[CADCAM]

   
 
No clipping here. Dark Side of the Moon sounds incredible on my 612's, but I only listen to either the original Japan or Japan for UK CD (the one that must be de-emphasized to properly hear) or an original UK vinyl rip. (The later being even better). All the other digital versions sound awful to me, and not just with my 612's.

My brother-in-law, who is a musician, made me the copy I was listening to and maybe that is why it sounded good to me. I was expecting to hear saturation\distortion issue's and truth is it sounded pretty good. 

 

[CADCAM]

   
There is no question that these headphones require burn in. I found the most noticeable changes happened during the first 8-12 hours of use. The treble smoothed out, and the mid bass tightened right up during those hours. These headphones have a great sound signature. It is fairly neutral, and rather musical sounding. That being said, they do have a rather prevalent spike in the 2K-3K region. I use the following EQ set on my pair.
 
42 Hz @ +1
55 Hz @ +1
77 Hz @ +1
2 Khz @ -3
 
For me, this offers a great sound. It gives a slight bump to that sub bass region, and cuts that 2K spike right down. These headphones certainly offer a great amount of detail retrieval for the 200 dollar price level. This will result in them not being the most forgiving on poorly produced music though. I have noticed some grain and distortion on a few badly mixed albums as well. You can be assured though that the headphones are not defective in any way. They are just showing you how much crap is in the mix. Interestingly enough, that additional sub bass I am using on the EQ also results in some grain being removed in that 2K-3K region. Honestly, that EQ set I am using greatly improves the sound of this already great pair of headphones. Give it a try, I think you will like it.

I will try these settings as soon as I set up my Audio Control C-22, hopefully I can get close to your settings and take a listen. BTW did run them all night last night for a little more break-in time.
See how they sound later today.

 

[cdma2k]

 

   
 
No clipping here. Dark Side of the Moon sounds incredible on my 612's, but I only listen to either the original Japan or Japan for UK CD (the one that must be de-emphasized to properly hear) or an original UK vinyl rip. (The later being even better). All the other digital versions sound awful to me, and not just with my 612's.

My brother-in-law, who is a musician, made me the copy I was listening to and maybe that is why it sounded good to me. I was expecting to hear saturation\distortion issue's and truth is it sounded pretty good. 

Mine is '93 EMI version.

 

[cdma2k]

  I think that grain can be sometimes part of the vocalist's natural voice characteristic, specially with some bright, edgy female vocals. sometimes, it could be some recording or mastering issue too, due to that 2k spike in 612, that grainy characteristics can be intensify imo. 

yes, most instruments' sound are not that smooth under hi-res exposure either.

 

[CADCAM]

   
There is no question that these headphones require burn in. I found the most noticeable changes happened during the first 8-12 hours of use. The treble smoothed out, and the mid bass tightened right up during those hours. These headphones have a great sound signature. It is fairly neutral, and rather musical sounding. That being said, they do have a rather prevalent spike in the 2K-3K region. I use the following EQ set on my pair.
 
42 Hz @ +1
55 Hz @ +1
77 Hz @ +1
2 Khz @ -3
 
For me, this offers a great sound. It gives a slight bump to that sub bass region, and cuts that 2K spike right down. These headphones certainly offer a great amount of detail retrieval for the 200 dollar price level. This will result in them not being the most forgiving on poorly produced music though. I have noticed some grain and distortion on a few badly mixed albums as well. You can be assured though that the headphones are not defective in any way. They are just showing you how much crap is in the mix. Interestingly enough, that additional sub bass I am using on the EQ also results in some grain being removed in that 2K-3K region. Honestly, that EQ set I am using greatly improves the sound of this already great pair of headphones. Give it a try, I think you will like it.

I have the following options - 
32Hz, 60Hz, 120Hz, 240Hz, 480Hz, 960Hz, 1920Hz, 3840Hz, 7680Hz & 15.5KHz on the Audio Control C-22. Will try to get as close as I can to your suggestions and hear what happens.

 

[CADCAM]

 
Mine is '93 EMI version.

Listening to the disc now and yea this must be one of the better recordings because it actually sounds pretty good. Not really familiar with this disc but I hear no major issue's.

 

[Majestyk]

The original Dark Side of the Moon CD sounds very vinyl like. There are two pressings. Both have the same mastering. One is expensive ("Black Triangle") the other is not ("Black Face Harvest"). People who use EAC/dBpoweramp to play the flacs (IE: don't play the disc on a CD player) are probably not hearing it properly, since many of the old CD's, including this one, use preemphasis...So they have to be deemphasized. (Other wise they sound very bright). There are programs that can apply the deemphasis to the files. Wave Emph is the best. (www.picosound.de/E_SOFT.HTM)
 
If anyone is interested in this pressing, a good place to start are these threads below. They will help you avoid buying the wrong one.
(Some Black Face Harvests don't have the 'holy grail" pressing):
 
http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/pink-floyd-dsotm-japan-harvest-cd-help.339706/
 
http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/pink-floyd-dark-side-of-the-moon-the-big-thread-in-search-of-the-holy-grail-cd.51866/
 
What is preemphasis?
 
http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/question-pre-emphasis-what-exactly-is-this.145518/

 

[CADCAM]

OK, been listening to my K612 seriously for a while now (a few hours) and it's true, if the recording is good they sound exceptional but still with an emphasis on those frequencies (which I assume is the 2K spike) mentioned here. BTW I never was so glad to have my LD MKIII. I have 4 desktop amps but only the LD powers these headphones correctly IMO. My O2 can do it on high gain but I still prefer the LD. They are problematic for me though because so much sounds, not so much bad, but just not right out of them. Someone asked about comparing them to my DT880's and I would say the DT880 is an all around better headphone. Sounds better with more material and is almost as comfortable. The thing is, on the right recording the K612 sounds so light and fast and impressive I think I might just keep them. Switching to my Superlux I did hear a reduction in absolute SQ compaired to the AKG's.
 
