[Cruelhand Luke]

Just got a pair of the HR-5 opens. Dude these cans rock right out of the box, at least running balanced. Pretty amazing and damn I bet modded they are off the hook.

They went super cheap the last time Monoprice did a decent sale...I want to say like $45? I passed because I had JUST bought the M565 ....I had a set of the NVX version and they were by far the most comfortable headphones I've ever worn.....I'll have to grab a set the next time they go crazy low.
Thanks for the heads up...are you going to try some mods and see if there is more good sound to squeeze out of them?

 

[Cruelhand Luke]

Just got a pair of the HR-5 opens. Dude these cans rock right out of the box, at least running balanced. Pretty amazing and damn I bet modded they are off the hook.

Do you have a tube amp for them...for some reason I suspect that design would respond well to tubes...in stock form it's a clean spare kind of sound...neutral, but light on the bass for my tastes, almost cold sounding, so it seems like tubes would warm and plump up the sound.
The closed back version has mids that seem kind of recessed compared to other headphones, I wonder if tubes would add some weight to the middle.

 

[Dawnrazor]

They went super cheap the last time Monoprice did a decent sale...I want to say like $45? I passed because I had JUST bought the M565 ....I had a set of the NVX version and they were by far the most comfortable headphones I've ever worn.....I'll have to grab a set the next time they go crazy low.
Thanks for the heads up...are you going to try some mods and see if there is more good sound to squeeze out of them?

I was going to mod them but man I can't seem to figure out how to get them open . There is a plastic wring that looks like it could be removed but it also looks like it will just break. That ring keeps the pads on and blocks the drivers from my modding hands. Ugh.

 

[Dawnrazor]

Do you have a tube amp for them...for some reason I suspect that design would respond well to tubes...in stock form it's a clean spare kind of sound...neutral, but light on the bass for my tastes, almost cold sounding, so it seems like tubes would warm and plump up the sound.
The closed back version has mids that seem kind of recessed compared to other headphones, I wonder if tubes would add some weight to the middle.

I do have a tube amp. It pretty much sucks. Its a hybrid and its not balanced and well it just seems to sound lame compared to my balanced amp. I have a solidstate dac/ amp and that also blows compared to the balanced.

The bass an these cans arent light. They are very balanced. Not bass heavy exactly but not bass light at all. I have too many cans now so I may hook up the tube amp but it seems pointless.

I saw some vid about balanced and it said that it depends and that some single ended designs can be better. That makes sense but it also talked about how headphones usually have short runs and wouldn't benefit. So that part makes me really question the vbloggers understanding of the topic.

That said tubes can be great so I should try that combo to be sure. Probably put together a 2nd system with the tube amp.

 

[Cruelhand Luke]

I was going to mod them but man I can't seem to figure out how to get them open . There is a plastic wring that looks like it could be removed but it also looks like it will just break. That ring keeps the pads on and blocks the drivers from my modding hands. Ugh.

I had the NVX version of them, and I opened them up and did some mods (they responded well to damping around the back of the drivers) the rings that hold the pads on just twist off, and are not fragile at all. If I remember correctly once the pads are off there are four little tiny screws holding them together, you just unscrew and go to town on the insides!

 

[Dawnrazor]

I had the NVX version of them, and I opened them up and did some mods (they responded well to damping around the back of the drivers) the rings that hold the pads on just twist off, and are not fragile at all. If I remember correctly once the pads are off there are four little tiny screws holding them together, you just unscrew and go to town on the insides!

YEA! Thanks man. I would have never figured that out!

Hopefully I will get to fixing them and the M565 this weekend.

 

[Cruelhand Luke]

YEA! Thanks man. I would have never figured that out!

Hopefully I will get to fixing them and the M565 this weekend.

Rock on.

 

[Allanmarcus]

I do have a tube amp. It pretty much sucks. Its a hybrid and its not balanced and well it just seems to sound lame compared to my balanced amp. I have a solidstate dac/ amp and that also blows compared to the balanced.

The bass an these cans arent light. They are very balanced. Not bass heavy exactly but not bass light at all. I have too many cans now so I may hook up the tube amp but it seems pointless.

I saw some vid about balanced and it said that it depends and that some single ended designs can be better. That makes sense but it also talked about how headphones usually have short runs and wouldn't benefit. So that part makes me really question the vbloggers understanding of the topic.

That said tubes can be great so I should try that combo to be sure. Probably put together a 2nd system with the tube amp.

