darrenyeats wrote: > Yeah, I generally seek kit with 2HD higher than 3HD. Yes even DACs (if > only down to OCD). I preferred the Sennheiser HD800S to HD800 - > including the bass which I later found to have the same distortion > levels as the HD800 except with added 2HD! "Exposed" 3HD (and the rest) > just sounds unattractive to me. > > I'd say a "modern loudspeaker" is active! So a flat anechoic frequency > response (staying quite flat off axis up to at least 10kHz) is not a bad > thing these days - if it ever was, as you write! Having said that, we > could have a long conversation about what is actually a desirable bass > roll off once we take into account room gain! > > I don't think there are any issues with the numbers involved in digital > audio, in that a perfect ADC or DAC would be very accurate using extant > rates and bit depths. However that's not to say there are no issues. > http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?106979-Quick-question-about-DAC-quot-filters-quot&p=876695&viewfull=1#post876695 > http://www.pinkfishmedia.net/forum/showthread.php?p=3040013#post3040013 > > > A wise move. I shall do the same.
Hi Darren! I have recently bought myself a pair of these great headphones which knock spots off my amplifier & loudspeaker set-up except with regard to extreme bass (all open headphones inevitably have a limited bottom end) & of course imaging issues since you're not hearing the recording in the way it was monitored in the recording studio, specifically that your left ear never gets anything from the right channel & vice versa. I imagine that Sennheiser added the 2HD to the bass to give some enhancement, although it still sounds pretty tight to me (& unavoidably rolled-off right at the bottom). The clarity in the rest of the frequency range is breath-taking to me, & you can't get that with a closed design. Apparently the HD800 original model had an odd frequency peak at around 6000Hz which could emphasize sibilance: various DIY mods were suggested to eliminate that although finally Sennheiser themselves appear to have done the best job. My DAC will support balanced headphones, I'm waiting for a couple of bits before I make a 2 x TRS jack plug to 4 pin female XLR adaptor cable & then a 4 pin male XLR to 4 pin female XLR extension cable because the supplied leads won't quite reach my sofa. Sennheiser have confirmed to me that the unbalanced TRS jack plug terminated cable is identical to the balanced cable internally: 2 pairs of twisted pairs with an overall screen. The common ground is made at the jack plug end by connecting 1 wire from each pair (+ the screen) to the sleeve. So I will use the unbalanced cable to make the above. I'll leave the moulded TRS plug (wired as explained above) & make a short 2nd adaptor using a 4 pin female XLR, so that I can use the whole thing with an unbalanced single TRS headphone socket should I ever need to. Sennheiser charge £250 for their balanced lead (which wasn't supplied with the HD800) & Mytek $160 for their 2 TRS jack plug to 4 pin female XLR adaptor cable, so I'm saving a few bob doing it this way, even using gold-plated Neutrik connectors, and all the cabling will be exact match as a bonus. Needed to get the enlarged tail for the XLR on the balanced feed adaptor to get double cabling out of it, & will have extra internal wires so will do star quad style connection not because it will make any difference to the sound but will reinforce the construction - you see a 1/4" GPO style jack & you just want to yank it! My point about the anechoic frequency response chart was really a criticism of how the manufacturers used to achieve it to the detriment of system performance in a real listening room, but I'm with you on off-axis response. In fact I always sit slightly off axis because I have my speakers across one corner (below the TV, with the electronics in the "dead-zone" behind them) of my sub-optimal square room & it has a door in the opposite corner. Fortunately my B&W 805S stand-mounts have a good off-axis response. There's a 2nd 2-seat sofa in a symmetrical position on the other side of the door for my occasional callers! Frankly, it's not going to make much difference where you put your speakers in a square room, you're going to get strong reinforcement from the room. At least the TV is to the side of the window so I don't get reflections on the screen in the day-time this way. It's on a double-arm wall bracket so I can get it squarely (should that be triangularly?) across the corner & pretend it's got a proper old-fashioned back on it! Dave :) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Golden Earring's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=66646 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=106914
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