Fatigue From Senn 600 / 650 ?

[JayGee]

Hi I'm wondering if anyone else has felt fatigue from voices and certain instruments (like Miles Davis's trumpet) on Senn 600 and 650?

Over time and with many system changes I'm still having issues with this part of the frequency response just being too strong, or edgy in some way.

If you had this problem how did you cure it?

Jay

 

[TheSloth]

Please describe the rest of your system. It's difficult to suggest anything without it.

 

[Andrea]

And please specify -- both the 600 and the 650, or 'one at a time' or...?

 

[TheSloth]

Without knowing your system, I'd have to say that when you put your ears at the bell end of a trumpet, it's going to sound pretty piercing and painful. Those recordings have the microphones very close to the bell, so I'd venture that you are hearing what's on the recording. The 650 is a very 'smooth' headphone, with a nicely (for me) rolled off treble. Any more roll off to counter recordings that are too 'in your face' would make everything else inaccurate. If you can't bear it, I'd recommend either turning the volume down, or maybe applying a little gentle EQ to those tracks.

 

[909]

With one system set-up I did experience fatigue or something very similar to what you are talking about with my HD650. The higher frequencies seemed too sharp. And once my ears were sensitive to it, it took about 10 days without further irritation to completely go away.

I don’t think it is the HD650s because in my experience I’ve had two other set-ups (different amps and cables) and my ears were just fine. It depends upon the entire system set-up and your ear’s sensitivity to certainly frequencies.

I found with an OFHC interconnects (cooper) and a good tube amp I can listen with my HD650s (to Kind of Blue too) for hours and hours without any problems whatsoever. With the one pair of silver cables I initially tried and following up with those OFHC interconnects while listening through a somewhat hybrid solid state / tube amp I experienced much more fatigue with the silver than the cooper, but even with the cooper I noticed discomfort. And this was a few days after giving my ears a break. The biggest difference for me that took away the fatigue was the amp and second the cables.

 

[JefferyK]

Deleted.

 

[JayGee]

Thanks.

My system is currently a Headroom Cosmic w/ upgraded power supply and Rotel RCD 971.

I have both the 600 and 650.

Generally speaking I don't think this issue is from treble brightness or too much treble. I agree that the 650 could actually do with a bit more treble as it might be better balanced.

For me the 650 midrange and upper mids just feel a little too "close". There is a lot of dynamic power there. And there is also something that sounds
a little edgy or uneasy. Almost like a glare. Maybe if there were more treble the upper mids would not feel as though they stick out.

The 600 has a bit of brightness in the highs but again I don't think this is my problem. I like the slight distancing of the 600 in the upper mids. I wish I could acheive more of that.

In non-headphone systems I've never been known to shy away from bright speakers but midrange forwardness has sometimes bothered me.

I'm wondering if there are any amps or cables that might provide that extra distancing effect?

Does anyone know how a tube amp like the Earmax Pro might compare to my current set up. Woul a tube amp just make the sound closer?

Jay

 

[IronLion]

I agree with what 909 said. The fatigue-factor of any headphone I believe is linked not to the headphones so much as to the source and the amp, because these determine the ways that the headphone itself reproduces music. For example, in my old setup with my HD650's and Equinox, I couldn't listen for more than an hour because my ears would just get tired and I could tell I was fatigued because I would want to turn the music down and just take the headphones off. Now, with my new MPX3, I have found a synergy that is both very involving and detailed and non-fatiguing. I go through stretches of 3-5 hours (during finals) wearing the headphones without any fatigue at all; I know this because it feels as if the headphones aren't there, and I have no desire to take them off at all. As far as figuring out which of your components is contributing to fatigue-factor, there are a number that could be the culprit and the best way to figure that out is to try experimenting with them individually so that you can see the differences that each change in gear brings.

 

[TheSloth]

What module is in the Cosmic? If you tell me, I'll go check it out and see if I experience the same time.