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The Official Headphone Thread 2.5: We're Making WAVs and Catching FLAC

A

Antiwhippy

the holder of the trombone
EMU teaks on massdrop again and they're nearly sold out of the limited 100 units.

Joined in on the Teak versions. Gentle V sounds good to me.
 
U

upandaway

Member
Are there any go-to wireless headphones recommendations? Looking for new ones for my parents since the Sennheiser TR130s finally stopped working. Comfort and price are the most important (just for long TV sessions). They really really loved the TR130s (which had an audible hiss but really comfy and easy to charge to tell you where their priorities are) but it doesn't seem like they're sold anymore, and the similar model is on-ear instead of over-ear
 
M

matmanx1

Member
SolarMystic said:
More money rarely ever equates to better performance in this hobby after an hd650.

If you really like your Meze, then the Elear, Ori and probably the Atticus should be on your shortlist to try.

Though honestly the hd650 competes with most of the headphones I listed at a fraction of the price. If you've never heard one, try and find a place to demo them. They are fairly common so it may not be too hard to find.
Click to expand...

Sennheiser clamp and I do not get along. Unless the 650's are drastically more comfortable than the HD558's that I sold because they gave me headaches, then I need to stay away from most Sennheiser cans.

I do like my Meze but prefer open back HP's in most cases. It's strong where the MA900 is weak and vice versa. I like the air and staging of the MA900 but prefer the bass and punch of the Meze. I'm not unhappy with either pair but am always interested in hearing what other things sound like.
 
M

matmanx1

Member
Antiwhippy said:
Ooh, emu teak drop in done in kess thsn a day.

Can't wait to get my pair in March lmao.
Click to expand...

Yeah that went quick, hehe. The thirst is real. Having just bought a couple of HP's in the last 30 days I am in saving mode at the moment but that drop was tempting.

I'm either going to invest in a hifi set of HP's (pending demo time) or I'm going to save up for a separate multibit DAC for use with a tube amp. HP's would be the easy pick for an "upgrade" but we'll see where this rabbit hole goes first.
 
J

Jabronium

Member
SolarMystic said:
That is really fast shipping compared to most massdrop exclusives.

Please post pictures, love seeing Chan's work.
Click to expand...

I'm trying to be patient, I haven't heard back from Chan yet this week with an updated shipping date for my direct order. Got the ebony cups as well as the teaks.
 
sankt-Antonio

sankt-Antonio

:^)--?-<
matmanx1 said:
Sennheiser clamp and I do not get along. Unless the 650's are drastically more comfortable than the HD558's that I sold because they gave me headaches, then I need to stay away from most Sennheiser cans.
Click to expand...

The HD 800 do not clamp, like at all. They rest on the headband (could be padded a tad more) buts thats it, because of that I fell that they sit kind of wobbly on the head. So don't expect to wear them while doing something that requires a lot of sudden head movement.
 
D

dancrane212

Member
Was a bit worried when I plugged in the DAC/Amp and heard the Xbox One UI navigation sounds still have the same crackle and popping sounds they did over the audio jack of the controller but booting into a game sounds perfect; even higher pitched sounds in-game don't have any issue. I wonder why it is the UI sounds so terrible?
 
N

nitewulf

Member
Antiwhippy said:
Ooh, emu teak drop in done in kess thsn a day.

Can't wait to get my pair in March lmao.
Click to expand...
I got in on the Teak as well. Really wanted the Ebony but from reviews it seems like Teaks have the sound signature I'd enjoy the most.

matmanx1 said:
I'm either going to invest in a hifi set of HP's (pending demo time) or I'm going to save up for a separate multibit DAC for use with a tube amp. HP's would be the easy pick for an "upgrade" but we'll see where this rabbit hole goes first.
Click to expand...
In my experience (with stereo systems) the biggest upgrades will come from the headphones and the source files. I don't know what equipment you use now however. Don't underestimate well mastered, uncompressed files. Crappily recorded material will sound like crap no matter what you use.
 
A

Ashhong

Member
Amagon said:
I have a 598 and would like to know as well.
Click to expand...

Gaming headsets are one of the most voted-for product types on Massdrop. From Beyer’s MMX 300 to Astro’s A50 and Kingston’s HyperX series, we get thousands of votes each month for gaming headsets at every level. Sadly, most of these headsets have flaws that are initially imperceptible, but manifest after several months of use, making it difficult for us to list them, despite the votes.

