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
Thank you Massdrop and Sennheiser!
In any case your audio chain seems like overkill for the supposedly easy to drive 58Xs, but with equipment like that I suspect you have some significantly more demanding cans as well :P
I agree that it is way more than enough for the HD58x, in no way is any of this necessary in order to enjoy them. My other sets include the K7XX, K701, HE-400i, M560, M50X, and the Fiio F9 Pro IEMs. So still nothing that really requires all this Schiit.
Thanks for the reply!
I realize that many will say that since the Vali 2 is a hybrid tube amp, it will not give you the full experience of said "tubiness". I agree with this since I have listened to "real" tube amps costing upwards of $1000 (Cayin HA-1A Mk2. Woo Audio WA7), but to be perfectly clear, for the price of the Vali 2, you will be able to enjoy and hear the benefits of a tube amp vs a solid-state. This will be very easy to test since you already have the Magni 3 and will be able to directly compare them side-by-side.
The next project would be "tube rolling", or basically swapping out the stock tube that the Vali 2 ships with for some other ones (Russian NOS, Chinese, etc.) This will end up changing the sound significantly depending on the tube (and even the exact same model of tube will have some variance between them) and it is then up to you to experiment and find what sound you are looking for from the Vali 2. This is not to say that the stock tube that comes with it is in any way bad or 'not good enough', you can use that one forever and be completely content with it.
I have no regrets in trying the Vali 2 (in fact, I'm using it right now as I write this reply), so I would highly recommend it no matter what kind of equipment you have.
Thanks for the reply!
The HD 6XXs are easier to drive than I was expecting, so I can only assume the 58Xs scale well, but are also very forgiving.
Any tubes in the $25 range you'd recommend for the Vali 2?
As for tube recommendations, it is highly dependent on what type of sound you are looking for, as well as what equipment you are pairing it with. For myself, I have used only a few pairings:
Electro-Harmonix 6922EH (Compared to stock tube, wider soundstage, less bass, clearer high end) https://www.tubedepot.com/products/electro-harmonix-6922-eh-preamp-vacuum-tube
JJ E88CC/6922 (Compared to stock tube, smoother high end, richer mid, less bass) https://www.tubedepot.com/products/jj-e88cc-6922-preamp-vacuum-tube
And my current one, the Voskhod 6N1P-EV (Compared to stock tube, wider soundstage, smooth bass/mid, clear and airy high end) https://tubes-store.com/product_info.php?products_id=99 (Direct from Russia!)
These are probably not even the best pairings I could get with my equipment, but it gets too easy to spend a lot on tubes and I think that if you find one that sounds good to you, stick with it and maybe on occasion, try one or two other ones in rotation. Most, if not all of these tubes will take a while to 'break-in', so don't judge it immediately upon firing it up the first time.
Have fun and thanks for the reply!
Thanks for the tube recommendations, I had previously read up in a HeadFi (or something similar) forum about Vali2 tubes, and it quickly devolved into discussing the differences between tubes with crossed swords designed for military applications and the regular spec, or how many different tubes were actually rebranded and made in the same factory in Holland, with little regard for what tubes did what so a list of a few good tubes is very helpful.
In terms of receiver outputs for headphones, most of the time they are the same amplifier sections with a bunch of resistors to drop the overall voltage being transferred to the headphone jack. However, the cause for concern in that case is the output impedance of said headphone jack (often 10+ ohms), in which case certain headphone drivers may have issues in terms of sound quality (when compared to a dedicated headphone amplifier). As for the 660S, which is the same 150 ohm rating as the 58X, the output impedance should not affect them as much as say a 32 ohm or 16 ohm driver, which is probably why they don't sound too bad in your situation.
Thanks for the reply!
Thanks for the reply!
My only complaint about the ES100 is is that the interface sucks and it's very clumsy to operate.