[Maxvla]

so i got to try them all, through the FiiO E11, and the HD800's sounded very ordinary, actual, shockingly bad from what i can remember, pure garbage, same ole Sennhesier sound displaying skewed frequencies as usual, just middle of the range garbage

So, when you try the HD800s for real, let us know.

 

[Brooko]

Seeing as how we're now moving on to graphs - I'll let these speak for themselves (using Golden Ears graphs) ......

http://en.goldenears.net/9347 (Shure 550 DJ)

http://en.goldenears.net/8072 (Sennheiser HD600)

You tell me which one is flatter ......

Oh and the SRH840 which in zardak's opinion is garbage http://en.goldenears.net/4213

Interesting to see Golden Ear's rankings at the bottom.

 

[zardak]

And yet despite all those technical graphs it is also based on his subjective opinion as he admitted and he also said "may include bias" due to his ears comparing it to their 'so-called' reference headphones.
 
Which to me is not a truly accurate or valid assessment.
 
I have expensive VST effect plugins that i use to produce music, and some of the 'technically' perfect EQ's and compressors on the market with phase-linear response sound bloody awful, and yet the digital emulations of 60's compressors and EQ's (which technically on a graph are a mess) are the best sounding most musical and pleasing effects units out there, every major record-label and studio including myself use perfect digital emulations of some of the oldest music production tools on the planet, which on a technical graph look a shambles, and yet in real-world-use no serious producer would dare to be without them, they are responsible for the tone in most of the best music ever released, including today's stuff, and not much music is released without use of these tools, they impart a magic translucency and glue to the mix that cannot be measured by graphs, moreover every reputable 'golden-ear' mastering engineer on the planet endorses them without reservation, such as the LA2A and 1176LN compressor and the Pultec EQ. Sometimes there is unknown factors that effect sound which do not register on a technical graph, simple as that. What looks flat on a graph and what sounds flat are two totally different things.
 
And anyway, so much for the golden-ears review you linked us to, look at his rating for transparency of the Shure 550's... ********!! I can hear a mile off that the Shures in real-world listening are about as close to transparent as any headphone can get, plus extremely clear and natural sounding; i listen to music on them that i am 'totally' familiar with, so his transparency rating was an error, the clarity on the Shure 550's IMO is fantastic, go listen to a pair and listen to all the clear detail dripping out of them; so it looks like that guy needs to buy some more gold to put inside his ears. 
 
And no matter what, i have listened 'intently' many times to the Shure 840's, they sound bloody terrible.
 
To answer Currawong, i listen to Celine Dion, Whitney Houston, and Michael Jackson when i'm in the mood for analyzing and enjoying the details in music production, but of course i listen to almost anything that is well produced, any genre of music well-made is worthy of being listened to and i enjoy it as long as it is well produced. When at home i plug my headphones into a Presonus USB audio interface with crystal clear 24bit/196khz DAC's and a totally neutral onboard amp. The Presonus company makes high-end audio interfaces for Music Production studios, and this company knows very well how to produce converters and amps and audio interfaces for serious music production, a lot of the big-name production studios in the world rely on their audio interfaces to get the job done.
 
To answer your other question, I make Hardhouse (doof doof music 4/4 to the floor). To let you know, hardhouse is not about being conservative or having cliche melody, it's about innovation and unpredictability and quirkiness, the individual character and 'punch' that the producer puts into it, grinding hard bass and flipped-out coherent driving lead-lines and pulsating pads working together as a whole, we are all out there challenging each other to create the biggest euphoric response from the crowd in a nightclub (regardless of whether they are on drugs or not), and Hardhouse is a medium for producers like me to inject our own personal character and expression on the world, but yeah, there is definitely bad examples of it coming through from try-hards who are not in it for the love of it. But at the moment i've gone off the beaten track for a little while and am working on a dance-track to take on Gangnam style, and so far it's looking good from all the preliminary feedback i've had from listeners.

 

[Brooko]

And yet despite all those technical graphs it is also based on his subjective opinion as he admitted and he also said will include bias due to his ears comparing it to their 'so-called' reference headphones.

Which to me is not a truly accurate or valid assessment.

Yet we are expected to acknowledge that yours are accurate ????

And anyway, so much for the golden-ears review you linked us to, look at his rating for transparency of Shure 550's, and yet i bet my life that the Shures in real-world listening are about as close to transparent as any headphone can get, plus extremely clear and natural sounding, i listen to music on them that i am totally familiar with, so that guys transparency rating was total error, theclarit on the Shures IMO is fantastic, so it looks like that guy needs to buy some more gold to put on his ears.

And this is the bit I just can't get with you. In a previous post you stated you respect other people posting alternate opinions as long as they done politely with respect - and not personal attacks. I previously owned the Shure SRH840, currently own cans like the Senn HD600, and have heard the SRH550 (personally I found it flat but dull - very rolled off high end, and not particularly revealing - definitely not a world beater to me anyway). So I speak from experience. I posted graphs to show that headphones you've derided (SRH840) actually measure better than your 'faves' - and also review better (admittedly that is subjective) - yet the first thing you do is throw in a veiled attack (gold in his ears). Similar in fact to the far less veiled attack you made on me in a previous thread where you stated that because I had a different opinion - my ears must be broken.

And no matter what, i have listen 'intently' many times to the Shure 840's, [COLOR=FF00AA]IMO[/COLOR] they sound bloody terrible 'in real life'

Corrected that for you. And that's why a few of us find your posts so hard to 'swallow'. Your opinions are simply that - opinions (as are mine and everyone else's) - yet you continue to state them as fact.

 

[EPICFAILXD]

Quote:

Alright, so some people are on the Sennheiser and Grado bandwagon, well here's the thing, i have several Headphone specialist shops in my area and they stock the whole range of Grado and Sennheiser and Ultrasones, so i got to try them all, through the FiiO E11, and the HD800's sounded very ordinary, actual, shockingly bad from what i can remember, pure garbage, same ole Sennhesier sound displaying skewed frequencies as usual, just middle of the range garbage, and don't get me started on the HD25 MKII, they are merely OK, and have a narrow soundstage with recessed  dark sounding mids, if you don't believe me then just take a listen to Shure 550's.
 

So you were the same person who had allegedly listened 'carefully' to the Sennheiser HD800?? 

 

[zardak]

Seems that Brooko needs to go back and listen to the 550's after some burn-in time, there is no headphone i have heard with this amount of 'balanced' overall accurate sounding detail. As i said to someone who PMéd me about them: "Give them 20 hours burn-in and the highs become crisp and realistic."
The first thing i noticed about the 550's when i auditioned them was that they sounded slightly dull in the treble range to begin with, but the rest of the audio spectrum was beautifully detailed, balanced, and natural sounding, so i took a gamble that burn-in would fix the highs, and guess what? That's exactly what happened...
 
I have heard the HD800 closely and they suck, simple as that. And you say that you previously owned the Shure 840's, which mean you got rid of them, right? And why did you get rid of them? Because they suck, just like the Sennheisers.

 

[Brooko]

And you say that you previously owned the Shure 840's, which mean you got rid of them, right? And why did you get rid of them? Because they suck, just like the Sennheisers.

I won't rise to your bait any more. I sold the SRH840 because I wanted to try other headphones. Despite the fact that I own several very well regarded headphones - I will be rebuying the SRH840s again. I haven't found a closed headphone in the last 12 months that i have enjoyed quite as much. BTW - thanks for replying to Amos regarding your music reproduction. It actually explains a lot about your choice of headphones.

 

[Currawong]

As the HD-800s are not $100-150 as the OP's title asks, I'm closing this one up.