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Headphones, Personal Listening Gear Personal Listening at its Best |
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#31
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#32
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The way my "virus" looks at the moment :
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#33
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It seems I've gone from headphone upgrade virus to love/hate relationship.
I was looking to expand my headphone collection and ended up buying an Audio Technica W5000. At first listen there was a roughness to the sound and vocals sounded like they were coming across a telephone. The sound signature or tonal quality varied greatly with small adjustments in earcup position; so I kept fidgeting with them trying to find the sweet spot. After about 45 minutes I had rather severe pain in the antitragus of my left ear pinna. I gave up on them for a couple days as my left ear remained sensitive for quite a while and I figured the drivers needed to break in anyway. After the W5000 had played music constantly for about 50 hours I tried them again. The roughness was gone and they mostly sounded quite good; but it was still difficult to find the earcup position that sounded right. Within an hour I had that same ear pain again. I stuffed some cotton around the inside of the earpad to push it out and make more room for my ears. This still didn't completely stop the pain, depending on the earcup position; and it (of course) altered the sound quality. Now the W5000 had an airier and more open sound quality sort of like my Beyerdynamic DT880. They also had less bass than before; but that was okay because I thought they were borderline bass heavy before. Hoping for improvement from break in, I would let the W5000 play music constantly at various volumes (never higher than I would listen though). At about 70 hours I decided the high frequencies weren't extended enough. I switched to my WireWorld Platinum interconnects and the problem was solved. Actually the Platinums are a perfect match for the W5000 as the things that I didn't like about the Platinums don't seem to be noticeable with the W5000. At about 100 hours I noticed it seemed much easier to find the sweet spot and there wasn't as much sonic variation in different earcup positions. They also weren't causing any pain anymore (with the cotton still installed) and were quickly becoming my favorite headphone. I haven't noticed much improvement past 150 hours. Any improvements now were in whatever area that involves "musical involvement". Whatever music I was playing sounded so good that it was impossible to ignore and would draw me in. Though, strangely, if I am feeling tired and listen to music with the W5000, they can put me to sleep quickly. I think it has something to do with their smooth, natural and detailed sound. I'm not accustomed to hearing such good detail without it being analytical, I don't know how they manage it. The other day during a song with a very low note on a pipe organ I heard distortion or a flutter in the left driver. What, now the drivers are failing, I never turned them up that loud. The next day I tried them with the same song the flutter was gone. A few days later it was back. After an internet search I found that this is a common problem and requires one to disassemble the earcups insert some bits of foam in some places and adjust the wire routing. I hope they don't need fixed or replaced under warranty. I just now have them broken in and adjusted so they fit well. |
#34
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Wow, after reading this I do feel lucky my Audeze's seem much more easy to wear and luckily I never had any issues with them.
I hope the flutter can be fixed on your current set, so you don't have to go through all the "pain" of adjusting and break-in again. What's the status on the headphone-amp front right now? Still living with the Fosgate or did you move to Woo Audio? |
#35
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The Fosgate went back and wasn't exchanged (details in post #30 in this thread). I'm thinking about trying a Schiit Valhalla 2 or Lyr 2. I would get a Mjolnir if I only had one set of headphones to convert to balanced. I have four sets though, each to suit different moods and types of music. I'm still satisfied with my Asgard 2 until I plug in my Beyerdynamics. Then I long for how great those sounded with the Fosgate. If I get the Valhalla 2 or Lyr 2 and it hisses with everything but my Beyers, but sounds great; then I'll keep it anyway considering the much lower price (than the Fosgate). One of these days I'll post a pic of my headphone rig. |
#36
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G8YU... Schiit do a 15 day trial option on all their products, if a local dealer cannot do something similar.
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Avid Acutus SP, NO ARM, Benz Micro LP-S, Whest Audio PS.40RDT SE, PS Audio DSMP+DS DAC, Simaudio Moon 700i, Dali Epicon 6, Simaudio Moon Nēo 430HAD, HiFiMan HE-1000v2, Chord Sarum SA XLR, RCA, USB, Chord Sarum speaker, Nordost Vishnu power, Furutech plugs, PS Audio P10+Chord Sarum SA power, Stillpoints Ultra SS, Ultra Mini and LPI, HiFi Racks rack, Audio Desk Systeme PRO+Keith Monks Omni RCM |
#37
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Those AT amps are fully discrete, have super build quality, and are pretty much guaranteed to make the most of the matching AT headphones. They can also sound great with other headphones. And I'd be willing to bet they'll outclass the Fosgate/Woo/Shiit in build & parts for the money. |
#38
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I'm going to listen to the M2Tech Marley next week.
Really curious to hear what this amp sounds like with my LCD 2's. It can be used both single ended and balanced, meaning I could bring my Hifiman HE-400 home from work every now and then to listen to them in my home-set I'll keep you posted on my findings. |
#39
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John49... Noted. Thanks!
mulveling... I did look for a used HA-W5000; but, considering the prices they were fetching used, I stopped looking for them as I was satisfied with how well my Schiit Asgard 2 drove the W5000. Though I'm sure the purpose built HA-W5000 could take the ATH-W5000 to another level, I wasn't sure if it would be any good with my other headphones. That's what already happened with the Fosgate, a one headphone amp in my case (even though it took that headphone to the next level). I am keeping the HA-W5000 on my list of amps to watch for in case there's a good deal on one somewhere. Quote:
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#40
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The PSU upgrade is not yet available as I understood.
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