[pencechp]

First of all, this is my first post to the forums--lurking for a week or two guided me to my first purchase of Sennheiser HD280s!

I just thought I'd post this, as I hadn't read anything about it and it'd have saved me from thinking I'd just made a $100 mistake in buying my new cans.

To other newbies: CHECK YOUR SOURCE QUALITY! This may seem like old hat to most people on the forums, who are running their phones through a host of different amps connected to nice stereo receivers and top-end computer sound cards, but newbies could easily miss this, as I almost did. My Senn 280s sounded like an anemic pair of laptop speakers, all treble, NO bass whatsoever. Note that people malign the bass of these in the first place---that's not what I'm talking about. I mean NO SOUND below maybe 200 Hz. AT ALL. It sounded like a pair of laptop speakers strapped to my ears.

I thought I'd just set fire to one hundred hard-earned dollars (recalling people complaining about these phones' bass on the forums). Then I took them into my stereo in my living room, popped in a Rage Against the Machine CD, and fell out of my armchair. Apparently my onboard sound is wired to COMPLETELY REMOVE bass from any music you might try to play.

Naturally, the Chaintech AV-710 is in the mail as I type this.

Can't post to the forums without asking a question, right? For a lower-end set of headphones like this, is it worth putting out the money to build myself a CMOY? Source will be my computer on the new Chaintech AV-710, and anything DIY more complicated than that is probably out of my electronics-skillz-league, and I'm not looking to spend more than maybe $60/70 as it is. I've seen quite a few posts about amps for the higher-end Senn's, and they seem apparently required, but little discussion about the cheaper phones for a college student on a budget.

 

[jagorev]

CMOY is definitely worth it, since AV-710 isn't really meant to drive headphones (it has a good line-out jack). If that's too much hassle, a PA2V2 (www.electric-avenues.com) connected to the line out of the AV-710 should do the job of driving the 280 nicely. Plenty of bass and punch for a $60 amp.

As an alternative to the AV-710 + amp, I'd recommend the Turtle Beach Audio Advantage Micro is a nice all-in-one budget solution...it has a headphone amp, line-out, and optical out, and sounds quite clean and powerful.

Oh, and welcome to head-fi, and sorry about wallet!

 

[swt61]

You should be able to pick one up already built in the for sale section for less than that. Heck i've got one i never use.

 

[Screamager]

Welcome (I wont say the rest, you´ve heard it already if you´ve hung around a bit).

If you´ve read reviews you must already know, the HD280s require A LOT of burn in time, out of the box they sond like crap. Plug them into your source, wrap them up in a towel and leave them playing nonstop for a couple of days (or whenever you´re not there at least). In a few days the sound will have changed. After that boost the low frequencies a bit with eq (these are pro phones intended for monitoring, not musical enjoyment with added color) and come talk about their lack of bass, you´re story will have changed, I guarantee. These things go clearly below 20Hz without the need to pump up the volume (do a frequency sweep with another headphone near this price and with the hd280, count how long it takes before you can hear sound on the other heaphones, hd280 will be instantaneous if your ears allow). I doubt you´ll regret your purchase. But yeah, you cant really expect great sound pluging your headphones into a line out.

 

[pencechp]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jagorev If that's too much hassle, a PA2V2 (www.electric-avenues.com) connected to the line out of the AV-710 should do the job of driving the 280 nicely. Plenty of bass and punch for a $60 amp.

I've heard bad things about this amp and classical music, which is about half my collection. Can anyone substantiate/disprove these claims? And to that end, are there any CMOY configurations (poor op-amps, perhaps) to avoid if clarity and accurate reproduction are some of my most important requirements?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Screamager Plug them into your source, wrap them up in a towel and leave them playing nonstop for a couple of days (or whenever you´re not there at least).

They're connected to my living room playing a particularly bassy collection of RATM as I type, and I'm planning to leave them there for at least 50 hours.

