[David Chou]

I had never tried headphones before...even I'm a fan of valve hi-end systems for years. Thus your input is appreciated...

Once upon a chance I tried HD650 in a Sennheiser dealer 2 weeks ago, the sound is really moving me, maybe due to lack of sleep and judgement, also forget my wife may kill me afterwards, I bought HD650 plus Corda Opera.

Here is the question,
1- the sound quality of the new Corda Opera I bought is much worse than the demo one in the dealer...I can understand new audio machine required certain period of "run in", however the difference is huge, which is just like you are listening to 2 different DAC made by 2 different level of chip set, the sales told me not to worry about, it takes 4 months to reach normal sound!!! Is that the case?
2- The sales suggests me to buy a damn expensive power cord, he said because Corda Opera is very sensitive to power quality...anyone got experience or suggestion that which cord will provide best improvement to Opera?

 

[NilsTentacles]

4 months, that sounds really extreme. I've gotten Corda Arietta from Meier-Audio and already after 3 days it sounds faboulus.

don't bother what the salesman says about powercords though. wait a week to be sure, have a close listen to Opera again and go from there.

p.s.

when you listened in the hi-fi store and at your home, did you use digital-in >> DAC both times?

 

[3x331m]

Sources and IC's do make differences. You can only tell if you have the same setup like the dealer's rig.

4-month burnin is more extreme than patrick82...

 

[BushGuy]

I have have Corda HA-2, and a Prehead and have not heard of his solid state amps wanting more than 200 hours............and a $5000 power cord should not make the sort of dramatic difference you are hearing.
Two things you should consider doing:
a) send Jan Meier an email about your case...........then, and/or
b) force that dealer to trade his good-sounding demo unit for the one you received from him. Such a trade would presumably, be to his benefit. Reluctance on his part spells liar.

Does he also have a business where he sells used cars

 

[practitioner]

Did you buy the HD650 new? If so, thats what needs burnin in not the Opera. HD650 really do take a long time for them to open up.

 

[Morph201]

X2, I was thinking along the same lines... new amp\phones (source???)...IC, even ac cord (if aftermarket) could play a role in your system burn in process. How different is your setup compared to the demo model? How many hours of use had the demo model received? You have a lot of variables at work here..

 

[David Chou]

Yes, the whole system are new…Corda Opera, HD650, power cord, USB cable, even the HP laptop I bought is new. The footbar2000 0.9.4.2 installed in my PC is new, too. Not so sure if footbar2000 is the best choice of media player, or any other setup I missed. Anyway, thanks a lot for all of your available input, I will be patient then.
I did ask dealer to trade his excellent-sounding demo but failed, no surprise at all right? However the sales asked their engineer to open the both chassis for me, to prove they do not make any modification inside...

 

[3x331m]

Quote:

Originally Posted by David Chou /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yes, the whole system are new…Corda Opera, HD650, power cord, USB cable, even the HP laptop I bought is new.

Give them time. I hope that you'd have something very respectable after about 4-500 hours.

Enjoy.... and keep them burning.

 

[Morph201]

Ah! I see, well, like practioner mentioned, the HD650s take a while to open up! Try using pink noise at a slightly above moderate listening level. Also, the Opera takes about 150-300 hours. Did the demo model, at the dealership, have HD650s attached to it?

 

[David Chou]

Yes, he demo Opera do have HD650 attached, guess at the dealership, all the demo equipments such as Corda Opera, HD650, power cord, USB cable, even their PC with damn expensive sound cards should have gone through certain run-in period.
That's fine, as I long as the better sound can be respectable.

 

[skai]

how does footbar200 works? is it free?

 

[d-cee]

oh wow, i thought footbar200 was just a typo for foobar2000 but then i noticed that it was consistently spelt wrong, and a google shows up a few results from chinese websites!?!

i'd like to know too, where to download??

 

[David Chou]

Sorry, my fault...typo, haha, I hope that mistakes from web you found are not due to me

 

[Awk.Pine]

My suggestion is to take your kit to the dealer and test each item against theirs. If you use their source and their HD-650, and your Opera sounds different than theirs, you know where the issue is. Likewise if your HD-650's sound different on their Opera.

Always best to narrow the problem before you try to solve it.

 

[skai]

oh spelt wrong hmmm no wonder i couldnt find it lol