roscoofyore
100+ Head-Fier
I’ve been listening to the Phaiton MS400 and quite frankly now prefer them over the HD25, am I crazy? Someone slap me!
Let me explain. I’ve had the HD25s since September and quite enjoy them. Over the past couple of weeks I’ve acquired the MS400s and now prefer that sound. The dark sound with thick lows and thick mids. With the Senns, the highs are very much pronounced, a true sparkler, which I’ve found fatiguing after an extended period of time.
Why have I found the Senns fatiguing? I feel the mids are a bit recessed and the bass hits hard as does the treble. So I find myself wrongfully, and regrettably, messing with the EQ or worse yet turning up the volume. The sound clarity is brilliant but the soundstage is small and somehow distant at the same time. With the Phaitons, the highs are a bit recessed, not to the point of being non-existent but not sparkling like what that you get from the Senns. The high clarity of the MS400 is also not on the level of the Senns or much less any Etymotic set as I’ve had a few of that variety. The mids, however, are where I feel the MS400s take the lead with a larger soundstage than the Senns. The vocals are spot on in grado like fashion, a bit forward. That’s not to state these are Grado like headphones as they are not. The mids and lower mids are emphasized as the highs would be on a Grado, maybe a bit over emphasized in the higher mid-range area but still sounding good as a whole, I like it. The lows and the lower mids are nice and thick, well presented too. They don’t hit hard like the Senns, more like the lows on the 840s, smooth and defined but not boomy.
After an extended time with the MS400s, the Senns sound cold, a bit too sparkly and small. Clarity is spot on with the Senns but the smoother MS400s keep calling me, analytical cans these are not but they still call me. I must be losing my mind or something. I figure I’m just confused, going from one pair of cans to another with what seems like its opposite sound signature. Anyway, enough of my babble.
Let me explain. I’ve had the HD25s since September and quite enjoy them. Over the past couple of weeks I’ve acquired the MS400s and now prefer that sound. The dark sound with thick lows and thick mids. With the Senns, the highs are very much pronounced, a true sparkler, which I’ve found fatiguing after an extended period of time.
Why have I found the Senns fatiguing? I feel the mids are a bit recessed and the bass hits hard as does the treble. So I find myself wrongfully, and regrettably, messing with the EQ or worse yet turning up the volume. The sound clarity is brilliant but the soundstage is small and somehow distant at the same time. With the Phaitons, the highs are a bit recessed, not to the point of being non-existent but not sparkling like what that you get from the Senns. The high clarity of the MS400 is also not on the level of the Senns or much less any Etymotic set as I’ve had a few of that variety. The mids, however, are where I feel the MS400s take the lead with a larger soundstage than the Senns. The vocals are spot on in grado like fashion, a bit forward. That’s not to state these are Grado like headphones as they are not. The mids and lower mids are emphasized as the highs would be on a Grado, maybe a bit over emphasized in the higher mid-range area but still sounding good as a whole, I like it. The lows and the lower mids are nice and thick, well presented too. They don’t hit hard like the Senns, more like the lows on the 840s, smooth and defined but not boomy.
After an extended time with the MS400s, the Senns sound cold, a bit too sparkly and small. Clarity is spot on with the Senns but the smoother MS400s keep calling me, analytical cans these are not but they still call me. I must be losing my mind or something. I figure I’m just confused, going from one pair of cans to another with what seems like its opposite sound signature. Anyway, enough of my babble.
