[Saulot]

I wanted to say hello to everyone, as a new member who has just made my first substantial headphone purchase after some research, the Sennheiser HD438.  Previously, I had mostly just used the basic headphones that came with CD players and the like, or retailed for ~$10.  The only departure was that previously I was using a Tritton AXPC 5.1 surround sound gaming headset.  Recently I decided to look for a better listening experience, and after lurking on these forums a bit and looking at various models elsewhere, I decided on the HD438.
 
I was wondering a few things for those familiar with these phones: Will they benefit a lot from burn-in?  Can I use these right out of my laptop, without an amp?   And more generally, anyone have any advice for someone new to this whole scene?  Thanks

 

[zmd]

You want advice? Close this page, forget you were ever here, run. As far as you can. Head-fi will ruin you. Other than that, welcome and sorry for your wallet. You can certainly run those headphones without an amp
 
 

 

[Saulot]

Thank you for the welcome and the answer, and the warning as well. 

 

[LegendX48]

if they're anything like my 448's then yes they'll require a good deal of burn in...about 30 or 40 hours or so
 
oh and start re-importing your entire music collection in either 320kbps or flac as well

 

[Saulot]

Thank you for the advice!  I'll let them burn-in for the next couple days.  And good point about the music collection; most of mine are in 128kbps mp3s, so I will have to take the time to re-rip them from CD.

 

[Saulot]

Ok, it has been a little more than three weeks since I got this.  I have been listening to these HD438s through either my laptop with Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Go! Pro USB soundcard, or through my old Sony CD Walkman D-EJ621.  I wanted to buy a cheap amplifier so that I could use the Line Out jack on the Sony, instead of the Headphone Out, since the latter seems to clip a bit off the beginnings of the various songs.  I bought a very cheap amp, the FiiO E5 for about $20 off of Amazon; I bought it along with a couple of CDs, so there was no shipping charge.
 
I have recently been listening to Metallica's classic album "Master of Puppets" through the Sony quite a bit, and I was rather amazed how much better many of the songs sounded after hooking up the amp through the Line Out.  I didn't expect much from a cheap amp, but the bass line is easier to hear in many areas, the songs sound fuller, and I can hear and notice more of the guitar and drum work than I could before.  Additionally, the cymbals sound better.  And this is on an album I have been listening to a few times daily for the last week or so, as well as having listened to many times since I was a teenager.  So I was very impressed.
 
I still don't know how much of this is psychological, and how much of it is the Line Out (as opposed to the Headphone Out) and how much of it is due to the amp.  But I am going to test the amp with the X-Fi Go! Pro, and see if it sounds better there too.  In any case, I can only imagine what a good quality amp must do...  This seems like a slippery slope.

 

[zmd]

Don't say you weren't warned. Other than that, enjoy the music, fellow Metallica fan!

 

[Saulot]

Thanks! I'm having a blast

 

[Saulot]

Thanks! I'm having a blast

 

[arfrxz]

Hi zmd,
 
I read your post on HD 448 modding on the other thread. Can i mod my HD 438 just the way you moded HD 448?