Headphones

Started by Bonehelm, June 10, 2007, 02:50:21 PM

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DavidW

Quote from: drogulus on February 05, 2009, 12:21:04 PM
As you see below there's not much difference in their FR.

The plots actually show the opposite conclusion.  The SR 80 falls off much faster than the 60 on the low end, see it rapidly falls to -20 dB, while SR-60 rolls off to -10 dB.  And look at that funny trough in the high frequency range.  It's severe (-20 dB), and only the 60 has it.  That's a logarithmic scale for the frequency, so it's important to note that where the 80 starts performing that way, it looks not far from where the 60's funny trough is, but actually very far away from it.  Where the 80's funny troughs occur are already on the edge of hearing, and it never falls as far as the 60 does.


drogulus



    The 280s are more accurate. Right now I'm starting to adjust to them. They are more dynamic than any other 'phones I've used, and they also have more isolation. I'm having a hard time finding the ideal volume. They sound so clear that when the climax comes it's shockingly loud. I'm starting to turn them down a bit at a time.

Quote from: DavidW on February 05, 2009, 04:15:09 PM
The plots actually show the opposite conclusion.  The SR 80 falls off much faster than the 60 on the low end, see it rapidly falls to -20 dB, while SR-60 rolls off to -10 dB.  And look at that funny trough in the high frequency range.  It's severe (-20 dB), and only the 60 has it.  That's a logarithmic scale for the frequency, so it's important to note that where the 80 starts performing that way, it looks not far from where the 60's funny trough is, but actually very far away from it.  Where the 80's funny troughs occur are already on the edge of hearing, and it never falls as far as the 60 does.



     You're right! The 80s look bass deficient, down 5-10 dB at 30 hz. At 30 hz SR 60s are at zero.
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DavidW

Quote from: drogulus on February 05, 2009, 05:03:41 PM

    The 280s are more accurate. Right now I'm starting to adjust to them. They are more dynamic than any other 'phones I've used, and they also have more isolation. I'm having a hard time finding the ideal volume. They sound so clear that when the climax comes it's shockingly loud. I'm starting to turn them down a bit at a time.

Yeah they are pretty loud!  My problem with them was that they were like a vice on my head!  I need comfort.

Quote
     You're right! The 80s look bass deficient, down 5-10 dB at 30 hz. At 30 hz SR 60s are at zero.

Yup, so there are problems with both headphones. :-\  I personally would prefer to have the bass over the high frequency.

drogulus

#143

    I discovered the problem with the 280s. There's something wrong with my right ear.  I've had a cold for the last few days and it moved to my ear. I held my nose and blew causing my ear to pop (actually squish) in a nasty way. This is producing a ringing sound with the headphones. When I get better the 280s will sound great, much more detailed than the SR 60s.

   
Quote from: DavidW on February 05, 2009, 06:10:50 PM

Yup, so there are problems with both headphones. :-\  I personally would prefer to have the bass over the high frequency.

    I like the balance on the 60s. The bass is strong enough for me.

    Take a look at this:

   

   
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DavidW

Sorry to hear that Ernie, I've been sick as well and the congestion gives me the same ear problems (well no ringing though).

Renfield

#145
(I will be providing feedback after I compare them in practice, rest assured.)

Edit: Not that you would not otherwise be resting assured, I certainly hope. :P

Holden

Quote from: DavidW on February 05, 2009, 06:10:50 PM
Yeah they are pretty loud!  My problem with them was that they were like a vice on my head!  I need comfort.

Yup, so there are problems with both headphones. :-\  I personally would prefer to have the bass over the high frequency.

I burned my pair in for 72 hours constantly playing some heavy rock and wrapped around a size 5 soccer ball. They are very comfy now.
Cheers

Holden

DavidW

Quote from: Holden on February 06, 2009, 05:32:26 PM
I burned my pair in for 72 hours constantly playing some heavy rock and wrapped around a size 5 soccer ball. They are very comfy now.

Now that's what I call breaking it in! :D

Renfield

#148
So today I heard both the Grado SR60 and the SR80, driven by a Pro-Ject Head Box II - the sound samples were lossless rips from my 80GB iPod, due to my lack of desire to haul compact discs across a snowy Edinburgh, today.

