Audio Denon D5000 vs Grado SR225 vs Audio Technica M50 vs Sennheiser HD650 - Impressions

Re: Denon D5000 vs Grado SR225 vs Audio Technica M50 vs Sennheiser HD650 - Impression

Right so I've been pondering a lot and I've come close to settling on the HD650, seeing as the RS1i is priced a little out of my strict budget. Would my Mustang be able drive these to acceptable levels until I'm ready to invest in a tube amp? I'm told they can drive the AKG K70x without any hiccups (again I stress on the told part, so don't flame!). Don't want the hassle of a tube amp right now. Might think of picking one up when I'm done with my course and heading back home.

About the cables, the Grado's have a terrible splitter. Unless you're very very careful, your cables will almost certainly fray, don't let them twist!

EDIT: .................... I forgot, great impressions :D
 
Re: Denon D5000 vs Grado SR225 vs Audio Technica M50 vs Sennheiser HD650 - Impression

@Titana - Thanks ! :D

@Esantosh - Ah I somehow didnt see your earlier post. Must have had a bit too much to drink. :S
You wont believe it but I had actually written Big Shows name in place of Khali but I was wondering if too many people knew him so I changed it to Khali. :p

@EdgeHussain - I have a Compass amp, but as I said I was doing this for fun and did not want to keep switching over to the Compass amp every-time I wanted to hear the Senns. Plus as Faheem said I have upgraded my amp. It will be reaching me soon. In fact a TE member only built the amp himself and the poor guy has the unpleasant task of packing the rather huge amp. :ashamed:

@Ritvik - Unfortunately the P51 has a 4.6V battery and it wont provide enough voltage to drive the HD650. It provides 250 mW of current so its possible it could drive the low ohm but high sensitivity AKG K701.

That said its relatively cheap to power the HD650 nowadays. A cheap FiiO E9 will provide enough juice to drive the HD650 properly. Or you can try the Audio-GD Sparrow amp to drive the HD650.
 
Re: Denon D5000 vs Grado SR225 vs Audio Technica M50 vs Sennheiser HD650 - Impression

Great work brah only in my opinion you shouldn't be changing bases.
You set one can as a base and set it to 1 and rate the other cans compared to that base.I guess your idea was to rate the cans as I described but you ended up rating it in a modification of the conventional 0-10 point scale by setting the least performing one to 1 and rating everything else against it.I wish you had an AD700 too which is one of the most popular cans over here and it would have helped make [strike]our wallets lighter[/strike] better upgrade decisions.
 
Re: Denon D5000 vs Grado SR225 vs Audio Technica M50 vs Sennheiser HD650 - Impression

Hi Arun, thanks for your suggestion. I am always open to new ideas though I doubt I will get the opportunity to use such uber cans together again for a long time. I did not like a rating scale as I do not have a real 'reference' can to compare with. So that is why I used one of the 4 cans as a least liked reference to rate the other cans.

While I would have loved to have more cans to the comparison I am afraid the AD700 would have been thoroughly outclassed in this test. The M50s are good headphones by themselves but as you can see, other than the bass the other three are substantially better cans than the M50s. The AD700 are even cheaper than the M50s and have a highly rolled off bass which would have put them even further down the list in bass quality and quantity. :p

However they would have given the others some fight in the midrange and soundstage test. :)
 
Re: Denon D5000 vs Grado SR225 vs Audio Technica M50 vs Sennheiser HD650 - Impression

I think it gives a pretty clear picture since you've rated them in the same order in the treble, soundstage, imaging and transparency department. I think its pretty clear that the
Sr225 > D5000 > HD650 > M50.

The only place the HD650 takes the lead is if the listener wants a laid back sounding hp where the focus is on the mids.

The Sr225 if the listener wants everything except bass quantity.

The D5000 if the listener wants fun sounding headphones with smooth and lush mids and lotsa bass.

And M50 if the listener wants portable fun sounding hps. Not of a reference quality but something which he/she can drive easily though a ipod, etc.

