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SaskAudioGuy
438
Jul 7, 2019
Decisions decisions... These are basically buy and mod. The HE4XXs are buy and pray they don't fall apart. If you were to do the wooden cup mod and the balanced wiring on them, how would they compare to the HE4XX? I was leaning towards the HEs but the falling apart worries are there and I've heard they can wander into sibilence territory easily.
(Edited)
SaskAudioGuyThese can get sibilant as well with the hybrid pads. I don't own the HE4xx but my favorite can out of 33 pairs is the HE500 so I do love me some open Hifimans. This is a nice entry into modding headphones as well as a good choice if you need some acoustic isolation/noise blocking and want to try out a planar headphone (personally a big fan of this style). If all you are looking for is sound quality/$ I would probably go HE4xx. I bought the Shure 1540 pads as well as the Brainwavz angled sheepskin and am really loving the Brainwavz. They keep the bass tight, the soundstage is improved and the sibilance is MUCH less prevalent than the hybrids. If you are looking to add the balanced wiring and wooden cups I think you would end up in about the same price class as the T60rp and may be better off going that route.
SaskAudioGuy
438
Jul 10, 2019
ElectronicVicesThanks for the awesome reply. I've read that the HE4XXs are also very mod friendly. I do think I would really like the Zebra wood cups from Vibrolabs, if I went this way. I also can do a lot of my own soldering so that's handy. I've got a larger than standard head and my ears are sensitive thanks to wearing glasses. How is the clamping force of these and your HE500s?
SaskAudioGuyClamping is higher on the HE500's but neither are a "tight" clamp. As far as modding goes, semi-open and closed pairs will change more dramatically than fully open cans with mods... generally speaking. If you have the skills/tools to do your own soldering the cost will be reduced but you will still be over the T60rp cost (180 USD pre-order + 140 USD for the cups). The "stock" dampening + tuning foams are nice for out of the box tweaks so there is value there. I really enjoy the sound with the Brainwavz angled SK... on the road currently and using my Sine with the KANN Cube... kind of miss the T-X0ii but it is not near as transportable as the Sine.
SaskAudioGuy
438
Jul 10, 2019
ElectronicVicesThanks for taking the time to reply. Basically you've sold me on the T60rp or the Hifis. Just a debate between closed vs open. It'll be for games and movies. So my last question... should I aim higher?
(Edited)
SaskAudioGuyI haven't personally heard either of those exact models just my experience with similar models from the same companies... so take my opinion for what it is. The T60rp would probably get my dollar over the HE4xx but sound preference is very individual dependent. I don't have a wood cup planar headphone but I do have an open planar headphone that retailed for more than the HE4 series. If you can find a used HE500 and have an amp capable of powering it (minimum 1 watt per channel into 32 ohms) then that would be the "best" planar bang for your buck IMO. I've seen them sell as low as $300 recently. I paid $600 for mine (almost 7 years ago) and they sold for a long time at $899.
SaskAudioGuy
438
Jul 12, 2019
ElectronicVicesUnfortunately until I get a decent amp, I'll be using my sound card to drive these as they'll be my computer cans. Heh My soundcard is a lightly modified Asus Strix RAID DLX. I've added a grounded shielding back plate, swapped the opamps to quad LME49990s and a Muses02. Sadly it doesn't exactly list a power spec in W per Ohms, just that it drives up to 600ohms. The spec it gives me is: Line output (RCA, 3.5) : 2 Vrms (5.65 Vp-p) It's a little disappointing in a sense because it uses dual amps for the headphone jack, near as I can trace the PCB wiring it's a balanced setup until just before the 3.5mm jack, where it combines the ground paths to make it single ended. Asus could actually make it support a TRRS jack with a simple PCB revision and some components, likely the V2 if ever made will gain balanced out ability.
SaskAudioGuy2 Vrms with a 50ohm load works out to 80 or so milliwatts. That should power a decent chunk of the headphone world but the 500 may be a bit starved for power. All of the options you are looking at will definitely benefit from an amp but that doesn't mean they will be intolerable straight out of your mobo.
SaskAudioGuy
438
Jul 17, 2019
ElectronicVicesSo after reading up some more and seeing some weirdness in the specifications and that the drivers have an impedance selection mode that's slightly hidden. The STX II has a similar headphone amp and it's rated at 7V. I went digging and found a handy Russian site that tested the headphones in low, mid and hi output. Low: 1.59Vrms, 4.0dBV, 58mW 15.8ohms Med: 2.96Vrms, 9.4dBV, 202mW 15.8ohms Hi: 5.92Vrms, 15.4dBV, 674mW 24.5ohms For comparison SBX AE-5 Headphone Port: 5.28Vrms, 14.5dBV, 290mW 24.5ohms So it definitely has more power than the default box specs say. Link: https://reference-audio-analyzer.pro/en/title-report.php?id=670&page=asus-strix-raid-dlx-hi Lots of amps on there. Anyways... with it's amp turned up do you think it'll have enough power?
(Edited)
SaskAudioGuyI had calculated the minimum for the Fostex as 2 Vrms so you should be in good shape. I still think you would benefit from an amp later on but that should be good enough to get you started and determine if you want "more" or not.
SaskAudioGuy
438
Jul 18, 2019
ElectronicVicesThat makes sense. I mostly thought it weird because the previous gaming card Asus made was rated for 9V so I went digging. At least I know the card is capable of pushing some power. So I can take some time picking out an amp. I guess I've got to decide what to do shortly about these headphones. The shipping is really cheap to Canada and I've got credits to use... I'm going to spend some time digging around online answer the all important question... How long do these drivers last in use?
SaskAudioGuyMy HE500's are coming up on 7 years old and doing flawlessly. My Sine is 3 years old and doing well. They don't have anything that should "wear out" as far as construction goes. If the solder points are solid it should last a very long time.
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