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I had the HFI780's for a couple of weeks. Source was ipod classic with Headamp AE2 for amplification. Enjoyed them quite a bit. Couldn't take the place of my 325i's though, so they are gone now. But I honestly did enjoy them.
lemming, how did they sound through the control box of ur z-5500s?
Extremely, disgustingly, overbearingly bassy.
Now, I love bass, especially when it's something physical that makes your eyeballs quiver in their sockets. But this....the bass completely overwhelmed everything up to the very top end of the mids. It was like a great big Rosie O'Donnell fart in a little elevator. It forced, through sheer overwhelming might, everything else out.
It also tended to make the timbre of the highs, especially on older stuff like Motorhead and Metallica, extremely, painfully shrill. Like, put 50 fluorescent light bulbs in a metal can and smash them with a cymbal shrill.
Compared to the flat, lifeless motherboard audio out on my work box, the Z-5500 control box were like a fat kid in a donut shop, going OM NOM NOM NOM NOM as loud as he could.
Compared to the White, both the Z-5500 box and the motherboard out was like shoving a rusty, dull, splinter-laden screwdriver into my eardrums.
if it weren't for the fact that RMC Audio has a policy that you cannot return headphones I would have probably returned my HFI-780's. Even though I only got them today, I don't think burn-in will help all that much if I'm using my computer w/ onboard soundcard. My DT770/80's sound great with just the AC97 onboard chip but the sound quality on the 780's going from my Sony cd player to computer really dropped. Bass impact and extension quality worsened and the highs became really harsh (as opposed to enjoyable on my cd player) when I switched to my computer. If I were using my cd player I could definitely say that the 780's were better than the DT770/80's but since I listen to my music mainly on my computer I can't. I could pick up a D2 Boa but I'm not sure what to do atm. It's too bad RMC Audio carries such a stupid return/exchange policy
Last edited by demoNMaCHiN3; 07-04-2008 at 04:04 AM.
if it weren't for the fact that RMC Audio has a policy that you cannot return headphones I would have probably returned my HFI-780's. Even though I only got them today, I don't think burn-in will help all that much if I'm using my computer w/ onboard soundcard. My DT770/80's sound great with just the AC97 onboard chip but the sound quality on the 780's going from my Sony cd player to computer really dropped. Bass impact and extension quality worsened and the highs became really harsh (as opposed to enjoyable on my cd player) when I switched to my computer. If I were using my cd player I could definitely say that the 780's were better than the DT770/80's but since I listen to my music mainly on my computer I can't. I could pick up a D2 Boa but I'm not sure what to do atm. It's too bad RMC Audio carries such a stupid return/exchange policy
An amp really seems to make the 780s a lot better can. And a recable is supposed to only help, also.
Now, granted, the 780s didn't sound bad coming directly out of my Audigy2 itself, just pretty nasty through the control box. You can pick up non-X-Fi card pretty cheap now, so maybe give that a try and see how it turns out?
Well I just plugged them into the control box of my Z-2300 and 90% of the harshness disappeared. They sound much better now but some of the bass that I heard on my cd player is missing. I think I was too quick to judge them so I'm going to let them burn in for the next few weeks and see how things turn out.
It's strange though. The AC97 onboard soundcard comes with an EQ which really helped bring out the mids and tighten the bass a little on my DT770/80s but it seems to be worsening the sound quality on my HFI-780's. I turned off the EQ for now and there certainly is more bass impact now. The only problem now is that I have to crank up the volume which is producing a buzzing sound (due to my low quality source). When I used my DT770/80's I could keep it on the second volume notch and not notice too much buzz. I guess I'm going to either pick up a soundcard or an amp+dac because the buzzing is too much ><.
Last edited by demoNMaCHiN3; 07-04-2008 at 04:59 AM.
Headphoneus Supremus Member of the Trade: S˛ Audio
Keep in mind that when you are talking about mid to high-end headphones, source becomes important. Though the 780s are primarily a fun headphone with a colored sound, they are fairly resolving. If you aren't feeding them from a decent source they aren't going to sound their best.
Linear Mode
