[glc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zoide /img/forum/go_quote.gif When did you buy yours? Fang said the problem was fixed 2 weeks ago.

Ordered early December delivered during Christmas week. It fell into the lot that had potential defects.

I just saw Fang's post from this morning on the Head Direct sponsor section addressing the wood cracking on ear cups. He e-mailed me this morning that he's processing my replacement order today. Now patiently waiting......

 

[glc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bdh /img/forum/go_quote.gif Who are you contacting to send the cans back? I sent an email to Head-Direct two days ago, and another one this morning with no response yet.

Send an e-mail, wait a few days & send a follow up if you haven't heard anything. Fang gets flooded with e-mail. Constantly sending him too many e-mails also adds to this flood of e-mail, so you need to be patient.

He's generally good about getting back to his customers. Good Luck!

 

[somestranger26]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tintin47 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Just got shipping notification on my new/repaired pair of HE-5s (don't know which one). Sent them in a little under 2 wks ago, and they are coming from china, so the turnaround appears to be about 3 weeks. On the long side, but oh well.

Hopefully that means I'll get a shipping notification soon, I sent mine in a couple days after you because one of the connectors broke.

 

[PaulyT]

Well, so far my EF5/HE5 combo has been nothing but trouble. When I first got it, there was a noticeable left/right imbalance. I suspected the tube, and got a replacement (from another source, not the manufacturer), and it cleared up that problem, but now there's some very noticeable distortion. Either it's just a second bad tube in a row, or these things just aren't that great? I much prefer my Audiotailor Jade + markl-Denon D5000, from what I hear so far. I'm still going to try at least one or two more tubes before I give up... but first impression, especially for the amount of money, is not happy.

 

[Shahrose]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PaulyT /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well, so far my EF5/HE5 combo has been nothing but trouble. When I first got it, there was a noticeable left/right imbalance. I suspected the tube, and got a replacement (from another source, not the manufacturer), and it cleared up that problem, but now there's some very noticeable distortion. Either it's just a second bad tube in a row, or these things just aren't that great? I much prefer my Audiotailor Jade + markl-Denon D5000, from what I hear so far. I'm still going to try at least one or two more tubes before I give up... but first impression, especially for the amount of money, is not happy.

Seems like your amp may have a problem. I don't think it's the headphones. Have you tried them out of another output?

 

[bdh]

PaulyT, are you using any bass-boosting EQ in your computer or source? Or if not, try turning down the volume on the computer end (I don't know anything about 'Squeezebox') and turning up the volume on the amp. I noticed the HE-5 and\or EF5 is quite sensitive to 'extra' bass being added when using the EF5 and will easily go into distortion if you're not careful. In addition, even wihout EQ, it goes into distortion with the foobar volume at max -- I have to move the foobar volume below at least -8dB to not have distortion issues with both the EF5->HE-5 and with the EF5->JVC. Which is disappointing as a bit of the musical excitment is lost when foobar is not at max volume. (My source is an Empirical-modded Benchmark DAC1 set to 'calibrated' mode which is using full volume from the DAC). My MAD HD-250 doesn't have this problem with the HE-5 and foobar being at max volume. Something weird is going on, but I haven't had time yet to figure it out, and since the cans are being shipped back tomorrow for replacement, it'll be a few weeks before I can do more tests.

Hope some of this makes sense.

 

[PaulyT]

No, no EQ. Squeezebox is streaming FLAC (lossless), digital (optical) to a good DAC, straight to the amp. (Same thing I'm using with the Jade+D5000 rig, no issues there.) Yes, I think it's just bad luck with tubes, which are the blessing and curse of tube gear...

My only other amp is the Jade. As it is now, the HE5 sounds a lot better on the Jade than with the EF5, but there's still noticeable distortion when it's playing at any reasonable volume. I think this is just clipping, because I have to push the Jade hard to get decent volume on the HE5.

So, I don't think I'm hearing these headphones at their best. I simply can't believe that others are hearing the same things I am and describing them in such glowing terms. Problems are most obvious in the bass, but not only there - e.g. solo violin has lots of weird harmonic ringing... I will continue my quest for a decent 12AU7, but if I can't get it straightened out before the 30 day trial period, these are going back.

Nonetheless, a $900 combo shouldn't require spending all this time and another $50 (or whatever) on tubes just to get it to sound decent, which is why I'm frustrated. It should sound pretty awesome out of the box, which mine doesn't.

