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
EDIT: [November 9, 2020] After receiving my HIFIMAN HE 5XX last week, I noticed for the first time how dynamically-compressed, tonally-congested and flat depth-wise the HD 6XX sound in comparison. It's not a ding against the HD 6XX. By themselves, I still stand by everything I've written about them, but they do sound like two levels below the HE 5XX (whatever that means), which sound to me so effortlessly dynamic and open. For me, they have dethroned the HD 6XX in musical enjoyment factor. However, I can wear them back to back and still have a great time! My ears and brain adjust quickly! EDIT: [July 11, 2021] Last week I finally received my Schiit Magnius that I ordered back in February, and after not liking the SE output, I decided to solder a Neutrik NC4MXX-B male XLR connector to the stock HD 6XX cable with Cardas Audio Quad Eutectic Solder and try the balanced output. BINGO! The boring sound was gone. Keep in mind balanced and SE outputs should not be compared between different amps. It's apples to oranges, and a good SE amp will sound better than a bad balanced amp. I left both RCA and XLR cables connected from the Modius to the Magnius, so all I had to do was press a button to switch from SE to balanced output without disconnecting the headphones from the XLR output connector. Because the Magnius' balanced output has over 3X the power of the SE output at 300 ohm on high gain, I had to level-match by ear. Interestingly, when setting higher the SE output's volume to try to give it an advantage (louder=better psychology), the balanced output always sounded better and more pleasing to me from song to song. I couldn't avoid noticing how the highs were less dull, and imaging sounded less flat than on the SE output. It was a true audiophilic difference. This was anti-expectation bias, because I wasn't expecting any differences other than power, ha-ha. What surprised me is how the Magnius' balanced output has enough power on low gain to not need to go past 12 on the volume. It's too much on high gain for the high impedance but signal-sensitive HD 6XX. By the way, I still don't love the Magnius presentation even if the sound quality is great. The stereo image is just not wide, deep and separated like on the Schiit Asgard 1 and 2. It's accurate, but very close to the head, so now they sound very, very intimate, more than what I'm used to. It's not holographic like with my other amps, but with the extra power and imaging improvement from the Magnius' balanced output, the HD 6XX just tighten up and sound even more clear and defined, reminding me a bit of my Audeze LCD-X in terms of realness and texture. Even the bass got a weighty similarity to the planar lows, and they never sounded weighty or big to me before. I'd have to get another balanced amp to see if it's the extra power of the balanced output or the Magnius topology itself that improved the HD 6XX so much to me. It's a different kind of amp for Schiit, an uncharted territory, so possibly it pairs great with these headphones. I think so, and why should it not when the evidence is all over my ears? I also converted my HIFIMAN HE-5XX's cable to balanced, since the two Neutrik XLR connectors were lower in price by piece than buying only one, and they didn't scale up as high as the HD 6XX. They pretty much sound the same SE or balanced on the Magnius. It's a good sound, but not significant difference at all, so that was disappointing to me. OTOH, the HD 6XX really improved on what matters to me, which is definition, clarity, resolution and smoothness. I'm not an audio snob at all, but like you and many others in this hobby...or way of life, I can truly enjoy the benefits package that audio snobbery provides. It might not be necessary for overall music listening, but to me the additional refinement makes the listening experience more enjoyable when in analytical mode. It's easier to tell apart microphones, compressors, reverbs, rooms, distance, etc. in a recording. It's just more aural info I receive, the level of musical enjoyment that I like to be in, he-he. Remember I said up there in the November 9, 2020 edit of this review that the HE-5XX dethroned the HD 6XX in musical enjoyment factor for me? Well, the HD 6XX got their throne back. Everything good about them improved. Everything less good about them like the not-so-tight bass, muddiness in the lower mids, and slight darkness up top also improved. They now sound more correct to me compared to my less quirkier headphones. Even the reverb and delay tails that used to sound darker on the HD 6XX are way more apparent even when listening at lower volumes. With the Magnius' extra balanced output power and improvement in sound presentation, they now sound more pleasing than the HE-5XX. Even better, the Magnius is a super-quiet amp and has very little distortion, so I can listen to music much louder than what I'm used to. The Modius/Magnius combo is very freeing to my ears. I don't get that cerebral warning of discomfort I'm used to with my other amps regardless of volume level. So, if you seem to dislike the HD 6XX with what you currently have, maybe try getting a clean and powerful balanced DAC/amp combo. I always say it here to people, that adequate power and loud listening levels is not enough to yield the best sound quality out of the HD 6XX. Enough power is not good enough for them. In my experience, an Asgard 2 on high gain is the minimum I'd suggest to get them to sound better than impressive, even if low gain has enough power to get them deafeningly loud. EDIT: [October 5, 2021] I finally received the Sennheiser HD 8XX in late September after long months of wait and have been enjoying them a lot. To my personal likes, Drop really kicked it out of the park with the "last minute" tuning changes.
I usually reach for my TR-X00 because they're more mobile, but I'll have to make an effort to sit down with the HD6XX and spend a little more time with them. Thanks for the post!
