[duo8]

Clear from 3kshop - 1 week warranty. Are you from Hanoi?

Yes.

 

[DavidA]

Ive been looking at the TH-X00 Purpleheart the last few days. Very intrigued, but worried about comfort as well as if it has enough treble sparkle.

The comfort of the TH-X00 ear pads was a big issue for me but if you are willing to try the various substitutions you might get a very good headphone. The HE400 is still my preferred headphone when I want deep clean bass but it does that some mods to get there and finding a way to get the mids a bit more forward.

 

[ozarkcdn]

Hey all - I'm still holding on to these old cans and love the sound... but the bass is a little light so wondered if another amp might be better. I'm using an Fiio E17, but not sure if it's up to the task or not. I'm not really into tube rolling... I'm a bit frantic with school, kids, work, etc etc - just have short spurts to sit and enjoy with a glass of whisky and the desktop amps I've seen recommended might seem a little out of date.. or not? Would like to keep it under $200 if I can. I tried using the amp calculator website and think I put the numbers in correctly, but having trouble finding all the specs on options out there via the various sellers. Attached the pdf of the results. Thanks!

 

[Oregonian]

Hey all - I'm still holding on to these old cans and love the sound... but the bass is a little light so wondered if another amp might be better. I'm using an Fiio E17, but not sure if it's up to the task or not. I'm not really into tube rolling... I'm a bit frantic with school, kids, work, etc etc - just have short spurts to sit and enjoy with a glass of whisky and the desktop amps I've seen recommended might seem a little out of date.. or not? Would like to keep it under $200 if I can. I tried using the amp calculator website and think I put the numbers in correctly, but having trouble finding all the specs on options out there via the various sellers. Attached the pdf of the results. Thanks!

The best I've heard them is from a vintage speaker amp direct from the speaker taps.................even from the headphone out there is plenty of bass when you use the tone controls/loudness switch.

 

[DavidA]

@ozarkcdn , Did you try changing the ear pads? I've changed over to Focus pads and used some attenuation rings in the pads which bring up the bass a few dB. Some like Ori pads or Focus-A pads. I would change the pads before the amp since I think it will have more of an impact than an amp will. This is the attenuation rings I've used, made of card stock so its a cheap/free mod:

 

[ozarkcdn]

I haven't tried the surgery yet, but see there's lots of info in this thread about it. Guess I've been a little skeptical, since you know they say there's no substitute for horsepower!

 

[DavidA]

I haven't tried the surgery yet, but see there's lots of info in this thread about it. Guess I've been a little skeptical, since you know they say there's no substitute for horsepower!

I used to believe in the "more power theory" but have since experienced that its a very poor indicator of how a headphone will sound with a particular amp. While you do need a minimum amount of watts to get to your preferred listening level its not much unless you listen at ear damaging levels of 90dB+ you don't need much mW to get really loud. Its one reason I like the adjustable output impedance of the Garage 1217 amps and a few others amps that offer switchable output impedance since it makes an amp have better synergy with various headphones.

 

[MrMateoHead]

Hey all - I'm still holding on to these old cans and love the sound... but the bass is a little light so wondered if another amp might be better. I'm using an Fiio E17, but not sure if it's up to the task or not. I'm not really into tube rolling... I'm a bit frantic with school, kids, work, etc etc - just have short spurts to sit and enjoy with a glass of whisky and the desktop amps I've seen recommended might seem a little out of date.. or not? Would like to keep it under $200 if I can. I tried using the amp calculator website and think I put the numbers in correctly, but having trouble finding all the specs on options out there via the various sellers. Attached the pdf of the results. Thanks!

I'd think that the Fiio would be enough power for sane listening levels. But if you are looking for something inexpensive that can hit high SPLs the O2 by JDS Labs will get it done and sound great (about a half-watt with little to no distortion). That is what I have used for years and I have never needed more than about 12-O'clock on the dial for any can I've owned.

Your power chart is amusing - I get that you would like to have maximum "head room". But the reality is that 70-80 dB is, for my ears, more than enough for enjoyment. Factor in another 10 dB for music with really high dynamic range, and I can't imagine needing much more power. BTW a 2 volt, as opposed to 1 volt source, or a nice gain switch can help a lot. Anything over 80 dB is really just glaring, smeary ear damage. Don't do it. And while I too think you can't have enough power, the amount of power 99% of headphones need is way less than a watt. Seriously. Even for home speakers, figure that 100 watts gets you about 20 dB of headroom - that is a ton. You need 1,000 watts for the next 10 db, and at that point you're risking blowing stuff up. In fact, I'd be surprised if I typically was using much more than a few watts when listening at my preferred 70-80 dB-ish levels. Probably just a few mWs for my cans.

 

[musaji]

My left can has finally stopped working. I cuts in when playing with the cable at the connector. Do you guys think its the cable or could it be the connector inside the can itself that is broken. Any help is welcomed here.

thanks in advance.

 

[thewind32]

My left can has finally stopped working. I cuts in when playing with the cable at the connector. Do you guys think its the cable or could it be the connector inside the can itself that is broken. Any help is welcomed here.

thanks in advance.

Switch the left and right channel cables, and see whether the problem follows the cable, or stays on the left can.

 

[musaji]

Switch the left and right channel cables, and see whether the problem follows the cable, or stays on the left can.

wow! Why did i not think of this? I did switch them out and was able to confirm that its the issue with the cable.

Now any suggestions on what i should get other than looking on ebay?

Thanks again!

 

[Oregonian]

wow! Why did i not think of this? I did switch them out and was able to confirm that its the issue with the cable.

Now any suggestions on what i should get other than looking on ebay?

Thanks again!

You can post a "wanted" ad on the Head Fi classifieds for a stock replacement. Worked for me when I needed a cable for my HE-6.

 

[DavidA]

wow! Why did i not think of this? I did switch them out and was able to confirm that its the issue with the cable.

Now any suggestions on what i should get other than looking on ebay?

Thanks again!

Where are you located? I have a venus audio cable (10ft Canare star quad wire w/ cloth sleeve ) that I no longer use, $35 + shipping. I can shorten if you want

 

[ilmothedude]

I still love the sound of HE400 through vintage AKAI receiver from speaker taps. It just has drawback, which is hum and hiss it produces. I guess it could be just because it's probably not very high end amplifier, and secondly the cable connecting HE400 to amp. I simply use Forza Audio Works headphone cable to adapter which connects to speakes taps, but I believe seperate shielded speaker cables would be better solution. I just would need headphone end plugs to make such cables, anyone happen to know what type of plugs are those and maybe have a link to purchase a pair? General question to everyone in vintage amp brotherhood, what cables do you use to connect headphones to speaker taps, and is humming/hiss issue?

 

[cskippy]

Hum/hiss is almost always directly related to either ground loops or more likely high gain of the power amplifier. The easiest solution to reduce hiss is to make a resister network like the hifiman box before your headphone cable, reducing the load and power output.

I used this when I made mine:

https://robrobinette.com/HeadphoneResistorNetworkCalculator.htm