Thanks man, what do you mean by amp is up to snuff? And why 3w let channel, why something like fiio k5 is not enough?
You have another x pair your want to trade for 4 of my headphones?
Sorry, its an expression in my country, in this context it means, make sure your AMP is powerful enough. I've never owned a Fiio K5, thats the new one right? I do own a Fiio A3, and a Fiio A5, and I can tell you right now, neither of them delivers enough power for these can's.
My S.M.S.L SP200 desktop AMP can produce 3-watts into 32-OHMS per channel. This both allows me to never need to push my AMP beyond 50% volume in most cases. But it also insures that there is enough power, to make sure that these can's drivers, get all the power they need to fully open up.
And no, I am not rich like many of you folks on Head-Fi, I only have one pair of quality audiophile can's, and its the Sig X's. So no, I don't have another pair to just give you. And frankly, I don't know anybody on Head-Fi, who would just give away an expensive pair of can's either lol. Your just gonna have to buy them like everybody else. If you buy from DROP, you can get a deal on these can's, but it will take about 3-weeks to show up depending on your location.
Please if you could, post the full specs on the Fiio K5, so that everybody knows. As I said in my previous post, I never owned the K5, its new, and I was already into my Desktop SMSL AMP by then.
Please if you could, post the full specs on the Fiio K5, so that everybody knows. As I said in my previous post, I never owned the K5, its new, and I was already into my Desktop SMSL AMP by then.
The more power available to the drivers, they better the sound they produce. And its also not good to push AMP volume beyond 50% all the time, it lessons the life of the AMP.
Head-Fi is quite an education, you will learn much here. You can also learn a good bit in YouTube reviews, made by real audiophiles.
Oh dude, the Ultrasone Signature X's are so far above the SZ 2000's, its not even a comparison when it comes to sound quality! First of all, there is little bass slam in the SZ 2000's, they do not have high resolution bass at all. The SZ 2000's have a very muddied bass, lacks detail. And there is 0 high frequency production in the SZ2000's, if you don't raise the high frequencies, your at a serious loss. And you got to drop the mids as well on them, or the can's will distort in the mids if the volume is pushed too far, as they also get far too boomy.
The build quality is garbage, because every single pair snaps at the hinges. JVC Japan knew about this, which is why they discontinued the entire SZ series, and just quietly swept it under the rug, hoping the majority would never notice. While they also quietly introduced new can's, entering the wireless arena, as they refreshed anew, without anybody being any wiser.
Ok, please don't take this the wrong way, but you are saying some crazy right now. For one, you've never heard an SZ2000, you owned the SZ1000, which is farther down the top ten list at #5 for a reason. The bass on the SZ2000 is unmatched on any other headphone, ranked #1 by a great number of people. To say there is little bass slam in the SZ2000 is positively ridiculous. It hits harder than any other and is clean to boot, zero muddle. You're not wrong that the rest of the frequency response isn't stellar though. Maybe your SZ1000 did the things you're describing, but the SZ2000 isn't a sound you should be telling people about without ever having heard them.
And to say that every single pair snaps is again incorrect. I've had 2 different pairs without them breaking. And yes, some have broken so you hear about those, but many others continue to work just fine. To say it was some kind of conspiracy they "swept under the rug" is just pure conjecture.
I'm glad you're enjoying your Signature X's, truly. However, even if my pair wasn't defective as you guys think and they didn't distort, they were in no way close to an SZ2000 in bass slam and actually moving air.
Anyway, I feel it might be time for me to move on from this thread. Enjoy what you enjoy fellas.
Ok, please don't take this the wrong way, but you are saying some crazy right now. For one, you've never heard an SZ2000, you owned the SZ1000, which is farther down the top ten list at #5 for a reason. The bass on the SZ2000 is unmatched on any other headphone, ranked #1 by a great number of people. To say there is little bass slam in the SZ2000 is positively ridiculous. It hits harder than any other and is clean to boot, zero muddle. You're not wrong that the rest of the frequency response isn't stellar though. Maybe your SZ1000 did the things you're describing, but the SZ2000 isn't a sound you should be telling people about without ever having heard them.
And to say that every single pair snaps is again incorrect. I've had 2 different pairs without them breaking. And yes, some have broken so you hear about those, but many others continue to work just fine. To say it was some kind of conspiracy they "swept under the rug" is just pure conjecture.
