[SimplyOrange]

Hello there,
 
I'm new to this forum and would really like to get into headphones. I have a somewhat large stereo setup (including speakers) and listening to music at night is very hard as I live in an apartment complex.
 
I have a pair of MB Quart QP 805 headphones, but unfortunately although they're supposed to sound great, I find them to sound thin with my system. I end up having to significantly turn down the midrange and treble, while boosting the bass. I've heard I need a headphone amp in order to get adequate sound out of them, would anyone have any recommendations? They're 300 ohm headphones and I'm currently trying to drive them with a restored Sansui 9090DB. I listen to mostly rock music as well, so I hope you can see where I'm coming from.
 
Thanks in advance for any information.

 

[GREQ]

An old amp like that should have the 'balls' to drive that headphone very closely to what you'd expect a entry level dedicated headphone amp to. 
In some ways it probably drives them better than some entry level headphone amps. 
So you shouldn't expect them to sound much different on any other system.
 
What you probably need is another set of headphones entirely with a more neutral/bassy presentation. 

 

[SimplyOrange]

Oh okay, I appreciate the reply.
 
Any recommendations as far as headphones go for under $100?

 

[GREQ]

First I would strongly recommend you try to listen to anything before buying, or buy from somewhere you can easily return it at little or no cost. 
 
I've always been impressed by Sennheisers low end headphones for sound quality/money ratio. But I can't comment on their 'closest' to $100 headphones as I've not personally heard that model (HD449).
The only problem is that it has a smoother/softer sound to the MB Quart which you might not like for rock. 
 
If you like your rock aggressive and FUN - you need a Grado. SR60i or SR80i. But they're notoriously uncomfortable depending on your ears.

 

[DC2Light]

Are those headphones broken in? Those are professional studio headphones designed to be very durable. I'd say a good 100 hours to break in.

 

[GREQ]

Burn in is more of a psychological effect of your brain adjusting and adapting to the frequency response and your brain fills in the 'gaps' in the sound. 
All blind tests regarding burn-in have proved inconclusive. 
If it does exist it won't be significant enough to make up for the large EQ'ing being mentioned by the OP. 
 
Studio headphones by nature are generally more treble oriented to highlight the problems in the recording by emphasising details.

 

[DC2Light]

Hmm… As an almost 30 year recording engineer profesional I have to disagree. Some headphones take less to non compaired to others that can take over 100 hours of break-in time. That's conclusive in my experience. Cheers

 

[cel4145]

Burn in is more of a psychological effect of your brain adjusting and adapting to the frequency response and your brain fills in the 'gaps' in the sound. 
All blind tests regarding burn-in have proved inconclusive. 

While I agree with the theory that a psychological effect plays a part in this, I have not seen conclusive evidence to support it.

On the other hand, I've seen numerous speaker designers and audio professionals like DC2Light say that break-in is real. Seems to me there is some of both going on, but no one really knows for certain how much.

 

[GREQ]

Quote:

I have not seen conclusive evidence to support it.

Neither is there concrete evidence that burn in exists, hence the myriads of flame-wars on this topic through the ages.

 

[cel4145]

Neither is there concrete evidence that burn in exists, hence the myriads of flame-wars on this topic through the ages.

Yet, there is absolutely no harm in doing it. Which makes it kind of silly to position break-in as "more of a psychological effect" without any evidence disputing physical break-in.

 

[joelpearce]

I would definitely try a few things before tossing the QP-805. They shouldn't sound thin.

Absolutely, try them in some newer amp to see how it compares. Even a fiio should give enough punch to get a better sense of the sound. Next, I would try to get new pads. The stock ones can be very hard to get a good seal, which could be part of the problem. they Beyerdynamic DT770 pads are great, and I have their gel pads on mine--definitely not thin sounding.

The thin German Maestro pads that they put on the new equivalent headphones are also fantastic, maximizing bass impact without messing with the balance. Those are excellent headphones, and I think you will be hard-pressed to do better in that price range.