Now, due to the fact that I did not 'load' my iPod specifically for sound-testing, I mostly had 'lower-fi' recordings to work on - Gielen's Mahler being an exception, the rest were 1940s-1980's recordings.

However, they are recordings I know well, which is why I decided to maintain that 'payload'.

Cutting to the chase, I liked both headphones a lot: I found the SR60's sound slightly more vibrant, yet noticeably less well-defined than the SR80's. And the bass on the SR60 is indeed more prominent, but the SR80 incorporate it better into the sound picture, which is in general clearly superior in the latter model. So, though I wouldn't mind (at all!) using either, I opted for the more "luxurious-sounding" SR80, in the end.

Also, though I tested them on the Head Box II, for the moment I picked up this "pretty little thing", which though not quite at the level of the Pro-Ject amp is phenomenally good for its size, adaptability and portability (the latter two great pluses for me), and which I heartily recommend. :)


Further note: Contrary to what the original iteration of the SR80 seems to have had, the current version of the headphones does not come with a "donut" style ear cushion, but with the (apparent) original SR60 design, instead.

sporkadelic

Quote from: Renfield on February 12, 2009, 12:33:29 PM
Now, due to the fact that I did not "load" my iPod specifically for sound-testing, I mostly had "lower-fi" recordings to work on - Gielen's Mahler being an exception, the rest were 1940s-1980's recordings.

However, they are recordings I know well, which is why I decided to maintain that "payload'.


Important point, this.  When I'm comparing pieces of audio gear I like to have the Beatles white album handy, not because it's a hi-fi spectacular, but because I've known it for 40 years.

drogulus

Quote from: sporkadelic on February 12, 2009, 12:44:30 PM
Important point, this.  When I'm comparing pieces of audio gear I like to have the Beatles white album handy, not because it's a hi-fi spectacular, but because I've known it for 40 years.


     That's a good point. Familiar and much-loved music is a better test, though it's good to try different kinds of music.

     Now that my ear is better the 280s are sounding really good, though the highs are a little piercing. I may need to turn them down a bit more.
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DavidRoss

Quote from: drogulus on February 12, 2009, 01:58:48 PM
     That's a good point. Familiar and much-loved music is a better test, though it's good to try different kinds of music.

     Now that my ear is better the 280s are sounding really good, though the highs are a little piercing. I may need to turn them down a bit more.
They'll improve after you've run them in for a couple of hundred hours.

Whoops!  I almost forgot--you don't believe in that.  But it's okay, they'll improve whether you believe or not.  They're not like Tinkerbelle.  ;)
"Maybe the problem most of you have ... is that you're not listening to Barbirolli." ~Sarge

"The problem with socialism is that sooner or later you run out of other people's money." ~Margaret Thatcher

Joe_Campbell

Quote from: DavidRoss on February 12, 2009, 03:30:43 PM
They'll improve after you've run them in for a couple of hundred hours.

Whoops!  I almost forgot--you don't believe in that.  But it's okay, they'll improve whether you believe or not.  They're not like Tinkerbelle.  ;)
Listen to any frequency loud enough and long enough, and it's bound to start sounding a bit quieter. ;)

drogulus



     My ears are fully "burned in" now and the 280s are starting to live up to their reputation. I also turned them down a bit more and the sound is now clearer. I really underestimated both the sensitivity of these 'phones and the difference that several dB of extra isolation makes. The shape of the cavity the phones create around the ears is another variable that could explain how they differ from my old HD270's.
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stingo

Anything I can get my hands on with my brand new Sennheiser 600's :)

Sergeant Rock

Quote from: stingo on April 02, 2009, 08:32:50 AM
Anything I can get my hands on with my brand new Sennheiser 600's :)

Hey, I've spotted the red-crested Stingo! A rare sight around these parts recently.

Congratulations on the purchase. I'm in the market for a decent pair of headphones myself.

Sarge
the phone rings and somebody says,
"hey, they made a movie about
Mahler, you ought to go see it.
he was as f*cked-up as you are."
                               --Charles Bukowski, "Mahler"

jlaurson

#156
Quote from: stingo on April 02, 2009, 08:32:50 AM
Anything I can get my hands on with my brand new Sennheiser 600's :)

What have you got those HUNGRY beauties plugged into?
Lest you happen to have the rarest case of an incredibly high-powered high-quality headphone jack
on your amp (I am not aware of one that has one, but there might be...), a fine headphone amplifier
will now prove to be the best hi-fi investment you can make.

