The headphones thread! [Sorry about your wallet]

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#716452 13-Nov-2012 14:58

joker97: Freak!

Absolutely. You could be more specific about which parts are freaky though :)

I think after the HE-6 I will finally be able to sell off a bunch of my headphones, I'm pretty much settled on the ones I like best for home and portable use... Will hold onto them a little while though, considering the prospect of a meet at some stage.

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networkn

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#716457 13-Nov-2012 15:00

NZtechfreak: Bah, so annoying!

At lunchtime I dashed away from work to collection my HE-6 from the airport, then dashed home to get the RSA Intruder and 6.5mm-->3.5mm adapter and USB OTG adapter. Arrive to work with 15 minutes left in order to listen to a few tracks from the HE-6, discover I left the 6.5mm-->3.5mm adapter at home. Fracking annoying. Will have to wait until this evening.

I hope my amps have enough power to drive the HE-6... Getting some balanced adapters to connect to the balanced outputs of the Xonar and the Intruder, hopefully if I have issues with driving it from my amps on a single-ended connection that will help (since it doubles power output to each channel from a fully balanced amp).

I feel for you! That really sucks!

I didn't know you had the Xnonar. Do you have the HE400's? They are said to be the "Exciting" HD650s.

When it comes time to sell your stuff I want first dibs :)

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#716684 13-Nov-2012 20:54

I don't have the HE-400s any more. I pre-ordered them, and mine was in the first batch which had QC issues (channels cutting out). I was incredibly impressed by them, but then everyone is the first time they hear their first serious headphones.

Just tried my HE-6 with my Intruder and with my desktop amp - neither can drive it well. The Intruder actually does better than my desktop amp I think (which is, ah, quite an achievement), but still not quite there. Hopefully the balanced connections I have coming will help, since both of my amps will supply double the power on each channel. If not I will have to look into another solution. Based on what I can already hear I think they'll be worth the effort, the bass extension is right up there with the LCD-2, but their soundstage and imaging are superior (and guitars sound better even driven suboptimally as they are now).

EDIT: Oh, should mention, the Xonar volume knob is on MAX and it cannot achieve enough volume with the HE-6. My other cans don't need it turned past about 11 o'clock.

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#716688 13-Nov-2012 21:01

Yah I am just watching you buy higher and higher end equipment until you relent and buy the Stax 009 and a 5K Electrostatic Amp :)

So what kind of music do you enjoy then? What tracks do you consider essential to listen to first when you get new cans? I'd love to hear a pair of 600's.

I really liked the 598's except the colour which makes me gag. Black and Silver are the colour headphones should be.

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#716701 13-Nov-2012 21:15

networkn: Yah I am just watching you buy higher and higher end equipment until you relent and buy the Stax 009 and a 5K Electrostatic Amp :)

So what kind of music do you enjoy then? What tracks do you consider essential to listen to first when you get new cans? I'd love to hear a pair of 600's.

I really liked the 598's except the colour which makes me gag. Black and Silver are the colour headphones should be.

The HE-6 aren't particularly higher-end than my other headphones, at least in terms of price, but they sure are harder to drive! If I can get a setup to drive the HE-6 I think that'll be me done, many at Head-Fi put it on a very similar level to the 009 when properly driven.

I don't think I'll ever get the 009, even I can't justify spending that much! I got the HE-6 second hand from Head-Fi, probably saved about $500-700NZD all up on them (haven't done the math yet).

I like a really broad range of music, although rock and metal are my main squeeze. The tracks I tend to listen to with any new headphone (my "reference" tracks as it were) include: Teardrop by Massive Attack, 46 and 2 by Tool, Billie Jean by Michael Jackson, Someone to Watch Over Me by Ella Fitzgerald, Throes of Rejection and 13 Steps to Nowhere by Pantera, Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd, Hanuman by Rodrigo Y Gabriela, Blue in Green by Miles Davis, Karma Police by Radiohead, Cherub Rock by Smashing Pumpkins, and Map of the Problematique and Knights of Cydonia by Muse. Some of those I listen to purely for assessing one thing - like bass extension and texture in Teardrop, or the imaging and qualities of splash cymbal strikes in the 46 and 2 into, vocals in the Ella track and so forth, and others I listen to less specifically. It's a good idea to have a bunch of reference tracks that you know really well like that.

Twitter: @nztechfreak
Blogs: HeadphoNZ.org

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#716703 13-Nov-2012 21:22

There is a really interesting characteristic of the HD650's I am finding very disconcerting. It feels to me that more of the "substance" of the music I am listening to, is coming from my left hand side. I am reasonably sure it was like that during the audition, and I am relatively sure nothing is wrong, since I don't appear to be missing any "sound" or "track components". Voices are dead centre.

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#716710 13-Nov-2012 21:37

Wax in your right ear?

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#716712 13-Nov-2012 21:37

(or other forms of more permanent type of hearing discapacitation?)

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#716716 13-Nov-2012 21:43

It's not something I've noticed before and I am not thinking it's a hearing issue. I can hear the sounds that are supposed to be there. Perhaps this is how instrument separation is supposed to be on the tracks and because I've not had headphones this high end before it's just new.

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#716728 13-Nov-2012 22:43

networkn: It's not something I've noticed before and I am not thinking it's a hearing issue. I can hear the sounds that are supposed to be there. Perhaps this is how instrument separation is supposed to be on the tracks and because I've not had headphones this high end before it's just new.

When you come over we'll quickly be able to sort out if there is a problem.

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#716788 14-Nov-2012 07:50

It could be unbalanced drivers, or a problem with your source/amp. If no other headphones exhibit the problem I'd probably say it's unbalanced drivers, and if I'd bought them new I'd return them because of it.

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#716971 14-Nov-2012 11:44

Are the drivers white or black ... White is new version black is original design

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#716972 14-Nov-2012 11:44

Tried many CDs or just one?

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#716983 14-Nov-2012 11:56

Yah I have tried a bit of music. I'll let NZTF hear them over the weekend and see if he thinks there is an issue. I am inclined to think that since it's happened with 2 HD650s (If I recall correctly), it's not going to be an unbalanced driver, but I could be wrong. I didn't buy them new, so I am not sure what my recourse will be if I bought them second hand from Australia.

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#717032 14-Nov-2012 13:47

Wear them the other way round? White drivers (peer thru the grill)?

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