Why are gaming headsets this way? I can’t say for sure, but I’d guess it has to do with gaming headsets being viewed as an accessory, a peripheral, for most companies producing them.

Understanding the desire from our community, and the undesirable state of gaming headsets as a product segment, we partnered with Sennheiser Gaming to produce the PC37X: a gaming and communications headset, not a gaming accessory.

As a competitive gamer (DOTA2, CS:GO, Battlerite) I understand the difference good audio cues can make, via the headset, and to teammates over the microphone. Working with Sennheiser and our community members, we quickly arrived at a short list of the most important features for this headset:

1. Sound stage, stereo imaging, accurate location cues. There are a lot of different terms we can use, but putting it into practice, if you’re making a run for B through the upper tunnels on dust_2, and someone starts walking up the stairs from the lower tunnels, the drivers need to be good enough to pass along the audio cue in time for you to 180 one-deag that fool. The PC37X drivers utilize the same overall design as those from Sennheiser’s audiophile HD family, positioned at a slight angle in the housing. The combination of driver quality and positioning achieves the stereo imaging necessary for the highest levels of competition.

2. Shielded mic, optimization for high volume, low distance, and intuitive mechanical design so you always know whether it’s on or off. Often when manufacturers produce gaming headsets, they use generic microphone capsules designed for another task (like teleconferencing). Manufacturers generally do this because developing microphones is very hard, and they don’t have the infrastructure to undertake such a project. Sennheiser, on the other hand, owns Neumann: the most well respected microphone developer and manufacturer in the world. To be clear, the microphone capsule used in this headset is not branded Neumann; it’s the same capsule used in the 373D, but it’s a capsule developed by Sennheiser specifically for high volume, low distance recording. Finally, nearly all gaming headsets feature a mic mute feature, which is often a small switch attached to the cable. These switches work, but one of the most consistent things we heard from community members was how often people would turn it off to eat, for example, then forget it was off. With the 37X, if the mic is in front of your mouth, it’s on. If the boom is pushed up and away from your mouth, it’s muted. Simple as that.

3. No signal processing or simulated surround sound that interact poorly with built-in audio optimization. At this point, most manufacturers of gaming headsets build in some kind of simulated surround sound because they think it’s the best way to produce better locational awareness. If this was 2008, that’d work pretty well. Back then, major game developers were smaller, and just starting to build in audio optimization of their own. At that point, simulated surround sound would interact positively with their un-optimized audio and often produce good results. As time went on, developers grew larger and audio optimization became a higher priority. Now, nearly all competitive games have built-in headphone modes. Stacking simulated surround sound on top of these pre-existing optimizations can produce a lot of undesirable interactions—and generally worse results. To avoid this, the 37X features no such processing.

Ultimately, our goal with this project was to make a gaming headset with performance suited to competitive play, with comfort and aesthetics that make for an enjoyably casual experience, and a price point that makes it as accessible as possible.

How do you think we did?
Click to expand...

They certainly seem like a great choice for gaming. My only question is how it is for music. Another post says that they dont use "the same" drivers as any other Sennheiser, just the same architecture, or same family. Whatever that means

The drivers come from the same family as the Sennheiser HD598 and HD600 headphones—two audiophile favorites in the Sennheiser collection.
Click to expand...
 
K

K.Jack

Knowledge is power, guard it well
Antiwhippy said:
I'm using my HD600 with a modmic attached as my gaming headset.

Which you could say is sacrilegious but eh. :p
Click to expand...

I use the Modmic with my FA-011, and the BoomPro with my PM-3.

Gaming headsets are a waste.

That last sentence. "The drivers come from the same family as the Sennheiser HD598 and HD600 headphones&#8212;two audiophile favorites in the Sennheiser collection."

A lot of scrubs come from good families.
 
M

matmanx1

Member
sankt-Antonio said:
The HD 800 do not clamp, like at all. They rest on the headband (could be padded a tad more) buts thats it, because of that I fell that they sit kind of wobbly on the head. So don't expect to wear them while doing something that requires a lot of sudden head movement.
Click to expand...

Good to know. I would definitely like to check them out because I certainly enjoyed the sound of the HD558's when I had them.

nitewulf said:
I got in on the Teak as well. Really wanted the Ebony but from reviews it seems like Teaks have the sound signature I'd enjoy the most.


In my experience (with stereo systems) the biggest upgrades will come from the headphones and the source files. I don't know what equipment you use now however. Don't underestimate well mastered, uncompressed files. Crappily recorded material will sound like crap no matter what you use.
Click to expand...

