[ropeadope]

  NAD HP50 Viso is absolutely zero fun in stock rendition. As for it being neutral I have never ever heard real sound sound this dark. So I started to play with the EQ controls as it was never going to cut it for purposes where I would really want a neutral tonal balance. I play a lot of pinball and I know how the real machines should sound as distorted they may be at times
 
 
On my RX-VRDS440 I find myself upping the treble 10 db until I can´t raise it anymore. This is a big improvement and overall the headphones do sound more realistic across the board. Sure as you would expect the mids may loose some of it´s smooth stuff due to the added compression in stock form it sound so muted. Easy listening for sure but...
 
Hooking it up to my PC just mere onboard stuff on my Asus Z-87Pro haswell mainboard. I have to say this is the first onboard solution I heard in a long time that really works. Quite neutral and I don´t get the regular hiss or distortion I am used  to! Goldpoint Headphone Pro as amplifier I start to apply some of it´s very aggressive presets. It has one "treble" which lowers the bass and boost the treble and boy did the HP50 get fun and lively to listen to. This do add some colouration so may bee a bit much but for my pinball it sound much more like the real deal with some simple tweaks got it even better. I was surprised exactly how agile and fun it could be made with EQ. Question is how the drivers would hold up to this treatment since it´s not exactly small EQ necessary to make the tonal balance right on this. 
 
Am I the only one finding these really dark sounding more times then not?

 
If you're using onboard PC sound, you're just wasting your time and the money you spent on premium headphones. You gotta get a DAC amp!

 

[Rudiger]

(...)  
Am I the only one finding these really dark sounding more times then not?

NO ! I return them quickly because I found the signature too warm for my taste.

 

[oqvist]

If you're using onboard PC sound, you're just wasting your time and the money you spent on premium headphones. You gotta get a DAC amp!

Look at my sig

 

[Scotshner]

Hi folks,
 
This is my first post, so apologies if this isn't quite the right place!
I am in the running for some new cans and after hours of reading reviews I am looking to pull the trigger on the HP 50's. Before I do I wanted to check that the ear pads are replaceable. I have searched the forums/web for an answer but to no avail. They seem fairly easy to remove so I am guessing that NAD will at the least charge this as a repair.
 
I have contacted my local dealer and they don't have an answer and are awaiting a response from NAD. 
 
Does anybody know the answer to this? I don't wanna get stung further down the line with warranty/repair issues!!
 
Thanks

 

[ropeadope]

Look at my sig

aha so you were just testing them on your onboard sound? I be confused, I do be.
 
The headphone cable for these headphones is kinda driving me nuts. I don't know why exactly, i guess it gets in the way and snags a lot. Is there a better cable to buy for these out there? I think it said in the manual for the headphones to not just hook up any old' headphone cable to these, might be picky.

 

[oqvist]

  aha so you were just testing them on your onboard sound? I be confused, I do be.
 
The headphone cable for these headphones is kinda driving me nuts. I don't know why exactly, i guess it gets in the way and snags a lot. Is there a better cable to buy for these out there? I think it said in the manual for the headphones to not just hook up any old' headphone cable to these, might be picky.

I just used it because I like to try every single DAC I have in my possession and sometimes try to find if my old prejudgements is still valid. You never know what synergize best anyway. And I must say the onboard audio is surely making progress though I still don´t argue your point. I would say the dac is certainly good enough to make it valid for more premium headphones. There is certainly better to be had though. At the moment I just got home my second Yamaha RDS-440 so now I have headphone bliss in both my living room and bedroom. It just synergyze like hell with my Audeze LCD-2 Rev 2 and since it do NOT boost bass or remove treble information in any way it´s a good match for the NAD HP50 Viso also. But it´s equalization functions on it´s own is maybe not enough to get a for me more natural sounding balance on my pair of HP50 Viso. I have not digged deep into the menu if there is a more advanced eq option available then only "bass" and "treble" lol which is a bit crude of course. I noticed I could EQ still through the soundcard though when running spdif out. In the future I will hook up my Behringer DEQ2496 though to get even more fine tuning possible.

 

[Scotshner]

  Hi folks,
 
This is my first post, so apologies if this isn't quite the right place!
I am in the running for some new cans and after hours of reading reviews I am looking to pull the trigger on the HP 50's. Before I do I wanted to check that the ear pads are replaceable. I have searched the forums/web for an answer but to no avail. They seem fairly easy to remove so I am guessing that NAD will at the least charge this as a repair.
 