Tubes, balances, hybrid, single-ended all are irrelevant unless you post what amps you have. Balanced is not inherently better then single ended. Tubes are not inherently better than SS.

 

[Dawnrazor]

Tubes, balances, hybrid, single-ended all are irrelevant unless you post what amps you have. Balanced is not inherently better then single ended. Tubes are not inherently better than SS.

I agree. Thats why I post the amps in my signature. Everyone can see the amps I have.

There are 2 that are not there. When I got into this headphone hobby it was because of a blow out sale on a monoprice tube amp. Well it managed to do nothing but hum. Because it was close out they just refunded me. Then I bought the Vali2. I was not exactly happy with that. Not wanting to spend much I realized I already had an awesome amp just sitting accrossed the room: the Parasound Halo A21. with some research I found a resistor box from Rolls that with 2 of them I could use that amp and run balanced. Loved that. Much better than the Vali2. Would still be using that combo but with better resistors except that I moved to Florida. Having a class A amp even if its only 15w of Class A puts out just too much heat.

So liking the idea of balanced I looked for a replacement. Long story short I came up with a solution that I have never seen anyone do. I bought 2 amps and am using one on each channel in a balanced dual mono config. The amps are $50 Behringer P1 and am running them off of batteries. Basically they are portable amps for the drummer to hear himself, but man they are super clean a sound amazing. So that combo replaced the Parasound. And sounds better than the Vali2.

I was running things from a dedicated and tweaked music computer with separate supplies and even though it was underclocked and undervolted it also put out too much heat. So a new dac was needed with balanced outs. I bought the Focusrite AM2 which also has a headphone amp. I would hope the $400 dac/ amp combo would sound better than the $50 headphone amp. I know its not anykind of fair comparison but the Focusrite should have a solid amp in it I would think. Anyhow, the same cans in the any SE amp I have just don't sound as good. Said another way when I have liked the sound and been happy, it has ALWAYS been with a balanced situation.

I could remove a lot of variable and compare the Behringer SE vs the Behringer run balanced. Its probably an easy test I could do.

With balanced the phones just come alive. Its the separation really. Se it sounds 2d but balanced its more 3d. So that idea of separating the grounds does seem to have merit at least to my ears. Even the Monoprice 8323 sounds better run balanced.

So maybe its just the cans and amps I have but man it just sounds better balanced.

 

[Cla55clown]

I'm looking for a 2.5mm balanced cable to use with these. Does anyone know where i can find one for a reasonable price?

 

[Lurk650]

I'm looking for a 2.5mm balanced cable to use with these. Does anyone know where i can find one for a reasonable price?

99 Series 2.5 mm Balanced Cable https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FQ2BCK5/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_PKHjDb3FYJ18J

KK Cable U-XV Compatible Upgrade Audio Cable Replacement for Earphone Cable Beyerdynamic T1 II, T5 Headphone. 2.5mm Trrs Balanced Male to Dual 3.5mm Connector cable. (1.5M(4.9FT)) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FKK1QYQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_xLHjDbGBEZ0G9

I have both

 

[GhzGuy]

I should also mention, their claim that they can be worn for hours without any fatigue is absolutely true. These are easily the most comfortable over ears I have ever worn. EQ in a little bit more bass, or upgrade to pads that increase bass and soundstage (there are literally a dozen options out there) and you have really enjoyable movie headphones.

Just curious, since I was thinking about picking one of these up, which pads increase the bass and soundstage? I don't want to make a mistake on my purchase.

 

[Thorphin]

Hi everyone! First post here. I just bought these Monoprice headphones and while I don't think they sound bad they sound, well dull and dissent. Am I the only one that feels this way? Primary comparisons are Sennheiser HD 280 Pro and Klipsch Reference S4i Premium. I'm just curious what everyone else impression is.

Thanks!

 

[Cruelhand Luke]

Just curious, since I was thinking about picking one of these up, which pads increase the bass and soundstage? I don't want to make a mistake on my purchase.

Generally speaking angled pleather/leather is what you want.

 

[Cruelhand Luke]

Hi everyone! First post here. I just bought these Monoprice headphones and while I don't think they sound bad they sound, well dull and dissent. Am I the only one that feels this way? Primary comparisons are Sennheiser HD 280 Pro and Klipsch Reference S4i Premium. I'm just curious what everyone else impression is.

Thanks!

They are generally considered to be a 'neutral' headphone....which can be perceived as boring. You might look into doing some mods or eq to get a more 'fun' sound out of them.