Yeah, most of my music is in iTunes and is lossy so one of my projects going forward will be to rip a bunch of my CD music as lossless or at least 320k, which is close enough for most things. Even with my MA900's I've already identified albums and tracks that obviously have room to grow and others that will always be mediocre at best no matter what equipment I throw at them. Going to uncompressed files will let the good stuff shine even brighter with better gear.
 
L

leng jai

Member
matmanx1 said:
Good to know. I would definitely like to check them out because I certainly enjoyed the sound of the HD558's when I had them.



Yeah, most of my music is in iTunes and is lossy so one of my projects going forward will be to rip a bunch of my CD music as lossless or at least 320k, which is close enough for most things. Even with my MA900's I've already identified albums and tracks that obviously have room to grow and others that will always be mediocre at best no matter what equipment I throw at them. Going to uncompressed files will let the good stuff shine even brighter with better gear.
Click to expand...

I had the HD650s for 2 years and didn't really enjoy the clamping on the headband either. The HD800s don't clamp at all and the huge pads make it very comfortable. The comfort is probably the most underrated aspect of it, you can't even feel it's there for the first hour. To be honest the comfort should be the number one focus for all headphones. It doesn't matter how good something sounds, if it's physically uncomfortable to wear then it's useless.

Actually iTunes 256k AAC is very good, can't hear much difference from lossless. Unless you're using MP3s under 256k any poor sound quality or compression is likely down to the mastering of the track itself.
 
M

matmanx1

Member
Antiwhippy said:
You might want to get some beyerdynamics then.
Click to expand...

Haha, not that kind of bright!

leng jai said:
I had the HD650s for 2 years and didn't really enjoy the clamping on the headband either. The HD800s don't clamp at all and the huge pads make it very comfortable. The comfort is probably the most underrated aspect of it, you can't even feel it's there for the first hour. To be honest the comfort should be the number one focus for all headphones. It doesn't matter how good something sounds, if it's physically uncomfortable to wear then it's useless.

Actually iTunes 256k AAC is very good, can't hear much difference from lossless. Unless you're using MP3s under 256k any poor sound quality or compression is likely down to the mastering of the track itself.
Click to expand...

Yeah that's what I'm using now 256k AAC. And for anything I've bought on iTunes over the years that's where they will have to stay. But I've been wanting to download JRiver and begin to re-catalog some of my favorite albums anyway with an eventual purchase of EQuilibrium by DMG Audio. JRiver is reasonably priced for what it does but EQuilibrium, as awesome as it is, makes me cringe a bit and I will have to close my eyes when I eventually hit that "buy" button.
 
A

Ashhong

Member
K.Jack said:
I use the Modmic with my FA-011, and the BoomPro with my PM-3.

Gaming headsets are a waste.

That last sentence. "The drivers come from the same family as the Sennheiser HD598 and HD600 headphones—two audiophile favorites in the Sennheiser collection."

A lot of scrubs come from good families.
Click to expand...

So do you expect then the sound quality of this massdrop headset to be under the 558 as well? Or at least as good as that? Obviously can't say for sure
 
K

K.Jack

Knowledge is power, guard it well
Ashhong said:
So do you expect then the sound quality of this massdrop headset to be under the 558 as well? Or at least as good as that? Obviously can't say for sure
Click to expand...

I have no idea, and doubt it would be that much worse than the 598. I was really just making fun of the vague marketing speak.

SolarMystic said:
Watching Fang (Hifiman CEO) have meltdowns in the Edition 6 thread on HF and attacking customers has been entertaining to say the least.
Click to expand...

Oooh on what page does the action start?
 
F

Felix Lighter

Member
I want a headset for traveling. Small, earbuds if there are good ones, with microphone for gaming on a laptop?

My budget would be $70 or less, I guess.
 
A

Ashhong

Member
K.Jack said:
I have no idea, and doubt it would be that much worse than the 598. I was really just making fun of the vague marketing speak.



Oooh on what page does the action start?
Click to expand...

Bah. Now I really don't know if I should get those and return the 558 or just get a modmic
 
Dice

Dice

Pokémon Parentage Conspiracy Theorist
Alright homies I want to finally replace my Sony MDR-PQ3 Triqii which eventually tore their non-replacable pads and then went out of production. The other kickass travel lightweight open on-ears I know are Sennheiser PX 100-II which are selling for $51.70 right now which AFAIK is $30-40 cheaper than usual. Do I jump on them or is there some kickass new competitor I don't know about?
 
