Sennheiser PC37X randomly goes bad after disconnecting the cable ?
Greetings, Yesterday I was using my headset like normal with my macbook, just listening to music and on a call with people like usual, and the headset was perfectly fine. The stock wire that came with the headset is extremely long and yesterday it annoyed me very much that it kept getting tangled with itself, so I decided to see if the cable is replaceable. I pulled out the cable from the headset and saw the adapter, and looked online for a replacement. Upon plugging it back in, the audio sounded extremely muffled and washed out. Im not sure what I did wrong to make it mess up like that as I've always taken good care of it, ive had it for about 2 years and its always just been chilling on my desk, but anywho I thought the cable just went bad and ordered a replacement. The replacement came, and the issue is still persistant, so I am not sure what the issue is I've tried multiple different headsets and the issue is not with the port, and I also tried it with my windows laptop and...
Apr 23, 2024
I should also say that the folks that are claiming that these sound awful w/o an amp are over exaggerating.. awful would be stock apple earbuds... unamped, both of these headphones are certainly on another level than my HD558s.... but with that being said, you might as well pick up a cheaper amp like the Schiit Fulla or Fiio E10K to go with them since these headphones aren't really meant for mobile use anyway (open-back, lengthy cord, large size).
Output tests have also questioned using one, with the one exception of them being louder. So, i can say with certainty that there is no distortion or muddiness if you drive them with an iOS device (as they all have a good DAC (google it) and output at reasonable levels on everything under 100 Ohms).
As for people who write about "muddy" sound without an amplifier: this is complete bollocks. If you can drive the coil with enough energy to create loudness, you can easily stop the coil with the same amount of energy again. No muddiness, soundstage distortion etc. This is physics.
Don't believe the hype, and certainly not head-fi.org in this regard.
some measurement sources: http://www.kenrockwell.com/apple/iphone-5/audio-quality.htm http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/02/iphone-vs-rivals-audio-tests/
Those exact same headphones on the exact same track from the exact same source (Interstellar Soundtrack specifically streaming at 320kbps via Spotify) sound significantly better running through the Schiit Fulla. The sound is much crisper, the soundstage is much bigger, and the bass is much more defined.
I'll go ahead and trust my ears on this one. While my iPhone 6 I'm sure has a decent DAC/Amp in it empirically, to my untrained ears a DAC/Amp will do wonders for these AKGs that aren't necessarily designed around mobile usage. Especially given how much improvement I'm listening to literally as I type on IEMs that were DESIGNED for un-amplified mobile use.
I'm not saying they sounded bad before, but that the DAC/Amp had a significant positive effect on the sound quality at the same volume on the same track from the same original source.
EDIT: Oh shit, I thought that you had replied to a completely different post of his. Ignore that.
@j0hnny I don't think I saw them at $150. I feel like someone else would have already complained or been excited about the price drop by now if that happened.