 

[jagorev]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pencechp I've heard bad things about this amp and classical music, which is about half my collection. Can anyone substantiate/disprove these claims? And to that end, are there any CMOY configurations (poor op-amps, perhaps) to avoid if clarity and accurate reproduction are some of my most important requirements?

The PA2V2 is not ideal for classical, because it tends to be a little too warm and bassy. But it's stil probably the best all-round amp available for $60 or less. There are better amps available at the $100 mark (Portaphile, Z-Audio, used PIMETAS, etc) or at $150 (Headroom Total Airhead).

 

[pencechp]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jagorev There are better amps available at the $100 mark (Portaphile, Z-Audio, used PIMETAS, etc) or at $150 (Headroom Total Airhead).

If it takes $100 to keep the overall quality of the sound clean and clear, I'll man up and spend the money when the next paycheck comes in. I see what they mean about your wallet here...

If you were in my place, shopping for your first headphone amp for a mostly classical/jazz collection with the occasional rock track, and given the choice between a Z-Audio Epsilon and Portaphile X basic w/o any upgrades, which would you nab? Or are there a few other good options I'm missing?

Makes you wish there were a good store that would let you actually demo some of this stuff. Of course, most of it is made by "professional DIY'ers" as opposed to massive chain audio corporations, so that seems unlikely... But I can still dream.

 

[jagorev]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pencechp If you were in my place, shopping for your first headphone amp for a mostly classical/jazz collection with the occasional rock track, and given the choice between a Z-Audio Epsilon and Portaphile X basic w/o any upgrades, which would you nab? Or are there a few other good options I'm missing?

I'd get the Portaphile just on technical specs...but I'm sure the Epsilon is also good.

Adding buffers to the Portaphile would also help improve the sound...but that's a $30 upgrade over the standard X.

There aren't too many other off-the-shelf options around. One of the better $100 amps (the Go-Vibe) is no longer being made. You should look around on the For Sale forum for used amps...like this one:

http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=174698

(PS: Or you could just get the TBAAM I recommended earlier instead of the AV710...it can drive the HD280 just fine with its built-in amp, and can also operate with a pricier amp, should you choose to get one later one).

 

[The Monkey]

Have someone buuild you a nice little cmoy.

 

[Zenja]

Just so you're not disappointed when you get it, don't expect much from the AV710 without an amp, especially for bass.

 

[fewtch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pencechp To other newbies: CHECK YOUR SOURCE QUALITY! This may seem like old hat to most people on the forums, who are running their phones through a host of different amps connected to nice stereo receivers and top-end computer sound cards, but newbies could easily miss this, as I almost did. My Senn 280s sounded like an anemic pair of laptop speakers, all treble, NO bass whatsoever. Note that people malign the bass of these in the first place---that's not what I'm talking about. I mean NO SOUND below maybe 200 Hz. AT ALL. It sounded like a pair of laptop speakers strapped to my ears.

Yep, that's what mine sounded like when I got them... unfortunately, it sounded like that from all the sources I had available at the time, so I sent them back. But I didn't like their basic sonic signature anyway (felt it was unmusical and hyper-analytical) so it all worked out for the best.

P.S. when you're ready for the next step, think HD580

. IMO it's a huge step up in musicality, although they leak sound in/out like crazy.

 

[Asr]

Heh, I was limited by source for a long time too, that was actually one of my most recent upgrades (got my Onkyo back in February).

Also FYI, even the best of computer sound cards are not very good sources, as the internals of a desktop PC put out quite a bit of electromagnetic radiation, electrical static, and auditory noise. All those can affect a sound card's output in very undesirable ways.

 

[pencechp]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Asr Also FYI, even the best of computer sound cards are not very good sources, as the internals of a desktop PC put out quite a bit of electromagnetic radiation, electrical static, and auditory noise. All those can affect a sound card's output in very undesirable ways.

If only there were a way to beat the power of a computer with transparent audio compression---when you're a student and can't afford to cart around your ~thousand-disc audio collection, tossing it onto an external harddrive makes it quite a bit more manageable.