Soliciting help in finding a traveling headphone which resembles Sennheiser HD 600

[Davidka1]

Given that Sennheiser HD 600 are my favorite headphones, sound wise, (i also love their comfort and built qualities), would someone please suggest a "similar" sound quality traveling headphone that are a good match for iDevices, for me ?. I am also open for the idea of acquiring an headphone amplifier if that's what it takes.

I understand (or so it's seems) ? that achieving similar sonic characteristic like the open back HD 600, would be difficult with closed back (which is a requirement for avoiding leaking sound from disturbing other passengers on an airplane for example).

I've auditioned thus far the PSB M4U 2, Momentum over the ears, B & W P5, P7, and read about KEF M500, V-Moda -100, and others. The reviews on Amazon.com, are very critical on the built quality of many of these headphones, but I am not sure if these are authentic reviews or "maliciously", written by competitors ? Also in the audition rooms of 2 locally Good Guys stores, the setup was mediocre in terms of the signal splitters for the various headphones, such that noisy hiss sound leaked through many of them, in one store (Sherman Oaks CA), and the other Magnolia Hi-Fi store in Burbank CA, only 25% of the headphones on display could be activated and tested. the entire bank of AKG with 5 headphones and Sennheiser's couldn't be activated and tested. Also, it would be difficult in a short listening time to get the full impact sometimes.

Thanks in advanced,

 

[bikemig]

You need to decide whether it is important to you to have noise canceling headphones or not for travel. If you do, Bose may (gasp) actually be the best choice. Since you like your Senns so much, the Senheisers would be a good choice. Actually if you look on Amazon, you will see a lot of side by side comparisons of the Bose, Senns, and AKG noise canceling headphones. This is a popular category for travel and a lot of people buy them just to avoid airplane noise. Amazon.com: Sennheiser PXC 450 NoiseGard Active Noise-Canceling Headphones: Electronics

If you don't want a noise canceling headphone for travel (I didn't), then there are plenty of choices out there. Personally I went inexpensive with the AKG 450s. They're not bad, they're easy to drive, and have a really great carrying case. I like the fact I can't smush them up no matter how much I pack stuff into a travel bag: Amazon.com: AKG K450 Premium Foldable Headphone: Electronics

The AKG 550s weren't available when I bought my travel cans, but I would certainly seriously consider them. They are closed back, easy to drive, and get great reviews: Amazon.com: AKG K550 Closed-Back Reference Class Headphones: Electronics They fold so all you need a hard case for them.

Bottom line: noise canceling will be better on planes but worse once you are in a hotel etc. You pick your poison on this one.

 

[Davidka1]

Thanks a lot Bikemig !!

I browse amazon, and can tell that the AKG 550 / 551 and the Sennheiser PXC 450, were on display at the Good Guys / Magnolia Hi-Fi in Burbank, but unfortunately not hooked up (they said the connecting cable broke). I am going to call the store manager and ask if they can repair it soon so that I can go and audition them. I did noticed that the AKG were built well and sturdy, seemed like a metal / aluminum frame.

The noise canceling may be important during flights (example Australia 15-hours), but, I usually stay in the hotel for couple of weeks at a time, so yes, there is a trade off there. Wouldn't want to compromise the audio quality too much. Also, I love classical music, jazz, instrumental, vocal, pop, and Rock, so here again it is difficult to have all the best performance in one headset. I created a music sample of 10 songs on my iPhone of my favorite pieces so I can test all the headphones against the same music.

