[sgrossklass]

So the internal part of the hinges isn't covered with anything stock? That might explain the very slight hollowness that is still present when comparing the sound to, say, the HD590. I wouldn't have removed the foam over the grilles, the hard plastic surface alone certainly reflects sound better. I guess there's no obvious way to remove the grilles (glued in, possibly?)?

Current EQ:
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BTW: I've had a closer listen to soundstaging. Pretty good, I'd say, if a touch obstructed by the slight hollowness. Works well for classical. I prefer a slightly brighter sound there however, like the EQ from my post yesterday gives.

Interestingly, even the ICF-SW30 which is noticeably rolled off in the treble (overdone FM deemphasis) sounds like Super-Duper-Fi with these cans (not accounting for noise), which is really just silly. Like I said, the stock EQ is a bit overdone... (At least its simplicity makes software EQing relatively easy.)

EDIT: Reducing the volume for 622 Hz seems to have reduced the hollowness.
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[sgrossklass]

Since apparently creaking noises from the mechanics were an issue on older cans like HP800s, I'll mention that the SHP805 is virtually free of such problems, only the pads may generate occasional noises (they can slide around a bit).

 

[sgrossklass]

These cans have a nice smoothness to them that comes out even more when you EQ them. (One certainly can't complain about their EQ-friendliness.) That way, as crazy as it may sound, I feel they're not really inferior to even the HD590 - this one may still have somewhat less earcup-induced reverb, but I don't like the SHP805 any less. If they sold these with the kind of freq response like the one resulting after my EQ (minus the bass hump compensation required due to the output impedance of ~150 ohms on my amp), they'd be true giant killers. As-is, they're "just" very good budget cans that grow way beyond their price range when some kind of decent EQ is available.
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[]|[ GorE]

Sgrossklass,i will be building my first cmoy during the end of december.So is it possible to include a passive eq in the amp.I mean can i put a few notch filters in ? Could you tell me how to build a passive eq for the HP805 ?
I really appreciate the help i am getting from you !

 

[sgrossklass]

Hmm, not sure whether I'd do that. Not only do you possibly want to change the EQ in the future, but you usually need to put quite some effort into analog filters. One could try the opposite of a notch (i.e. a series resonance circuit) with low Q and a center freq of ~800 Hz plus similar stuff for around 300 Hz and ~50 Hz (and possibly ~1.8 kHz), but always check the resulting frequency response (the Live! 24-Bit should make a good budget measurement card) and make sure one can disable all that stuff. I'm not quite sure how one would match the levels and Qs at the same time, don't have any practical experience with that kind of stuff.

 

[janos]

Great review for HP805. It seems that HP805 is a very good choice for entry level icans.

 

[sgrossklass]

I'll add a few comments to your review if you don't mind.
Quote:

Originally Posted by ]|[ GorE Subjective loudness : EVen though the sensitivity is a lot more than my koss,i find i only have to reduce the volume on my Live! 24 bit sound card compared to my koss by 4 %. Koss : 17 % Philips : 13 %

The Live! 24-Bit has a finite output impedance that is likely to be either 100 or 47 ohm. The sweet spot is at can impedance = output impedance, and seeing it as a classic voltage divider, cans with lower impedance will get less voltage and thus may even be quieter than other cans at a higher impedance and lower sensitivity. For example, on my amp (Z_out ~= 150 ohm) the HD590 (120 ohm) is the easiest to drive and I have to turn up the volume higher for all my 32 ohm cans. It would look different on a portable player.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ]|[ GorE The ear cushions are very soft and deep.Think 1.5 times the width of the Koss UR40 pads and are shaped to angle the drivers at an angle to your ears.

Besides, the drivers themselves are mounted at an angle as well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ]|[ GorE Frequency Response :- Philips: Good frequency reponse throught the audible range.No noticable dips or peaks.

