I haven’t found a headphone that suits me since my HifiMan x Massdrop HE-350 gave up the ghost, i also couldn’t order a HE-35X because Drop no longer ships to Brazil.
I’ve been trying to find a substitute in higher price brackets, all the way up to a Blon B20, without much care for specs and without being able to test in person, mostly just hearing reviewer’s videos and going by that.
I have, however, listened to my friend’s Sennheiser HD650 and i really enjoyed it, at the time i thought it was better than the HE-350, but currently i can’t afford an HD-650 either.
Today i was talking with him about getting a Philips SHP9600, since it seems like i would enjoy it, but he said i should get an AKG K240 MKII instead, since he had one not so long ago and believes it is a great value for the money, and claims that if i like the HD650, i will like the K240 MKII.
What do you guys think, is he right or wrong?
Additionally, would you guys pick the K240 MKII or the SHP9600?
P.S.: For amplification i have an xDuoo XD05 Basic.
If you like bass don’t buy the K240 MKII, that’s just me tho… I think it doesn’t have any
I would suggest to check, if you can find a Sennheiser HD 598/558 second hand somewhere.
edit: just a rough comparison to the HD650 to get an idea.
Yeah, I love bass, in fact the last headphone I was playing around with was a Blon BL30, I only gave up on it because the fitment was so janky and it sounded hollow depending on the song, but the bass on those was awesome.
About the 598s, this same friend advised me against them, you think they’re a good option?
This is all very subjective… yes I think they are great headphones in terms of value
and I believe the 598 is not super far off from the 650.
I suggested those, coz with some luck u can get them pretty cheap.
Of course the SHP 9500/9600 are good aswell & offer more bass if I remember correctly,
just a bit more expensive maybe?
Dunno the market in brazil, for me it was ~ 35$ for HD 558 second hand.
SHP 9500 were atleast twice of that (also second hand).
Hence why I recommend the discontinued 558/598 line: Value
I think the SHP 9500/9600 and HD 598/558 are all better than the AKG.
Modern K240’s, there is very little bass extension compared to most current headphones. I’d be more confident in the SHP9600 on that front.
K240 platform has been around forever, plenty of mods and possibilities though.
The 350/35x seems to be a polarizing pair of headphones. I thought I remember a lot of people found them exceptionally bright.
It’s hard to go broader with recommendations not knowing what is available and what they cost. I am not going along with the AKG K240 mirrors the HD650 idea though.
Are Fidelio X2HR also available? If you’re not treble sensitive and desire bass, maybe something like this is in order.
The thing with Sennheisers in Brazil is that some models like the 5 series weren’t sold officially, so the price stays high even after a long while, like, the cheapest, battered 598 i found costs US$100…
9500s are easy to find used, and new ones can be imported easily via Aliexpress, and most of the time its worth the wait for a new one.
I wonder how much better the 9600 sounds in comparison with the 9500, not long ago i picked up a 9500 locally for a friend that lives a few states away and i really didn’t like them, i’m gonna say they felt dry and lifeless on my perspective, sometimes even a tad harsh on the high frequencies.
Yeah, that seemed far from reality even when he told me, it struck me as a rose tinted memory of his.
I’ve heard great praises for X2HR, but yesss, i’m very treble sensitive to be honest, even the treble on the 9500 i mentioned earlier sometimes bothered me a big deal.
Also price is an issue with X2HRs down here, used ones go for ~US$190 while new ones on Aliexpress can be had for ~US$200.
My 350 was a bit bright at the start, but then i did the super simple “bass mod” which was just to remove a small piece of tape from the back of the driver, that let the bass roll in pretty well, perhaps it was even too much for some.
Indeed the 9500 is not to my taste and if the 9600 and X2HR follow a similar style of sound, its a given i’m not gonna be much happy with them.
Chi-Fi would be nice, to be honest, if i could find some model, i can import easily from China.
I was eyeing the Sivga SV006 but it just vanished from the market…
I don’t know if Blon is the OEM or somebody else OEMs for Blon, Sivga and OKCSC.
Just now i found an SV006/B8 marked OKCSC M5 as well.
Chi-Fi can be so weird…
