Quote:
Originally Posted by calumniate
The hifiman 400i are very different from the k702. They seem to have quite a bit more bass and less soundstage. But the end result is a very warm 'in your head' type of experience. I actually like how different they are. Comfort wise I modded the headband and if I were to purchase again would probably go with the sundara that seems to have the better strap.
Sorry to all the people in this thread that are more interested in 'hifi' and not ~$250 headphones lol.
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Well, there's Hifi systems that should allow for occasional headphone usage, no?
They're both accessories chasing the same thing but one fills a more personal space and the other is designed to fill an intimate space. This thread is making me want to look into a receiver, speaker and amp upgrade. Bleh. I must fight it.
I mean, I'm sitting maybe 100 meters away from sets of $5 to 50K speakers that I can notice the difference, but I have absolutely no intention of ever entering into that realm of audio quality/set up. I've also experimented with pairing headphones with less thundering bass with a wearable subwoofer. It's very fun and it's very interesting and fun to experience a physical bass effect vs getting a bass effect via sound. I also have bone conduction headphones for other specific applications. Different flavors is fun.
After reading your comments and a few more online, without having listened to it, I almost want to say the Sundara are in a similar realm to the K702/ATH offerings and the 400i are in a similar realm to the DT770 pro and DT990 pro. It seems that based on many comments I read, that those that can hear the difference find the differences distinct. But those that cannot or are unsure what they're listening for, it's basically splitting hairs.
After mulling things over and thinking about some of the comments, I think I'd recommend the following methodology to bossy22 and photon.
bossy22:
Spoiler!
- Not sure what your preferences are like and how many differences you'd notice in the Mid-Fi to HiFi range of headphones... so I'd recommend starting simple.
- Instead of buying a single headphone (or if you have a pair, factor them into your decision), buy two pairs of headphones with "alternate flavors" for around your budget of $400 (Average $200 each depending on deals, new or used). Let each pair perform differently and combined they round out your overall experience.
- Since your preference is rock, I'd probably recommend you start with the neutral sounding Sennheiser HD599 (open). Spend some time listening to the vast majority of your favourite playlist/songs without tweaking EQ, perhaps some songs more than once. Then go through it again with some EQ and see if you like or dislike the EQ effects. This allows you to start in the centre and establish if you want to round out your experience with a warmer or clearer set of headphones and if you've never tried open, it'll give you an idea if you want to keep them/round out/replace with a pair of open or closed cans.
- Different headphones for different music/different styles of recording and perhaps different applications (gaming, movies etc.) or even your own personal and subjective analysis on certain songs/pieces. Or if the HD599 is something you like and all you want, that's fine too.
https://ca.camelcamelcamel.com/product/B01L1IICR2
HD599 $280 regular, often drops to $200-220, occasionally will drop to $150 for something like black Friday.
- Then you have two preferences to basically identify: Open or closed and if you like the sounds blending into each other or if you like if each individual type of sound was a little more isolated from each other. (ie: "warm or clear"). There is no wrong answer.
photon:
Spoiler!
- If you liked the HD650, I believe the Sundara are in the same "realm" of sound out of the box but the Sundara can be EQ tweaked into the realm of the HD800.
- Sundara might be slightly better for music without tweaking the EQ settings and sound stage settings. DT990 pro might be better for gaming and movies than music without tweaking. At least those types of comments I saw more than once.
- Both DT990 pro and Sundara are quite capable of noticeable enhancements to sound via EQ settings, I've read that the DT990 pro may need more EQ "tweaking" than the Sundara from default to really appreciate, but this is subjective. I've read many comments that the DT990 pro are bad without tweaking.
- Playing with EQ settings isn't as arduous as it sounds, especially if you have something with presets like cinema, music, tv, sound stage size etc. or even further fine tuned combinations like "normal, pop, rock, classical, metal, vocal" etc. on something that is more dedicated to music. Once you change settings, it should be immediately evident that there are differences.
- Give the DT880s a try if they're available. It might be the perfect balance of what you're looking for between the HD650 and Sundara.
- Ignore price and value at first. Go with what feels good overall for you. Hopefully you can play with some EQ settings when you test out the headphones. However, it's not always easy to identify what you like without being able to test it on your normal stuff. (Similar difficulties when you listen to speakers in a store with their setup vs your own set up).