The DT880/990 are excellent all rounders, they have good bass, good mids, good treble. They are hard to drive though and definitely require good amping, atleast a audio-gd compass with the DT990 being slightly brighter and treble happy than the DT880. Between the two I would prefer the 32ohm DT880, YMMV of course. The reason I never bought either of the two is simple, these two are excellent all rounders, but Master of none. sr225i are better in imaging and soundstage, d5000s give me better bass than them, sr225i and d5000s both have better mids than the beyers and the sr225i's have an excellent treble extension and sparkle and the beyers are incomparable to it. I would certainly recommend the DT880/990 to someone who promises me that this is going to be his first and last headphone but I know thats never the case as most audiophiles don't listen to just one strict genre. I would still say that they are excellent all rounders.
The k70x is simply bass deficient, the spectrum just falls off towards the low end, and unless you have a warm dac/amp to make up for it, it doesn't really make sense going for it unless you don't want to have bass at all. It offers excellent detailing, maybe because there is nothing else so thats the only thing you will notice in the picture. I'm guessing if you hook it up to a MS2 you might notice detailing that you never knew existed in the recording, just don't expect any bass!!
 
Re: Denon D5000 vs Grado SR225 vs Audio Technica M50 vs Sennheiser HD650 - Impression

Time for you(bf1983) to throw your Thunderpants impressions into this!
 
Re: Denon D5000 vs Grado SR225 vs Audio Technica M50 vs Sennheiser HD650 - Impression

Hi, just thought that I might add up couple of thoughts on these as we sell all the models described here. We also have all of these in stock (D2000 instead of D5000). I think we are not comparing products appropriately. Firstly it is not appropriate to compare any of these headphones. Some of them are not even similar type. The fits on these earphones are again not similar. They are popular so it gets interesting to compare them. HD650 used to be flagship model of sennheiser. Most manufactures also keep a track regarding the pricing of similar models of their competing brand. M50 is more value for money! D5000 is one of the prime product from Denon. SR225 is not the flagship product from Grado.

Most of the audiophile recordings are found in Jazz, Vocal and Classical genre. Also did you ever think why sound gets opinionated by a genre listener? Anyways I have been working on the design on Triple Balanced Armature (multiple balanced armature). Lot of information I cannot share here, because they are classified. Perceived good sounding may not be accurate sounding. There is usually a reason why some designers may choose to have a particular signature over the others.

Last few months were also spend in developing a new IEM for another company. Seven prototypes have been completed (i have finally rejected three of them). @Faheem you are most welcome to try them. @benny I would get them for you to audition them in Singapore. @bf1983 we need to touch base. its been a long time.

This is the first time I have ventured out of traditional speaker design. Anyways its nice to see all of you in a common thread, including estantosh. Oh BTW, I also have only one (THE) prototype of one of the new upcoming IEM of a famous brand. (Left with me by mistake).
 
Re: Denon D5000 vs Grado SR225 vs Audio Technica M50 vs Sennheiser HD650 - Impression

Well, you are right in what your saying Gautam that these headphones are not of a similar kind and they are very versatile in their signature. It wouldn't be fair to compare them on the same platform. But that doesn't mean we can't ;)

The idea of this review was an upsurge of emotions and excitement mixed with an opportunity to pit these 4 top tier headphones against each other to derive what exactly is the forte of each of them with the genre of music that the reviewer likes to listen to.

If anyone who shares interest in the same genre as the reviewer, he/she would have a clearer picture of what TYPE of headphone he/she should have on their list rather than which headphone model to be exact. For the rest, we can derive from the reviewers point of view as to what the headphones would sound like, making the process of elimination easier for the next purchase.

Whats this talk about a triple balanced armation and prototypes and top secret projects?? Sounds like your assembling some nuclear headphones for the NSA. :p

Lemme know when your here.....I have try these babies out :)
 
Re: Denon D5000 vs Grado SR225 vs Audio Technica M50 vs Sennheiser HD650 - Impression

Hey Gautam, its been a long time since we last met at the first Indian head-fi meet. :)

This wasn't meant to be a serious comparison as I only had the headphones for a week. (A damm good week though ! :p )

That said I tried to give each headphones marks as per their strengths and not as to what I liked best.

