Sennheiser-closed - Page 2

I paid $94.00 for my IE7s and they were well worth the money in my opinion (they've gone for up to $300.00). Lol then again I am selling them right now because I barely use them as I prefer my IE8s to them. And regarding the gaming. I use my IEMs for games, FPS games and I do a lot better with them because I can hear everything and in 2 channel that is. I think 5.1 channel is overhyped in my opinion although it can be nice. Then again I use them on my gaming computer with a DACport LX ($300.00 DAC) and Fiio E9 amp. So that is to be expected. I love very fast pace games such as quake 3. Keep in mind with my IEMs they have a 3D like presentation where you hear things around you. I get that all the time on my IE8s even with my music. Sometimes I'll stop out of nowhere and look behind me and that is actually from the music and not noise around me (pretty earie).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Waveboy 

Ehhh, i dont know. I think I'll just stick with my HD380's for now, and eventually upgrade to the HD595's once i get an ideal place where the sound leakage won't bother anybody.lol

But yup, i just can't justify spending over $300 for tiny little ear buds. They just don't look like they could give you that scale or immersion of sound or base. But what do I know. ;p 

 

If anything I'd love a pair of 5 channel headphones for gaming....has anybody had any experience with those? 2 channel is great and all, but nothing beats a 5.1 Surround sound system. The feeling of being surrounding in a 3D world of sound, where you can hear things behind you and the like is just fantastic.

Well I'm a big nintendo nut, and most of my gaming(retro 80's,early 90's Nes and SNES gaming aside) is done on my Wii(especially) 3DS and DS lite. I've gotta Sony 7.1 DTS HD Master Receiver using HDMI, a killer sub, PS3/Bluray, the works. And a 5.1 set up imo blows the door off 2 channel headphone SQ. Again, having that 3D world of sound in your own living room plus the power of a subwoofer while hearing what's going on in the game behind, to the side and where else around you is just fantastic. Super Mario Galaxy blew me away with the grasshoppers hopping behind my right or weather i was walking past a water fall ect ect.

But in my living situation i can not for the life of me take advantage of it or even use it unless i play on super low volume.....So sadly, I resort to headphones. But at least the immersion factor is high with them, they're totaly amazing for titles like Metroid Prime 3 and the like. But ya, the wii can only output Dolby Pro Logic II which pales in comparsion to my PS3's Dolby Digital while Dolby Digital pales in comparison to new movies in Bluray in DTS Master HD audio. DTS Master HD Audio again for new films such as UP is completely mind blowing....It's such a shame that i don't have a house, and sound proof dedicated gaming and movie room because i feel like I'm totaly missing out with the surround sound system that i got.

as for the buds....Awesome to hear about the 3D-ish sound...But I just wish i could get that real 5 channel sound that i get with my SS System yet instead in a pair of headphones.

It's just that their sound sig is kinda tiny. I don't know what the IE7/8 sound like but I generally prefer the sound of headphones. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by lee730 

Have you heard IE7/IE8s?. They have a huge sound stage when you consider IEMs. My IE8s sound stage isn't small compared to my Denon 5000's. And since upgrading my cable to silver cable I prefer my IE8s to my Denons (which retail at $700.00 BTW). Even my Sony EX1000 have a large sound stage. They remind me of full sizers.

The IE7/IE8 share the same sound signature of the HD650s. And by no means is it tiny in my opinion. You can go from a pair of IEMs which have small sound stage and sound tiny and then go to these and be surprised how spacious everything sounds and for such a small setup.

Quote:

Originally Posted by koolkat 

It's just that their sound sig is kinda tiny. I don't know what the IE7/8 sound like but I generally prefer the sound of headphones. 

 

 

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by stewieg 

Hi.

 

What do you think about closed Sennheiser's.

Which one are the best?

 

Senn or not Senn?

I'm lost :P xD

 

Thanks.

 

The best closed Sennheiser's are the HD 25-1 series (not the SP) and the HD 380 Pro.

If you want top end closed I would look at the Beyer T-5p (Head-Fi review [url=http://www.head-fi.org/products/beyerdynamic-t5p/reviews][b][u]HERE[/u][/b][/url]).

Or the Ultrasone Edition 8.

Quote:

Originally Posted by eugenius 

Some say the older versions of the HD250 II are the closed Sennheisers to own.

Yes - excellent - I have 5 pairs

2 x HD 250 Mk.I and 3 x HD 250 II

Here is my closed Sennheiser inventory, HD 250 of course  (well it was but I still have quite a few of them)

At some point I will re-write my head-fi review again because I tried them with more amps and sources with interesting results.

And there are others who also like these headphones.

What's your opinion on the MkI and MkII differences, if any?

The Mk1 is probably more accurate but the Mk2 is more fun (Mk1 is a little clinical?), it has a bit of a mid-bass hump and more pronounced deep bass extension. Also the soundstaging is a bit different but very big in both cases.

Also the Mk1 is harder to drive than the Mk2 because most Mk1s are 600 ohm while all the Mk2s are 300 ohm (some difference among these as well). I know there is a rarer variant 300 ohm Mk1 but I did not hear that variant but as a fanatic I will probably get it one day.

Thanks for the interesting information. The Mk 1 seems to be the only Sennheiser with a 600 ohm driver at the time (mid to late 1980s), while the Mk 2 possibly has the same driver as the HD560 and/or HD580/600.

Which brings forward another question: when did Sennheiser introduce the Duofol diaphragm for improved stiffness/compliance?

[Edit: apparently the 600 ohm driver was introduced with the HD540 in 1985, two years before the HD250 was released.]

Nope, if you check out the headphone driver pictures thread you will see that the hd580/6xx series drivers are different (vastly different 'house' sound as well compared to the HD560).

the hd540/560 mk1/mk2 drivers look much more similar to the hd250 mk1/mk2 but I still think they might not be the same because the HD250 series was specially diffuse field equalized to give a more linear sound with a bigger soundstage.

You can find more info about the old Sennheiser family on this great site (with other brands as well) or you can still find old manuals on the Sennheiser site as well

Tanks for clearing that up and correcting my wrong assumptions. And yet another reason for grabbing a pair of HD250s to complement my HD580.

I'd forgot too that the Japanes data base also inlcudes European makers. Terrific.

Any info on the Duofol introduction?

I don't know how can I tell is there a clue? Maybe you are next to add some interest info into the big headphone knowledge database, maybe ask the Sennheiser guys 

You can find a nicely written comparison here about the two headphones. The HD580 has better midrange but the HD250 is faster and has better extension at the top and bottom (not veiled)

I only know that Sennheiser promoted Duofol (diaphragm with two diffrent thicknesses for stiffer dome and softer surrounding suspension) with the introduction of the HD590, in 1999. Quote from Sennheiser's press release: "Duofol transducer welds two Mylar films to make one rigid diaphragm. This is light and self damping, reducing resonances in the diaphragm itself and reducing flexing when driven hard."

I think Sennheiser successively implemented this technology in other models as well, which may indicate that there are early and late driver versions of the HD580 and HD600. And maybe the HD250.

Duofol is also mentioned in the marketing of the PX series and the HD555 and HD595.