Newbie Questions

[ShadowGunner]

Phew, i can finally post. The forum wouldn't let me post after i activated my account... Oh well, all good now.

Now for the noob questions.

First of all, i just bought a senn hd 600. I currently own a hd 570. Im planning on using the 600 for the comp and the 570 for portable devices.

From reading reviews off of websites, and reading posts on various forums (including this one), i take it that to get the most out of the 600, i need an amp.... I dont really want to replace the cables just yet.... I dont know "how" to replace the cables for the 600.

I also own Klipsch Promedia THX 2.1..... *opens up his manual*

From what i take it, amps are devices which provide major power for 600. No one actually explained what an amp is or what it does... All they say is get an amp....

In this manual for my klip system, it says that the speakers and subwoofer, has an integrated amplifier. "Digital Linear Hybrid Amplifier; discrete MOSFET output power section" are the exact words in this manual.

These speakers are pretty powerful. I can make the table, or room, or even the windows shake when i turn the subwoofer on med (i dont even want to put it on max

). I always set the knob for subwoofer on the lowest it can possibly go since things shake anyway when i play anything lol. (the speakers are connected to subwoofer which provides all the effects, like bass, duh)

One of the speakers has a headphone jack. So here's my question.

Do i still need to buy an amp? Cant i just plug hd600 into the headphone jack and the speaker will provide enough power? If the speakers and subwoofer is powerful enough to shake my whole room, then surely, i will be able to use 600 to it's full potential.

My sound card is audigy2 with the most updated drivers.

I built over 100 customized computers for family, friends, and myself, and yet, i know hardly anything of amps, replacing cables and such

.

And now for the cables. Are there any sites which provide instructions and screenshots on how to replace the cables? I know the cable easilly gets disced from the earplug with prolonged use. I just want to learn how to fix it myself and sometime in the near future replace the stock cable.

i still have a week or so before hd600 delivers so i just want to get things straight before i get the product.

Everyone has to start somewhere... It's a big sin to not ask questions when you dont know what's going on

 

[Hajime]

You'll probably not get the best sound quality out of the headphone jack on your speakers, but if you enjoy it then go for it. It's your choice whether you feel you need an amplifier or not. Personally, I like them and the increase in sound quality they provide. It's up to you whether you feel you need one or not.

 

[Daroid]

Welcome to Head-Fi

The integrated amp in the Klipsch Promedia works as a headphone amp too, but not comparable to a regular stand-alone headphone-amp. The problem is more with Creative and soundcards, because they don't exactly use high grade resampling algorithms, because the card resamples everything that is going through it. That's why most Creative cards have a very high IMD. Now imagine hooking a headphone-amp (stand-alone) up to the card... it won't sound as good as it can, so IMO save the money.

I think with some of Senns headphones, material is supplied on how to replace the cable with illustrations etc.

 

[Der Wolf]

Hi ShadowGunner.

I hope I can answer some of your questions...


First, about why to use an amp. Essentially an amp just amplifies a signal, so that you can hear something from your headphones or speakers. So, just fo volume you could easily take the output from klipsh system. But the thing with sound is: It' all about quality. I mean, people (audiophiles) are paying huge amounts of money for speakeramps. And that's not because they need 1000 watt per channel. I could easily buy some 500 watt per channel amp for a few hundred bucks, but I know from experience, that this amp will sound vastly inferior to a highend amp putting out only 200 watt per channel (but costing a lot more maybe...) So it comes down to the "kind" of power you feed a headphone or speakers. And since the HD600 are a quite good pair of phones you'd want an amp, that's on the same level with them. And I doubt, that the output of your klipsh system is of very high quality.

But since you are using the cans for the computer, maybe listening to MP3's, the quality might not make a so noticeable difference. So it comes down to the quality of music on your computer and how good you really want it to sound...

But I know next to nothing about soundcards and computers, so I'll let someone else to comment on that subject...

As to the replacement cable for the HD600, I can make a guess, but I don't know for sure so take this info with a grain of salt...
from pictures I have senn it looks like the cable is attached to the earpieces via two plugs. If this is the case, a cable swap would be fairly easy by just unplugging the old cable an inserting the new one... But as I said earlier I don't know for sure so...


