[GigaFi]

Can't think of a better first post than to say I just sold my pair of Beats Studios and have a pair of Sennheiser 558s incoming
 
With that being said, I am a newb to Hi Fi audio (in fact, I don't think the 558s even qualify, do they?) and have a few questions:
 
 
1. Will I see a big difference with an amp for the 558? I mainly use my laptop with it's onboard soundcard and an iPod Touch 4G. I'm looking at an Fiio E7.
 
2. Without an amp, will the above two devices drive the 558 just fine?
 
3. Will the DAC from the E7 cure my ground loop problem? My laptop's 3.5mm jack hisses and buzzes like crazy when the charger is plugged in.
 
4. How much can EQing affect a pair of headphones? Say I have two similar pair, both of similar specs but different freq response, is it possible to EQ one pair into the other (or close)? Take the beats for example, if you attempt to flatten them (lower lows and highs, boost mids), would they even sound remotely close to a pair of headphones that was flat to begin with?
 
 
On a side note, I got the Beats for ~$100 and felt that they weren't terrible. I didn't sell them because of the sound quality (especially considering the price I paid), it's just that the noise canceling hiss was pretty annoying and my pair was incredibly tight. The main draw of them were their looks and the fact that their bass was very powerful, even if they are "muddy", whatever that means, and in that respect, they did not disappoint. Anyway, I was researching the hissing problem and ended up here, and because of you guys, I have already dropped money on a new pair of headphones + now considering an amp, a term I did not even know the meaning of a month ago. Should I just grab my wallet, do a 180, and run far FAR away?

 

[yifu]

1. Probably not much of a difference, especially not with the fiio e7 at least.
2. Yes. My HD650 (300ohm) runs just fine at 80% volume from my iphone although that's not how i listen to it.
3. Yes, the DAC takes the digital out from your computer so it should remove all hissing.
4. Quality EQ 16 band and up will make a positive difference to you headphones, i won't recommend using EQ though, and EQ certainly does not fix a bad headphone in any way. 
 
Welcome to Headfi by the way!

 

[purrin]

 
Quote:

Can't think of a better first post than to say I just sold my pair of Beats Studios and have a pair of Sennheiser 558s incoming
 
...

Welcome to Head-Fi.
 
Just enjoy your incoming 558s for now without worrying about much else. They've got some good bass and you can apply a mod to them to make them sound more like the 598s.

 

[jerg]

Quote:

Can't think of a better first post than to say I just sold my pair of Beats Studios and have a pair of Sennheiser 558s incoming
 
With that being said, I am a newb to Hi Fi audio (in fact, I don't think the 558s even qualify, do they?) and have a few questions:
 
 
1. Will I see a big difference with an amp for the 558? I mainly use my laptop with it's onboard soundcard and an iPod Touch 4G. I'm looking at an Fiio E7.
 
2. Without an amp, will the above two devices drive the 558 just fine?
 
3. Will the DAC from the E7 cure my ground loop problem? My laptop's 3.5mm jack hisses and buzzes like crazy when the charger is plugged in.
 
4. How much can EQing affect a pair of headphones? Say I have two similar pair, both of similar specs but different freq response, is it possible to EQ one pair into the other (or close)? Take the beats for example, if you attempt to flatten them (lower lows and highs, boost mids), would they even sound remotely close to a pair of headphones that was flat to begin with?
 
 
On a side note, I got the Beats for ~$100 and felt that they weren't terrible. I didn't sell them because of the sound quality (especially considering the price I paid), it's just that the noise canceling hiss was pretty annoying and my pair was incredibly tight. The main draw of them were their looks and the fact that their bass was very powerful, even if they are "muddy", whatever that means, and in that respect, they did not disappoint. Anyway, I was researching the hissing problem and ended up here, and because of you guys, I have already dropped money on a new pair of headphones + now considering an amp, a term I did not even know the meaning of a month ago. Should I just grab my wallet, do a 180, and run far FAR away?

As an owner of E7 (also used to listen straight from my laptop headphone jack), trust me, DAC does wonders. It absolutely blackens out the background audio, and if you get it + WASAPI (Foobar2000 DSP plugin that allows for bit-perfect playback through DAC) you get a VAST VAST boost in music clarity. Obviously the rest depends on the headphones themselves, but the DAC allows any cans plugged in to be played in the optimal conditions.
 
For an easy-to-drive pair of cans like the ones you are getting, the internal amp inside E7 will be very sufficient, and you won't hear much difference in sound going knee-deep into amplifiers unless you're ready to pay many hundreds of dolla.
 