 

[GREQ]

Quote:

Yet, there is absolutely no harm in doing it. Which makes it kind of silly to position break-in as "more of a psychological effect" without any evidence disputing physical break-in.

Are you just following me around heafi now disagreeing with the things I'm saying? 
And now you're calling me silly?
You're starting to really annoy me.

 

[cel4145]

Are you just following me around heafi now disagreeing with the things I'm saying? 
And now you're calling me silly?
You're starting to really annoy me.

This is not about you.

It's about the claim that break-in is "more of a psychological effect" that "fills in the 'gaps' in the sound." That is a theory in this controversial debated offered to refute testimonials of break-in benefits. Because there is no harm in the OP burning in his headphones, there's no need to imply that theory is any more correct than physical break-in benefit and start an argument about it since

(a) there is no conclusive evidence to support psychological adjustment as more significant than physical break-in
(b) psychological effects are often not very generalizable since they may differ from person to person
(c) physical break-in effects could easily vary from headphone to headphone type because of differences in composite materials and overall design, and thus the impact of psychological effects could be more or less influential depending on that design
(d) there are other psychological effects that could be factors, too

 

[GREQ]

Quote:

(a) there is no conclusive evidence to support psychological adjustment as more significant than physical break-in

Evidence aside, from my reading on headfi since 2009, I have read more cases from experienced headfiers of people 'becoming accustomed' to the sound of a headphone rather than claiming their headphones have 'burned in', and describing that often a new headphone sounds horrible because they have not given themselves long enough to acquire the taste of a headphone or appreciate it's different sonic qualities.
 

(b) psychological effects are often not very generalizable since they may differ from person to person

The let me re-phrase it. Instead of a 'psychological' effect, let's call it a 'brain adjustment' - much like if someone wears upside-down mirror glasses, their brain will turn the image the 'right way up' after a while.
 

(c) physical break-in effects could easily vary from headphone to headphone type because of differences in composite materials and overall design, and thus the impact of psychological effects could be more or less influential depending on that design

- first point - I agree, but the break-ins that have been scientifically measured have been so incrementally small, there is no way that people will notice the 'huge' differences that some claim to hear.
-second point - That doesn't make sense unless you're talking about expectation bias regarding certain headphone types and materials.

(d) there are other psychological effects that could be factors, too

- if you're talking about expectation bias, that could well be, considering the OP is coming from loudspeakers.





 
So yes - this is about me. Nothing I've said has been irrefutably wrong or "silly."

 

[DC2Light]

Wow, this is why I love coming to forums or any of those "social" sights. (Well I don't really do that last part)
I know you all have heard this before but there are several things in an audio chain that are not effected noticeably by use. (and some of that is arguable like interconnecting cables) There are other parts that are in constant flux. (hah) Those things that are more mechanical in nature like acoustic drivers fatigue over time. (Well actually everything does but I'll save that for the existential forums). Simple analogy… how often do you buy a pair of shoes that don't fit correctly at first and over time they fit better and better until they are just right for you and then eventually you wear them out so you save them to make soup, oops I mean throw them out? This is true with all headphones to some extent. Just like the material of some shoes don't stretch as much as others so are the drivers in headphones and speakers. I remember years ago being told buy a Martin Guitar rep that all there wood was put into a room that had constant music being played to loosen up the fibers of the wood. Any studio guitarist that I work with will always say that an instrument over time changes in tone. We have to often leave instruments out for several hours before we can use them because they need to acclimate enough just to tune. Now even though I'm not a member of the camp that flips every cable around in the studio and auditions it both ways to hear which sounds better (yes I'm talking to you Eric Johnson!) but I've studied enough physics to understand that enough of those cables in order could make a real noticeable difference. (But I don't drink enough to even try it) Alas yes breaking in components does make a difference but honestly most people are not qualified enough to really notice it like a pair of shoes. Here-say double blind test are great if you have vision. Comfortable shoes are great if you have feet.
Cheers