I hope I could clear some things up a little and I'll throw in the standard head-fi greeting:

"Welcome and sorry about your wallet."


Lukas

 

[ShadowGunner]

Ahh i see. It's more clear now. The amp is my headphone jack. It can clearly provide more than enough power but the quality wont be as good as a dedicated amp.

Of course it's this way because the speakers were made to provide thx quality sound and not headphone quality sound.

I use the speakers during the day and the headphones during the night.

It's for mp3's, gaming, and watching movies. DVD quality and most of the time... Ahem... Divx5.03

More questions.

I've been reading on how good hd600 is on playing music and whatnot. But what about general sounds? Gunshots, explosions, voices, ect.

I'm an Audiophile but only when it comes to mp3's, gaming, and movies. Not to the extent of music on dvds. 320kbps is good enough for me

Dont hold back... Hit me on the head if i made a mistake. I can still cancel the order since it isn't shipped yet. Maybe someone can recommend headphones that would be more suited to my situation?

And thanks. I wish this board would use the same coding as other boards which i frequent a lot (http://www.emule-project.net/ http://forum.sharereactor.com/ )

But it's def fast and stable.

The only prob i have is displaying images. It seems that the

 

[erikzen]

Hello ShadowGunner, welcome to Head-Fi.

OT: Would you mind posting more information about eMule. I read through the faq and it looks interesting, but before I try it out I'd like to hear about it from a user. I guess the best place to post would be in the Source category.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled thread...

 

[Snufkin]

ShadowGunner - it's a good idea to fill out your profile around here, it helps people make more suitable recommendations when they know what kind of music you like etc

 

[ShadowGunner]

Profile done. I cant upload an image to my avatar... keeps saying that it's more than 75x75, but the image i have is 64x64....

OT: eMule... Good prog... i can post a lot of info on it on these forums but i'm too lazy to read the rules so i dont know if it's allowed or not....

Ill just say that the prog is perfectly legal... A very good prog that is

If you want more information then go to the forums on http://www.emule-project.net or go to http://sharereactor.com/ . The forums are currently down on sharereactor (again).

They can certainly provide more information than i can. Just read what users have to say on the forums.

I wish the admins here would contact the admins of sharereactor and somehow convince them to change their forums to something fast and stable 8p. But then again it's a b/w issue (over 50k ppl use those forums lol)

If you're lazy (like me) then PM me and i'll tell you what you want to know.

 

[bifcake]

Hi ShadowGunner,

I guess the answer to your question depends exclusively on how demanding you are with regards to sound quality. If all you'll be doing is listening to music on your computer and playing games, etc, then the HD600 and an amp are overkill. You don't need to spend that kind of money to be happy.

However, if this is just a beginning of audiophilia, then the HD600 are a good start. The good thing about the 600's is that they sound fantastic with good equipment and they don't offend with lesser equipment. So, no matter what you do, I think you'll be happy with the 600's. However, they won't sound nearly as good as they can unless you put some serious electronics behind them. An amp will definitely help. A GOOD CD player will help a lot as well.

I wouldn't worry about upgrading cables. Certainly not until you upgrade your electronics. The cables should be the last thing you upgrade. My rule of thumb is the following upgrade path:

1. Headphone/Speaker
2. Source
3. Amplification
4. Cables

The list is based on diminishing returns. You hear the most difference by trying different headphones, less of a difference with various CD players, less of a difference with various amps and less with cables. That's not to say that the differences aren't pronounced when upgrading cables, but only if other components are top notch.

Having said all this, if you're not planning on upgrading your source equipment, meaning getting a decent CD player, and if you will always listen to music on your computer, you may want to consider Grado SR40 headphones instead. They run for $40 and they're very good. They're more than adequate for computer based music, much cheaper, lighter and don't require an amp to sound their best..

 

[ShadowGunner]

I just got my hd600 cans.

They def sound better than my hd570 by they are less comfortable. They are lighter than the 570 but smaller.

Does anyone else find the 570 more comfortable than the 600?

 

[Duncan]

Hi ShadowGunner, welcome to Head-Fi

...Just a partial OT comment, but THX certification means jack these days... it seems that anyone and everyone can slap a THX sticker on their products

Apart from that, I hope you enjoy your cans