what headphones do you own thread - i own dt150's :)

Timber said:
Ah OK. Took me a few attempts to understand your point - up too late!

I think these two are OK, in that Fiio say the K11 is 250mW at 300Ω (BAL). The iFi Signature Can is 5.1 V / 756 mW at 300Ω (BAL). Annoyingly the iFi manual doesn't have the 300Ω spec listed.

Did some reading and this site (headphonesty.com) has the HD650/6xx as needing 2v, which it looks to me as though the Signature Can easily clears. Can't find voltage output for the K11 @ 300ohms. I can see mmy Qudelix 5K is doing c.4v (BAL).
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It is actually kind of complicated - for single ended around 2V will get them loud, but not necessarily get a good sound out of them (an amp with specs around that level will often have a muddy and flat sound with the HD600s, especially the lower end, even when it gets good volume out of them). They need an overall voltage delivery including things like slew rates and some frequency/impedance factors which has a good "synergy" and that usually comes with amps that have ~6+V capability - on my DIY amps you needed the ability of an around 10V swing on the rails before they'd come to life. Balanced is a whole another story again and usually has far better performance on the HD600s - even if it is just an active ground pseudo-balanced amp on the end of a single ended audio chain. But a lot depends on the design and overall voltage performance.

(It is beyond my actual knowledge of what is going on, I just know what does and doesn't sound good from several years of testing with my HD600 series headphones).
 
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HiFiMan Edition XS. 'Upgraded' from the Sundara's when they broke but can't really tell the difference in sound quality. The Sundara's were a lot more comfortable though.
 
Rroff said:
It is actually kind of complicated - for single ended around 2V will get them loud, but not necessarily get a good sound out of them (an amp with specs around that level will often have a muddy and flat sound with the HD600s, especially the lower end, even when it gets good volume out of them). They need an overall voltage delivery including things like slew rates and some frequency/impedance factors which has a good "synergy" and that usually comes with amps that have ~6+V capability - on my DIY amps you needed the ability of an around 10V swing on the rails before they'd come to life. Balanced is a whole another story again and usually has far better performance on the HD600s - even if it is just an active ground pseudo-balanced amp on the end of a single ended audio chain. But a lot depends on the design and overall voltage performance.

(It is beyond my actual knowledge of what is going on, I just know what does and doesn't sound good from several years of testing with my HD600 series headphones).
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Thank you and Interesting.

I do remember when I purchased the HD650's @Things change I've changed explained how they soak up power and really open up on more powerful amplification with higher voltages. Just something I guess I've not thought about that much as I don't change my DAC/AMP that often. I did also quickly move to a balanced cable with the HD650's at the time.

Regarding the iFi Zen Can Signature there seems to be some confusion on the specs, in that certain websites list it as 15.1V @ 300Ω (BAL). The iFi Audio & Drop websites plus the included manual list as 11V @ 64Ω / 15.2V @ 600Ω (both BAL). Also on SE they are 7.2V @ 32Ω and 7.6V @ 300Ω. So I think my earlier figure is incorrect. And reading several reviews of the Zen Can Signature seem to suggest it pairs very well with the HD6x0 as an amp. Which would make sense given how it was specifically marketed to the HD650/6xx line. Certainly something I need to keep in mind moving forward when buying amps for the HD6x0's.
 
Absolutely gutted that Sennheiser killed off the Momentum line and don't have a upgraded version of the original Momentum on-ears - been giving them a good work out tonight that trick bass is so satisfying.
 
Sources:
On the go
Cayin N3 Pro ( tank like player with tubes)
Hiby R3 pro (small and touchscreen player)

Desks:
Topping A50s/D50s/P50. Mini Stack I use for Iems (too many iems, Tin hifi, Xenns Mangird, Tangzu's)

Topping A90 amp.


Headphones:
Hifiman edition xs (stupid inexpensive planars! )

Synodic said:
HiFiMan Edition XS. 'Upgraded' from the Sundara's when they broke but can't really tell the difference in sound quality. The Sundara's were a lot more comfortable though.
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What is your source for them, need a decent amount of power to drive?
You should look into making minor adjustments;
Change it's headband cushion ( standard one is dire)
Have you tried pad swapping, I generally go for velour or hybrid for the comfort for the xs (Ali' sells them)


I sold a whole bunch of headphones like Audeze's, Meze's, to fund some higher end headphones and gear. Got my eye on a ZMF.
 
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Rroff said:
Absolutely gutted that Sennheiser killed off the Momentum line and don't have a upgraded version of the original Momentum on-ears - been giving them a good work out tonight that trick bass is so satisfying.
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These? I find the clamping on the ear not comfortable after a while.

x9SCRuLh.jpg
 
mrk said:
Zeos likes teh R2R K11 a lot, says it sounds like a Schitt :cool:
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Definitely on my list to consider. After a number of years I'm looking to setup a new 'battlestation' including desk, updating the gaming PC and various equipment and this may be part of that I think. I'm still using Philips Fidelio X2HR which are pretty good sounding and importantly (as others have indicated above for longevity) very comfortable.