Compared to that, matters like choice of CD or SACD source are relegated to voodoo.


stingo

Quote from: jlaurson on April 02, 2009, 08:54:18 AM
What have you got those HUNGRY beauties plugged into?
Lest you happen to have the rarest case of an incredibly high-powered high-quality headphone jack
on your amp (I am not aware of one that has one, but there might be...), a fine headphone amplifier
will now prove to be the best hi-fi investment you can make.

Just my PC or CD/DVD player at the moment. I was thinking of getting a headphone amp, but I have no idea what to get.

And to stay on topic: Bax: Elegiac Trio for harp, viola and flute.

jlaurson

Quote from: stingo on April 02, 2009, 10:03:36 AM
Just my PC or CD/DVD player at the moment. I was thinking of getting a headphone amp, but I have no idea what to get.

Do get one. Plugging your HD600 into your PC is a colossal waste of potential (and money).
After doing that a few times with mine, I waited almost a year to use them again: Until I had a headphone Amp.
They sounded OK plugged into an old amp of a friend--presumably with a somewhat decently powered jack, but they
sounded like limp and lukewarm mineral water on anything else. Far worse than headphones that are far cheaper.
And of course dismal, compared to Grados. (Which need very little power, although still more than a PC headphone jack provides.)

For such listening I've found Etymotics in-ear headphones to provide the best listening experience... although one that many listeners
might find uncomfortable.

When I finally plugged my Sennheisers into the headphone amp, my jaw dropped. WOW! UN. BE. LIEVABLE. You hear too much, if anything.
To quote Karajan (out of context): Everything else is gaslight.

I can't really recommend anything, because I've never done comparative listening... and my unit isn't commercially available (below).
One of the standard Head Phone Amps--always liked by its users, it seems--is Musical Fidelity and their X-Can series. (V8P, for example.)
I've personally heard very encouraging things about Woo Audio (Brooklyn) which goes the tube-route as do mine.

Get ready to feel every floorboard creaking with atmosphere.

ThreaDuty: listening to:


Johann Sebastian Bach - Latin Church Music v.1 (Masses) - Challenge Classics



mc ukrneal

Quote from: jlaurson on April 02, 2009, 11:14:48 AM
Do get one. Plugging your HD600 into your PC is a colossal waste of potential (and money).
After doing that a few times with mine, I waited almost a year to use them again: Until I had a headphone Amp.
They sounded OK plugged into an old amp of a friend--presumably with a somewhat decently powered jack, but they
sounded like limp and lukewarm mineral water on anything else. Far worse than headphones that are far cheaper.
And of course dismal, compared to Grados. (Which need very little power, although still more than a PC headphone jack provides.)

For such listening I've found Etymotics in-ear headphones to provide the best listening experience... although one that many listeners
might find uncomfortable.

When I finally plugged my Sennheisers into the headphone amp, my jaw dropped. WOW! UN. BE. LIEVABLE. You hear too much, if anything.
To quote Karajan (out of context): Everything else is gaslight.

I can't really recommend anything, because I've never done comparative listening... and my unit isn't commercially available (below).
One of the standard Head Phone Amps--always liked by its users, it seems--is Musical Fidelity and their X-Can series. (V8P, for example.)
I've personally heard very encouraging things about Woo Audio (Brooklyn) which goes the tube-route as do mine.

Get ready to feel every floorboard creaking with atmosphere.

ThreaDuty: listening to:


Johann Sebastian Bach - Latin Church Music v.1 (Masses) - Challenge Classics




If you haven't checked out the site, head on over to head-fi: http://www.head-fi.org/forums. They have both full size and portable amp threads. It's a great site for info on anything headphone related. I have the HD580 and use a total bithead amp (it's portable and just plugs into a USB). Anyway, very helpful site (people are friendly and have heeps of knowledge on the subject).  And as we say over there, sorry for your wallet!

Be kind to your fellow posters!!