Audio Technica, Beyerdynamic or Klipsch?

[admin_exported]

Following a great review in what hi-fi recently I bought a pair of Audio Technica ES55 headphones to replace some fairly cheap old Sennheiser in ear buds. I haven't been very impressed with the ES55's sound quality. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but due to the review and their price I was expecting more than I got. My question is, does anyone have experience of these phones compared with say the Beyerdynamic DTX 100 or MMX 100 or the far more expensive Klipsch X5's or X10i's. I use these headphones mainly for commuting with an iphone, I record aac at 320kbs. At home I use Grado SR60's, which I guess would be my benchmark.

 

[Clare Newsome]

Maybe it's the closed-back nature of the Audio-Technicas that you don't like? After the glorious open-back Grados, even great examples of their genre (which we firmly believe the ES55s are) may sound - well - closed-in, lacking a sense of space/scale.

Is this element of their performance that irks you, or something else? Would help to narrow down alternatives if we know what it is you feel you're lacking.

 

[Anonymous]

You're spot on Clare. The Grado's sound fantastic, open, airy and dynamic. I can't imagine how good their more expensive models are. The ES55's in comparison are closed-in and lacking space and scale. They just sound pretty average to me and not the leap ahead of the 4 year old £25 Senheisser in ears that they replaced. They're also not especially comfortable around the head either, not that that bothers me too much.

 

[Anonymous]

I've just got my DTX100 earphones. I have to say that I am very impressed. These replace Sennheiser CX300 earphones. I also use Sennheiser 595s on my hifi setup, as a comparison.

The DTX100 produce a good soundstage, with very impressive bass, in terms of amount, but also controlled. I use to use to EQ on my ipod, but with these earphones, EQ flat is best.

I was going to get the DTX80's, but when looking online, I got the 100's for only about £10 extra.