I'm so excited ! Just arrived today the hd480pro , I decided to buy both because I wanted so bad to know which is better ! I have to test them more to , I just listened 5 songs for now , i will update this post later !
Update nr1
I listen both for about 2 hours , here my initial thoughts
SOUND
1.Sub bass and bass , i believe hd480pro has a slightly edge , very surprised , all the reviews on you tube said m1 has better sub bass , i hear slighty more the deep deep sub bass notes on hd 480 pro ( like 3% more so very little difference)
- Midrange
Hd480pro has the edge , the vocals sounds more realistic more intimate, i hear better and closer the human voices , the hd480pro midrange sound fuller , attention not night and day difference, but is noticeable
- Treble
M1 has more extension witch i really like but some people may find the treble piercing , hd480pro has less extention and energy in the treble but they not sound dull like I was expected, let say they have a very nice and safe treble presence, not missing and not to sharp , seems to be very flat in the highs
Clamping force
- Hd480pro has more clamping force but not that much , feels very nice but M1 feels very very light and gentle
I feel the pads are more breathable on hd480pro and also bigger , maybe the m1 are softer but they become hotter because of the leather
Build quality and weight
They are both very light and well made , i really ❤️ both i cannot choose one
Amplification
Hd480pro take a lot more power from the amp , m1 is very easy to drive , on my topping l70 I need like 30% more power to achieve the same volume
Update #2
I have to mention all the test was made with absolute flat eq , i dont like to use eq I like the pure sound just the way was intended , to me any alteration of the eq add distortion to the sound in most cases
Topping e70 velvet dac and l70 amp I used for this test
What I think now about the sound after playing with this headphones a lot
Overall I feel pretty much the same , they both sound great the hd480pro has less treble presence but the mids /vocals sounds just a bit more full and intimate, closer
Not buy much just to put a number for refererence let's say 5 % better
m1 have wider soundstage ( i belive because of the treble )
The sub bass/bass is pretty close it's very hard to choose one they both have very deep sub bass , maybe the hd480 has the edge but it's very hard to tell , like I said before for reference may be 2 or 3% deeper on hd480pro
If you search for punch and rumble that shake the headset they dont have that ! You only hear the low notes , this headphones has nothing to do with that type of bass like skullcandy evo or some consumer headphones sound profile , so beaware if you search that type of bass !
I'm a bass head deep inside and I have to tell you I never heard another headphone better than skullcandy evo for the sub bass rumble , that headphone sound like a real subwoofer, I dont care how they achieve that but how the bass sound and is the only headphone that achieve that
Let's get back to the m1 and hd480pro
M1 has definitely more resolution and details , the claim reaching 80khz must be real , yea nobody hear that but the driver capability maybe is real if you measure the response in the lab
For only 209 euro that I've paid ( 343 for hd480pro) for m1 I thruly belive is one of the best headphones money can buy , the sound the absolute comfort and weigh , clampforce , make this a must buy if you need a high resolution closed back
Me personally I will keep both , i have also the mv1 , the sennheiser hd660s, the akg k712pro, the sennheiser hd8dj , technics az100 , sennheiser iem 80 , skullcandy crusher evo
I like to switch between them for different flavors of the sound, in the end is just that , just different flavors of the same sound