 

[GigaFi]

Just got the 558 a couple of hours ago. No comments on the sound quality yet but what I have noticed is:
 
- It's ridiculously comfortable. Almost perfect I would say, I was not expecting the earcups to be so big.
- My laptop drives them fine, especially since I play my music low. I have them at <20% right now. Should I even bother with the amp?

 

[LarryKingsShoes]

Quote:

Just got the 558 a couple of hours ago. No comments on the sound quality yet but what I have noticed is:
 
- It's ridiculously comfortable. Almost perfect I would say, I was not expecting the earcups to be so big.
- My laptop drives them fine, especially since I play my music low. I have them at <20% right now. Should I even bother with the amp?

Congrats and welcome. Hopefully you like them. I wouldn't bother with an amp at this point, especially if you are happy with the volume that you are getting.
 
Are you happy that you sold the Beats? That would be quite a different experience, I would imagine. Hopefully you don't regret it and distrust all of the people that may have convinced you to switch.

 

[obazavil]

do you really need the E7, that is, you need it to be portable to carry with DAPs? (iphone, etc)
 
if you will only use it with laptop, get a Fiio E10 instead. Sounds really good

 

[jerg]

Quote:

Just got the 558 a couple of hours ago. No comments on the sound quality yet but what I have noticed is:
 
- It's ridiculously comfortable. Almost perfect I would say, I was not expecting the earcups to be so big.
- My laptop drives them fine, especially since I play my music low. I have them at <20% right now. Should I even bother with the amp?

Just get a DAC; laptop audio plug puts a lot of noise and distortion into the signal that an external USB DAC would shield your headphones from.

 

[GigaFi]

 

Congrats and welcome. Hopefully you like them. I wouldn't bother with an amp at this point, especially if you are happy with the volume that you are getting.
 
Are you happy that you sold the Beats? That would be quite a different experience, I would imagine. Hopefully you don't regret it and distrust all of the people that may have convinced you to switch.

I will probably miss them but they were too expensive for what they were to keep. I'll probably get a pair of ATH-M50 sometime later on.
 
I've been listening to the 558s for the past few hours and so far, it's pretty good. I wouldn't say I'm blown away but the open design is really nice. It is significantly less bassy than the Beats though but everything else seems to be better.


Quote:

do you really need the E7, that is, you need it to be portable to carry with DAPs? (iphone, etc)
 
if you will only use it with laptop, get a Fiio E10 instead. Sounds really good

Is the E10 significantly better than the E7? I'm probably going to get the E7 (if I decide I need it) because I want to be able to use it out of my TV too, for gaming.
 

 

 

[throzen0303]

Quote:

1. Probably not much of a difference, especially not with the fiio e7 at least.
2. Yes. My HD650 (300ohm) runs just fine at 80% volume from my iphone although that's not how i listen to it.
3. Yes, the DAC takes the digital out from your computer so it should remove all hissing.
4. Quality EQ 16 band and up will make a positive difference to you headphones, i won't recommend using EQ though, and EQ certainly does not fix a bad headphone in any way. 
 
Welcome to Headfi by the way!

WOW, really?....Thats a bit...get an amp LOL you will feel a huge improvement, something like Little Dot MKIII

 

[roker]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GigaFi /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
- My laptop drives them fine, especially since I play my music low. I have them at <20% right now. Should I even bother with the amp?

It's not just about "powering" your headphones ... it's about powering them correctly.
 
Definitely go for it.  Start small though.
 

 

[obazavil]

Quote:

 
Is the E10 significantly better than the E7? I'm probably going to get the E7 (if I decide I need it) because I want to be able to use it out of my TV too, for gaming.
 

nah..is good, but both are great. get the E7 since you want it for something else too

 

[ztreb185]

Quote:

Can't think of a better first post than to say I just sold my pair of Beats Studios and have a pair of Sennheiser 558s incoming
 

The world is a better place.

 

[Hifianddrumming]

Quote:

The world is a better place.

 

[GigaFi]

Thought I'd give an update since I've had them for a good week:
 
- Song vocals are very upfront compared to the Beats and my XB300 (guessing because of the MUCH flatter FR) but for some reason, when they get high and crisp, I get a minor headache because of how piercing it is. While I get use to it eventually? I guess it's because I'm not use to having the mids not recessed
 
- Sound quality is very good...perhaps too good! I can't deal with 128 kbps anymore...they just don't sound right and I am now noticing imperfections like pops and crackles I've never noticed before.
 
- You can never have too much bass, but the 558s are adequate!
 
Overall, I'm liking them; pretty much the only thing I dislike is the fact that it terminates into a 1/4 jack, will have to pick up an wired adapter soon.