[tylernm]

I have the D5000s and am experiencing some sibilance on some of my favorite albums. Do the D7000s offer some relief from sibilance or should I just throw an EQ into the mix? Setup: DACMagic > Kicas Caliente > D5000. Thanks.

 

[MacedonianHero]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tylernm /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have the D5000s and am experience some sibilance on some of my favorite albums. Do the D7000s offer some relief from sibilance or should I just throw an EQ into the mix? Thanks.

I just got my D7000s yesterday and I've had them on for a few hours now with zero siblance issues.

 

[tylernm]

MacedonianHero, I notice you have a tube amp in your setup. Does that roll off the lower treble a bit? It seems my offending frequencies on the D5000 reside around 7000-8000Hz? Have you tried the D7000s with solid state amps?

 

[musicman59]

I have the D7000 and had the D5000 before. I use them exclusively with SS amps in single ended and balanced. IMO the D7000 is superior in sound then the D5000 and I do not experience sibilance wit them.

Out of my collection the D7000 are my favorite sounding headphones and the one I normally tend to listen to.

 

[MacedonianHero]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tylernm /img/forum/go_quote.gif MacedonianHero, I notice you have a tube amp in your setup. Does that roll off the lower treble a bit? It seems my offending frequencies on the D5000 reside around 7000-8000Hz? Have you tried the D7000s with solid state amps?

My MAD Ear+HD amp coupled with the D7000s is actually pretty phenomenal with awesome deep and taught bass. I find the 7k-8k Hz range quite nice actually and not over powering.

Now the only SS amp I have on hand is my Icon Mobile (mostly used for me IEMs), but when paired with my 25 ohm D7000s on high gain, it's remarkably good. The amazing thing about these headphones is the very low impedance that makes them sound great with even a portable amp (very unlike my HD650s).

 

[boomy3555]

The 7K's were not worth the extra cash to me. EQ the 5K's, and then if you don't like them Modd them first. and then if still not satsified, choose a different brand.
The Denons love the Hybrid tubes like the LD,EF1, and EF2. so I don't think Solid state is your answer.

 

[BigTony]

Remember vocal sibilance is a feature of the recording - more resolving or transparent gear can make it more noticable.

 

[MikeW]

I recently tried this to great avail. It can be tweaked however you see fit.

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f4/tri...denons-450631/

 

[tylernm]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeW /img/forum/go_quote.gif I recently tried this to great avail. It can be tweaked however you see fit. http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f4/tri...denons-450631/

I'm hesitant to do the mod, since I feel the treble extension in the d5000s is lacking. Accoustic instruments already don't have much air on the d5000s and the bass is borderline muddy, so lowering the overall treble response doesn't seem like a solution. Perhaps these cans just aren't for me. The wow factor of the monster bass may be wearing off.

The recordings I'm listening too do not have excessive sibilance on my flat Mackie 824 monitors, and the FR for the D5000s at HeadRoom shows the D5000's have an accentuated range of sibilance. After trying Senns and Denons and Ultrasones I starting do doubt that there are any headphones < $1400 without 1 or 2 glarring flaws on my ears. I wish I was still ignorant and rocking out to my old Pioneer HDJ-1000s.

I have an MF X-can v8 amp coming this week, so I hope that can right the d5000's sibilance.

 

[MikeW]

have you looked into the MarkL mod? that is what stock D5000 needs to control that bass. It's a pretty easy mod to do, parts cost about 25$ tops.

You do realize it takes like 60 seconds to apply the foam mod right? pop earpad off place foam inside, put earpad back on.

edit: i assume you've burned them in at least 200+ hrs right?

 

[tylernm]

I'd say my d5000s have 100 hours on them. I tried the d2000 and they had worse sibilance than the d5000 when I was demoing unburned pairs. To be honest I don't really believe in burnin to a large degree. I don't think burnin will turn a headphone I am originally not pleased with into a headphone I will love. I've noticed no difference in the sound signature since I first tried them. I certainly do not believe that burin will move the 7dB peak at 4-7kHZ down a full 7dB. This is what it takes with the equalizer I have handy (Behringer DEQ2496). However, this makes the sound seem very veiled to me and I'd rather not use an equalizer at all. I do believe my brain compensates over time for the tonal differences between headphones, but on a fresh listen after waking up the sibilance is killer. It causes me physical pain and after about 20 minutes I have to switch to my old headphones. Likely my hearing has a significant peak in the lower treble range.

I've tried the HD600 but found the bass anemic and boring. I tried the HD650 and that was too veiled. Both had no sibilance though. Honestly my old Ultrasone HFI 550s are the only headphones which don't annoy me by missing or accentuating a crucial frequency band. On the other hand the Ultrasones have too much presence and sound kinda weird but I'm not begging for my bass or less sibilance with 550s. Also ultraones are uncomfortable.

I think I'm too picky, but avoiding sibilance is my number one concern.

 

[tylernm]

Just tried draping a t-shirt over my head and putting the headphones over it. It definitely reduces the treble a bit. However, the sibilance still is pronounced compared to the rest of the treble region and now there is little sparkle to speak of...a bit like a thumping hd650.

 

[Sovkiller]

What kind of music are you listening to? In my expereince, the sibilance in a defect of the recording, bad miking, there is no gear able to create sibilance, just reveal it, the more resolving the gear, the more apparent it will be, and if the recording has sibilance as part fo the material, there is no much you can do about it...

 

[MikeW]

I would not say gear cannot create sibilance, when there is clear and obvious spikes in the frequency responce in the sibilant range. 5-7k. if you phone has huge 8DB boost in the 5-7k range it will certainly make any sibilance that is there much more noticeable and possibly unbearable.

 

[TheAudioDude]

A good example of a very sibilant recording is the remix of Pearl Jam's 'Ten'. Listen to the original recording of 'Black', and then listen to the remixed version. It's almost unbearable, which sucks because that's one of my favorite Pearl Jam songs. But it does make sense, because when they remixed the album, they focused on the vocals and brought them out more (or just increased the volume on them)... not to mention the fact that Eddie Vedder's S's are a little harsh to begin with.