I'm glad you're enjoying your Signature X's, truly. However, even if my pair wasn't defective as you guys think and they didn't distort, they were in no way close to an SZ2000 in bass slam and actually moving air.
Anyway, I feel it might be time for me to move on from this thread. Enjoy what you enjoy fellas.
Sorry Old Dude, didn't mean to make you upset. Yes I owned the SZ1000's, for several years infact before they broke. But later down the line, had a friend come over, who managed to purchase the SZ2000's used, and with the headband intact. Anyways, I listened to them for awhile and I wasn't impressed. But I suppose, because he did buy them used, perhaps the original owner had pushed them too hard and worn the drivers out? IDK, I suppose its possible.
And yes, regarding the hinge, it happened to me on the SZ1000's, but its also happened to many on the SZ2000's as well, its common knowledge at this point, its been reported many times. So much so, someone made a 3D-Printer file for making a replacement hinge piece. But even though 3D-Printers have been around for years now, they are still very niche, and most people, including myself, do not own one, so that file is useless to us, unless we know someone with a 3D-Printer, who can print one out.
Again, didn't mean to make you upset, please forgive me.
Common knowledge at this point dude, its a well known fact. And I myself experienced this with both JVC and V-Moda cans. I went from a portable Fiio AMP, to a desktop AMP, and wow, my can's sounded so much better. Again, common knowledge for those who know about AMPS and headphone/speaker drivers.
It's not all about power ratings tho. I have a desktop amp Audeze Deckard and I love how it pairs with my Hifiman. I recently sold my Flux FA-10 amp which had way more power specs but I just prefer the sound of the Deckard. I LOVE HE6SE paired with Deckard, it is like audio perfection to my ears. The Deckard chills out the top end of the HE6SE just right where the flux it was a little too bright.
Sorry Old Dude, didn't mean to make you upset. Yes I owned the SZ1000's, for several years infact before they broke. But later down the line, had a friend come over, who managed to purchase the SZ2000's used, and with the headband intact. Anyways, I listened to them for awhile and I wasn't impressed. But I suppose, because he did buy them used, perhaps the original owner had pushed them too hard and worn the drivers out? IDK, I suppose its possible.
And yes, regarding the hinge, it happened to me on the SZ1000's, but its also happened to many on the SZ2000's as well, its common knowledge at this point, its been reported many times. So much so, someone made a 3D-Printer file for making a replacement hinge piece. But even though 3D-Printers have been around for years now, they are still very niche, and most people, including myself, do not own one, so that file is useless to us, unless we know someone with a 3D-Printer, who can print one out.
Again, didn't mean to make you upset, please forgive me.
Lol, I'm not upset. I just found it funny that you are making blanket statements and thought I'd post my take. And like I said, the squeaky wheel gets the grease. You only hear about the pairs that broke. No one is going to randomly come post about their hinges not breaking right? Sidenote, there are a ton of services online, such as Treatstock who can 3D print pretty much anything you have a file for and ship it right out to you. They're pretty inexpensive and you don't need a printer or a friend with one.
Anyway, I've unsubscribed from the thread, have a good one.
Yeah, no, hard disagree that the SZ2000 has no slam. It is by far the hardest-hitting bass cannon in my collection. They need aftermarket pads for sure, but even something simple like Brainwavz hybrids are a great match, and EQ for some tonal wonkiness plus a big bass shelf helps. Oratory has an EQ for the SZ2000, that's a perfect starting place.
But yeah, tl;dr, SZ2000 + Aftermarket pads + EQ = Bass brutality unlike any other headphone.
I'm very interested to try the Ultrasone, but if we're talking about bass slam and only bass slam, I'd be surprised if it surpasses the SZ2000. In any other metric, sure, not hard to beat the SZ2000. But bass slam alone, that's a real high bar to clear.
Finally, after a long time, I came to some completion of the modification of my sz2000. Before that, I posted here my mod of all the wiring up to the drivers themselves on a silvered litzendrate, so the wiring on TWO cups is new (and I would like to make a record with the old one, but it's too late).
