Review of Advanced Alpha – Planar Magnetic Headphone

HiFiChris posted a review of the Advanced Alpha planar magnetic headphone over on Head-Fi.  From the review it sounds like it is generally similar to the HE-400 but with subtle differences.

Pros – •balanced sound
•fast, tight, deep extending bass
•good resolution and separation
•soft pads
•self-adjusting headband
Cons – •only a short cable comes included
•some people might find the clamping force a bit strong
•a bit more upper treble linearity wouldn’t hurt
•removing the ear pads, one can accidentally remove the protective mesh in front of the planar driver

Review of Advanced Alpha

Sennheiser 660S Headphone Review

DarKu published a review of the Sennheiser 660S headphone over on Head-Fi.  This is a replacement for the 600/650.  This is another in the increasing round of incremental improvements on venerable headphones from Senn and others.  From the review it appears that the 660S is comparable more to the 600 than the 650 with the biggest improvement in the bass response.  The challenge is whether the incremental improvement is worth an 80-90% increase in price?  The 660S is on Amazon for $499 with the 650 at $300 and the 600 at $260.  Just like the HD-800 and Beyerdynamic T1 the originals might be the way to go and save the money for other gear.

Pros

– High comfort, solid construction and durability
– Good tonal balance, rich and full of substance
– Balanced frequency response, nothing stands out too much
– Airy presentation that leads to good holography
– Let the veil be lifted! Good riddance to muddy and veiled sound
– High level of detail retrieval for the price category it belongs
– Back in black matte paint

Cons

– Shy sub-base
– Slight distortion on sub and mid-bass
– Medium size soundstage

Review of 660S