[chadh]

I've owned a pair of Senn HD580s for a couple of years. I bought them for an office system that never got much use, so they've been lightly and infrequently used.

I've recently decided to move to PC based audio though and decided to rejuvenate my office headphone system. So I bought a new pair of AKG K501s as they were so cheap. Well, I took them out of the box, plugged them into my Sugden headmaster and thought they sounded pretty nice. Then I swapped in my HD580s, and they sounded much worse.

It wasn't as though I just preferred the K501 style - there was NOTHING about the HD580s that sounded as nice as the K501s. Even the K501 bass was better. Most notably, though, the HD580s just sounded so shrill and nasty in the treble. I imagined that the K501s would sound horrible at this stage as they needed to be broken in, but they just sound much smoother and musical than the 580s.

Is it possible that the 580s really need breaking-in again, due to their lack of use? (They probably haven't been used at all in a year or so). Or is there reason to believe that there is something wrong with the phones?

Just to be clear: I'm not surprised by the fact that I might like the 501s more than the 580s. But I imagined that they would be of comparable quality, simply with different characteristics. Furthermore, the relative harshness of the treble was not really something I felt people associated with the Senns (sometimes criticised for sounding a little too laid-back or veiled).

Any thoughts?

Chad

 

[NotJeffBuckley]

They are of comparable quality, but they also have very different sound signatures. You obviously prefer the K501, and that's okay. There's nothing wrong with your HD580, I guess, unless you count not liking them

Edit: However, when you say "relative harshness of the treble" I get confused. I have never owned a HD580+ that sounded remotely harsh or nasty in the treble region. Perhaps there is something wrong with your set after all!

 

[Rob80b]

"relative harshness of the treble"?

The HD580's usually get hauled out whenever I have a badly recorded disc.
Try cleaning the 1/4 jack and the connectors to the phones, oxidization may have occured if the phones have not been used in awhile, also let them play awhile, unattended.
Just a thought.

 

[DevilDog]

There are those that don't like the 580s, but I have never, ever heard them described as harsh or shrill. The 580/6X0 line is not known for it's brightness, but the treble is always sweet.
I'd say something is wrong with your 580s. I don't think there are too many headphones available at any price that can beat the 580s in every category.

 

[dhp]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DevilDog I don't think there are too many headphones available at any price that can beat the 580s in every category.

HD600?

 

[jagorev]

Weird. The only time I've heard my HD 600 (same drivers as 580) sound shrill or harsh was when I plugged them into a horrible underpowered onboard sound card's headphone jack. I apologized to them promptly, and promised never to do it again

Is your headamp up to the task? I don't know anything about the headmaster. But the fact that it can drive K501 means it should be able to deal with the 580. Maybe you have some kind of blown driver or short circuit or something?

 

[midlife]

My 580's sound shrill with my MAD ear plus hd tube amp. Quite unpleasant really. So I use a govibe3 or even the inboard headphone amp on my mackie mixer when I listen to my 580's. The MAD sounds great with my Grado 325i, SennHD25-1, Ety ER6i and AKG 401 though. Maybe the 580 is more amp finicky than most.

 

[hciman77]

Quote:

Originally Posted by midlife My 580's sound shrill with my MAD ear plus hd tube amp. Quite unpleasant really. So I use a govibe3 or even the inboard headphone amp on my mackie mixer when I listen to my 580's. The MAD sounds great with my Grado 325i, SennHD25-1, Ety ER6i and AKG 401 though. Maybe the 580 is more amp finicky than most.

Interesting. I have used the 580s with a few different amps /PA1/Headsave Classic(AD843)/PA2V1/Solo/GL/Pimeta(8620)/PA2V2//Mcubed/Pimeta(8620)(again)

My experience is that the 580s were fairly democratic - the only amp which I felt was not a terribly good fit (to my ears) (with an Onix as a source) was the GL, that *was* on the bright side (imo), possibly it was too neutral for my tastes.