senns&nonsense
500+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Mar 6, 2007
- Posts
- 755
- Likes
- 11
I almost sold them. I was literally in the middle of a PM to someone who posted a WTB ad, when I decided I had to give the MS2is a better chance.
When I first received them, they seemed like they were shouting in my ears. "Fatiguing" does not even capture it - it was just grating, at times of high volume even painful. But I wanted to give them a chance because of that incredible detail and clarity and speed! I mean they were like nothing I had heard before - more precison and crystal clarity than 880s or my beloved K701s. But no soundstage AT ALL and that annoying peaky quality. So what to do?
I am a DIY moron. I have trouble changing light bulbs without written instructions. But I had a few items to work with and had read about some "fixes" like the c-pads and liberators so I thought it worth a try. Without being too verbose, this is what worked....
- Reverse Senn 414s (the black ones thank god, not that you can HEAR the difference...) and then superglue on to the 414s the earpads from Pro-Line 2500s which even come with a layer of speaker cloth across the opening.
UNBELIEVABLE!
The drivers are no longer sitting on your eardrums. The soundstage, while still small relative to the K701s is now very enjoyable and adequate even for orchestral pieces while not so big as to kill the innate intimacy and direct presentation of Grado/Allesandro. In other words, they are now a great compliment to something wider/larger without being so cloyingly in-your-head. And as for the "peaky" quality? Gone! The space smoothed out the highs with zero noticeable loss of detail. Maybe I am losing some, but it sure doesn't seem like there is any deficit in high frequency detail or energy. I do need a bit more volume to get to the same place, but it is rather small.
Also, I have read that the c-pads and/or liberators can create an echo-y quality or boominess that I do not hear on mine. Maybe I just do not hear it or maybe it is just a little smaller solution in terms of creating space between driver and ear.
And the comfort is fantastic. The solution is light and soft and the smaller Ultrasone cups fit my ears perfectly. YMMV. And oddly, the same cups on the 2500s made me a little warm, but on the MS2is, I have zero temperature issues. They are second only to Beyers in my experience and really quite close. Oh, I once had Sonys that felt like pillows, but that was sort of weird......
And in terms of further tweakage I did one more thing. I am playing around with adding impedance (via the ety cable) and that has rounded them out even a bit more. But do not get me wrong - they still sound more aggressive than anything I have evr heard or certainly enjoyed. They are MS@is with the parts that I did not like simply removed.
But I do have one last small reservation, however, that if remedied would essentially make these perfect for my ears. there is the slightest bit of grain/metallic quality in high female vocals. I do not hear it anywhere else, but I listen to a lot of female vocals and so I would like to smooth that out if possible. I am hoping that perhaps a warmer amp might be even better and solve this insular problem. I have a Pioneer and a vintage Nikko on the way and hoping they will work well with the K701s in any case.
Any suggestions about the vocals (or anything really) very welcome. Anyone think a recable would be a good idea? I have read good reports about Blacksilver from headphile, but silver seems like the wrong route. On the other hand, the cable is already pretty good copper evidently. Suggestions here obviously quite appreciated....
Hope this is useful to some other MS2i fans who want them just a little less agressive and/or a LOT more comfortable.
(My sources are an iMod and an iMac, both run through a MicroAmp (the iMac via Emu 0404 USB)using Apple lossless. Tried a couple other amps and the MicroAmp seemed marginally best.)
When I first received them, they seemed like they were shouting in my ears. "Fatiguing" does not even capture it - it was just grating, at times of high volume even painful. But I wanted to give them a chance because of that incredible detail and clarity and speed! I mean they were like nothing I had heard before - more precison and crystal clarity than 880s or my beloved K701s. But no soundstage AT ALL and that annoying peaky quality. So what to do?
I am a DIY moron. I have trouble changing light bulbs without written instructions. But I had a few items to work with and had read about some "fixes" like the c-pads and liberators so I thought it worth a try. Without being too verbose, this is what worked....
- Reverse Senn 414s (the black ones thank god, not that you can HEAR the difference...) and then superglue on to the 414s the earpads from Pro-Line 2500s which even come with a layer of speaker cloth across the opening.
UNBELIEVABLE!
The drivers are no longer sitting on your eardrums. The soundstage, while still small relative to the K701s is now very enjoyable and adequate even for orchestral pieces while not so big as to kill the innate intimacy and direct presentation of Grado/Allesandro. In other words, they are now a great compliment to something wider/larger without being so cloyingly in-your-head. And as for the "peaky" quality? Gone! The space smoothed out the highs with zero noticeable loss of detail. Maybe I am losing some, but it sure doesn't seem like there is any deficit in high frequency detail or energy. I do need a bit more volume to get to the same place, but it is rather small.
Also, I have read that the c-pads and/or liberators can create an echo-y quality or boominess that I do not hear on mine. Maybe I just do not hear it or maybe it is just a little smaller solution in terms of creating space between driver and ear.
And the comfort is fantastic. The solution is light and soft and the smaller Ultrasone cups fit my ears perfectly. YMMV. And oddly, the same cups on the 2500s made me a little warm, but on the MS2is, I have zero temperature issues. They are second only to Beyers in my experience and really quite close. Oh, I once had Sonys that felt like pillows, but that was sort of weird......
And in terms of further tweakage I did one more thing. I am playing around with adding impedance (via the ety cable) and that has rounded them out even a bit more. But do not get me wrong - they still sound more aggressive than anything I have evr heard or certainly enjoyed. They are MS@is with the parts that I did not like simply removed.
But I do have one last small reservation, however, that if remedied would essentially make these perfect for my ears. there is the slightest bit of grain/metallic quality in high female vocals. I do not hear it anywhere else, but I listen to a lot of female vocals and so I would like to smooth that out if possible. I am hoping that perhaps a warmer amp might be even better and solve this insular problem. I have a Pioneer and a vintage Nikko on the way and hoping they will work well with the K701s in any case.
Any suggestions about the vocals (or anything really) very welcome. Anyone think a recable would be a good idea? I have read good reports about Blacksilver from headphile, but silver seems like the wrong route. On the other hand, the cable is already pretty good copper evidently. Suggestions here obviously quite appreciated....
Hope this is useful to some other MS2i fans who want them just a little less agressive and/or a LOT more comfortable.
(My sources are an iMod and an iMac, both run through a MicroAmp (the iMac via Emu 0404 USB)using Apple lossless. Tried a couple other amps and the MicroAmp seemed marginally best.)