So I have a headphone that only sounds good with a limited portion of my music collection, looks like it will need an EQ correction and makes all my amps hide except my Little Dot. Well no one said this hobby would be easy...

 

[cel4145]

So I have a headphone that only sounds good with a limited portion of my music collection, looks like it will need an EQ correction and makes all my amps hide except my Little Dot. Well no one said this hobby would be easy...:rolleyes:

I'd call it the advantage of the hobby. I'm a home audiophile, too. You can't switch out your speakers like you can headphones to get a different sound

 

[cdma2k]

  The original Dark Side of the Moon CD sounds very vinyl like. There are two pressings. Both have the same mastering. One is expensive ("Black Triangle") the other is not ("Black Face Harvest"). People who use EAC/dBpoweramp to play the flacs (IE: don't play the disc on a CD player) are probably not hearing it properly, since many of the old CD's, including this one, use preemphasis...So they have to be deemphasized. (Other wise they sound very bright). There are programs that can apply the deemphasis to the files. Wave Emph is the best. (www.picosound.de/E_SOFT.HTM)
 
If anyone is interested in this pressing, a good place to start are these threads below. They will help you avoid buying the wrong one.
(Some Black Face Harvests don't have the 'holy grail" pressing):
 
http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/pink-floyd-dsotm-japan-harvest-cd-help.339706/
 
http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/pink-floyd-dark-side-of-the-moon-the-big-thread-in-search-of-the-holy-grail-cd.51866/
 
What is preemphasis?
 
http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/question-pre-emphasis-what-exactly-is-this.145518/

Great, thanks! just added de-emphasize plug-in to foobar2k

 

[cdma2k]

 

So I have a headphone that only sounds good with a limited portion of my music collection, looks like it will need an EQ correction and makes all my amps hide except my Little Dot. Well no one said this hobby would be easy...

I'd call it the advantage of the hobby. I'm a home audiophile, too. You can't switch out your speakers like you can headphones to get a different sound

exactly

 

 

[Majestyk]

  OK, been listening to my K612 seriously for a while now (a few hours) and it's true, if the recording is good they sound exceptional but still with an emphasis on those frequencies (which I assume is the 2K spike) mentioned here. BTW I never was so glad to have my LD MKIII. I have 4 desktop amps but only the LD powers these headphones correctly IMO. My O2 can do it on high gain but I still prefer the LD. They are problematic for me though because so much sounds, not so much bad, but just not right out of them. Someone asked about comparing them to my DT880's and I would say the DT880 is an all around better headphone. Sounds better with more material and is almost as comfortable. The thing is, on the right recording the K612 sounds so light and fast and impressive I think I might just keep them. Switching to my Superlux I did hear a reduction in absolute SQ compaired to the AKG's.
 
So I have a headphone that only sounds good with a limited portion of my music collection, looks like it will need an EQ correction and makes all my amps hide except my Little Dot. Well no one said this hobby would be easy...

 
When I first got my Q701 (which I've since replaced with the 612) I compared it with my former DT880 and I came to a similar conclusion. But then after a week of listening to the 701 exclusively, I tried the 880 and I just couldn't get back into it again. The bass was nice but that was it. I found the 880 uncomfortable and kind of 'stuffy' sounding. Maybe it was my amp, who knows.
 
So yeah. I would keep the 612's a little longer and just listen to them, exclusively, for at least a week. Then go back to the 880 and see what happens.

 

[Majestyk]

 
Great, thanks! just added de-emphasize plug-in to foobar2k

 
It's funny. I never got that to work. I'm sure I'm just inept and it will work for you just fine, but I was listening to the first Pink Floyd The Wall Japan CD (emphasis) and something hit me. This isn't de-emphasized at all. (Way too bright sounding). I normally use Wave-emph but that particular time I tried the Foobrar plugin. Anyway, I ran it through Wave-emph and listened to it again and it sounded normal.  I converted it through Foobar again and same thing. It wasn't de-emphazied. So all I'm saying is if it sounds bright, then try Wave-emph...Although it's a little more cumbersome to run

 

[CADCAM]

 
exactly

 

I've had many pairs of speakers over the years and still keep a couple pairs to switch out for a change now and then but if a speaker had these characteristics I'm not sure how long it would last at the house. It (K612) certainly has issue's but when it shines it really shines bright. I am going to keep it around at least long enough to set up my eq and see if the correction makes it a headphone I feel I can keep with my limited time to listen coupled with my other headphone options. I will say that I have a large head and the headphone is extremely comfortable. 

 

[cdma2k]

  It's funny. I never got that to work. I'm sure I'm just inept and it will work for you just fine, but I was listening to the first Pink Floyd The Wall Japan CD (emphasis) and something hit me. This isn't de-emphasized at all. (Way too bright sounding). I normally use Wave-emph but that particular time I tried the Foobrar plugin. Anyway, I ran it through Wave-emph and listened to it again and it sounded normal.  I converted it through Foobar again and same thing. It wasn't de-emphazied. So all I'm saying is if it sounds bright, then try Wave-emph...Although it's a little more cumbersome to run

Did you add a tag named PRE_EMPHASIS with a value 1?