[FritzS]

No, of course it can be used for any music, it's just a problem when amp and headphone are not an ideal partner.
And no, I did not mean it's a fault of the amp. I mean it's a design issue of such an open and electrical sensitive headphone.
Just as my example with the Infinity speakers I wrote... it's also not a fault of other amps, it's just an electric effect which happen.
And yes, an additional challenge is the fully open design. The amp ideal to pair with MYSPHERE 3 must not be strong! f.i. I tested many powerful amps and the negative effect vary much.
I could recommend amps which do not have the issue with the electromotive counter-force of this headphone, but I don't want to got wrong... I do not want to post things sounding like a commercial in a forum.
BR heinz

Tibetan, Japanese, Far Eastern music is the most impulsive. Hard hitting woods, sharply beaten singing bowls, buzzing trumpets (similar to alpine horns), hard beaten small drums, powerful deep bass drums - there is hardly a deeper and more dynamic way.
Even POP and rock are beaten.
This is the "moose test" for every transducer!
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elchtest
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moose_test

 

[JaZZ]

No, of course it can be used for any music, it's just a problem when amp and headphone are not an ideal partner.

And no, I did not mean it's a fault of the amp. I mean it's a design issue of such an open and electrical sensitive headphone.
Just as my example with the Infinity speakers I wrote... it's also not a fault of other amps, it's just an electric effect which happen.
And yes, an additional challenge is the fully open design. The amp ideal to pair with MYSPHERE 3 must not be strong! f.i. I tested many powerful amps and the negative effect vary much.
I could recommend amps which do not have the issue with the electromotive counter-force of this headphone, but I don't want to got wrong... I do not want to post things sounding like a commercial in a forum.

Thanks for the clarification, Heinz! So if I ever get my hands (or head) on a Mysphere, I'll be prepared to equalize the low bass – anyway, independent of the amp, but depending on the amp's characteristic when teamed with it. In my case it would be Chord's DAVE.

I hope to be able auditioning it some day in Zurich!

 

[m17xr2b]

For me, the biggest problem is that I have a DAC + Tube amp very performing in the low frequencies range and listening to Symphonies the MySphere on those low frequencies (dark movements) saturates heavily where headphones like Abyss, LCD4 or Susvara are in heaven.
Not a question of power at all (sensibility to too much power), really a frequency saturation (below 100Hz ?).

I had the same issue with the Apex Teton a hugely powerful amp for the 3.2, low bass started to distort. The WA5 however had an iron grip on it and large orchestral music was such a pleasure to listen to. I was intrigued myself on why but to be sure it's not that the headphones can't do proper natural low bass but the amp pairing that's critical here.

 

[hrklg01]

I had the same issue with the Apex Teton a hugely powerful amp for the 3.2, low bass started to distort. The WA5 however had an iron grip on it and large orchestral music was such a pleasure to listen to. I was intrigued myself on why but to be sure it's not that the headphones can't do proper natural low bass but the amp pairing that's critical here.

Sorry, but I must say that the amps from Chord are really great, but not very well fitting to MYSPHERE in respect of this bass issue
It has not much to do with equalizing! It's just how the amp behave when a relative high voltage get "back fired"!

The good thing is:
K55 is soon offering MYSPHERE and will demo with fitting amps as well!

br heinz

 

[bosiemoncrieff]

What is K55?

 

[hrklg01]

K55 is a dealer in Zürich - Swizzerland...

 

[JaZZ]

Sorry, but I must say that the amps from Chord are really great, but not very well fitting to MYSPHERE in respect of this bass issue
It has not much to do with equalizing! It's just how the amp behave when a relative high voltage get "back fired"!

The good thing is:
K55 is soon offering MYSPHERE and will demo with fitting amps as well!

Probably the wrong quote, as your post seems to respond to my previous post. Great news about K55 as a Mysphere dealer!

BTW, I take it that your «backfiring» addresses back EMF, no? If so, it's the very same as driving (high-efficiency) speakers with strong magnets and a low Q factor, which may result in a subdued bass around the resonant frequency. Something that can easily be compensated for with equalizing. Or what other effects could you mean? Some Head-Fiers have Chord DAC/amps drive large speakers directly, even the Mojo, and report great results, better than with any power amp – apart from limited volume levels, depending on the speakers' sensitivity.

 

[cladane]

So you're saying it's entirely the amp's fault and not the Mysphere suffering from dynamic compression due to large membrane excursions reaching their limit? On the other hand it would be understandable that a completely open design like this, with minimal baffle dimensions against phase cancellation, could get into troubles at extremely low frequencies. After all that's how one could interpret cladane's «saturation».

