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
That said, as long as you can use open cans, the HD6xx can't be beat. They are considered reference headphones by many and easily scale up if you choose to upgrade amp and/or dac in the future. I started with an HD600 years ago (with a Schiit Modi 1 and Vali 1 - $200 total) and had years of outstanding sound. The same headphones are now hooked up to a Shiit Modi Multi-bit (Mimby) and a fully pimped out Bottlehead Crack, and sound even better. I've heard them hooked up to $4k amp/dac rigs and they sound better still (but outside my price range).
The AKG's aren't going to scale and will never really sound much better than they do with a $100-200 amp/dac. They are what they are.
Regarding amp/dac... The HD6xx is not all that easy to drive well. The CTH is outstanding with the HD6xx, if you go the CTH/SDAC combo here on Massdrop, giving you everything you need in one box (I haven't heard the SDAC). Another great option is the Schiit Magni 3/Modi 2... if you get the base dac, then you're looking at $200 total amp/dac.
Once caveat... this conversation is being held in the balanced audio section, and nothing I recommended is balanced. Don't worry about SE vs balanced... just get the best sounding set you can afford. A good SE rig is going to sound better than a mediocre balanced rig. For example, my tricked out Bottlehead Crack (SE) sounds much better than my MD LCx amp (balanced).
For a gamer, I would recommend the Phillips Fidelio X2. They're open headphones, which gives you a nice and wide soundstage, and doesn't completely isolate you from the outside world, while also letting your ears breathe so they don't get too hot.
Unlike most open headphones, the X2 have a good amount of bass that make them well suited for entertaining and immersive gaming and movies (as opposed to bass shy headphones that are mostly for competition).
They also sound great with music, are comfortable, have a removable cord, and are low impedance (50 Ohm irrc) so they don't need a powerful amp to drive them well.
Schiit just introduced the lyr 3 yesterday... basically it is a tube version of the jot. Reviews lead me to believe it is a step ahead of the cth and is the current mid-level tube amp to get.
----- EDIT----- HD6xx series cans absolutely LOVE tube amps. SS will sound good, but an equivalent quality tube amp will typically sound superior with the senns.
I don't know where you can try them, but you can order them from Target or Amazon and return them if you don't like them.
You'll hear what bad recordings and mastering sound like. Eg., 80% of today's music is put thru limiters and compressers that kill SQ... SQ that 90% of people don't miss because they are listening with cheap ear buds on a phone.
It's really frightening how far backwards the recording industry has gone in the last 20 yrs.