Yup, these are very EQ friendly. Sharp dips or peaks are difficult to be tamed, but these only have the overall V-shaped EQ. They do drop off quite a bit once we get past ~13..14..15 kHz and below 40 Hz, but hey, as long as the response in between is good...

Quote:

Originally Posted by ]|[ GorE Driver Matching :- Philips : I guess the QC is very good at the philips factory.Very well matched with no audible differences between left and right.

I see no reason to complain here either.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ]|[ GorE 3)SoundBlaster Live! 24 bit sound card in "Headphone Out" Mode.

IIRC there wasn't any headphone processing on this card, was there?

 

[]|[ GorE]

The Headphone out doesnt do any sound processing.this has been confirmed by my ears and RMAA.
In RMAA , all parameter stay constant except "crosstalk" which falls from 97 db to 93db.

A note however: with the UR40,in headphone mode the lowest bass (below 40Hz ) increases slightly in volume.
But in the case of HP805,headphone mode makes the cans sound a bit more "warm".Hence i run the hp805 in "2.1 mode "

.

 

[Sodacose]

Are the ur40's you tested completely stock (i.e. foam still in the back, no driver mods)?

Nice Review!

 

[]|[ GorE]

Sgrossklass,
how does one measure the output impedance ,because i got 2 measurements.
Between the ground and the "3.5 mm" plug tip i get 105 Ohms;
Between the ground and the part between the 2 ceramic bands(on the plug offcourse) i get 50 Ohms.

What does all this mean ? And the impedance stays constant in 2.1 and headphone mode.

 

[ZOKROX]

Pictures:

http://www.crest.com.au/product.php?...b49431f11970d1

http://www.echinabid.com/fixedprice.asp?id=212093

 

[sgrossklass]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ]|[ GorE Sgrossklass, how does one measure the output impedance ,because i got 2 measurements. Between the ground and the "3.5 mm" plug tip i get 105 Ohms; Between the ground and the part between the 2 ceramic bands(on the plug offcourse) i get 50 Ohms.

Err... where exactly have you measured what? I don't think one can determine the output impedance of a source via a simple multimeter. (Of course one could try to find the output series resistors, determine their value and assume an additional opamp output impedance of near zero for an approximation that isn't half-bad.) Real part of can impedance, no problem. (My SHP805 measures 37.9 and 38.6 ohm on the 3.5 mm plug, respectively. Apply grain of salt, it's a simple cheap 3-1/2 digit multimeter, but I'd trust it to 2% or so.) To determine the output impedance, you'd have to have the source output, say, a 50 Hz tone (if multimeter is not true-RMS), and determine the voltage dropping over an attached 10, 100, 1000 and perhaps 10k Ohm resistor at a constant volume setting. Since you know the current flowing through the resistor (I = V / R), you can then plot the output voltage over the output current and do a linear interpolation, i.e. draw a straight line to match the measured points as well as possible (consider yourself lucky if none is too far off

). The voltage at zero current in the graph will be the one of the unloaded source V_0 (the 10k measurement should be fairly close), the current at zero voltage (i.e. short-circuit current) will be V_0 / Z_out, and the derivative of the line will be -1 / Z_out.

 

[sgrossklass]

Oh, and while I see that pic... the model number shortening seems to have been a last minute decision, you can buy the same cans as SBC-HP805 as well.

 

[]|[ GorE]

I mean the sound cards output impedance.I plugged a stereo cable into the line out and measured from the other end.

 

[sgrossklass]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ]|[ GorE I mean the sound cards output impedance.I plugged a stereo cable into the line out and measured from the other end.

I don't think it'll work that way. I find it strange that you get any reading at all, given that ohmmeters typically apply some DC voltage and measure the resulting current and there should be the output coupling caps on the card right at the output (i.e. no DC passing between L or R and GND at all). Besides, active components and voltage sources (except for a battery that's dead short) can't be measured that way either, as they can obviously mess with the current (and may not like voltages applied to their outputs).