Arcam rpac. Quick review

[dalethorn]

Any more ideas for headphones for me please?

I've been through so many of the low-cost headphones I've given up on all but a couple. The ATH M50 is the bottom of the good list I think, and the Beyer DT770 somewhere close to that but a more intense sound where the M50 is more laid back. Moving up, the v-moda M80 is more neutral, but on-ear in a fit not everyone will like. Moving up some more, the Philips L1 is great, and the extra-strong bass responds very well to tuning as desired. Then the Sennheiser Amperior is the crown jewel here - the best of all these with none of the downsides. It's on-ear, but feels pretty good to me and has good isolation. The Grado PS500 is more expensive, but also smoother and just a spectacular musical headphone.

Edit: The new Philips X1 looks very promising.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Dale. In between my post and yours I bought a pair of DT770s (80 Ohm version). £119. I'll report in here for both the rPac and my Vivid V1 on another system.

 

[Anonymous]

Well, the DT 770s arrived.

Lovely and comfortable, tend to warm which suits me, nice bass, nice treble, slightly warmer mids. Sound great out of the box. However, even at 80 Ohms through the rPac they're way too quiet for me, especially on older tracks with a generally lower volume. I am quite shocked by the difference in volume from the K450s at 32 Ohms. Adding a touch of preamp to iTunes just distorts and volume check just lowers the floor. Both a no no. Surprisingly, sound through web pages, for example BBC News in iPlayer appears louder.

I'm going to return and possibly buy the 32 Ohm version which is more expensive, but apparently less refined. It is £38 more so is it worth turning to something else easier to drive but similar presentation and over ear or little leakage? Any further thoughts appreciated please. Also, does SPL make that much difference alongside impedance? The LE 32 Ohms are 96 dB (same as 80 Ohm) vs my K450s at 126 dB. Calling Dale and Quad.....

 

[dalethorn]

It's good you got an extended listening to the 770. Based on posts I see here and at Hifiheadphones and maybe other sites too, the 770 is enormously popular. Although Beyer is apparently continuing to make them, I'm very sure I read on their Facebook site several months ago that they were going to discontinue them.

In any case, and even though it's on-ear, I love the Senn Amperior and think it's the kind of sound you'd love.

Aside from that, thinking of things that are in the line of what you mentioned, I come up short on sound for any number of reasons. I heard a Logitech UE6000 last night at the Apple store, and thought it sounded very good, but don't really have a handle on it yet. Getting a sound like the Amperior or Beyer DT770 isn't easy. I'm afraid from what I've heard of the Philips X1 it will be bright and overly bassy. So I'm going to get either the UE6000, or the UE9000 (I think) and see if either of those will do what the Amperior does in a circumaural headphone. I bought the UE4000 which is excellent, but on-ear and also not a strong bass.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks dale, any thoughts on the SPL please? How close are the Sennheiser HD 25-1 IIs to the Amperior, considering it's an extra £100 or so here?

 

[dalethorn]

Thanks dale, any thoughts on the SPL please? How close are the Sennheiser HD 25-1 IIs to the Amperior, considering it's an extra £100 or so here?

The Amperior is a very efficient headphone. Easily driven from DACs like the Dragonfly. But here's some pure guesswork: The experts say the HD25-1-II is very similar or nearly the same. But I don't trust 'nearly' in this case for a particular reason. When my wife and I tried it out in the store we were immediately wowed by the sound. That's a rare thing for either of us, especially at less than £500 or so, so knowing that even sample-to-sample variations can make a difference in the sub-£150 range, my instinct says play it safe and get the Amperior if deciding between the two. I wouldn't want to give up one decibel of anything the Amperior does.

 

[Anonymous]

I've had a quick dalliance with Sennheiser HD558s. Not enough bass for me and open backed which leaked massive amounts of sound! I'm now leaning towards the Senn closed 25-1 II or your Amperiors Dale. Decisions decisions.

 

[dalethorn]

I was thinking to mention the new Logitech UE-6000, which I'm going to video and text-review today or tomorrow. My hesitation is that while it has a very strong bass like the Philips L1, and unlike the L1, applying bass reduction results in a bass that's as good as the Amperior (on direct compare), it has a strong treble that's very comparable to the Shure 1840. And mids are uncolored. And it's noise-canceling, and cost in the U.S. is $200.

So while it looks like the quadruple** bargain of the year, I don't know about that treble. Sibilants may be an issue.

** Super strong bass if you like, bass like Amperior if you prefer, treble like the 1840, and noise canceling.

 

[Anonymous]

Not a fan of more pronounced treble, as you note. Would the Senn Hd25 I ii be a justifiable leap over my AKG450s please, considering the original price of them is comparable to the Senns?

 

[dalethorn]

The Amperior would be certainly, but I just can't vouch for any difference with the HD-25-1-II since I haven't heard it. It might sound essentially the same, or not.

Here's one person's take (last post):

http://www.head-fi.org/t/619694/philips-fidelio-m1-v-sennheiser-hd25-1-ii-v-sennheiser-amperior

And on this page Tyll concludes his comparison:

http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/most-excellent-sennheiser-amperior-and-hd-25-1-ii-page-2

 

[Anonymous]

Great, thanks Dale. I'm not going to leap but have a good think (although listening is better...) and hopefully demo both somewhere.

 

[Anonymous]

Great, thanks Dale. I'm not going to leap but have a good think (although listening is better...) and hopefully demo both somewhere.

 

[Anonymous]

Duplicate post...

 

[quadpatch]

I haven't heard that particular AKG but from what I read it went down in price for a good reason. It seemed like WHF were a bit generous with their score originally at its price point. I may have gotten rid of my HD25-1 II in favour of the VModa M/80, but I loved the Senn and got good use out of them for 5 years, it's a great portable with very good isolation, used a lot in the industry (not endorsements).