Closed back headphones

General Headphone Discussion
124

Yeah, heard the same.

Yeah I don’t have high hopes for it either, it’s just to satisfy my curiosity.

Had those for a couple of years, they’re okay if you don’t mind very small cups. The FR’s a bit uneven though, to me it’s a bit funny that these would be called “studio” headphones. Also the heavy and coiled wire was very annoying to me.

IMO if someone’s open to EQing, a lot of gaming headsets deserves a closer look. I absolutely love the GSP600 (and the current version, H6 Pro). The spacial qualities are fantastic, with great bass extension and good imaging with the angled drivers. However they sound quite terrible without some EQ fine tuning so I can’t recommend that to anyone who wants to plug and play. I haven’t tried the Logitech G433 or the Astro A40, but both of those also have great extensions in the FR, with spacious cups and angled drivers as well.

The FT1 has good FR but felt terribly closed in for sound stage for my ears. Could be different for other people of course. I’m getting some angled pads for the K371 to see if that has any effect on sound stage vs the flat stock pads.

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125

And that’s a great choice, I’ve heard that as well and really liked it. A few db less at select treble frequencies and I think I’d be very happy to live with a set of DT 770.

Plus it has good build quality and easily sourced replacement parts.

126

The K550/3 is still relevant, I would say. But I don’t really recommend it

would you mind elaborating why?

127

This is true. And it was a good choice when I bought, I think. It also has pros/cons though, like the other headphones imo. The biggest con is the frequency response imo, which has a few bumps and dips. This is compensated with Rtings new 5128 target response curve btw…

It is also not the most elegant-looking headphone. Though it is pretty comfortable for extended listening.

Another closed-back I have not heard yet btw is the newer Beyerdynamic DT 700 Pro X, which appears to have a somewhat more toned down response in the treble than the DT 770.

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128

Tried the 770 and the 700 pro X back to back. I liked the 770 more. Looking at the FR graphs for both, the 700 have one fewer valley to fix in EQ. Neither of them are ideal. Requires some higher Q filters to fix. Personally it wouldn’t bother me too much.

The 700 looks more modern.

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129

Imo, there are design, ergonomic, sealing, symmetry, QC, and other considerations that would make the AKG K553 a hard headphone for me to recommend.

For starters, it seems to be designed for very large heads. And getting the large plushy earpads to seal reliably is probably goin to be difficult if you don’t have a pretty sizable noggin, or add more padding to the headband to raise the height of the earcups.

If you have a big head, and enjoy tinkering with your headphone’s design, then it might perhaps be worth considering. The symmetry/driver matching also did not seem terribly good though to me on the K553.

On the plus side, it has a pretty warm, open sound for a closed-back. And should be fairly EQ-able, if you can find some decent graphs.

Ora has a GRAS plot of this headphone. The response in the (sub)bass is very seal-dependent though. I have used this headphone extensively btw.

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130

The Shure SRH840A is another headphone I have not heard, but have considered trying. And it is not as big as the K553. Here is Ora’s graph for comparison.

How open or spacey it would sound, I can’t really say, but it appears to have excellent extension in the bass and treble. And somewhat withdrawn mids. So a somewhat U-shaped response overall. So it might perhaps be especially good for lower volume listening, where that type of response can be more desirable.

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131

That’s a fantastic FR graph. Well worth a look at the lower mid price range. Can’t imagine it’d be anything special for spaciousness since it’s just any other small cup flat driver design.

Personally I’m not a fan of those little tiny wires sticking out near the cup by the hinge, the Sony 7506 had those too and once in a while a finger or something gets caught in the wire and I’m always afraid I’d break the wire.

132

I’d like to see a review and some raw 5128 measurements on the new Focal Lensys Pro as well. Even though this is probably out of reach of my budget. Looks like a nice piece of gear though, with slightly angled 40mm aluminum-magnesium “M” drivers.

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133

If you haven’t tried the Fiio FT1 I’d highly suggest it, I prefer it over the Hadenys and Azurys by a large margin, at less than half the price. I don’t know if it’s the cup design or what but those 2 and the Focal Bathys (same shell) have a peak in the upper mids or treble that can be harsh and grainy at times

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134

Crinacle gives his take on the Sennheiser HD 620S vs. some other closed-backs in a similar price range.

There are some noteworthy omissions in the comparisons, including the new Fiio FT1, Beyer DT 700 Pro X, Shure SRH-840A, Austrian Audio Hi-X20, Sony MDR-M1, etc. Always interesting to hear his takes though.

There’s also a bit of frank language in this btw. So that’s why I’ve switched the review to a link.

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135

I thought the hd620s sounded like crap. Actually shocking how bloomy and weird it was compared to the hd600.

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136

The unevenness in some spots in the FR gives me a little pause. The open backs I’ve been lookin at lately are just smoother across the bass and mids. I’m tryin to keep an open mind though on some of these new closed designs.

Any further thoughts on the K371 or other headphones you’ve been trying, Luke?

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137

AKG K371

My ears touches the driver mesh and it’s annoying after just 5 mins. The stock pads are too thin and there’s not enough space in the cups. Sound quality is good. On a scale of 1-10, 10 is the Bravura, 5 is the DT 1990 not EQed (so some pretty obvious flaws in the FR but feels spacious and dynamic anyway), then these K371 is like a 6. Good FR, doesn’t sound that closed in, unfocused center channel, some sound bleeding from left channel to the right, and a smaller amount from right to the left, grounding issue?

Great tuning right out of the box though. Very usable without EQ.

The on center vocals sound unfocused and it makes me miss the HD600. It’s easy to feel a lack of bass due to pads not sealing properly. Adjusted the headband a bit and now it sounds really good.

FR:
Subbass - 7, bass - 8, mids - 9, treble - 7, tonal balance - 8

Quality:
tactility - 4, sound stage - 7, center imaging - 3

With EQ

Still sounds unfocused in the middle. Not much immersiveness, lacking spatial effects… Bass is really good. Overall it sounds very 2D even though it’s not that closed in. Tonality is fine but it’s not that enjoyable or gripping. Like watching 2D videos with VR glasses on.

Sub bass - Plenty, bass - ear rattling if you want, mids - not that captivating, treble, passable

Quality:

Tactility - 8, sound stage - 4, center imaging - 3

AKG K371 Angled pads with EQ

Sub bass - 8.5
Bass - 9
Mids - 9
Treble - 9

Tactility - 9
Sound stage - 7
Center imaging - 7

Center imaging improved a lot. Sounds more realistic overall, more comfortable. Great bass response. Sound stage opened up slightly. Still not as roomy and grand as the GSP 600. But it’s enjoyable enough that I would keep it if I didn’t have other headphones. Sound stage is very 3 blob like. Just L/R/C. A/B against the E3 Eqed, immediately the soundstage is wider but in a bit of a strange 3 blob way. Otherwise tonality is about the same, both great. The K371 has better punch though.

Sold the k371 after testing it for a week with stock and angled pads. The biggest weakness is sound stage, depth, and build quality. But for everything else it was really great especially after EQ.

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