[Sil3nce]

Probably the amp and the music files you're playing.

 

[Aizura]

Cant believe you find the HD650 fatiguing. My HD600 (which are supposed to be brighter than HD650) are far from fatiguing.
Are you sure you aren't just listening too loud? You seem to listen to them for extended periods of time. Even seemingly low volume levels (like 90 dB) WILL damage your hearing/cause fatigue when you are listening for too long. 

 

[stephenguoo]

Quote:

Three possibilities that I can think of:
 
either your HD650s are straight out of the box and need some time burning in,
 
(And)/OR
 
you're playing your music much too loudly and should turn the volume down
 
(And)/OR
 
you have EQ settings that have the treble too high

Yea, as said, my HD650 is not that new.
I 'm a quiet listener, and my EQ is flat.

 

[Sil3nce]

Do you speak mandarin?

 

[stephenguoo]

Quote:

Cant believe you find the HD650 fatiguing. My HD600 (which are supposed to be brighter than HD650) are far from fatiguing.
Are you sure you aren't just listening too loud? You seem to listen to them for extended periods of time. Even seemingly low volume levels (like 90 dB) WILL damage your hearing/cause fatigue when you are listening for too long. 

Well, my extended periods are about 1 hour, which I don't think it's that long.
Also, I listen to music really soft. When my friends try out my HD650, they always have to turn it up to double to volume. 
 
So I guess it's just a 650 problem?
 
If I upgrade, the problem will be gone?

 

[stephenguoo]

Quote:

Do you speak mandarin?

Yes I do, if you want to talk about it in Mandarin, you can email it at stephenguo@live.com
If you have msn, that's my msn as well.
I don' t think chatting on this thread in Mandarin is a considerate thing to do since not everybody understands it.

 

[Kuze]

Had the same effect when i first got mine, sharp pain in right ear and sometimes both, 3 days straight burn-in whitenoise with volume little above normal solved it for me, also flexing the metal band outwards to reduce clamp. 

 

[Olias of Sunhillow]

Curious, as the HD650s were (for me) the least fatiguing headphones I've owned.
 
I echo Kuze's advice -- continue burn-in (without listening the whole time) and work on the clamping force (even if it doesn't seem to be the problem -- it may still be).

 

[paconavarro]

I don't have an HD650, but when I got my new cans I had some headaches and a pain in my left ear. It took a while for me to get used to them. It was mostly caused by the new headband and that the earpad was making pressure on a very specific nerve on my cheekbone, I have a small head so that would also be part of your problem.
Also I was eq'ing my cans and I used the sinegen for detecting the "loud" frequencies and I got it a bit too high in volume, so when I got over 17kHz (my hearing threshold) and I forgot to take is off someone distracted myself, since I didn't heard anything, I was "not hearing" a loud sound, I noticed it when I felt like a needle punching my eardrum... hopefully it was just a very little time so no hearing damage. But I had a couple of days that certain songs caused my ear to hurt... now it's completely gone and my hearing range is the same.  I assume you didn't Eq your cans, but it could happen that there could be some sound coming from your system that the HD650 makes it more louder that other HP, making you feel tired.
Anyhow, you should get used to it... just be patient.

 

[kingtz]

Quote:

Quote:

Cant believe you find the HD650 fatiguing. My HD600 (which are supposed to be brighter than HD650) are far from fatiguing.
Are you sure you aren't just listening too loud? You seem to listen to them for extended periods of time. Even seemingly low volume levels (like 90 dB) WILL damage your hearing/cause fatigue when you are listening for too long. 

Well, my extended periods are about 1 hour, which I don't think it's that long.
Also, I listen to music really soft. When my friends try out my HD650, they always have to turn it up to double to volume. 
 
So I guess it's just a 650 problem?
 
If I upgrade, the problem will be gone?

The problem with upgrading is that the HD650s are considered one of the darker headphones. Pretty much anything you upgrade to will be brighter that the HD650s, which you're already feeling are too bright. The only solutions will be for you to try and listen to a different pair of HD650s with your setup to see if the error is somehow in your particular pair; and should you decide to upgrade, then definitely try to audition the new headphones first.

