Looking for a new Headphone

[solderdude]

to me (soundstage is a personal thing) around 7

It's not similar to the HD6XX in sound. Less warm, deeper lows and the 5kHz area is emphasized a bit.

 

[Dreyfus]

Imo the AQ Nighthawk is still the best open back headphone in the lower and middle price range if you like a very wide and immersive soundstage. Too bad they ruined its reputation with the stock pads. Even the microsuede ones are pretty dark in tonality. I bet they would have had much more success if they just used some HM5 hybrids in advance. Personally I would skip on velours, too much treble emphasis without additional damping. Some say that the Shure Alcantara pads work very good, as well. Still have them laying around. Will try them as soon as my measurement rig is ready.

IMO the NH just excels with some custom pads + EQ.

By the way:
I recently got a pair of X2HR. The channel balance is completely fine.
So far I really like the voicing. The only thing I fixed is the bass hump. No peaky treble resonances for me.

 

[TechEnthusiast]

How would any of the Sennheisers sound in comparison to the Hifi Man Sundara/Deva? I like their soundstage but they seem to lack that low end.

 

[Dreyfus]

Most Sennheiser HDs are not very prominent at the lower end. Noticeably weaker than say the X2HR.
The HD 6** series does not have the greatest soundstage, either. Some may call it "intimite" others "claustrophobic". If you want a better soundstage and bass extension, go for the HD560S. It is quite neutral though. No v-shape without modding or EQ.

 

[AnalogSteph]

Most Sennheiser HDs are not very prominent at the lower end.

Which probably is for the better, given that a 40 mm driver in a somewhat leaky enclosure can only ever do so much in terms of level handling down there. These designs have always been a tradeoff - very low distortion and very good control of frequency response above the bass range, good highs extension (traditionally problematic in the 50 mm class), good efficiency. Planars needed a lot of work to bring their efficiency somewhat up to par, and controlling their frequency response seems to be a challenge to this day, but their bass level handling is second to none.