Yes, seems rational. And it explains why @hrklg01 advises to pair the MySphere with a ‘soft’ amplifier.
I listened to a WA5 and yes it drives the headphones without trouble. But driving them softly means no realistic impact like asking B Haitink to calm the bass drum in some Mahler or Bruckner scores

Interesting since I’m also following the SR1a thread and all exchanges don’t focus on the headphones performances but amps pairing.
Seems that headphone world duplicates speakers where all the system is chosen relatively to the baffles.

Personally I still prefer to keep in mind that I can drive many cans with one system.

 

[hrklg01]

Probably the wrong quote, as your post seems to respond to my previous post. Great news about K55 as a Mysphere dealer!

BTW, I take it that your «backfiring» addresses back EMF, no? If so, it's the very same as driving (high-efficiency) speakers with strong magnets and a low Q factor, which may result in a subdued bass around the resonant frequency. Something that can easily be compensated for with equalizing. Or what other effects could you mean? Some Head-Fiers have Chord DAC/amps drive large speakers directly, even the Mojo, and report great results, better than with any power amp – apart from limited volume levels, depending on the speakers' sensitivity.

Hello,
Sorry that I quoted the wrong post before.
My explanation and created wording of "backfiring" is nothing more or less that the EMF - yes!
But when you mentioning "it's the same like speakers with strong magnets ...." that's not totally right, because the Q-factor is relative high with ~ 1 and not low! The more Q the more problem for some amps.
And I agree with you that the Chord's are very good products, the amp section just does not fit good to MYSPHERE 3.
Best regards, Heinz

 

[JaZZ]

Thanks, Heinz!

I guess I don't understand the problem technically, but I can live with that.

Oh, and I was talking of «back EMF», not «EMF», just in case you misinterpreted it.

 

[XP_98]

I could recommend amps which do not have the issue with the electromotive counter-force of this headphone, but I don't want to got wrong... I do not want to post things sounding like a commercial in a forum.

BR heinz

Maybe you could recommend a selection of several amps that pair well, so if it's not a unique brand it would be no commercial...

 

[hrklg01]

Maybe you could recommend a selection of several amps that pair well, so if it's not a unique brand it would be no commercial...

Perfect idea! Thank you - here are the amps which is suggest to be paired with MYSPHERE 3 according to my own experiences. Of course, there will be many other, but I did not have the chance to hear it personally.

BR heinz

 

[XP_98]

Great, thank you

 

[XP_98]

So if I ever get my hands (or head) on a Mysphere, I'll be prepared to equalize the low bass – anyway, independent of the amp, but depending on the amp's characteristic when teamed with it.

If some of you get good results with a moderate equalization (unfortunately, I try MySphere 3.1 with Hugo2, so according to Heinz, no the ideal match…) to add a little more warmth and basse impact, it would be nice to share your settings

 

[JaZZ]

...here are the amps which is suggest to be paired with MYSPHERE 3 according to my own experiences...

According to the posted chart it's the output impedance that causes the «problem»...

Mysphere 3.1 is optimized in damping for amps with 10-30 ohms output impedance. Lower ones tend to overdamping. / Mysphere 3.2 has ideal damping with amps below 10 ohms output impedance. However, OTL mode needs 3.2 version!

...as supected originally. The technical cause is back EMF: the driver acting as a generator around the resonant frequency – the stronger the drive, the more so –, which leads to an impedance hump. This impedance hump on its part causes a corresponding drop of the amplifier's current output. However, this effect is weakened with a serial resistance. Therefore a high output (= serial) resistance causes an underdamping of the resonant frequency. Now the Mysphere (at least version 3.1) apparently needs some counteracting to the electrical-damping scenario in order not to suffer from an underrepresented low-frequency response (called «overdamping» here) around its resonant frequency. It's not comprehensible how such a lack of low-frequency response isn't compensateable via equalizer. The term «overdamping» is misleading in this context, as I can't imagine that you (Heinz) consider the impulse response «too accurate» in this case. It's primarily a matter of amplitude compensation. The phase distortion that comes with the possible dip in the amplitude response will be perfectly compensated by an adequate EQ setting along with the amplitude response; moreover it allows you to extend the low-frequency response far below the resonant frequency, unlike with mere «impedance matching» by choosing one of the recommended amps.

So, as I see it, the best method will be adequate equalizing, which also frees you from respecting the amp/headphone synergy. The second-best method would be to simply add a pair of resistors to the signal path between amp and headphone (the same crude «equalizing» method that Sennheiser applies with their headphone amps designed for the HD 800). After all it would allow you to use any amp with the Mysphere 3.1.

If some of you get good results with a moderate equalization (unfortunately, I try MySphere 3.1 with Hugo2, so according to Heinz, no the ideal match…) to add a little more warmth and bass impact, it would be nice to share your settings

Yes, I will certainly do that as soon as I get the opportunity for a serious audition (at K55).