HD 25-1 on the way

[The Monkey]

So I broke down and purchased a slightly used pair on ebay because I'm curious about these cans and all the hype surrounding them. I'm not a huge Senn fan, but I look forward to trying them out. I'm pretty sure I'll be giving them to my wife along with a cmoy I'm building for her to use with her iPod. I'll post my impressions when I get them.

One question I have is how much does the HD 25-1 improve with an amp, if at all?

 

[Silfer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Monkey One question I have is how much does the HD 25-1 improve with an amp, if at all?

It cleans up the sound a bit, but very little. Especially with just a CMoy it's not worth it. It's more wishfull thinking that you have better sound than that you actually hear it in a portable situation. A cable upgrade is the way to go.
Do a search, there's a thread about how to easily mod a Senn cable to a onesided cable on the HD25-1s.
Cheaper than a CMoy and much better results.

 

[Cyrillic]

The above poster is noticing psychological effects, most likely. If you care about improving the sound, the cable is your most likely bet. Some people will still claim that an amp improves a good amount, but then again I think a lot of people here suffer from psychological influences.

I mean, sure, the amp may improve it a tiny bit, but a negligable amount. The extra hassle of carrying around an amp is definately not worth it to me. Portable is portable for a reason and adding extra things to that just devalues the rig in this case.

BTW, even if you don't like the "senn sound", I think these will be different for you. They aren't like the 600 series that most people define the senn sound by.

 

[The Monkey]

I find it interesting that these do not improve that much with an amp. My Grado SR-80s (32 ohm) sound many times better amped, and that's no placebo effect. I guess it just goes to show that impedance doesn't always dictate amping.

 

[Daroid]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cyrillic The above poster is noticing psychological effects, most likely.

I think the European mp3 players are still capped, which means that the output power is limited. See this thread for an example: http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=40673 , so he might have a point.

A tool called 'EUPod' can remove this limitation.

 

[saint.panda]

I'd be interested in a HD 215 / HD 25-1 comparison once you get the HD 25-1. To see how the old Sennheiser fares against the new breed.

 

[The Monkey]

Quote:

Originally Posted by saint.panda I'd be interested in a HD 215 / HD 25-1 comparison once you get the HD 25-1. To see how the old Sennheiser fares against the new breed.

Will do. The HD 215 doesn't seem to be gaining any popularity.

 

[Cyrillic]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jhlbbs It could also be that the above poster is simply just a moron ....

A personal attack, I see your point.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dariod I think the European mp3 players are still capped, which means that the output power is limited. See this thread for an example: http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=40673 , so he might have a point.

It's not necessary to remove this limitation. In fact, if you only use the hd-25 with your iPod, it's better to have it on, since the max volume from a non-capped iPod is far too loud for safe hearing levels over any amount of time, let alone extended. Having it capped would protect you from accidentally scrolling the volume up or forgetting that it was loud before for some other reason.

So anyway, being that the HD-25's are so sensitive, there's absolutely no need to uncap an iPod, as it drives to good volumes either way.

And again, if you want better sound out of your HD-25, recable it with something other than its stock cable, which I've heard is made of steel.

 

[1967cutlass]

my cmoy made the sound worse IMO. not worth the extra space.

 

[The Monkey]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1967cutlass my cmoy made the sound worse IMO. not worth the extra space.

Worse? How so?

 

[bangraman]

Actually, I would recommend uncapping the iPod to drive the HD25-1. The 25-1 is very efficient but there's no point in throttling it if you don't have to. The OFC cable does seem to make a difference in 'de-roughing' the sound. But the standard steel cable is very convenient being robust, kink-free and terminated with what is the perfect right-angled plug for my general use, just like the Shures.