John Medeiros does a massive roundup of cans!

[ablaze 0]

SURVIVOR:Head-Fi

Gear Used:

AKG K1000

Sennheiser HD600 w/Cardas replacement cable

Sony MDR CD3000

Audio Technica W1000

Beyerdynamic DT880

Koss Porta Pros

Etymonic ER-4S

Corda HA-2

Philips 963SA

Music Used:

Band of Brothers Soundtrack "Main Theme" and more

Nils Lofgren-Acoustic Live "Black Books"

Miles Davis-Kind of Blue "So What"

U2-Achtung Baby "Even Better than the Real Thing"

Oklahoma London Cast-"Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" sung by Hugh Jackman

Clint Black-The Greatest Hits "Like the Rain"

Marky Mark & the Funky Bunch "You Gotta Believe" (I know...but I used it for the bass

Basia-Time & Tide "Promises"

Sweet Honey in the Rock-"Breaths"

Bernstein's MASS

Bruce Springsteen "The Rising"

Philip Glass "Einstein on the Beach" Knee 3

Ok, this will be short and sweet. I assembled all these cans over the past month in order to make a first-hand decision on what I wanted here for my music.

Actually, we have three survivors....one for the living room rig, one for my bedroom setup and one for portable use.

PORTABLE:

The choices were the Etys or the Porta Pros. This was an easy choice for me. I had the Etys for two days and as good as they sounded detail-wise...the microphonics, uber-isolation and lack of full bass ruled them out as portable or home use for me. Although I did not find them uncomfortable and was able to get a good seal, I did not like the notion of "in-ear canal" phones. The Koss Porta Pros give me exactly what I need for casual listening on the go. With my Archos Jukebox or my Sony laptop, they provide adequate fidelity for music and DVD movies as well as portability. Boomy bass and all. I also like the open quality so I can hear my surroundings if I need to. And I find them very comfy. At $31 delivered from Koss...they are economical and easily replacable.

BEDROOM:

Another easy choice. I decided to make the jump into ear speakers and tube gear in one single bound. I got a nOrh SE9 amp at a fantastic price on Audiogon. I ordered the AKG K1000s to pair with it and the combo is as wonderful as I had read. This system is a keeper and I am enjoying building upon it with the help of the guys here.

LIVING ROOM:

Ok here is where the real work was. Ideally, I wanted one set of phones for my livingroom setup. These will be used for music via my Corda HA-2 amp and for film viewing via my Dolby Headphone processor.

Sennheiser HD600 w/Cardas-I have had these here to listen to the longest and have fallen in love with their sound. Everything I play on them seems to sound effortless and enjoyable. I do hear the "veiling" that folks speak of...especially with the stock cable, but it does not bother me. It actually is part of what I like about these headphones..that easy laid-back thing. With the Cardas replacement, the veil seems to lift a bit and things get a bit more lively...but do not add any fatigue factor. I can listen to these for 6 hours at a time and not get tired. They are also extremely comfortable on my head with their soft velvet cup pads. I thought sure these would be my winners...especially for music...until the arrival of the Sony MDR CD3000s that is...

Sony MDR CD3000- These just arrived this week. I had originally intended to get these primarily for film watching as I had heard from fellow headfiers that they were superb in that area with their huge soundstage. They also are very easy to run and would do well in my low power sources like the Dolby Headphone processor and my laptop. Well, as it turns out...I love everything about these cans in every application I have tried them in. The size of the sonic presentation is as huge as the cups are big...but there is so much more to these big boys. The sense of realism and live presence is more palpable with these than any of the other phones I have here. They are bright and forward without any trace of shrillness. Everything sounds live with these to my ears. Violins sound like violins....acoustic guitar and piano is breathtaking. The bass seems to go on for days with plummeting lows and powerful slam when needed. Vocals are intimate and seem to be fully fleshed out...as if the person was standing right in front of me. There is a realistic weight the voice. Not only do they beat my beloved Senns in movie soundtrack rendering, 9 times out of 10 I prefer their execution of my favorite music as well. On the comfort scale they are a 10. They are super easy to drive with the Corda dial not needing to go above 9 o'clock for my ears.

Beyerdynamic DT880s-A really great sounding set of phones. These sound similar to the Senns to me. They also required a tad more power to drive them. Instead of 11 o'clock on the Corda dial...I had it at 12 for similar volume. I thought they did some wonderful things with male vocals...there was a solid, supported quality. There was lots of detail in the music. The highs seem a bit more extended than the Senns, but the bass did not have enough impact or presense for me. Comfort is a plus...the velour pads are nice and my ears fit fully inside the cups. However, both the Senns and Sonys have the edge over these for me.

Audio Technica W1000s-I really wanted to love these phones. They are so beautiful to look at. Unfortunately, for me they were my least favorite of the top 4 contenders. The highs seem strident to me in many instrumental passages as well as male and female vocals. There is also an odd artificiality to the overall sound to my ears. Perhaps this would all improve with a tube amp. But, they were not a good mate with my Corda HA-2. The bass response is also a bit lackluster. Tight but dull. They lack the presence of the other three cans. But, they sure are purty.

So...since the K1000s and Porta Pros already have Immunity and their own place here at Casa Medeiros....who will the final Survivor be in the Living Room?

The AT W1000s and Beyer DT880s have been voted off and will soon be making an appearance on the B/S/T board.

I still want to spend the weekend comparing the Senns with the Sonys....but at this point in time..the gorgeous sounding CD3Ks have the edge and are quickly building an alliance with my amp and my ears.

John

[ablaze 0]

note the entire post above is cut and paste from http://www4.head-fi.org/forums/showthread....&threadid=30364

 

mm..guess who won the "living room" category

[Gouki 0]

So how much do the CD3000 cost in Singapore?

 

I'm thinking of getting a nice pair of wireless when I"m in Japan (they have a lot that Singapore doesn't have). I will use it for my computer/tv.

[Northern Oak 0]

From what I heard from ablaze, you wouldn't be able to get the CD3000 in Singapore. Get it in Japan and if you do, please tell me where to get it. I will be heading there next Friday.

 

I wonder if I can get tax-rebate, since I'm going to bring the cans out of Japan?

[Blues 0]

wow.. w1000 is his least fav...

amp dependent I guess

[ting 0]

The fun part here is that when I was auditing the W1000 and the DT880, I found 880 to be strident instead of 1000, so, it sounds like everybody is different, amps also makes different, maybe even wheather makes different?

Ablaze, maybe after this SARS, we can arrange a comparison of my 1000 and your 3000?

I'm also looking forward to try my 1000 with Rameish's corda amp after SARS crisis.

Edited March 31, 2003 by ting

[N@Z 0]

I'm assuming JM is still single as an AKG1000 in his bedroom will be distracting due to the sound leakage & get complaints from anyone in the same room!

 

Concerning the Etys, I've read numerous posts about people looping the cable over their ears so I tried it out, surprise surprise, the low end detail was more pronounced especially bass guitar etc. It's worth a try for anyone who is annoyed to hell by the cable microphonics.