[Stillhart]

  Well it is a place to start.  Thank you for the link.  I don't know which might be best for my set of speakers and headphones but I guess I'll come back with some picks and ask around.  From what I've seen Marantz isn't the only option for receivers with dolby headphone.  I also need this to be under $400.  I guess I can find something on eBay.  I also don't know how good the DACs are in them...

Harmon Kardon used to make them too.  I have one.  
 
There are also a bevvy of modern units that have unlicensed versions of DH called things like "Headphone Surround" and "Silent Cinema". 

 

[Yethal]

Little late but here are my impressions of soundstage modded HD598s. @Evshrug, sorry if my writing style isn't as good as MLE's or Jude's, I mostly deal in numbers, not words.
 
Let's start with bass:
 
Difference is not big, headphones didn't magically transform into some kind of Megabassozord but there is more of it. I noticed it immediately while watching latest episode of Sons of Anarchy. Both Jax's voice and the motorcycle engines sound fuller, the vibrations of both the voice and the engines are more pronounced.
Nick Cave's Where the Wild Roses Grow are now a different song to me. Previously I could barely hear Nick's voice in the chorus and it sounded more like somebody added unnecessary reverb to Kylie's voice. Now I can clearly hear him singing along. If 598's bass was like an acoustic guitar then the modded 598's bass would be the same guitar but with thicker strings. A subtle but noticeable difference.
 
The mids:
 
Mids weren't affected as much as the bass. The whole "thicker strings on the same guitar" impression remained but it's less noticeable. Intro to An Inifnite Regression by Animals as Leaders sounds pretty much the same, maybe a little bit clearer. Meshuggah's Dancers to a Discordant System were more affected by the mod. The main guitar riff sounds more like an actual instrument playing in the room and less like a recording played through headphones.
Overall, the instruments sound like somebody cranked the amps up to eleven while simultaneously keeping the volume on the same level. More sound in the same amount of decibels (I hope You guys get what I'm trying to say here)
 
The highs:
Either my ears are damaged from sitting in headphones all day or there is no audible difference . Fortunately they don't seem to sound any worse either.
 
Soundstage:
 
The whole reason for doing this mod. Well, to put it shortly the improvement is tremendous. I heard it best while listening to Nancy Sinatra's These Boots" The instruments are much more clearly separated now. The days of double bass blending with the guitar and the electric bass becoming inaudible after Nancy starts singing are gone.
 
As for the games, I launched the Silent Hill demo (which I still keep on my HDD mostly to show people who come over that virtual surround is not a gimmick).
First thing that stood up, the footsteps are now directly on the ground and not to the front of my character like they used to be. The clock makes a full circle around my head while rotating the camera instead of this weird elliptic shape. Unfortunately I had to stop the tests after about five minutes because I was getting real close to screaming like a little bitch.
 
Next game on the list: Battlefield 4. I opened up the Firing Range. As was the case with P.T the soundstage changed from a slightly elliptical shape to a full circle. Moreover my own gunshots were positioned in front of me so naturally that for a moment I thought the sound was actually coming from the monitor's inbuilt speakers. Explosions haven't changed much though.
 
I hope somebody will find this post useful. As for the mod itself it takes about 20-25 minutes for each cup. Keep in mind it's non-reversible.

 

[gr34td3str0y3r]

  Sorry if I missed this in my time away from the thread, but has anyone tried the Astro mixamp M80 with another headset other than the A40s? Is it even possible? Again, sorry if this has been asked.

i ran with the a40s only for nearly 3 years. dumb. just about $100 plus set of cans is better than the a40s. I use m100s, q701, and Phillips X1s (my favorite of the 3 for gaming). The bass is actully a bit much with the V-modas for gaming, but for certain games they are easily the best. m-80s rock. 

 

[famibica]

Guys, im having doubts about what to buy, im between pc363d(because i dont know why the pc360 isnt available on germany anymore) and nad hp50, anybody can tell me which is better? i know one is headset and the other headphone but the question remains. Maybe the Turtle Beach XP Seven?
 
 
Thanks for your time!

 

[ShadowSkulkerer]

I'm wondering what the quality of the DACs in each of these rare DH capable Marantz receivers are. And what the quality of the headphone amp is. Can anyone speak to this latter question or make an educated guess?

Also, if I got a Yamaha receiver w/ Silent Cinema, which is VSP for headphones, would this work for the S/PDIF out from a XBox One, to headphones, and PC to headphones, with both games and movies?

 

[gr34td3str0y3r]

Another quick Astro Mix amp question. 
I have two IEM that I love. They sound great in anything I plug them in... but the astro mix amp. 
I just tried both of them for the first time in the mix amp they sounded like garbage. Absolute total garbage. 
What is the output impedance of the Astro Mix amp? Is this the reason they sounded so bad? I think the IEMs have only a 10ohm impedance. 

 

[BigBadWulf]

  ...
I hope somebody will find this post useful. As for the mod itself it takes about 20-25 minutes for each cup. Keep in mind it's non-reversible.