I have contacted my local dealer and they don't have an answer and are awaiting a response from NAD. 
 
Does anybody know the answer to this? I don't wanna get stung further down the line with warranty/repair issues!!
 
Thanks

NAD returned my query much quicker than I thought - although they failed to quote a price..Hopefully some other peeps will find this useful:
 
re: NAD VISO HP 50
Thank you for contacting the NAD Electronics Support Centre.

Yes, they can be replaced.

But the ear pads can be removed and then cleaned with a mild detergent and warm water.

I hope this helps with your decision.

Thank you 

 

[ssg1]

I got my NAD VISO HP50 after a long time of wait. I really like these headphones. Cups are super comfortable and I could wear these for hours. I have one major problem tho.
 
Headband makes top of my head hurt even after short time. Sometimes I am able to position headphones so that top of my head does not hurt, but most of the time I just can't find that perfect spot. Does anyone else have this problem and if you do have you figured out solution?

 

[ropeadope]

  I got my NAD VISO HP50 after a long time of wait. I really like these headphones. Cups are super comfortable and I could wear these for hours. I have one major problem tho.
 
Headband makes top of my head hurt even after short time. Sometimes I am able to position headphones so that top of my head does not hurt, but most of the time I just can't find that perfect spot. Does anyone else have this problem and if you do have you figured out solution?

Mine are slightly more extended on one side than the other, not sure if my head is just a weird shape or what , but they fit well like that.

 

[Oregonian]

  I got my NAD VISO HP50 after a long time of wait. I really like these headphones. Cups are super comfortable and I could wear these for hours. I have one major problem tho.
 
Headband makes top of my head hurt even after short time. Sometimes I am able to position headphones so that top of my head does not hurt, but most of the time I just can't find that perfect spot. Does anyone else have this problem and if you do have you figured out solution?

Is there room for a HD650 headband pad to help?  You would attach it to the underside of the current headband.

 

[imackler]

I know this is a nuanced request but are there any lovers of string quartets that can comment whether the the HP50 can manage the speed of strings without botching the timber? I cannot tell you the correlation between which headphones I keep and how they handle a cello. Well...I just hinted at it. 

 

[Calypso]

  Headband makes top of my head hurt even after short time. 

Maybe this can help?  http://www.ebay.com/itm/Headband-Cushion-Pad-fit-BEYER-HiFiMAN-DENON-SONY-KOSS-BOSE-BEATS-DRE-Headphones-/200799150982?pt=US_Replacement_Parts_Tools&hash=item2ec08fe386

 

[TMRaven]

How big are the openings of the HP50 pads compared to M50 pads?  

 

[bourbonhoova]

Hi all...
Just wanted to say thanks very much to SonusAudio, dweaver and zazex for your comments / advice in response to the question I posted on this thread last week. Especially thanks heaps zazex for taking a little time to expand a bit on what you think of a number of good options. To be honest, I'll probably have to wait 2 or 3 months before I can actually order something..(my appetite for researching headphones is kind-of disproportionate to my spare disposable income, unfortunately). Those Sony MDR-7520's do look interesting, but I think it's unlikely that I'll end up going for them as they've been discontinued and they appear to be a bit over my budget (not so easy to pick up bargain deals on 'open-box' units or whatever down here in Australia). 
So I think it will come down to either the HP-50 or the K545 for me. Quiet possibly either one would be an excellent choice. I have done a fair bit of reading of the two threads and at the moment I'm leaning very slightly towards the NAD. I will continue to read more about both of them but from what I've read up until now, I think the risk of me being disappointed with the HP-50 is just a touch smaller than the risk with the AKG. Maybe after reading a couple more reviews of the K545 from other people I might change my mind. I like the sound of the AKGs having the 50mm drivers and benefiting slightly more from proper amplification. As I said, they're probably both exceptionally good headphones and it may just come down to a matter of personal preference. 

 

[Sinocelt]

  Those Sony MDR-7520's do look interesting, but I think it's unlikely that I'll end up going for them as they've been discontinued 

 
They haven't. They've been made illegal to sell in Europe, but they're still sold in other countries, including the USA.