Looking for Warm Headphones with a Certain Sound Signature

[Chris Kelly]

I thought the scientificly/technically correct thing to do is to choose a pair of headphones with the most neutral sound curve and get over anything which sounds unnatural such as speech which sounds over-exposed and airy, like I've been with my Sennheiser HD 560S (late 2022 version). While I wouldn't replace my HD 560S with the HD 490 PRO because (1) it would be less expensive just to add a warmer sounding pair, and (2) constantly swapping earpads could risk extra wear and tear, the fact that the HD 490 PRO includes producer pads and mixing pads suggests to me that it's perfectly OK to have different sound curves according to application, mood, source-specific preference, etc.. If I didn't have a pair of Sennheiser headphones, the HD 490 PRO would have been a good choice because of tonal flexibility. However, in my case, I think it would make more sense just to add another pair. I DON'T like the boosted low-mids of the HD 559, boosted treble of the HD 599, nor boosted low-mids and boosted treble of the HD 599SE. I am looking for something with the boosted high-bass and reduced treble of the HD 559, and boosted high-bass and natural low-mids of the HD 599. Is there anything by Behr Dynamic, Hifiman, Philips, Pioneer, Yamaha, even Sennheiser, or anyone else with these characteristics?

 

[staticV3]

Why not use EQ to shape the sound signature to your preference?

Seems a whole lot more straightforward and cheaper than buying a bunch of headphones chasing that perfect stock signature.

 

[Chris Kelly]

Why not use EQ to shape the sound signature to your preference?

Seems a whole lot more straightforward and cheaper than buying a bunch of headphones chasing that perfect stock signature.

The Bang & Olufsen EQ utility included on my HP laptop has issues in which it doesn't properly behave when multiple sliders are adjusted at once. Remember the days when laptops used Beats with hardware by IDT? Those EQs boosted and cut exactly what you told them to and how you told them to do it. The Realtek/B&O EQs totally suck because they don't behave according to where you position multiple sliders at once.

 

[FrantzM]

The Bang & Olufsen EQ utility included on my HP laptop has issues in which it doesn't properly behave when multiple sliders are adjusted at once. Remember the days when laptops used Beats with hardware by IDT? Those EQs boosted and cut exactly what you told them to and how you told them to do it. The Realtek/B&O EQs totally suck because they don't behave according to where you position the sliders.

Download PEACE EQ and be done...

Peace.

 

[Mr Swing King]

Why not use EQ to shape the sound signature to your preference?

Seems a whole lot more straightforward and cheaper than buying a bunch of headphones chasing that perfect stock signature.

^This

It does sound like he’s looking for an HD650/6XX though.

 

[Chris Kelly]

As far as EQ is concerned, not all my devices have built-in EQ via their headphone output.

 

[Dunring]

Neutral ones like the Sennheiser hd600 or Hifiman he5xx which I use daily would be good ones for what you want. The Beyerdynamic DT700 Pro X is warmer too, more like the DT1770 with B pads but much easier to power like the DT17XX.

 

[Chris Kelly]

When comparing the Philips SHP9600 to the Sennheiser HD 559 and HD 599, while I like the >4dB high-bass boost on all three, are the low-mids and treble more under control on the Philips SHP9600 than the Sennheiser HD 559 and HD 599?

 

[Chris Kelly]

The Philips aren't available from Amazon. So assuming they're discontinued, that rules them out regardless of low-mids and treble. The Beyer Dynamics have increased treble.

 

[Sonic icons]

The Philips SHP9600 headphones are currently available from Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/Philips-SHP9600-Headphones-Open-Back-00/dp/B08B477BHS

 

[Chris Kelly]

The Philips SHP9600 headphones are currently available from Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/Philips-SHP9600-Headphones-Open-Back-00/dp/B08B477BHS

I prefer not buying from third party sellers unless the third party seller is the manufacturer.

 

[Sonic icons]

I prefer not buying from third party sellers unless the third party seller is the manufacturer.

The Philips SHP9600 headphones are currently available directly from Amazon, "New, Ships from Amazon.com, Sold by Amazon.com, Customer Service by Amazon.com", which I understand is your preference. But to discover the "true Amazon" option, you need to scroll down the page I listed before, look on the right-hand side, find the text "New & Used (5) from $63.65 [etc.]", click on that text, and open the popup with link https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08B477BHS/ref=olp-opf-redir?aod=1&ie=UTF8&condition=ALL&th=1

I recall reading a comment a number of years ago to the effect that the Amazon user interface is so bad they would probably fail quickly (LOL) if they weren't already the world's leading internet merchant.


Edit: ... personally I've had no serious problems ordering from Amazon third-party sellers - each seller has their own customer rating. Once in the last year, I received a completely wrong item (bookseller sent wrong book and didn't have the book I ordered), quickly complained to Amazon and got a refund

 

[Chris Kelly]

The Philips SHP9600 headphones are currently available directly from Amazon, "New, Ships from Amazon.com, Sold by Amazon.com, Customer Service by Amazon.com", which I understand is your preference. But to discover the "true Amazon" option, you need to scroll down the page I listed before, look on the right-hand side, find the text "New & Used (5) from $63.65 [etc.]", click on that text, and open the popup with link https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08B477BHS/ref=olp-opf-redir?aod=1&ie=UTF8&condition=ALL&th=1

I recall reading a comment a number of years ago to the effect that the Amazon user interface is so bad they would probably fail quickly (LOL) if they weren't already the world's leading internet merchant.


Edit: ... personally I've had no serious problems ordering from Amazon third-party sellers - each seller has their own customer rating. Once in the last year, I received a completely wrong item (bookseller sent wrong book and didn't have the book I ordered), quickly complained to Amazon and got a refund

Thank you. I HATE when they hide things like that. This is not the first time. Now that I got my EQ software working a little better, I'm having second thoughts about this. But it's not like I have to decide overnight.