Edward Gosfield III <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>I have a pair of Sennheiser 580s which play quite loudly on the 702, and
>have very good sound quality. They have a bit more bass than i prefer,
>but it is pretty reasonable on MD. They have a very clean and clear
>midrange and high end. Quite smooth, and no listener fatigue. Semi
>open design with nice velvet ear piece covers.
Ironically, your Sennheisers can sound much better :-) The 702 headphone
amp, while bigger than the Sony's, doesn't really provide enough power to
drive the 580's very well. I've listened to a set of 580s on a 702, and
then on a 702 with a dedicated headphone amp, and the latter delivered
much better sound.
Personally, I think the 580s are one of the greatest headphones ever
made, but I wouldn't recommend them to someone with a portable. I think
that the Grado SR-60s will sound better to most people (though they're
less comfortable) simply because they were designed to be driven by
portables. And they are a cut above the Sony phones (sound-wise) that
cost twice as much.
>My standard of comparison for phones is a pair of STAX SRX-III
>electrostatics.
You're spoiled ;-)
>The cheapest high quality phones i am aware of that can be driven loudly
>by walkman/MD are the Grado phones. I find them uncomfortable to wear,
>due to cheap (1930s communication equipment style) headpiece/suspension
>and cheap/sleazy earpieces, but the sound quality is quite good,
>especially for the money, and they are small and pretty light weight,
>although not in the walkman weight class. available at Circuit City,
>some mail order, internet, etc. around $60 and up.
I would say the sound quality is pretty amazing for the money ;-) But the
other comments are right on. The first thing to do with them is to bend
the headband so that it fits your head better. On a positive note, they
have replaced the uncomfortable, yellow earpads with more comfortable
black ones.
>Anyone using Etymotics on 702 or equivalent?
Yes, I do. Like the Sennheisers, the Etys require a decent headphone amp.
On my Sony MZR-50, they don't sound that great, because of its weak amp.
On my girlfriend's 702, they are noticeably better (the amp is more
powerful on the 702). You could also use a HeadRoom Airhead amp which
runs on two AAs and provides a huge improvement. On the other hand, the
new Etys that came out last month are supposedly much more efficient --
they realized a lot of people were using them with portables, so the
redesigned them to require less power to sound good. I haven't heard
them, but I've read that they offer better overall sound, but also much
better bass response, especially when used with portables. Unfortunately
they want $150 for an upgrade ;-)
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