[arjunlall]

I have a pair of HD280s and recently did the blue-tac mod. Everything went well but the wires did get tugged a bit, and I bumped things around a bit, maybe not the smoothest job.

Ever since then I have been paranoid that I damaged my HD280s. I hear static/crackling in a lot of places I have never heard before, even on lossless music.

Does anyone else hear static/cracking in their right ear in the beginning of She Will Be Loved by Maroon 5 (lossless)? or are my headphones broken? When I listen to the preview of Georgia Rain by Trisha Yearwood on the iTunes Music Store, I hear crackling when she says the word thunder, anyone else hear this? (I know 128kbps AAC isnt that great) Most of my music is ok but I seem to be noticing a lot of static/crackling/crap I have never heard before.

They are relatively new (10 days) and I'm still breaking them in. Maybe im just hearing stuff I have never heard before since they HD280's are so detailed and finally burned in. The best cans I had before were the HD212s.

Thanks for any help. I suppose if I did mess them up I could return them but I would rather avoid the hassle.

________________
Arjun Lall

 

[mono]

How can you return them?
You have no warranty now that you've opened and modded them.
It would be fraud to return them without explicitly mentioning the cause, IF in fact they're damaged.

I don't mean to be cruel, I really am sorry for your loss if that's the case.

Often it's good to let a set of cans break in playing at least 100 hours of moderately loud music before final judgement about whether they'll need modded.

If you still have the HD212 you should be able to compare the two, to see if you hear the crackling in same passages. If you were to post a very short clip of the source somewhere (not big enough to be most of the song so the RIAA doesn't freak-out about it, just a short clip of that passage- someone else could try it and see if they hear this flaw in it.

 

[Skylab]

Quote:

Originally Posted by arjunlall Does anyone else hear static/cracking in their right ear in the beginning of She Will Be Loved by Maroon 5 (lossless)? Arjun Lall

Well, you needn't worry if this is your only clue to a problem -- this is a part of the recording! It's simulated LP sufrace noise (which, as a die hard vinyl junkie, really bugs me when they add it to CDs for effect).

But that noise is part of the recording.

FWIW, I often will hear noise like that on recordings that I only notice with good headphones, or on my main rig (very high end) speakers.

So your HD280s may well be fine.

 

[arjunlall]

Im glad to hear that its not just me with the Maroon 5 song and I guess returning them isnt an option.

I think Kram Sacul said it best in this thread:Can a sudden very loud bass sound damage the hd580's?

Quote:

I'm sure your phones got a nice workout but incidents like this will make you very paranoid that your phones are broken somehow. You will start to listen very critically now. Listening for any kind of flaw that wasn't there before. You'll wonder constantly if the bass is as good as it was before or if the highs have been tamed. It will torment you. My advice is to let you and your headphones rest. Avoid drinking sodas loading with artificial sweeteners and get some fresh air. When you are ready go back to your headphones and accurately assess the situation.

I realized that a lot of the noise I was hearing was coming from my Audigy

but now that Ive disabled CMSS its gone. It seems like Ive just been noticing things I have never heard before because of the detail and clarity of the HD280s.

In any case, it would be nice to know if any of you hear the crackle from the Trisha Yearwood song preview in the iTunes Music Store.

thanks for your help

 

[SockMan!]

It's good to hear that the headphones probably aren't damaged, especially since the warrantee was voided!

On a related note, I (along with many other owners apparently) found that that the cheap plastic headband on the 280s cracks very easily. Don't be surprised if cracks start appearing after a month of use even if you handle the 'phones like royalty. A bit of black duct tape works well. Even though it is a little unsightly, the headphones are not that fashionable to begin with.

The headband is not nearly as important as the condition of the drivers, but it is something to keep in mind.