[swt61]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Faust2D /img/forum/go_quote.gif Now I have to hear one of these different sounding K340 or I will never know what I missed. On the other hand I don't think I want to get involved with a headphone that has such production inconsistency, I will never be sure what I am going to get, at least all Lambdas sound the same.

Well as stated earlier it's probably not production inconsistency, it's probably either two distinct different versions (bass heavy version would be a later variant) or it's due to age. Some headphones may have been treated less than stellar, and this might account for the differences . Remember these are nearing 30 years. I am the original owner of my K340, so I know mine have been very well treated. Jay's sound very similar to mine from what we've described, and he's the original owner (with much less hours than most K340s).

 

[swt61]

Quote:

Originally Posted by swt61 /img/forum/go_quote.gif That's a good explanation, because they're rated at 150Ω I believe. I used the same volume setting to produce a matched volume with my K340 on my dual Darkvoices. However warrior05 and I are now wondering if underpowering them results in a loss of deep bass. I'll know more later.

Well to follow up it turns out warrior05 and I were right, under powering the Donuts results in a loss of deep bass.

Warrior05 took my MkII's down to daveDerek's place, so Dave could have a listen to them. Scott brought along his iMod, iMod dock, RSA Hornet, and the various other adapters needed to feed the balanced phones from a 1/8" jack (two adapters). So you can see already that this was not an ideal system.
At one point they listened to Saint Saens organ symphony, and Scott said the deep rolling bass of the pipe organs just wasn't present on the Donuts, but was present on Dave's K181DJ's.

Later when Scott was home he hooked the Donuts up to his Darkvoice 336, cued up the same recording, and here's what he had to say...

Quote:

Originally Posted by warrior05 Yup - they were underpowered at Dave's. From my DV, that ultra low rolling organ bass note was there. It is an interesting experience hearing the difference for myself. By the way, the MkIIs are wonderful classical headphones. What it lacks in soundstage more than makes up for it in instrument separation and placement along with that rich very musical quality we both have discussed.

So even at 150Ω it seems that these do indeed require some pretty serious amplification. Of coarse all the adapters that were in series certainly could have played a very negative roll here as well.

 

[tosh1000]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JadeEast /img/forum/go_quote.gif The thing that does cause me some concern is the resonance when I'm playing a record that has allot of pops and clicks the sounds of the pops and clicks are quite "Plastic" sounding with more resonance than just a "tick".

Can I suggest that the sound effect of the pops and clicks you're picking up is due to the low distortion and good accuracy of these headphones? A scratch on a record is a VERY difficult and complex sound impulse for a music playback system to reproduce accurately, and the fact that you describe it as both 'plastic' and resonant is typical of how a scratch 'should' sound. A long time ago when there was nothing but records, one could get a quick idea of a music system's impulse response (how good the cartridge or speakers were) by how well-defined the scratches sounded. (I'm not trying to be funny, but records are made from plastic.)

 

[wualta]

Quote:

Originally Posted by swt61 Well to follow up it turns out warrior05 and I were right, under powering the Donuts results in a loss of deep bass... even at 150Ω it seems that these do indeed require some pretty serious amplification.

They do. C'mon over to the Ortho Roundup thread and share your results in more detail.

Meanwhile: having good current reserves, even in a headphone amp, is never a bad idea.

 

[Zorander]

I've begun wondering if the difference in bass levels is mainly accountable to the dynamic drivers or if the electret (state) plays a factor in this too. I read somewhere in this forum that the electret plays deep down too.

 

[philodox]

Nope, the electret only plays over 4000Hz. Due to the tiny transformer it can't go below that range.

I think it comes down to the dynamic driver and damping mods.

 

[Joe Presto]

I just acquired a K340, almost mint, box is banged up, but the cans themselves look untouched. Replaced the elastics with hair elastics, not too happy about the results, so if anybody has a pair of scunci's left over, please let me know.
 
I've read a lot about the synergy between the K340 and the Darkvoice 336, does this apply to the 336SE too, as this is the only one available these days.

 

[audioNeil]

 
Quote:

Quote:

Originally Posted by JadeEast /img/forum/go_quote.gif The thing that does cause me some concern is the resonance when I'm playing a record that has allot of pops and clicks the sounds of the pops and clicks are quite "Plastic" sounding with more resonance than just a "tick".

Can I suggest that the sound effect of the pops and clicks you're picking up is due to the low distortion and good accuracy of these headphones? A scratch on a record is a VERY difficult and complex sound impulse for a music playback system to reproduce accurately, and the fact that you describe it as both 'plastic' and resonant is typical of how a scratch 'should' sound. A long time ago when there was nothing but records, one could get a quick idea of a music system's impulse response (how good the cartridge or speakers were) by how well-defined the scratches sounded. (I'm not trying to be funny, but records are made from plastic.)

This is my first post to head-fi.
 
I have an early 1985 vintage K340 (original owner) .  I love the sound in many ways, though I only have an Anthem Statement D1 to drive them right now.
 
I think I hear something similar to the poster.  He describes a plastic sound on ticks and pops.  I notice a similar thing on certain high transient drum beats.
 
When a transient happens, I feel like there is a painful one-note ping or click to the sound.  The drum hit or rim-shot doesn't sound natural.  It is like there is some sort of problem integrating the two drivers.  While the phones do some things wonderfully (natural vocals), this and the poor bass are what makes me want to upgrade to better cans.
 
The question is what to go to?  Audeze LCD-2?  Senheisser HD650's ?
 
Edit: not sure how I resurrected an old thread - I didn't mean to