In fact if someone offered me only headphone out of the 4 I would still pick the HD650 every time as it suits my requirements the best but in this comparison they still took the no 3 spot. I am also getting a new DIY amp within a few days. That should take my HD650 to the next level. :)

You have really piqued my curiosity about the IEM that you were thinking of designing. If the IEMs are anything like the speakers that you made then I am going to buy one once it comes out !

Will definitely be interested in dropping by after work for an audition if you are free. :D
 
Re: Denon D5000 vs Grado SR225 vs Audio Technica M50 vs Sennheiser HD650 - Impression

You all may know that I had been custom making speakers as an hobby before I toyed the idea of Pristine Note. I have had a Pune based SMD Manufacturer offering me to build these speakers for mass production. I was not keen because by that time Pristine Note was born. I told him, that I will work out a more viable proposition. I had been working on IEM and Balanced Armatures for some time now. Some of the design specs I will still not be able to share with you all here. This is due to confidentiality code of agreement.

Since the project is in very incipient stage, its not a very good idea to blabber mouth about them right now. However I will keep you apprised. I also have a close ENT Surgeon (a good friend) who would be assisting me in the project.

@ Benny I love your sense of humor ... its always a pleasure to meet you. I thought you would give me a call once you are in india this time.

@BF1983: Faheem told me about your new HD650. You have my number? I had viral couple of days back, getting better..... but you are more than welcome to visit me. I am glad that you are talking the DIY path, do let me know if you need any assistance.
 
Re: Denon D5000 vs Grado SR225 vs Audio Technica M50 vs Sennheiser HD650 - Impression

Updated the review after adding the HD650 amped version in the mix. Also fixed a few typos and stuff. :)
 
Re: Denon D5000 vs Grado SR225 vs Audio Technica M50 vs Sennheiser HD650 - Impression

Could anyone suggest a Dac or Dac+Amp for the Sr225 and the D5000. I sold my Maverick D1 today because I din't like the sound sig and the soundstage. Need it for the 3 outta the 4 hps mentioned in your impressions.

I was considering the HRT MS2 / MS2+ / Cambridge DacMagic / Audio-gd NFB12 / Audio-gd Fun / Or any other? Budget < $300USD. Sound sig preference is extremely detailed sound with a very good soundstage and good lows.
 
Re: Denon D5000 vs Grado SR225 vs Audio Technica M50 vs Sennheiser HD650 - Impression

Slightly over your budget ,

but i think the MSII + Matrix m-stage is perfect or your requirements.

MSII will cost you around 150 and the m-stage will cost you 230-270 depending on where you buy it from.

IF you go second hand, may be you can get them below 300.
 
Re: Denon D5000 vs Grado SR225 vs Audio Technica M50 vs Sennheiser HD650 - Impression

I was thinking of the Xonar Stx card. I'm just confused between the Stx and the MS2.
 
Re: Denon D5000 vs Grado SR225 vs Audio Technica M50 vs Sennheiser HD650 - Impression

with the m-stage you will get superior amp.

and MSII has great soundstage and imaging , praised all over.

YGPM :)
 
Re: Denon D5000 vs Grado SR225 vs Audio Technica M50 vs Sennheiser HD650 - Impression

Thanks for the suggestion but buying both will be a bit over my budget strategy. :)
 
Re: Denon D5000 vs Grado SR225 vs Audio Technica M50 vs Sennheiser HD650 - Impression

I also want to test the difference between the MS 2 and the STX.

Would be an interesting comparison.

I have to second Strategys recommendation of MS2 + M-Stage.
 
Re: Denon D5000 vs Grado SR225 vs Audio Technica M50 vs Sennheiser HD650 - Impression

^ You also need to add the Lawton modded & recabled D5000 to this comparisons :p
 
Re: Denon D5000 vs Grado SR225 vs Audio Technica M50 vs Sennheiser HD650 - Impression

Just a suggestion, dont get the stx, get the ST, there is a noticeable difference in audio quality.
 
Re: Denon D5000 vs Grado SR225 vs Audio Technica M50 vs Sennheiser HD650 - Impression

edge111hussain said:
Just a suggestion, dont get the stx, get the ST, there is a noticeable difference in audio quality.
Click to expand...
Have you compared both? Or can you provide the link.
 
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