[dufferdan]

Purchased 2018. Maybe 30-40 hours of use (infrequent). I was listening to these over the past week and they seemed virtually lifeless. No treble whatsoever. I was listening to music via iPad, hooked up via USB to a Topping D70s MQA DAC and then to a Drop AAA789 THX headphone amp. I downloaded a tone generator and started testing. These headphones had zero response above 10,000 Hz. A little possibly in the left ear, but I could hear nothing above ~9600 Hz. I then tested the same setup with an old pair of AKG 702 and could clearly hear through 16,000 Hz. The same with a pair of AKG 7XX Massdrop. I also have a pair of Audio Tecnica ADX M50s and those also reproduced sound thru to 16,000 Hz. I am thinking 16,000 Hz is my upper limit due to age, etc, but the Seinnheisers failed to reproduce any frequency above ~10,000Hz.

I was initially using a balanced cable, but switched to test with a single ended cable as well, same result. All other phones were single ended. I contacted Seinnheiser who said Drop serviced their products. So I contacted Drop and they do not service out of warranty products. So I have gone back to Seinnheiser to see if they can do anything. I don’t mind paying as they are out of warranty, but a 10kHz ceiling is a little low!

 

[dunring]

Only thing I could recommend checking is take the pads and foam out, and look in the middle of the driver. If the center membrane has been pushed in at all by ears pushing on the driver or cleaning and accidentally pushing on it, there's a fix. I did that while cleaning but used a can of spray air to blow it back into position from the other side after popping the grills off to get a good puff to them. That's where the tweeter is, so it's why I'd recommend checking that little bubble over it.

 

[dufferdan]

Thanks, will check that later. Appreciate the input. Would the driver be permanently damaged Is this is the case?

 

[dufferdan]

SO some decent news. Drop was of no help for out of warranty assistance. I re-contacted Seinnheiser and for a relatively nominal feee, they will sell me a set of HD650 drivers that they will show me how to install myself. Gonna go that route I think. No ability to drive above 10,000 hz is a deal breaker for me and listening. So looks like I get to listen to HD650’s. Will report back.