[chayYEAH]

Right so I got my HD650 for christmas and bought a new soundcard (Asus Xonar Essence STX). The headphones really sound amazing but a problem occurred 2 days ago: I wanted to listen to some minimal and I set my equalizer on my soundcard to Bass. But if I turn up the volume a bit so it's not exactly loud but nor is it silent, my I hear distorted (well not really distorted but it's a bit like white noise) noises of the bass in my left ear which are being caused by the headphone.
 
Anything wrong with my setup or could they be damaged already?
 
Thanks in advance.

 

[TMRaven]

More detailed headphones will let you know when the bass is clipping.  The white/fuzzy noise is a tell-tell sign of the bass clipping.  This probably means the preamp in the EQ hasn't been turned down to compensate for the rise in the bass output.  Either lower the preamp to the highest peak (ex 7db up @32hz, -7db on preamp) or make your own EQ and lower every other frequency except for the one you want the loudest.  This means you'll need more leeway on the amp for it to crank out more power for the same volume you experienced before.

 

[chayYEAH]

Sounds plausible but this only just occurred 2 days ago, before it was fine. I'm pretty new to this scenario of having a good soundcard and really good headphones so I am really unexperienced, tell me if I am wrong on the assumption that it should've done the same straight away normally?
 
Thanks

 

[TMRaven]

Just play the same songs at the same perceived loudness. One with the EQ on and one with it off.  Say if both are clipping or not.  It could just be that the songs themselves have clipping in them.  Detailed headphones tend to showcase that.

 

[chayYEAH]

Right I did that and when I turn the EQ off there is no more clipping, but is it normal that the clipping does only happen on one side?

 

[TMRaven]

If the mastering or the song calls for more bass on one side then possibly.  When I hear clipping it's usually more apparent on one side as well.

 

[chayYEAH]

Nah I can definitely tell that it's not the because of the tunes I listen to, these are mastered properly

 

[chayYEAH]

Could it possibly be that I have stressed the bass on my headphones too much a few times?

 

[TMRaven]

No I highly doubt that.  Headphone drivers are pretty hardy.  

 

[chayYEAH]

So what could cause the problem then?

 

[chayYEAH]

Anybody? The noise is a sort of white noise and sounds a bit like a rattle, but only on the left ear, so the disturbing noise itself is unbalanced and repeats itself synchronically with the bass-heavy kicks.

 

[chayYEAH]

Help me please :>

 

[idletime1213]

Remove the driver cover and go check the drivers for dirt. I had this problem and found a small ant inside that was causing the rattle.

 

[Rawrbington]

does it happen on all music or more on specific songs?

 

[chayYEAH]

It does only happen if the songs are a bit bass-heavy and i turn up the volume to like more than 20% which is a fairly normal volume though, and only on the left side, so the right headphone appears to be alright. The sound seems as though something in the headphone is actually causing it but thats hard to determine. And I don't think it's because of the driver or the soundcard cause I tried listening with my HD595 before and it was just fine, maybe the HD650 are just much more sensible, but I am just mentioning things which appear to be logical to me and as I am really unexperienced with all this stuff I think I might as well just be terribly wrong haha.
 
I'll try to check the soundcard later when I get home but I highly doubt that it's dirty or so.