[autoexec]

 
Quote:

For some reason, I tend to get "bad" headphones - the ones that "failed" QC. I'm a magnet for such things.
 
As far the DT1350, I'm not exactly sure how it is supposed to sound given the FR irregularities between the channels of this unit. All I can say right now is that this pair sounds wierd and a little bit off tonally.

 
I'm really curious, is the one you have has the flatter plastic end (newer serial no.)? I just want to increase my hopes that mine (I'm guessing the older batch - not flat plastic end with serial no. 11xxx) is one of the good ones and that the newer batch has the most that has QC issues. (fingers crossed)

 

[shipsupt]

For those seeking a batch issue, looking at the numbers reported the serial number of the pair Purrin tested falls in the middle somewhere, 120xx.

 

[shipsupt]

Gave this mod a try tonight and I'm enjoying it.  Fit issues go away and they are pretty darned comfy like this.
 
Time will tell on how the sound changes... but initial impressions are fairly similar to slwiser, nothing is changing so drastically to change the basic impression of the 1350.
 
I might have to try the pleather vs. of the pads as well...
 
Thanks for sharing!
 
Quote:

Here is the easiest mod for the DT1350 I have seen.  I just applied the HD-25 velour pads right over the existing pads: (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/352733-REG/Sennheiser_069417_Replacement_Velour_Earpads_for.html )
 
Here is a picture of what it looks like:
 
 
This makes the sound move toward the HD-25 a bit while maintaining the precision, attack of the DT1350.  The mids are even more smooth using these pads while the bass is maintained tight like I like it.  The extension of the original is still there giving me the air I enjoyed.   This sounds great everyone should try this mod.

 
 

 

[swarthy]

Surely, you cannot just take one or two samples and then levy all this criticism on the headphones in general. That is ridiculous. More headphones of many different brands including HD25s would need to be measured to see how all the brands stack up. Beyer quality could have been worse for the first few runs. It certainly is for major things like televisions and what not in stores. I got the first and last run of a local dimming LG and the one a year later was so much better it was amazing. The whole thing was just aligned better and the screen had no smearing dirty effect on the whites when panning. No bad pixels or broken inputs.

I have a pair of these coming in the mail soon and I will check number and then do some careful AB'ing while switching channels to see if they are mismatched. Anyway, I think the sound on these in quite awesome and with some small tweaking it sounds excellent.

 

[purrin]

Some of the guys making the criticisms have had issues with Beyer QC in the past. We are not talking about exposure to one or two pairs either. And yes, I do have many more measurements of other headphones such as the HD25 and V-Moda M80.

 

[swarthy]

That still doesn't make it scientifically valid. You are a small sample space. Bad batches happen all the time. I would like a test with the newest numbered 1350s to confirm. I will definitely be checking it out. If it is not noticeable than why would I care a whole lot if they sound great. Newer ones may be better matched in this regard.

I think phones in general all have QC issues and the people here making a fuss could just as easily somewhere else. It is the same all over the place.

You guys are also not engineers and I would rather need to hear some comments from the people who design the phones. Also, maybe you guys just love your other brands too much who knows. Graphs don't prove a whole lot by themselves.

 

[purrin]

Quote:

That still doesn't make it scientifically valid. You are a small sample space. Bad batches happen all the time. I would like a test with the newest numbered 1350s to confirm. I will definitely be checking it out. I don't want more than a dB between the two.
I think they all have QC issues and the people here making a fuss could just as easily somewhere else. It is the same all over the place.

I disagree with that. Modern manufacturing processes with proper QC should rarely result in bad headphone and NEVER result in bad batches. Sennheiser is a good example. I've NEVER measured a screwy headphone from them - on any of their models. In fact, I've never measured screwy headphones from ANY OTHER manufacturer, with the exception of one other, and certainly not to the extent of Beyer's extreme driver mismatches on the SAME headphone.
 
Even if I measured 19 more DT1350s that were perfectly good, that's still 5% of them are bad. 5% is not a good number. Even if it's 49 more, that's 2%. A 2% error rate is not an acceptable number for a $290 headphone. $290 is still a lot of money, given the lack of raw materials needed to make a DT1350. I (and many others) have already personally heard too many bad or inconsistent sounding headphones from Beyer.
 
Beyer needs to get its act together. Keep making excuses for them and all we are going to get is more crap QC.

 

[purrin]

Just got in another pair. Very good driver matching, but very different bass characteristics from the "bad" pair.
 

 

 

[rhythmdevils]

There's also the fact that you have well documented proof of QC issues with Beyer's flagship TOTL 1200 dollar headphone.  That taken with  this single measurement of their 300 dollar headphone that has the same exact kind of QC issues, and it's very unlikely to be a coincidence.  Very very unlikely.  

 

[purrin]

Exactly. And of fifty some different headphones (some of the same model), that I've measured, the two headphones with extreme driver mismatch issues happen to be with Beyer. And this is not counting those I've heard but have no measurements of.

 

[ocswing]

 
Quote:

That still doesn't make it scientifically valid. You are a small sample space. Bad batches happen all the time. I would like a test with the newest numbered 1350s to confirm. I will definitely be checking it out. If it is not noticeable than why would I care a whole lot if they sound great. Newer ones may be better matched in this regard.
I think phones in general all have QC issues and the people here making a fuss could just as easily somewhere else. It is the same all over the place.
You guys are also not engineers and I would rather need to hear some comments from the people who design the phones. Also, maybe you guys just love your other brands too much who knows. Graphs don't prove a whole lot by themselves.

 
Even if bad batches happen, why are they getting released? Yes, there are tolerances in manufacturing drivers, but if they perform outside of those tolerances they need to be binned. Beyond that it's simply a matter of closely matching drivers. Beyerdynamic has the equipment necessary to graph a driver and put two together that are similar. They shouldn't just be going off the press into a headphone without testing.
 

 

[bobxxxbob]

I'm not quite sure that the problem here is in Beyerdynamic QC, but rather in the user. These headphones are really difficult to position exactly right on your head. I find it's like solving a Rubiks cube every time I put DT-1350 on my head. Even the smallest changes in the positioning change the sound quality dramatically resulting in channel imbalances and complete loss of bass.

 

[mrAdrian]

Quote:

I'm not quite sure that the problem here is in Beyerdynamic QC, but rather in the user. These headphones are really difficult to position exactly right on your head. I find it's like solving a Rubiks cube every time I put DT-1350 on my head. Even the smallest changes in the positioning change the sound quality dramatically resulting in channel imbalances and complete loss of bass.

I actually think that was the reason why it was so hard for our human ears to detect the problem! Even if they were unbalanced I bet we solved it with placing them slightly differently...
 
 
 
EDIT: omg I became a 500+ Head-fi'er. Noob threads / M50 threads here I come!

 

[rasmushorn]

Exactly. And of fifty some different headphones (some of the same model), that I've measured, the two headphones with extreme driver mismatch issues happen to be with Beyer. And this is not counting those I've heard but have no measurements of.

When measuring these headphones on a dummy-head the position related to the microphones can also have big impact on the results - am I right? If that is the case how do you make sure the headphones are always in the exact same spot?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[purrin]

Alignment marks. I'll position them in a way to where I get the best measurements and note position. And no, slight offsets don't produce massive changes in FR. They actually tend to change the treble characteristics. I don't use a dummy head either - the coupling mechanism (and compensating curves) are more immune to changes in position.