[Impulse]

Tyll's may have had his pair for a while, he's busy guy and he's been knee deep in amp measurements lately, so I wouldn't try to make any accurate guesses as to the timeline... But I am curious too.

 

[mrspeakers]

Quote:

 
I'm a bit confused about this whole situation...are you saying you've made further changes to the Mad Dog since the alpha pads release? Or did he get one without the alpha pads? Just trying to figure out exactly what Tyll measured.
 
I was definitely surprised by the distortion measurements. They seem unexpected and abnormally high, so I'm curious to see what you find out about this!

 
I can't say why Tyll's unit shows that distortion, it is not normal or OK.  I will test it when it comes back. As I said, his curve looks pre-production.  So there's really not more to say on this until I get the unit back.  

 

 

[itchie]

Quote:

Approximately 6 hours of critical listening so far (instead of making up all my school work), 3 hours yesterday, 3 hours today. Mad Dogs w/ Alpha Pads vs HE-400s. Still can't decide. Amping via Xonar DG to E9.
 
Pros of HE-400:
Spacious / airy aka sounds more clear
Bass, for obvious reasons
Pretty
 
Pros of Mad Dogs:
Fuller mids (though subjective on which is better, IMO both have their ups and downs. HE-400 is natural sounding despite being further back, though female vocals are sometimes more sibilant).
More accurate bass (subjective, HE-400 more fun, Mad Dogs more accurate. I like both).
Comfort/closed
 
Cons of He-400:
The freaking treble
 
Cons of Mad Dogs:
The congested sound/feeling. Despite this though, sometimes I feel like I can hear more detail in some songs with the Mad Dogs, though overall due to the airy/spacious feeling of the HE-400s they seem to have more overall detail.
Not so pretty.

2 hours ago I was leaning towards the HE-400, but now it's even. If I get the Mad Dogs now, I could keep them as my closed/comfort when I spend $700+ on open HPs (HE-400s have cons that HE-500 / LCD2r2 seem to remedy), but I still want the best sounding HP for under $400 until I upgrade, which seems to be HE-400 vs Annies which I'm hoping to try soon. And for gaming, which the Mad Dogs would seem to lack (other than VOIP). Fun.

I had this exact same dilemna/decision.  Ended up selling the HE-400's (couldn't get over the treble).....and picking up a pair of HE-500's to compliment the Mad Dog.

 

[C.C.S.]

Quote:

 
I can't say why Tyll's unit shows that distortion, it is not normal or OK.  I will test it when it comes back. As I said, his curve looks pre-production.  So there's really not more to say on this until I get the unit back.  

 

 
Pre-production? You mean that unit is one that you had on hand prior to doing any further revisions? This is prior to Dog Pads and Alpha Pads and all that?

 

[cheuh]

Quote:

I had this exact same dilemna/decision.  Ended up selling the HE-400's (couldn't get over the treble).....and picking up a pair of HE-500's to compliment the Mad Dog.

 
 
If there is too much treble, can't you just EQ them down? How can you EQ in more soundstage/spaciousness/instrument separation?

 

[jazzerdave]

Quote:

 
Pre-production? You mean that unit is one that you had on hand prior to doing any further revisions? This is prior to Dog Pads and Alpha Pads and all that?

 
No, it's a 2013 measurement of the Alpha Pad version prior to release.

 

[jerg]

Quote:

 
 
If there is too much treble, can't you just EQ them down? How can you EQ in more soundstage/spaciousness/instrument separation?

Some people don't like to EQ; also it's actually not easy to EQ in an advanced level (e.g. precise parametric EQing).

 

[itchie]

Quote:

 
If there is too much treble, can't you just EQ them down?

Tried that for a while.  Got annoyed.  Rather be happy with how the headphones sound naturally if I'm going to be spending my hard earned (and by hard earned I mean sitting in a chair and pressing buttons all day) money.
 
 
 
Quote:

 
 
How can you EQ in more soundstage/spaciousness/instrument separation?

 
I was trying to keep this under the radar... but here's my secret:
 
http://bit.ly/5aG7zg
 
Sometimes I misplace that secret weapon in the couch crevice though, so the HE-500 fills that purpose without the tizzy treble of the HE-400. The Mad Dog gets used for all other purposes.  If I had to keep only one, it would probably be the Mad Dog though because I can use that at the office as well and not the other.

 

[C.C.S.]

Quote:

 
No, it's a 2013 measurement of the Alpha Pad version prior to release.

 
Okay, that makes sense. So then, a Dog Pads version purchased in December that was later fitted with Dog Pads would be more similar to the one that Tyll measured than the current production ones, I'm guessing? Based on what Dan stated earlier, it sounds like modified the upper mids and some of the treble because he felt it sounded too dark. So, my Alpha Pads version would probably not sound the same as current production Mad Dogs with Alpha Pads?

 

[Impulse]

What's up Pandora's box...

 

[mrspeakers]

Welcome to PR hell.  

 
I have to get the unit back to tell for sure and I'm not going to make public guesses, nothing worse than guessing wrong.  
 
Obviously when you get Mad Lust is saying the mids are the strong point, there's a great review by CNET and Noble Hi-Fi and then this comes out with an obvious midrange suckout and oddly high distortion, well, make your own conclusion if it feels correct.  I don't doubt Tyll, I'm sure I messed something up, just to be clear but I have no idea what yet.  
 
I'll share more when I know more...

 

[Yumyums30]

Sorry to keep the questions flowing Dan as it's quite late, but with the testing you've most likely done has re-cabling had much of an effect on the MDs? 

 

[M-13]

I for one think the measurements from Tyll look amazing. Look at those square waves! Holy! And that super linear frequency response from 10 hertz to 1k hertz is crazy. It's basically a straight line. A huge improvement from the previous version measured. If the upper mid issue has been cleared up then these are truly stellar. Hard to think of anything that measured better.
Good work Mr. Speakers!

 

[Jesterphile]

I've been listening to a friends HE500's all night and I actually think I prefer my Mad Dogs. The HE500's have a much better soundstage and instruments sound more natural to me - but the comfort doesn't come close to the Mad Dogs (in my opinion) and I find the Mad Dogs to be a more pleasant listening experience overall.
 
I find it to be ridiculous that I'm even comparing the two, but in the end its about enjoying the music 

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

If I had a need for closed headphones, the Mad Dog would be my only choice, really. $300 gets you a hell of a headphone, personal gripes aside.

Well, other than being interested in the AKG Tiesto K267...