First, I made a cheap semblance of a measuring stand, I didn't save money on the microphone and bought a Primo em272z1 capsule, but I used a realtek alc5686 usb-c codec as a sound card (for me this is the cheapest usb ADC option), then I bought silicone ears from the same Chinese, and made the case from improvised boards and plywood. I spent about (if translated into dollars at that time) on everything. I would like to say about the most offensive thing - when I already bought and assembled the stand, I accidentally found out about a microphone like the Dayton IMM-6, which costs almost the same, but has a calibration file...But you can't turn back time, what we have is what we use. Yes, there is a small background noise and there is no calibration, but given the microphone parameters, I think the deviations are small (I managed to measure my former Shuoer s12 and the frequency response is similar in general), and the noise comes from a dirty usb port (especially when the laptop is connected to a 220 network).
Silicone ears fit snugly, if there is a gap, then its influence tends to 0, since there is only one microphone, then it is removable and attached with bushings, they sit tight enough. Also, the sleeve with the capsule is damped with plasticine.
When the stand was ready, experiments began and the only thing that was possible here was a game with damping (there was an idea to replace the 30 mm driver, but I did not find a suitable hifi driver with a resistance of 32 ohms here, by the way, 55 mm has 20 ohms). It is also unrealistic to make a crossover, here the desired frequency of the section is 400 Hz and at such a frequency you need either a giant inductor or if through RC, then there is no place for capacitors (I looked at Nichicon Muse ES). There is a certain bandpass + dual phase inverter, so with 55 mm damping of the driver, I decided not to risk much, since there is a complex system and it is easy to knock everything down. As a result, I just made damping from a cotton pad on the sides (I forgot to take a photo, so I drew it in white on the old one).
It is also bad that 2 drivers are connected in parallel (20 and 32 ohms) and this gives a very small impedance of ~ 12 ohms, which is quite bad, since you need a specific source for low-impedance and highly sensitive headphones, there is a high probability of background noise.
And now it was the turn of the 30 mm driver, about which, after a while, it was believed that he did not belong here, his lower range did not reach the end of the 55 mm driver range - as a result, there was a failure of the frequency response, he also had a huge gap in the middle of the range and a "roller coaster" at high frequencies (silicone ears also affect this).
I started experimenting with damping the back cavity: I used soft mineral wool, medical cotton wool, cotton pads, foam rubber from sponges for washing dishes, a soft sealer - the results after a large number of attempts and combinations were not pleased. I decided to remove the mesh from the back of the speaker on the frame, or rather carefully make holes there holding the speaker with the membrane up so that nothing gets there. I started experimenting again, but in addition to the damping material, a second variable appeared - these new holes, which I plugged neatly with plasticine in different combinations. After many attempts, it was possible to get at least something normal, the final version is this: all the holes are open and here is a sandwich made of different materials.
Then I decided to stick a vibration-absorbing mastic on the plastic in 3 places inside the case and outside around the 30 mm driver grille so that the case does not ring and all sorts of vibrations are extinguished.
Unfortunately, my measurement settings got lost and the measurement of the right channel before the modification could not be compared with the new one, so I began to compare with the left channel (the right and left channels are almost the same can be neglected). I made 5 measurements for R and L of different positions on the stand and then averaged.
I also recorded a couple of tracks to compare the sound of the right and left cups. Music from the Neutron player, Color_of_the_moon of good quality format
.ape, and the second is just music from a 320 kbps playlist, the headphones were powered by Ifi black label in eco mode. R is the right channel, L is the left channel, the digit is the track number.
Actually, it remains to make the same manipulations with the second cup or a little more poking around with this one) If anyone is interested, listen to the tracks and tell me what you think - maybe in your opinion it was better before the modifications, who knows. My opinion is this - it has become more open and clearer, it feels less hum, but it seems as if the overall volume has dropped a little by feeling.
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right now. For one, you've never heard an SZ2000, you owned the SZ1000, which is farther down the top ten list at #5 for a reason. The bass on the SZ2000 is unmatched on any other headphone, ranked #1 by a great number of people. To say there is little bass slam in the SZ2000 is positively ridiculous. It hits harder than any other and is clean to boot, zero muddle. You're not wrong that the rest of the frequency response isn't stellar though. Maybe your SZ1000 did the things you're describing, but the SZ2000 isn't a sound you should be telling people about without ever having heard them.
