the WHOLE spectrum is what makes them special. They do everything very well. It's not a case of "jack-of-all-trades, master of none", but rather "the whole is greater than the sum of parts". They scale like a devil with a top-notch analog source. They project a very nice, fairly large head-stage. They do all genres of music equally well (I don't buy the "Grado-for-rock, Senns-for-classical" cliche). Nice bass slam and dynamics, smooth non-fatiguing treble, slightly warm mids with a beautiful, natural overall tone. They're very reasonably priced. The Tannoy Dual-Concentrics are my favorite speakers for much the same reasons - I find the HD650 to be the Tannoy DC of headphones. Unfortuately, my Tannoy speakers set me back a LOT more than a set of the HD650
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