 

[LeChuck]

Quote:

I'm currently using the Pico amp/dac as DAC to feed my Gilmore lite.

 
Just to clarify, does the Pico amp/DAC version have line-outs as well as headphone outs? Headamp's website seems to suggest is only has headphone outputs, in which case you'd be sending an amped signal into another amplifier, which could cause all kinds of problems depending on volume levels etc. The DAC only version has line level outputs...
 
If you're going from one amped signal to the other, try using your HD650's right from the Pico for a while and see how that works.

 

[stephenguoo]

Quote:

Quote:

I'm currently using the Pico amp/dac as DAC to feed my Gilmore lite.

 
Just to clarify, does the Pico amp/DAC version have line-outs as well as headphone outs? Headamp's website seems to suggest is only has headphone outputs, in which case you'd be sending an amped signal into another amplifier, which could cause all kinds of problems depending on volume levels etc. The DAC only version has line level outputs...
 
If you're going from one amped signal to the other, try using your HD650's right from the Pico for a while and see how that works.

Some people say that the pico amp/dac works fine as a dac from the headphone line out.
Thanks for the suggestion, and i will try it out~
but the gilmore lite definitely drives the 650 better than the pico.

 

[Satellite_6]

Quote:

Quote:

Quote:

Cant believe you find the HD650 fatiguing. My HD600 (which are supposed to be brighter than HD650) are far from fatiguing.
Are you sure you aren't just listening too loud? You seem to listen to them for extended periods of time. Even seemingly low volume levels (like 90 dB) WILL damage your hearing/cause fatigue when you are listening for too long. 

Well, my extended periods are about 1 hour, which I don't think it's that long.
Also, I listen to music really soft. When my friends try out my HD650, they always have to turn it up to double to volume. 
 
So I guess it's just a 650 problem?
 
If I upgrade, the problem will be gone?

The problem with upgrading is that the HD650s are considered one of the darker headphones. Pretty much anything you upgrade to will be brighter that the HD650s, which you're already feeling are too bright. The only solutions will be for you to try and listen to a different pair of HD650s with your setup to see if the error is somehow in your particular pair; and should you decide to upgrade, then definitely try to audition the new headphones first.

Ah, but the HD 650s aren't dark, at least not anymore. There may have been a change. Mine are more bright than dark. 

 

[chronomitch]

There are a number of possible reasons why you might find the HD650s uncomfortable/fatiguing, but here are the big ones:
 
1) Clamping pressure
While there are definitely harder-clamping headphones out there, the clamping pressure from a new set of HD650s is still fairly strong and can become painful after listening for long periods. I could not listen for more than 1 hour when I first started using them. However, after the headband loosened up after a few months, I had no real comfort issues.
 
2) Lack of cross feed
This is a general issue when using headphones, but some people have problems moving from speakers to headphones due to the total separation of the stereo channels. While this isn't much a problem in newer live recordings, older recordings use to pan instruments entirely into the left or right channels. This would sound OK when using speakers since both ears would still hear the sound, but when using headphones only one ear will. Listening in this way isn't natural, and it will cause fatigue due to your brain not being able to work out exactly where the sound is coming from. However, this effect is only temporary. After a while, your brain should get in tune with listening this way, and you will no longer experience fatigue.
 
If you really cannot handle the extreme channel separation, look into some of the Meier headphone amps, most of which have a cross feed filter.
 
3) Playing too loud
It is really tempting to turn up the volume when using the HD650s, since they sound so good. While louder volumes are nice for a song or too, when you listen for longer periods it quickly becomes fatiguing. Whenever I am listening for long periods, I generally keep the volume at a nominal level and turn it up every once in a while for a song I really like.

 

[zlobby]

I have HD650s with a brand new headband and the clamping pressure on my head sometimes gets to be too much.  Other HD600s and 650s that I have tried at meets that are more broken in seem super comfortable and would be able to wear for hours.  I bet its a combination of the pads and headband being so new that the clamp is too much.  At least that is my experience.  Although dont try to bend the headband too much, as people who have tried this end up with a cracked band or chipped paint.