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Headphone Advice Please? - Page 2

post #31 of 41
3/18/11 at 8:27am
I purchased the Shure SRH840 from J&R for $138 delivered. I told them that they gave my friend that deal and they didn't give me a hard time about it. After another friend heard my headphones he called and got the same deal. These headphones retail for $250 and sound great.
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post #32 of 41
3/18/11 at 9:58am
Quote:
Originally Posted by sillysally View Post

Its post's like yours (scuba gear, underwater,ect) and others that do these kinds of a thread a real injustice.
Yes its always good if you actually have hands on experience or really are interested, but in your case you don't and probably have no interest.

I would suggest you use a forum like Head-Case, I think you would like it.

However if you are interested and can refrain from useless post you can read the links posted just above.

It's posts like these that make me realize that you didn't notice you typed "aquatics" instead of "acoustics" and he was making a joke.
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post #33 of 41
3/18/11 at 4:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by FreeFire View Post

It's posts like these that make me realize that you didn't notice you typed "aquatics" instead of "acoustics" and he was making a joke.

Shhh! SillySally is a bit sloooow. Let's see how long it takes him to "get it".

T plus 24 hours and counting.....

T plus 39 hours and no sign of comprehension on the horizon.....

At this point we must assume the acoustic torpedo has scored a direct hit on the aquatic sound system and destroyed its target. The windbag has been silenced!
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post #34 of 41
3/19/11 at 3:05pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by OtherSongs View Post

OK. Give me roughly a week for the 595 to show up. FWIW I've ordered refurb from DAHMART once and it was a good deal; and have also seen a few others on AVS be pleased with DAHMART refurb purchases.

Given that the $95 is backed up by Amazon, it looks a good deal to me.

Time (SQ) will tell.

Cheers


Quote:
Originally Posted by golffnutt View Post

Sounds good to me, thank you.


The refurb'ed Sennheiser 595 headphones showed up today (Sat./USPS) sooner than expected.

Similar but somewhat lighter than my 650's and therefore slightly more comfortable, and work great with the on-board/limited amp power from a higher end Gigabyte mobo.

With regard to the 650's, the one thing I've picked up on in this thread is that they likely need high quality amplification; all that I've so far used with my 650's is the amp of an Asus Xonar Essence sound board, which is not all that high end. Whether it's worth it (to you) to spend more money on better headphone amplification (than what your receiver has) is unknown to me, and I do not feel any need to go there anytime soon for myself.

Cheers
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post #35 of 41
3/19/11 at 3:42pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by golffnutt View Post

I think for now I will stay with the 805 and the 650's although my first impression of the 650's is not all positive, sound a little muddy to me

The problem is that most receivers generate the headphone output by putting a resister in series with the main outputs. This creates a headphone output with several hundred ohms of output impedance. I'm not sure why, but this tends to make for muddy bass in some headphones. I'm not familiar with the onkyo 805, and couldn't find specs on its headphone output, but I suspect they use the resister in series method. I remember reading somewhere, but can't find it right now, that the hd650 like an amplifier with low (near zero) output impedance. The 650 are themselves a fairly high impedance headphone, so need good strong voltage to drive them well.
So if you decide to look for a dedicated headphone amp, look for one with low output impedance, and relatively high output voltage capability (9volts or more).
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post #36 of 41
3/20/11 at 6:52am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by dknightd View Post
The problem is that most receivers generate the headphone output by putting a resister in series with the main outputs. This creates a headphone output with several hundred ohms of output impedance. I'm not sure why, but this tends to make for muddy bass in some headphones. I'm not familiar with the onkyo 805, and couldn't find specs on its headphone output, but I suspect they use the resister in series method. I remember reading somewhere, but can't find it right now, that the hd650 like an amplifier with low (near zero) output impedance. The 650 are themselves a fairly high impedance headphone, so need good strong voltage to drive them well.
So if you decide to look for a dedicated headphone amp, look for one with low output impedance, and relatively high output voltage capability (9volts or more).
Thank you very much dknightd for that info, that is GREAT to know and I will remember that. You know of any amps (model and brand) in the $200 price range (used) that I could buy and that would work well with the 650's? Thanks again for your help and have a great day.
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post #37 of 41
3/20/11 at 6:54am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by OtherSongs View Post
The refurb'ed Sennheiser 595 headphones showed up today (Sat./USPS) sooner than expected.

Similar but somewhat lighter than my 650's and therefore slightly more comfortable, and work great with the on-board/limited amp power from a higher end Gigabyte mobo.