I got a Cambridge Audio DagMacic XS from the MM and it made a big improvement to the sound, but I imagine something like this would be a bit more of a jump again. Mostly for music, videos and gaming.
 
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Moved my whole Spotify to Tidal and man having bit-perfect streaming in the app is excellent. Can see the sample rate change between tracks on the K11 R2R's display so that's good peace of mind that it's working. Most of the 24/192 tracks are incredible definition, clearly thought has been put into which masters to use and which ones to put onto 24/96 24/192 etc.

Feels like the Arya Stealth and K11-R2R were a match made for this type of music platform, and it's £3 cheaper than Spotify which doesn't even have a lossless service yet :rolleyes:

It sounds like Tidal has deliberately picked 192KHz for certain tracks and 96 too for their fidelity and mastering which maximises what those trackls are capable of. it's very obvious when playing the next track and it's 24/96 or 192 vs the previous track being 44.1KHz for example.

As a comparison I played I Want you Back by Jackson 5 on Tidal, it is 24-bit 192KHz and is exceptionally well mastered.

I then played it on Spotify and it was immediately obvious that this copy wasn't as good quality due to the compression, even though on its own without hearing the Tidal copy you'd think it sounded amazing, which it obviously is for lossy compression, but back to back with the Tidal FLAC version it's no contest.

Happy to say that this has been my most enjoyable headphone experience to date. I would never have made the switch had I not gone into Richer Sounds at the weekend to demo speakers and the guy seeing to me mentioned a online service that transfers any music platform library to any other in one click and that I should get off Spotify and onto a proper lossless service :o

To be honest I'd been waiting all these years for Spotify to pull their finger out of their butt and release Spotify HiFi I figured why not wait a little longer every few months...

To get bit-perfect working properly in tidal all you have to do is set the output device to your DAC instead of system default which unlocks the settings button for it where you choose Exclusive mode and disable the volume control toggle. This will then bypass the Windows audio stack and you should see the DAC's sample rate change as you skip between tracks of varying sample rates.

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Raymond Lin said:
These? I find the clamping on the ear not comfortable after a while.
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I've got a couple of different variants of the Momentums but the ones I was referring to are the slightly smaller cups with I believe velour rather than leather which are a bit more comfortable for me anyhow.
 
still using my beyerdynamic dt770 80ohm from 20 years ago, and a set of UE triple fi iems that are probably a similar age. both have had significant repairs to keep them going. i love them both.
 
Taken from this reddit post; Sennheiser have a new headphone coming out; HD 505 Copper Edition.

Apart from the fairly normal confusing 5x0/6x0 model number these have a frequency response to die for. Looks really on-point. Sounds like it uses the HD 560S 120ohm drivers, but maybe more towards the 599 tuning. We shall see. Along with the Fosi Audio K7, Audio-Technica R30/R50X/R70Xa, these feel like another existing audio toy to look out for. Again may be particularly well suited for gaming.

My only issue might be that the hinges on the 560S irritated my ears and I much prefer the HD6x0 frame.

 
Hmm could be interesting, although I loathe that headband design, Cracky McCrackface the moment you twist a little too rigidly or they drop on the desk.
 
mrk said:
Hmm could be interesting, although I loathe that headband design, Cracky McCrackface the moment you twist a little too rigidly or they drop on the desk.
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Yep.

The reddit thread seems to think they'll be €280 so their price could impact them as well. The 560S and 599 SE are often at bargain basement prices.
 
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HiFiMan now has an R2R amp out, if my K11 R2R ever dies outside of warranty then I'll be checking this out. No display which is a shame and it's vertical orientation but does look kinda cool and is a network streamer too.


Loads of power too, not bad at all for £230 I think.
 
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I've jumped on the K11 R2R train. I'm using it with my Grado SR325x, and a Qobuz subscription.
Loving it so far, nice upgrade from my Meridian Explorer². The 'NOS' mode and Grado, are a good match,
to my ears anyway. It's nice having a rotary volume control, I don't have to exit full screen mode
games just to change the volume lol.
 
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mrk said:
HiFiMan now has an R2R amp out, if my K11 R2R ever dies outside of warranty then I'll be checking this out. No display which is a shame and it's vertical orientation but does look kinda cool and is a network streamer too.


Loads of power too, not bad at all for £230 I think.
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I was contemplating that before getting the k11 myself, i decided against it though due to it been twice the price of the k11 and honestly the colour scheme of it.
 
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