K701 Ups and Downs (mostly ups) - Page 2

I've owned 9 CPUs in the past year. Burn in hasn't done a single thing for them. Ram on the other hand... But lets leave that out as it's not on the topic.

I do believe in headphone burn in. My grados sound 100% different now than when I got them.

In my understanding, "take the musicality out" == doesn't let you enjoy your music, despite a "formal, superficial correctness" of the sound.


Remember, music is about emotion and feeling. Take those out, and you're left with a useless excercise of abstract virtuosity.

I'll bite

It's a different story once you overclock or if the PC was running very close to its limit in the first place). Most thermal paste benefits *do* benefit from a burn in.
The temperature drop before and after burn in can be in the 3 degrees region on average - enough to make an unstable PC stable - if CPU/GPU heat was the source of the problem.

Valid thoughts, but:

I've heard a brand new Senn HD650 and my 1.5 year old one through the same system and they sounded completely different. Mine just sounded clearer in several aspects. Proves burn in, to me at least.

WRT the windows doing badly and then getting better with time... Maybe so, but they are designed to work on 1's and 0's and they must work at an infinitesimally high level of accuracy. Getting the occasional 1 or 0 wrong in software simply won't do. That's why you don't get the digital equivalent of the analog THD! They simply put in error correction and many levels to make sure everything is perfect. However, with amps, they can get away with a certain level of inaccuracy to start with (and then during normal operation too if it's a cheaper unit). Plus, solid state hardware have capacitors and resistors and inducters (I don't know how they are used in amps, but I'm sure there's at least one of everything in most amps). ALL of these are analog type devices where the absolute on/off states are a lot "fuzzier" than digital. A capacitor which has been off for a few seconds will have discharged most of it's charge, but it's highly likely that a small percentage remains. And since they are really mechanical/electrical (I put these in the same boat for this purpose) components, then just like a brand new car door or door handle, they will get easier to open/close after an initial period of break in. Apply this irregularity to the other components, and the fact that this is happening during normal operation and of course, things will most likely change a little.

WRT headphones, the changes are on a much smaller scale than speakers because they are dealing with much smaller power levels, but then again, you're listening in much more detail and so even the smallest change will make a difference.

This is all IMO, and experience, and partly theorising on things I am not a specialist in

Regarding the original question on musicality...

I think you're right that the 701 is pretty unforgiving of poor recordings. Mind you, a poor recording is the culprit of a loss in musicality, not the headphone, but the headphone will do one of two things: Enhance or ignore what you don't want to hear.

For example: A vast majority of the music I listen to is recorded well, making them a pleasure to listen to on my Grados AND on my AKGs. In these instances, the AKGs usually win, because the detail and soundstage are so incredible, it only enhances the musicality of the songs. In this regard, K701s are an extremely musical headphone and an absolute joy to listen to.
I do, however, have a number of albums, usually from local artists, that range from flawed or muddy sound, to a downright horrible mess. I can't stand to hear these tracks through my 701s. My Grados on the other hand, maintain the pleasurable aspects and mask the junk. The recording still sucks, but hiding the horrible little nuances allows me to enjoy a song I like regardless of the recording quality.

One of the downsides to owning a reference grade headphone or speaker is the fact that they remain (mostly) colourless. The bass that many people find lacking is a definite by-product of this. In my humble opinion, the bass on the k701 is magnificent. Well behaved and punchy... and extremely dependent on the recording. But when you throw in a great sounding disc, oh my.

SACD + K701 = Blown Mind

As usual, I've run on, but I think when you get down to it, the point is the K701 CAN in fact ruin the musicality of certain recordings simply through revealing the artifacts and nastiness inherent in the music. The flip side of the coin is that I've never heard music sound so good when matched with a great sounding disc.

There are so many badly mastered CD's these days that it's not even funny anymore. You'd figure that we should have come a long way since the 80's, but we haven't. With the loudness wars going on in CD mastering, most popular CD's are just purely unlistenable. It's really sad, because the better and more revealing the equipment, the worse it gets.
I actually prefer a lot of older CD's that were mastered using analog tapes, as they have a nice warmth, and aren't EQ'ed and compressed to make a big splash. Even though I think the 701 are a superior cans to the Sennheiser HD580-650 series, I've been tempted to get the 580 just because it has an effect of smoothing out harsh recordings with its slightly warm and polite top end.

The K701 does a good job out of giving back what you give it. Crap in-Crap out. The 701 is not without its flaws, there is a bit of glare in the upper mids that accentuates badly mastered recordings, but on a good recording, it should should smooth and articulate. Ideally I would like about 10% more bass than it gives, but the 701 is still by far the closest thing to neutral for my preferences. On my best recordings, the 701 does magic. I have no doubts it's my favorite reference quality can under $750.