Well, if my triple post didn't make me look like enough of an idiot, here's the solution to round it off nicely. The OS X El Capitan audio driver looks to be a bit buggy. Restored my laptop from my Yosemite backup and everything is rosy.

Accidental triple post

Accidental triple post

Same problem with a different cable. I only have one USB 2.0 port. Audio cuts out when using iTunes, Spotify, or watching Youtube videos in Safari. Chrome plays (most) Youtube videos just fine. Interestingly, girlfriend's laptop can handle it just fine, and it also shows up as "audio-gd USB...

Just got my NFB-15 and hooked it up to my Macbook's USB 3.0 port. After about a minute or two, audio cuts out with a "kzzzkkk" sound and then I get a series of crackles until I go back into Audio MIDI Setup and change the output format. The time it takes the audio to cut out depends on what...

Haha, I didn't find them underwhelming at all, maybe because they are my first ortho. I've only ever used mid-fi dynamics before this can, first the Ultrasone PRO 900 and then the Philips X2 until last week, and I was blown away by how much "bigger", clearer and crisper the HE-400 sounds...

Sonically mostly everything from Sufjan Stevens to Fleshgod Apocalypse. Generally lots of Sufjan, Kanye, RTJ, Interpol and Swans. Interestingly I find that the treble doesn't bother me at all on Sufjan's music and actually makes it sound really ethereal and pleasant. It only manifests in the...

Ok, cool. I'm definitely going for the Focuspads because the stock ones give me a bad headache after a couple hours. Will at least hold out until they arrive next week and see how I'm feeling about these cans then.

Nice, lowering 8-10khz by 3db made quite a difference. I used Soundflower piped into Hosting AU. Fair enough. If it has as much of an effect on the midrange as Kodhifi said, I'll definitely have to reconsider flipping these for some 400i. Assuming I did have an amp, would you say the 400i...

I don't have a good source yet. I've read that the HE-400 is sensitive enough to perform decently off a Macbook, so I wanted to trial it that way before deciding if I needed an amp for my uses. I feel like $500 for a tube amp to take the edge off the treble is definitely past my personal point...

I don't see a better amp smoothing out the treble, though. Will that happen?

Yeah. The problem is that I really love the treble on, say, Sufjan Stevens' music, because it makes vocals and stringed instruments so clear. But on music with sharp treble (like MBDTF, for some reason) it's unbearable. I wonder if the 400i is better for this.

Stock ones. I tried the pleather ones but they were super disappointing because they made the sound very distant and completely lacking in impact. (Maybe I put them on wrong?) Otherwise someone suggested to me to try the Focuspads, which should be arriving sometime next week. Any pads are gonna...

So I take it the 400i is less unforgiving to the eardrum than its predecessor when it comes to treble? That might be just what I need...

These being my first real "bright" headphones, I wasn't expecting the treble spike to be so bad, but it's vicious. My girlfriend tried them out and listened to Tessellate by Alt-J and the tambourine was painful for her. On the other hand, EQ makes the upper range disappointingly dull. Kind of at...

I got the ATH-M50x for my birthday, so I'll be bringing that too.

Thanks Bill-P! I'm super excited for the meet. By the way, I decided on the Fidelio X2 over the X1, so please update the gear list accordingly.

Put me in the wait list! I'll bring my stock Fidelio X1.

Hi, I'm Joel. I've been a reader for awhile but decided to join.   Two years ago when I was first getting into headphones I bought the Ultrasone PRO 900 and PRO 2900 and the Grado SR325e from Amazon to try them all out. That was back in my heavy bass phase so I chose the 900 on the basis that...