A

Ashhong

Member
K.Jack said:
The RE-00 is great to excellent, depending on what you're looking for from an IEM.
Click to expand...

My best IEM are a pair of Sennheiser CX300, which I love, but yea, not very high end. I typically like bass, but appreciate a more even soundstage too. Sounds like these IEMs are a good buy no matter what at only 35$?
 
A

Ashhong

Member
Wow, first time using open headphones and they are so different from closed. Feels like surround sound or something. Still love my closed headphones but it's nice to be able to mix it up
 
R

Risette

A Good Citizen
Fang's meltdown on head-fi is amazing

I never thought I'd actually see a CEO/company owner lash out at their consumers like that lmao
 
H

HiResDes

Member
Ashhong said:
My best IEM are a pair of Sennheiser CX300, which I love, but yea, not very high end. I typically like bass, but appreciate a more even soundstage too. Sounds like these IEMs are a good buy no matter what at only 35$?
Click to expand...
Even though just about anything would be an improvement over the Sennheiser, the RE-00 probably won't have nearly enough bass for you
 
L

leng jai

Member
Ashhong said:
Wow, first time using open headphones and they are so different from closed. Feels like surround sound or something. Still love my closed headphones but it's nice to be able to mix it up
Click to expand...

Which model? Once you experience a wide sounding open headphone it's hard to go back to the boxed in signature of closed ones.
 
D

DarknessTear

Banned
Got the Sennheiser 598Cs but once I used them I realized I can't use these type of headphones. I guess they HAVE to be open... The suction cup feeling or whatever just hurts the insides of my ears. But I had otitis media as a child and tubes in both ears so my ears are pretty sensitive anyway. Astro A40 presses against my ears too hard. So does the Sony Gold Wireless headset. The only headphones I've been able to use is my old Sennheiser HD515. But they died a few months ago so I need a replacement.

Any ideas? Something up to $100 preferably. Wireless would be cool but not needed.
 
K

K.Jack

Knowledge is power, guard it well
Ashhong said:
My best IEM are a pair of Sennheiser CX300, which I love, but yea, not very high end. I typically like bass, but appreciate a more even soundstage too. Sounds like these IEMs are a good buy no matter what at only 35$?
Click to expand...

The bass is doesn't have big impact. The -00 is all about treble extension, max detail resolution, and great mids.

You love vocals and good instrument separation?

At $35 there's really no reason to not grab a pair.
 
A

Ashhong

Member
leng jai said:
Which model? Once you experience a wide sounding open headphone it's hard to go back to the boxed in signature of closed ones.
Click to expand...

Just an HD558. Did the foam mod but not sure what it changed. I went back and forth between this and my M50 and I'm happy in that I still enjoy that one as well.

K.Jack said:
The bass is doesn't have big impact. The -00 is all about treble extension, max detail resolution, and great mids.

You love vocals and good instrument separation?

At $35 there's really no reason to not grab a pair.
Click to expand...

Love vocals. Might as well pick up a pair then. Thanks
 
D

deoee

Member
I own the Sennheiser HD598 and while they sound really great with certain types of music and have an incredible soundstage and detail I want to try out some more "fun" cans.

Currently theres a promotion(until tomorrow) for many cans at https://www.session.de/ (you get 24&#8364; off) and I was thinking about picking up either the DT770 80 OHM (98&#8364;) or ATH-M50X (117&#8364;).

I own a Fiio E10k so driving them won't be a problem.
Any recommendations on one of those two or ANY other Headphones on that site for ~110&#8364; ?

Thank you for any advice :)
 
N

Nero's Neptune

Member
deoee said:
I own the Sennheiser HD598 and while they sound really great with certain types of music and have an incredible soundstage and detail I want to try out some more "fun" cans.

Currently theres a promotion(until tomorrow) for many cans at https://www.session.de/ (you get 24€ off) and I was thinking about picking up either the DT770 80 OHM (98€) or ATH-M50X (117€).

I own a Fiio E10k so driving them won't be a problem.
Any recommendations on one of those two or ANY other Headphones on that site for ~110€ ?

Thank you for any advice :)
Click to expand...

I think the DT770 Pro 80s would make a nice compliment to the HD598s. They still have a decent soundstage for closed headphone, and they're quite well balanced despite having boosted bass.

It's funny that they cost less than the M50s, despite being superior in every way.
 
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