New Beyer DT1350 - Page 167

I know that this has been addressed earlier in the thread but I do not feel like reading through 166 pages to figure it out. Can someone summarize to me the sound of a bad set of DT1350s? Trying to identify a set of them is bad.

Note: This would be a set that has internal manufacturing defects. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by OrbitingCow 

And this is where I disagree. Amping is the reason bass gets better. Bass need full control and full power with headroom to be linear and distortion free to a point. I know you are not arguing that an amp makes no difference because you would be a straight up fool and you know it. LOL soon we will have people who think audio is just great from 320 sources coming on here telling me I don't need to amp or even use CD quality sound because I cannot hear it.

 

I'm a bass head. I doubt you give 1k watts to anything and if you do great. Seriously, though, what do you know about high-end bass? Please enlighten me because you seem to be better informed than me. These headphones get bassier than hell and your ipod certainly DOES NOT give the bass that my Denon 2112ci gives. It's that simple. I'm not deaf. I can hear the difference. I have no idea what a voyager is so....

 

IDK but portable amps in my experience are completely irrelevant if they are under 300 dollars if you are talking about pushing these things. I would go so far as to say most under 500 are waaaay overpriced compared to something like a nice Denon.

 

I mean a bithead costs 150 bucks. It's a frickin bithead. 150 bucks and made for about 20.

 

I think you are teensy bit insane trying to tell me my ipod gives the same output as my Denon for these headphones.

 

I was just listening to the insane bass on Eels' Daisies of the Galaxy last night. Sorry bud but my ipod was not up to snuff. I know some people like to believe amps are useless and power is free but again I am here to tell you that you are wrong. All in good fun though.

 

Don't know what you mean by 'drastically'. Of course things are never drastic in audiophile land. It's a war for every square inch.

 

I'm also not some tub thumping tard basshead. I like linear bass that pounds the low end until you are in a trance. I port low in the 27Hz range. These headphones go low without much distortion. An ipod is simply not capable of producing those low end sounds in the right way at all.

Denon as in a integrated stereo amp or a digital receiver? Most integrated speaker amps have really poor headphone socket implementations. I can get a headphone loud and louder bass but it is mainly from distortion. A good powerful clean amp does not increase volume, it increases definition. Good quality bass is clean, tight, articulate and pitch accurate, but never loud. Not something I perfectly get from the DT1350. I do have a LD I+ (a relatively powerful hybrid headphone amp for its price), and it's the same issue. I do not get more powerful bass, but maybe a bit faster, if even that since it's not a too clean sounding amp. 

Price isn't really the issue here. A bithead or a cmoy should work just fine, but not probably better as some sources as AS pointed out. At least better than a 10,000usd marantz's hp output I tried once, which was pretty much awful, disregarding price. I'm interested in trying some of the Leckertons or an O2 to see if they improve over my Graham Slee Voyager (It's a portable amp barring that magical 300usd )

Also, my iPod classic sounds much cleaner and enjoyable than my desktop Zero dac/amp, whether used straight from HP out or through a voyager. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by jem52690 

I know that this has been addressed earlier in the thread but I do not feel like reading through 166 pages to figure it out. Can someone summarize to me the sound of a bad set of DT1350s? Trying to identify a set of them is bad.

 

Note: This would be a set that has internal manufacturing defects. 

I believe the channel imbalance plays a large role on identifying defective units. As if when you set your source to mono you'll hear that the other side is louder/weaker than the other side (I remember purrin said it is more noticeable on vocals?).

Then others said there came a version of it that has more mid-bass than the original/earlier batch, but I don't know if that's considered as one of the defective set or just different variation.

The Denon is a 2112ci networking receiver with near top end components on all channels. They make the sockets specifically for headphones and pretty well these days. Maybe 10 years ago they were poor IDK but it's 2012 and Denon isn't some noob when it comes to amplifier design. The only thing that distorts on my setup would be from the headphones breaking apart from the Denon's power amp if I chose to push them into the red. The amp is not distorting at all.
 

"Most integrated speaker amps have really poor headphone socket implementations. I can get a headphone loud and louder bass but it is mainly from distortion. A good powerful clean amp does not increase volume, it increases definition. Good quality bass is clean, tight, articulate and pitch accurate, but never loud."

Well, that is a lot of your opinion. Also, the amp is a discrete amplifier not an integrated circuit amp like low end Sony's or something. That needs to be made clear. An amplifier directly makes the signal louder and cleaner. I don't know what else to say there. Yes, it does increase the volume because it allows you to turn your knob up and experience the signal louder and cleaner.