It's there, but it needs more beef. The upper highs to my ears somehow sound rolled-off even though they aren't because of the shouty lower highs, and the mids are very forward and bright but lack certain smoothness. These Shures don't sound lively at all to me even though a lot of people praise them for being almost perfect. I get what people mean, but the emotional engagement factor is not triggered in me.
I don't understand what's missing, because again, they have impressive clarity and speaker-like sound due to the air between sound layers. That's the thing, that they really don't have any obvious flaws or anything that stands out, but they sound boring to me. The Shures' sounds seem to be on the same plane even though they sound on different layers. The layering of sounds is not very holographic, so from left to right there is more width than front to back depth.
The center channel sounds above the center of the head instead of in front. It's somewhat disorienting and distracting. The 6XX place the center channel in front of the forehead. The SRH1840 sound open and wide, way more than the Jubees, but not 3D-like, because the stereo image is more zoomed-in than on the 6XX. They're have more of an intimate presentation compared to the 6XX but less than the almost closed-in 58X.
The sound presentation, while more detailed and clear than the 6XX and 58X, is not as involving. A weird pair of headphones for sure. They sound more like Sennheisers than any other brand I own, but the deliciousness factor is missing somehow. Also, the 150 ohm Jubees sound louder at the same volume than the Shures that are only 65 ohm.
The 6XX sound stuffy in the mids but in a good way in terms of textural detail, not muddiness. The Shures sound empty and lonely even though they aren't thin sounding. There is more air between sounds, but the music is not there, just the sound. Dynamics-wise, one would expect the more refined Shures to win in terms of PRaT, but the 6XX smoke them.
I would've felt remorse at $500, but at $374, it's a fine buy. I almost paid $500 for them due to the excellent reviews, but thank God when I decided to pull the trigger, they were discounted everywhere to $374 by Shure for a really short period. They do sound like $500, but they aren't dopamine pumps like the 6XX and Jubees. In terms of which one is technically better, obviously the SRH1840, then the 6XX and last, the 58X. While it sounds almost like the 6XX, it's on a lower echelon of performance.
I don't recommend anyone to deaf-buy them unless it's on Amazon where and you can return them if you don't like them. As a matter of fact, on fun factor and enjoyment alone, I'd steer people towards the Jubees even if they're less detailed and refined than the 6XX. God bless!
EDIT: If I was going to place them on easy to understand terms... Bass detail - SRH1840/6XX/58X Bass thump - 58X/6XX/SRH1840 Bass weight - 58X/6XX/SRH1840 Bass tightness - SRH1840/6XX/58X Mids detail - SRH1840/6XX/58X Mids brightness - SRH1840/58X/6XX Mids smoothness - 6XX/SRH1840/58X Highs detail - SRH1840/6XX/58X Highs brightness - SRH1840/58X/6XX Highs smoothness - 6XX/SRH1840/58X Airiness - SRH1840/6XX/58X Clarity - SRH1840/6XX/58X Sound layering - SRH1840/6XX/58X Soundstage width - SRH1840/6XX/58X Soundstage depth - 6XX/SRH1840/58X Holographic aural image - 6XX/SRH1840/58X Overall detail resolution - SRH1840/6XX/58X Overall refinement - SRH1840/6XX/58X PRaT dynamics - 6XX/SRH1840/58X Fun factor - 58X/6XX/SRH1840
In terms of echelon of technical performance, the SRH1840 is Tier A, the 6XX is Tier B and the 58X is Tier C. The $50 price difference is to my ears at least a $200 sound difference. No hyperbole. By themselves, impressive sound and incredible value, but compared to the 6XX, the 58X lose composure at higher but still sane volumes, where bass can get a bit bloaty and the mids a bit muddy.
Just a bit, nothing ugly, but enough to fill the ear canals and distract from the musical enjoyment experience. Now, this is compared between all three. By themselves at $149, the Jubees are comfortably Tier A, beating basically everything else out there that costs the same or more. All of this is my personal opinion, so keep that in mind. :D
Bass detail - 6XX/58X Bass thump - 58X/6XX Bass weight - 58X/6XX Bass tightness - 6XX/58X Mids detail - 6XX/58X Mids brightness - 58X/6XX Mids smoothness - 6XX/58X Highs detail - 6XX/58X Highs brightness - 58X/6XX Highs smoothness - 6XX/58X Airiness - 6XX/58X Clarity - 6XX/58X Sound layering - 6XX/58X Soundstage width - 6XX/58X Soundstage depth - 6XX/58X Holographic aural image - 6XX/58X Overall detail resolution - 6XX/58X Overall refinement - 6XX/58X PRaT dynamics - 6XX/58X Fun factor - 58X/6XX
Most intelligent reviews are accurate. The 6XX are clearly superior, but the Jubees are more fun and unrestrained. They pound the ear drums with more aggression due to their more intimate soundfield. I do think sometimes they have too much bass on some tracks, and I'm a reformed basshead.
How are the TR-X00? Do they sound closed-in? How do you like them?