 

[Shahrose]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PaulyT /img/forum/go_quote.gif No, no EQ. Squeezebox is streaming FLAC (lossless), digital (optical) to a good DAC, straight to the amp. (Same thing I'm using with the Jade+D5000 rig, no issues there.) Yes, I think it's just bad luck with tubes, which are the blessing and curse of tube gear... My only other amp is the Jade. As it is now, the HE5 sounds a lot better on the Jade than with the EF5, but there's still noticeable distortion when it's playing at any reasonable volume. I think this is just clipping, because I have to push the Jade hard to get decent volume on the HE5. So, I don't think I'm hearing these headphones at their best. I simply can't believe that others are hearing the same things I am and describing them in such glowing terms. Problems are most obvious in the bass, but not only there - e.g. solo violin has lots of weird harmonic ringing... I will continue my quest for a decent 12AU7, but if I can't get it straightened out before the 30 day trial period, these are going back. Nonetheless, a $900 combo shouldn't require spending all this time and another $50 (or whatever) on tubes just to get it to sound decent, which is why I'm frustrated. It should sound pretty awesome out of the box, which mine doesn't.

I doubt you're hearing the same thing as the rest of us. The amp needs to be addressed and I do agree that you deserve better for the price of admission. Talk to Fang about the tubes, maybe he can reimburse you for them or even send you a replacement amp if it turns out to be faulty. There should be no clipping on these headphones at any volume even remotely listenable.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shahrose /img/forum/go_quote.gif I doubt you're hearing the same thing as the rest of us. The amp needs to be addressed and I do agree that you deserve better for the price of admission. Talk to Fang about the tubes, maybe he can reimburse you for them or even send you a replacement amp if it turns out to be faulty. There should be no clipping on these headphones at any volume even remotely listenable.

Agreed, the EF5 will drive the HE-5 to very loud levels without distortion, so i suspect something isn't right here.

 

[PaulyT]

Well, I'm getting a bunch of other tubes since I was planning to do some rolling anyway, so hopefully at least one out of the 5 others I have coming will work with the EF5...

 

[bdh]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict /img/forum/go_quote.gif Agreed, the EF5 will drive the HE-5 to very loud levels without distortion, so i suspect something isn't right here.

Does anyone else use foobar2000? Is it distortion free with the foobar2000 at max volume? I have three different brands of 12au7 tubes and with all three there is distortion of foobar2000 is at max volume.

PaulyT, you might want to just try foobar and put the volume ~-10dB and see if your distortion goes away, as maybe Squeezebox is streaming at 'full volume' (no choice?) and you're having the same problem I'm having.

 

[knopi]

I don't have HE-5 so I can't help you but you can try "cPlay".
cMP² | Main / HomePage

 

[archwunchai]

First Day when I got this combo, EF5 (PSU) was set up at 16V from factory and i heard distortion at the same point in the song. after I change to 18V. Distortion gone

 

[somestranger26]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PaulyT /img/forum/go_quote.gif No, no EQ. Squeezebox is streaming FLAC (lossless), digital (optical) to a good DAC, straight to the amp. (Same thing I'm using with the Jade+D5000 rig, no issues there.) Yes, I think it's just bad luck with tubes, which are the blessing and curse of tube gear... My only other amp is the Jade. As it is now, the HE5 sounds a lot better on the Jade than with the EF5, but there's still noticeable distortion when it's playing at any reasonable volume. I think this is just clipping, because I have to push the Jade hard to get decent volume on the HE5. So, I don't think I'm hearing these headphones at their best. I simply can't believe that others are hearing the same things I am and describing them in such glowing terms. Problems are most obvious in the bass, but not only there - e.g. solo violin has lots of weird harmonic ringing... I will continue my quest for a decent 12AU7, but if I can't get it straightened out before the 30 day trial period, these are going back. Nonetheless, a $900 combo shouldn't require spending all this time and another $50 (or whatever) on tubes just to get it to sound decent, which is why I'm frustrated. It should sound pretty awesome out of the box, which mine doesn't.

The amplifier is bad, and that's that. Tubes aren't going to fix anything seeing as the one Fang ships would be tested before being shipped. Contact Fang and he will offer you a replacement.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Some music players at full "software" volume will distort with a variety of amps, as their max volume is more than 100% (VLC for mac for example, where max is 400% and 1/4 volume in the software is 100%). I would also check that.