With regard to the 650's, the one thing I've picked up on in this thread is that they likely need high quality amplification; all that I've so far used with my 650's is the amp of an Asus Xonar Essence sound board, which is not all that high end. Whether it's worth it (to you) to spend more money on better headphone amplification (than what your receiver has) is unknown to me, and I do not feel any need to go there anytime soon for myself.

Cheers
Thank you Othersongs. I too have gone about as far as I am going with regards to buying additional equipment although I would like to try a headphone amp if I am able to find a good one on the used market for around $200 or so. How does the sound quality sound on the 595's compared to the 650's with your current equipment? Have a great day and thanks again.
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post #38 of 41
3/20/11 at 9:09am
Quote:
Originally Posted by OtherSongs View Post

The refurb'ed Sennheiser 595 headphones showed up today (Sat./USPS) sooner than expected.

Similar but somewhat lighter than my 650's and therefore slightly more comfortable, and work great with the on-board/limited amp power from a higher end Gigabyte mobo.

With regard to the 650's, the one thing I've picked up on in this thread is that they likely need high quality amplification; all that I've so far used with my 650's is the amp of an Asus Xonar Essence sound board, which is not all that high end. Whether it's worth it (to you) to spend more money on better headphone amplification (than what your receiver has) is unknown to me, and I do not feel any need to go there anytime soon for myself.

Cheers

Quote:
Originally Posted by golffnutt View Post

Thank you Othersongs. I too have gone about as far as I am going with regards to buying additional equipment although I would like to try a headphone amp if I am able to find a good one on the used market for around $200 or so. How does the sound quality sound on the 595's compared to the 650's with your current equipment? Have a great day and thanks again.


I haven't really done a fair comparison as the "amp" I used for the 650's was that built into an Asus Xonar Essence PC sound board.

I can add that while I'm normally very focused on SQ, it's become clear that headphones are the exception, and that with headphones comfort/convenience take precedence over SQ (at least so far as the SQ of a lower SQ headphone is close).

At the moment my focus is to build several home theater PC's for myself with compressed .flac stereo files (16/44.1). I started off thinking I'd build 2 or 3 PC's for personal use but that's ballooned to 6. For some insight into that see my "Build a Small and Quiet PC For Stereo Music" thread: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1260917

Which is to say that I think that the SQ of the Sennheiser 595 headphones are a good deal (compared to the 650's that I have) and easier to use (less demanding of amplification) and slightly more comfortable.

But I don't plan to sell my 650's as odds are that I'll figure out a way to use them with better amplification. For one thing I've 2 extra unused stereo amps lying unused that I can plug in to try. But don't hold your breath for me to actually take the time to do that, let alone report on it.

Cheers
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post #39 of 41
3/20/11 at 9:16am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by OtherSongs View Post

I haven't really done a fair comparison as the "amp" I used for the 650's was that built into an Asus Xonar Essence PC sound board.

I can add that while I'm normally very focused on SQ, it's become clear that headphones are the exception, and that with headphones comfort/convenience take precedence over SQ (at least so far as the SQ of a lower SQ headphone is close).

At the moment my focus is to build several home theater PC's for myself with compressed .flac stereo files (16/44.1). I started off thinking I'd build 2 or 3 PC's for personal use but that's ballooned to 6. For some insight into that see my "Build a Small and Quiet PC For Stereo Music" thread: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1260917

Which is to say that I think that the SQ of the Sennheiser 595 headphones are a good deal (compared to the 650's that I have) and easier to use (less demanding of amplification) and slightly more comfortable.

But I don't plan to sell my 650's as odds are that I'll figure out a way to use them with better amplification. For one thing I've 2 extra unused stereo amps lying unused that I can plug in to try. But don't hold your breath for me to actually take the time to do that, let alone report on it.

Cheers

Thanks for your time and comments. Hope you enjoy the 595's. Have a great day.
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post #40 of 41
3/21/11 at 3:40pm
golffnutt, can't help with a specific amp recommendation. I've been out of the headphone thing for awhile, so do not know what is currently available, and what it costs. I'm sure you'll get some good help if you go visit headfi.
I currently use the headphone output on a benchmark DAC1 (I also use it to drive my main stereo)
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post #41 of 41
3/22/11 at 7:45am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by dknightd View Post

golffnutt, can't help with a specific amp recommendation. I've been out of the headphone thing for awhile, so do not know what is currently available, and what it costs. I'm sure you'll get some good help if you go visit headfi.
I currently use the headphone output on a benchmark DAC1 (I also use it to drive my main stereo)

Hi dknightd,

I will visit headfi. Thank you, and have a great day.

Rick
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