Hey all,
Weighing back in on the sibilance issue after spending some time with these and getting to experience them at proper volume. I hate to say it, but its still very prominent. I have an o2/odac on the way, but I have got to try them with a few different combinations. I've used as sources my work hp probook6460b, my friends old macbook, an iphone4, galaxy nexus in combination with my friend's amp (I believe a pioneer, cheap nothing too special), and a vintage marantz 2270. So yes I have been double amping.
Right now I'm using my friend's astro mixamp as both a dac and amping solution. Despite all these various combinations I am still experiencing significant sibliance. Yes at times the treble can be a little bright, but for the most part I'm enjoying it. I'm talking about the vocals. It ranges from mildly distracting to piercing and harsh and is present in nearly every song. While I don't know that I would consider the mids the strong point there are times when I felt the vocals sounded very good extremely natural and often times I can make out lyrics that I never heard clearly before. But I am always bearing with the sibliance.
Here are some offenders. Avenge Sevenfold's, self entitled album is piercing. Snow Patrol's 'Run' was equally bad. The chorus of Killer's 'All the Things I've Done' where they sing "I've got soul" was very sibliant. Coldplay 'Square One' and Deathcab's 'Soul Meets Body', also are affected. As I stated in my earlier post, Chris Cornell's album Song Book is riddled with sibliance on my pair. On the song 'Like a Stone' I can clearly hear his voice and its sounds great, but it seems like it is wrapped in a layer of tizziness, and his 's' 'c', etc. are just harsh. Matt had given the Song Book album a listen and did not experience this issue with his setup.
Is this a matter of me just being midcentric and unwilling to accept the flaws of this headphone, am I sensative to sibliance, or is this perhaps an issue with my particular pair of he-400. I am using MOG 320 kbs files for music. Though I have tried cds and still experience this issue.
Also, one other question. Does anyone feel some give on the grill on the outside of their headphone. My right grill is very flush with the cup; however, my left grill sticks out slightly and when I press lightly on it there is some give. It doesn't seem to affect sound at all, but I was just wondering.
With the exception of the sibliance, I am falling in love with these headphones; however, I just can't stomach this issue. And now unfortunately that my awareness is raised I'm always attending for it rather than immersing myself in the music. Help!! I want to love these!