[Bynming]

So, my plans of getting a good sound setup is starting to take form. Seems like I'm going for the HD650's (if I can find them at a reasonable price in Canada). Now I need to select an amp and from reading around, seems like the FiiO E9 is a good idea to stay within my budget. However, I was wondering if the FiiO E7 was good to have as well. Apparently the E9 has a dock for the E7 - does anybody know if the difference between just E9 and E9+E7 is a big deal?
 
Note: I currently have an Auzentech Bravura sound card too. Anyway, what would you guys do around that pricepoint, are there alternatives I should consider? (I intend to listen to all kinds of music and do some gaming). Thanks.

 

[Bynming]

Oh also since it may be kind of the same topic, my Auzentech Bravura makes a weird clicking sound. It only seems happens when "loud sounds" are stopped abruptly, like when I close a music file or after an error "beep" from windows. However it doesn't happen in games for instance, gunshots don't trigger it because there's a continuous "stream" of sound. Anyway I can't really explain it.
 
I recorded what it sounds like (be careful it's really quiet, so after you're done listening lower your volume back down)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHA-eNggoeI
 
I figure someone with some knowledge of audio engineering might have an idea of what this might be.
 
I'm wonder if I should dump the Bravura altogether and get me a decent amp. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[sregor]

Check out this thread
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/582916/fiio-e9-the-big-users-guide-the-10-x-headphone-round-up-how-does-yours-stack-up-with-the-e9-pictures-inside

 

[Tilpo]

The FiiO E7 is a Amp/DAC, and acts only as a DAC when docked into the E9. Since you already have a hi-fi sound card, I think getting a better source is not your primary concern.
'DAC' stands for Digital to Analog Converter, and is essentially nothing more than an external sound card without all the fancy drivers and sound processing.

The E9 would be an excellent budget choice for the HD 650. Its output power is more than high enough to properly feed the HD 650, and from what I heard other sound quality factors are really good considering the price.
There are better amplifiers out there, but from my experience very expensive amplifiers don't improve the sound by much, if any at all, over a budget amplifier of good quality.



The click certainly is an interesting phenomena. I think it has to do with the fact that an abrupt stopping of sound creates an instantaneous drop in volume, essentially forming a square wave. Probably the combination of the DAC and amp in the soundcard have a finite slew rate, causing overshoot, which in turns causes an audible 'click'
How did you record it? Did you play the sound and then record it externally? Or did you do it inside your operating system?

 

[Bynming]

Thanks for the replies, I recorded it by putting a microphone between the drivers - the click seems to only occur out of one of the drivers (left or right, seems random).
 
Recording the sound directly from my computer seems to log those sounds too.
 
IMPORTANT EDIT: Turns out my "methodology" was broken. Spamming errors seems to make that "click" on every Win7 machine (does it on 3 of mine). I used the "change system sounds" window, I figure it'll do it for you guys also - so windows problem. However it still does it when I click things and when I shut down media players while the music is loud.

 

[Tilpo]

Thanks for the replies, I recorded it by putting a microphone between the drivers - the click seems to only occur out of one of the drivers (left or right, seems random).
 
Recording the sound directly from my computer seems to log those sounds too.

That makes a large difference, because in that case it is probably caused by the drivers of the headphone. Have you ever seen the impulse or square wave response of a headphone? The driver can't instantly accelerate and decelerate, and as a result it has overshoot in the response of very quick changes in voltage (sound volume).

Look for example at this graph of the 500Hz square wave response of the HD 650:


The input is a perfect square wave, but it should be quite clear that the HD 650 does not reproduce a perfect square wave. This phenomenon might exactly be what is causing the click at an abrupt stop in sound coming from the sound card.


Another possible, but less likely, cause would be the amplifier of the sound card switching on and off when no sound is played. In this cause the click might be caused by a change in the DC offset of the output. However this offset shouldn't be there in the first place, and if it is then there is a serious error in the design of the sound card.

 

[Bynming]

Well I'm not currently using the HD650's, I'm using cheap a cheap headset and some earbuds. The loud clicking only happens with that particular sound card - USB headset does fine. I take it the sound card is probably defective?

 

[Tilpo]

Well I'm not currently using the HD650's, I'm using cheap a cheap headset and some earbuds. The loud clicking only happens with that particular sound card - USB headset does fine. I take it the sound card is probably defective?

Not defective per se; it can also just be bad design. This is the first time I have ever heard of Auzentech so I don't know anything about their reputation.

It's probably nothing too serious though.

 

[Bynming]

I've mentioned it on other boards and people can't seem to reproduce the issue. That kind of "clicking" can't harm the headphones can it?

(I just now ordered some HD650's, very excited!)

 

[Tilpo]

I've mentioned it on other boards and people can't seem to reproduce the issue. That kind of "clicking" can't harm the headphones can it?

(I just now ordered some HD650's, very excited!)

That depends on how loud the clicking is. If it's very loud then the driver can deform, which is very bad. Else, it shouldn't be that bad.

If you have a decent multimeter you might be able to measure whether there is either a constant DC voltage, or sudden spike in voltage.
You can also just try to contact the manufacturer and ask them whether it is harmful.

 

[Bynming]

It's not very loud so I guess it may be fine.
 
Also I don't have a multimeter. I'll see if I can get the sound card replaced. Cheers and thanks again for your help. I may go with the FiiO E9 if no other recommendations pop up. Cheers!

 

[Tilpo]

And congratulations on the purchase of your HD 650!
It's a great little can, and will certainly satisfy your hunger for the time being.


I'm almost done building a high-end amp, and as a result I'm starting to yearn for a more high-end can. I'm thinking about buying an HE-500, but I need to save up some money first. When the plan has finally become reality it will be about a year since I purchased the HD 650.

I'd suggest you prepare your wallet for the same thing happening

 

[Bynming]

Trust me when I say my wallet doesn't know what it got itself into.
 
I just got a pair of 23" IPS monitors from Dell earlier this week and I was like "hm, expensive christmas gift to myself, maybe I'm being a little crazy here"... And then I got these, pretty much on a whim, which is absolutely insane of me considering that they'll need something good to feed them properly.
 
Hopefully I can find a modest but effective solution as far as AMPs and sound card or DACs go.