When I visited Magnolia Hi Fi, the PSB M4U 2, and B&W headphones bank was the only one that worked. I must admit, that the PSB's and the P5 were better than the P7 to my ears. The nice thing about the PSB was the built in amplifier that when in use switches the headphones from 32-ohms to 10k-ohms, which reduces the power consumption of the source iDevice, and it gave it an added "punch" which was nice at the bass response, but more importantly, it changes the frequency response of the headphones, such that it sounded "fresh" if one got bored with one frequency response function. also it had a built in noise canceling function, but I couldn't determine how effective it really is ? Then I was impressed with the B&W P5 way more than the P 7 ! They sounded overall more balanced frequency response and seemed to isolate the noise well enough such that perhaps it didn't need the noise cancellation ? The one major plus is that they are half the weight of the PSB !
Oops, almost forgot, but I was also able to listen to the Bose QC15, yes they were good sounding too in the store. But overall, I would say that the PSP and P5 delivered a more "exciting" presentation. I only have experience with Bose exercise headphones which broke very quickly, after few months, and I replaced that with Sennheiser Addidas, which I have been using ever since for few years now with no failure or degradation of the sound quality, albeit, not audiophile quality.

I will report again once I am able to audition the Sen PXC 450 and the AKG's you mentioned.

 

[lsiberian]

I use Etymotic Research ER-4P best noise isolation I've found.

 

[connieflyer]

I have the Senn HD650's and love the sound, for about two years prior I used the 389hd pro's. Sennheiser HD 380 Pro Circumaural Monitoring Headphones HD380PRO they are closed back for isolation, great sound, reduced price and they fold flat in their own carry case. Great value.

 

[Davidka1]

Thanks Isiberian, and Connieflyer !

The HD 380 might be exactly the sleeper I was hoping to find !! Love it's extended freq. response 8- 27-kHz, and 32-dB attenuation Wow !!
Can't wait to audition them !!

But I will take my time and tried the ER-4P if I can find where to audition them.

Thanks guys these are great advice !!!

Cheers,

 

[Davidka1]

Hi Isiberian,

Thank you for your info. about Etymotic Research ER-4P. Very interesting indeed. If I then understand the frequency response and its effect on audiophile performance, then, it seems that a flat response is more important than a wide response which isn't that flat ?? I always thought that I love the Sennheiser HD 600 due to their wide frequency response: 12 – 39,000 Hz (–10 dB/1 kHz), the ER-4P don't have such a wide frequency response, so now I am puzzled by what makes them so great ? Could you explain please ?

Thanks !

 

[Jerryfish]

I love the conundrum and agree with you in relation to P5 versus P7. Is there absolutely any possibility of going towards a pair of in ears.....these will be easier for portable devices, offer flexibility when travelling and in my mind "can" be really comfortable. I don't find the Sennheiser earphones, nor the B&W, nor the KEF earphones overly comfortable but on par with the HD6xx sound wise why don't you take a look at these Shure headphones? The SE535 earphones I have found to be really comfortable and easily loud enough for my Galaxy S3.

 

[zhimbo]

Ideally you want wide extension with a reasonably flat response, but there are limits: You can't hear above 20,000 Hz (and probably a lot lower, depending on your age), so there's very little point in having decent response out to 39KHz! Both play pretty low, with the Etymotic almost certainly having stronger response in low bass than the open-backed Sennheiser.

Not saying the Etymotics sound better, or will sound better to you, but the ultra-wide extension numbers you list for the Sennheiser aren't all that meaningful.

P.S. I've used Sennheiser HD 280 Pro as travel headphones. They aren't as tiny and convenient as "in-ear" phones, but work pretty well at blocking out sound. They may not compare in sound quality to the high-end, open-backed Sennheisers, but you can't have everything!

 

[Davidka1]

Thanks everybody !!

I just arrived to Canberra Australia yesterday, while using my new PSB M4U 2 headphones. I will write a complete report in the next few days but to recap: They are a gem !! The noise canceling was so profound, that even when I was not listening to music, I kept them on in NC mode while I was asleep !! Once you put them on during the flight (this was a Boeing 777, and I sat over the wings in seat row 23), you can't take them off, because the noise in the airplane without the NC is very high. You don't usually notice it because you become immune to the steady random noise of the jet engines, but once you activate the NC, only then you realize it. There is no doubt that the NC tip the scale of the audio quality regardless of the quality of the headphones. With the NC on, it reduces the level of the surrounding noise very significantly indeed. But the audio quality of these headphones is amazing and I will explain more when I write the full impression and the result of my tests of other headphones including B&O M500, just before I embarked on the trip.
Cheers,
-David.