[Andrew_WOT]

Why connecting/disconnecting with music playing, asking for a short?

 

[dstarr3]

Why connecting/disconnecting with music playing, asking for a short?

Well, if you're using a 4-pin XLR connector, shorts won't be a problem.

The main reason is some amps, even though they're turned on, are in a kind of sleep mode until they start receiving a signal. If your headphone is connected when it comes out of sleep mode, that could trigger the voltage spike we're trying to avoid. But if you feed it a signal before connecting the headphone, that should take any amp out of its sleep mode, should it have one.

If you know your amp doesn't have a sleep mode like this, you can modify the steps. But, if in doubt, power on, volume 0, start music, then connect.

 

[Andrew_WOT]

Is is power amps specific?
Never seen this on headamps, and recommendation in all manuals was always "do not connect phones with active signal present to avoid shorts".
I would assume sleep mode, if present, has some timeout, so to be completely safe you can feed some signal, pause or stop, and connect phone.
Disconnecting without signal should not be a problem at all, even in sleep mode.

 

[dstarr3]

Yeah, my advice is specifically about safely using headphones with the speaker taps on a AV receiver or speaker amp.

 

[prozach1576]

I finally ordered a pair of these. Would a Modius be adequate power if I feed it a balanced signal from my Qudelix 5K? I plan to experiment with a speaker amp eventually but I'd also love to use these with a sleeker setup at work.

 

[ksb643]

I finally ordered a pair of these. Would a Modius be adequate power if I feed it a balanced signal from my Qudelix 5K? I plan to experiment with a speaker amp eventually but I'd also love to use these with a sleeker setup at work.

Magnius? Modius is a dac.

 

[chesebert]

I finally ordered a pair of these. Would a Modius be adequate power if I feed it a balanced signal from my Qudelix 5K? I plan to experiment with a speaker amp eventually but I'd also love to use these with a sleeker setup at work.

If you don't hear and feel bass slam and sub bass notes, then it's not adequate.

 

[Shane D]

I just put my HE6se VV2's back on today after 17 straight days of my new OG Clears.
I love the Clear's, but these sound beautiful. I have them hooked up to my iFi Pro iCAN. I recently turned up my Windows volume to 100% on my laptop as it is often mentioned that you should max out your source. I stopped doing this quite a while ago because it really limited the volume range of all my amps. Forgot about my recent change and plugged in my headphones to the iFi on mid gain, as usual. Well, now I can't go much past 9:00. I turn the gain down to low and I can reach between 1:00 and 2:00 on the volume dial. My DAC doesn't have a volume control and I don't use a pre-amp.

The V2's sound clean, wide and clear with bass boost and 3D sound effects engaged. A very nice way to spend the day.

 

[D00M]

I love the Clear's, but these sound beautiful. I have them hooked up to my iFi Pro iCAN. I recently turned up my Windows volume to 100% on my laptop as it is often mentioned that you should max out your source. I stopped doing this quite a while ago because it really limited the volume range of all my amps.

Do you (or other folks) hear any difference in setting volume in source vs amp?

I read about this. But I always use my Windows volume control because it is just more convenient. It is set to around 25% only with my other headphones. My DAC (SMSL SU-8s) is set to 100%. Then my Amp (Drop THX AAA One) is set to mid-gain (Gain 2 out of 3) around 2 o'clock.

With HE6se V2, I need to turn up my Windows volume to 50%, with DAC at 100% and Amp at mid-gain at 2 o'clock. I also tried it with Windows volume at 100% and then turn my amp volume down. I just don't hear any difference. In both cases, bass is as full and punchy; no background noise; no other difference that I can perceive.

So I'm inclined to control volume using source (Windows). It is just a lot more convenient and faster to make the volume adjustment with my keyboard.

 

[dstarr3]

By using Windows volume adjustment, you're limiting the dynamic range of the signal.

This is a bit depth thing. Let's say you're listening to 16-bit digital audio. Each frequency can have zero loudness, have maximum loudness, or an amount of loudness that aligns to steps of loudness in between zero and max. 16-bit audio means you have about 65,000 steps of volume to work with.

If you turn your volume in Windows down to 50%, instead of having 65000 volume steps, you only have the bottom half of 32,500 volume steps to work with. If you're at 10% volume in Windows, instead of having 65,000 volume steps, you only have 6,500 volume steps between silence and maximum volume.

That all is to say, by reducing volume in Windows, you're reducing the dynamic range of the signal output. Silence will sound the same, maximum loudness will sound the same, but there will be much less volume detail in between.

Whether this is perceptible or not, I can't say. But this is the thinking behind 100% volume for digital output being the best for the analog devices down the line.

Anyway, if you want to test for yourself, dynamics is what you should be looking at.

 

[chesebert]

Do you (or other folks) hear any difference in setting volume in source vs amp?

I read about this. But I always use my Windows volume control because it is just more convenient. It is set to around 25% only with my other headphones. My DAC (SMSL SU-8s) is set to 100%. Then my Amp (Drop THX AAA One) is set to mid-gain (Gain 2 out of 3) around 2 o'clock.

With HE6se V2, I need to turn up my Windows volume to 50%, with DAC at 100% and Amp at mid-gain at 2 o'clock. I also tried it with Windows volume at 100% and then turn my amp volume down. I just don't hear any difference. In both cases, bass is as full and punchy; no background noise; no other difference that I can perceive.

So I'm inclined to control volume using source (Windows). It is just a lot more convenient and faster to make the volume adjustment with my keyboard.

that's the least ideal set up, but if you can't hear a difference then I wouldn't bother with anything.

 

[Shane D]

Do you (or other folks) hear any difference in setting volume in source vs amp?

I read about this. But I always use my Windows volume control because it is just more convenient. It is set to around 25% only with my other headphones. My DAC (SMSL SU-8s) is set to 100%. Then my Amp (Drop THX AAA One) is set to mid-gain (Gain 2 out of 3) around 2 o'clock.

With HE6se V2, I need to turn up my Windows volume to 50%, with DAC at 100% and Amp at mid-gain at 2 o'clock. I also tried it with Windows volume at 100% and then turn my amp volume down. I just don't hear any difference. In both cases, bass is as full and punchy; no background noise; no other difference that I can perceive.

So I'm inclined to control volume using source (Windows). It is just a lot more convenient and faster to make the volume adjustment with my keyboard.

I don't notice any difference. Of course I am not an audiophile and do not have golden ears. I am trying it just to see. Seems kind of stupid though to remove 90% of your amps operating range, but I am trying it out. I'll play with it for a bit longer, but I think I will have to chalk this up as yet another example of me not hearing what the audiophiles hear.
And that is a LONG list.

 

[OrangeStar257]

Is anyone pairing this with EF400?

I just bought He6se and EF400 and wondering how the sound is like.

Also, what are somethings I should check for QC when I receive He6se from Adorama?

 

[Andrew_WOT]

In my experience limiting digital domain volume makes material sound bland, almost muffled. Goes to everything, desktop setup or phone dongle.

 

[trih322]

Hello, I'm new here. I'd like to ask, at 400usd is this headphones a good value buy for the money? compare to headphones from other brands at this price point. Thank you