...and I hope, that you know, that I think, that I will make this mod too, because it would be very useful. (once you show us how)
 
Just one question, what cons have you found? I know, that in the first few moments, when everything works fine, it is difficult to see/hear the bad things.
 
Making it a circle would be perfect, because in Stereo to surround emulations I always find that Ellipse. Most with a gap in the front of you, where the centersound is getting to Close. The rears are easy to simulate.
 
So your mod would work with 598/558 and their Headset equivalent?
 
Good Job!

 

[cdsa35000]

I'm wondering what the quality of the DACs in each of these rare DH capable Marantz receivers are. And what the quality of the headphone amp is. Can anyone speak to this latter question or make an educated guess?

Also, if I got a Yamaha receiver w/ Silent Cinema, which is VSP for headphones, would this work for the S/PDIF out from a XBox One, to headphones, and PC to headphones, with both games and movies?

I've the older MARANTZ SR5500 with DH1/2/3, in general receivers are designed mainly drive high power loudspeakers, so unless they specific have dedicated headphones (amp) out, then it's just a bypass from the FRONT L and R speaker power mosfet amp. directly with a (330 Ohms) resistor in series to headphone out.
Means headphone output impedance is here higher than 330 Ohms, follow the 1/8 impedance rule you will need at least a higher than 330 Ohms headphones.
And since I don't have high impedance headphones, my high sensitive 102+ dB CD3000 32ohms/SA5000 70ohms have high noise hiss level (low S/N) because the direct mosfet tors are meant to drive 90Watts/8ohms loudspeakers.

DH quality wise should all sound samey as they are the same processed protocols into DH1/2/3 specifications so depends more on headamp quality than DH decoder.
---
Silent Cinema is just Yamaha's own DH decoding tech to decode any 5.1 surround streams into Virtual Surround Headphone.
It can decode any S/PDIF/Digital Optical Toslink/Digital Coax with DolbyDigital/DD 5.1, DTS, DDL, DTS Connect audio streams from PC, XBOX, PS3/4 consoles, dvd/bluray with Digital outs into Silent Cinema etc.
XBone audio menu should be set to output Digital 5.1 and on PC soundcard with DDL=DolbyDigitalLive/DTS Connect are 5.1 surround encoders that will encode PC's 5.1 audio streams into Compressed DDL/DTSC 5.1 Digital streams. Since SPDIF Digital Audio bandwith is only capable of Uncompressed STEREO PCM or Compressed 5.1 DD/DTS.

 

[Yethal]

 

  ...
I hope somebody will find this post useful. As for the mod itself it takes about 20-25 minutes for each cup. Keep in mind it's non-reversible.

...and I hope, that you know, that I think, that I will make this mod too, because it would be very useful. (once you show us how)
 
Just one question, what cons have you found? I know, that in the first few moments, when everything works fine, it is difficult to see/hear the bad things.
 
Making it a circle would be perfect, because in Stereo to surround emulations I always find that Ellipse. Most with a gap in the front of you, where the centersound is getting to Close. The rears are easy to simulate.
 
So your mod would work with 598/558 and their Headset equivalent?
 
Good Job!

It's actually pretty simple
Follow these instructions to take the headphones apart:
http://www.headfonia.com/sennheisers-new-hd558-and-hd598/3/
Next, bend the metal protrusions (visible on the sixth photo) outwards so thr grill can be taken out.
Then cut the black foam with an x-acto knife (unfortunately it's glued to the plastic grill so it has to be done a segment at a time which is a bit tedious)
Then assemble the cans back together.
 
So far I haven't found any cons to this mod. There is the standard warranty void, and damage risk, but apart from that the only thing that comes to mind is dust gathering inside the cans.
 
Dunno, from the pictures it looks like it will work.

 

[Reckless95]

  bump
 
someone?

 
I'm in love with my K712 Pros. I'll vote for the K612.

 

[Evshrug]

The K612 is very capable.

 

[Yethal]

 

  i cant decide between AKG k612 /sennheiser hd 598  /beyrdynamics dt990, recommend others if u think are more suitable 
For sound card i will get asus xonar u7/ SOUND BLASTER X-FI HD/SoundBlaster Omni  wich better?
 
thanks
Starv3d

bump
 
someone?

Let Your wallet decide these are all great headphones.

 

[starv3d]

  Let Your wallet decide these are all great headphones.

yah the problem is that they cost about the same, i was thinking that there would be some diference that help me chose but i dont know.
i cant listen before buy so i can only go by reviews
i discard the dt990 because they need good amping
i like the hd598 but the lack of bass and the moding needed to make them better make me think twice, but their are more versatile from what i read can be played without amp.
the akg look the best choice but i read that they have a signature sound to them so... but probably will go with the akg's
 
and i think i will go with xonar u7 in paper have the best sound the x-fi hd is great but is on the market for the longest time
 
 
thanks all from all your input

 

[martin vegas]

I know this hasn't got anything to do with headphones but why are all the ps4 ps+ games so garbage?

 

[Yethal]

  I know this hasn't got anything to do with headphones but why are all the ps4 ps+ games so garbage?

Because they still hope to make some money on those that aren't.