Good quality bass is loud as you want it to be and as articulate as your speaker/amp combo makes it. Electronic music in general benefits extremely from what you would precisely term LOUD bass. A proper concert setup is LOUD. As in bass in the 10-20Hz region that is 120dB. This kind of bass is trance inducing. Kick drums are loud and include a lot of bass frequencies. Bass guitars maybe are more what you are talking about and for them I would agree mostly.

Bass is loud when the artist records the bass as loud. I am not sure what you are getting at or what you are arguing about. I don't control the artist's decisions on bass.

Also, testing with mono you need to reverse headphones on your ear as well to make sure your ears are not at all different than the other which they most likely are even by the slightest of margins. Going up in steps of at least .5dB is preferable and will more than likely give you a clue as to any imbalance in your ears or the headphones. I have none in my headphones that I can tell past .5dB or so.

Ok thanks man I will have to try this. This will solve if it is a manufacturing or user error haha. It seems like a challenge to get the perfect seal on these things. Don't know if anyone else has experienced this?

Quote:

Originally Posted by jem52690 

Ok thanks man I will have to try this. This will solve if it is a manufacturing or user error haha. It seems like a challenge to get the perfect seal on these things. Don't know if anyone else has experienced this?

Yep.  I thought I had pretty bad balance issues when I first got them, especially as far as the bass is concerned.

Finally, after a few days of playing around and experimenting, I finally found the spot where the bass hits me right between the eyes.  My love for these headphones increased exponentially once I finally got that figured out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by skyline315 

....My love for these headphones increased exponentially once I finally got that figured out.

This describes what the DT1350s are all about. Once your brain adjusts and you get the right spot on the ears, they become just right all around.

Quote:

Originally Posted by OrbitingCow 

Bass is loud when the artist records the bass as loud. I am not sure what you are getting at or what you are arguing about. I don't control the artist's decisions on bass.

But from what I've understood, you want it to be louder from the "ideal" or the "norm", thus being completely contradictory to this comment. There's no disagreeing over the matter that an artist wants you to hear as much bass as he/she wishes. But the hardware should produce everything as evenly as possible. 

120dB is loud. I listen at around 80dB. Headphones are not about feeling the music or destroying your hearing, it's about hearing the music. Again, different perceptions probably. I don't listen to electronic music much. 

I didn't have as much trouble getting a good fit a some of you guys, but I did find that the advice given earlier in the thread to keep them back a bit was spot on. I get a very nice presentation with just about every type of music. 

I used to think these sounded good for headphones until I got HD650s.  The Beyers are lacking realistic midrange which is the heart of the music imo.  Bass response is nice and they are "detailed" but far from balanced.  Ok for portables I guess but I prefer my Vsonics GR06s since they are so much more portable and $200 less.  Just my opinion.

Quote:

Originally Posted by supra1988t 

I used to think these sounded good for headphones until I got HD650s.  The Beyers are lacking realistic midrange which is the heart of the music imo.  Bass response is nice and they are "detailed" but far from balanced.  Ok for portables I guess but I prefer my Vsonics GR06s since they are so much more portable and $200 less.  Just my opinion.

A $499 full sized headphone isn't in the same class as a $269 portable...I like my Grado PS500s better than my 1350s, too....

Finally got my pair from B&H this afternoon - almost two weeks after ordering it, but that's another story. 

Been listening to them for a few hours now.  So far, so good.  I can see why people say that these have a "reference" sound. 

As far as putting them on "correctly" - I haven't had any problems finding the right position for them on my ears, so I don't know how much of an issue that is.  I did, at one point, yawn while I had them on, and they shifted just a tiny bit forward.  When they shifted that tiny bit, they sounded noticeably different.  Maybe that's what people are describing? 

I will say that these clamp down on your ears pretty good.  Hopefully that lessens over time - my ears were getting sore from being pinched after about the 2 hour mark.

In any case, I'll give it some more time and report back if I notice anything.  I did check out the Amperiors at the Apple Store today.  Those were good too, but a) they're a lot more expensive, and b) they sounded just a bit more brash in the higher frequencies to me. 

Theres something about these headphones that I really like... its very hard to describe but the tonality of the music seems correct and the three elements (bass, midrange and treble) are quite balanced AND it creates a very immersive environment, much more so than any IEM or CIEM could achieve at the present moment.

I'm also loving the treble resolution, very detailed and natural.