[adee147]

Solution to 6m long cable:
 
http://www.screencast.com/t/7wHvyQ0CZxS
http://www.screencast.com/t/PsnJZJCld
 
Sorry, cannot post photos yet.
 
How to:
 
1. Gather the wire in three equal folds, leaving 2-3 inch of wire from both sides (headset and jack)
2. Start near the headset. Grab the starting point of three wires with your foot.
3. Start braiding.
  3.1. After three to five folds, stop and grab the braided end with your hand / foot.
  3.2. From the other end, grab the wire with the jack at the end and pass it from the hoop in reverse to loose the tangles formed due to braiding.
  3.3. Repeat step 3 over and over again until the whole wire is braided.
4. When the wire cannot be braided anymore, grab the end with the jack, twist the tiny hoop, and pass the jack from the tiny hoop.
 
You will end with a wire nearly two meters long. Mine reduced to 1.9 meters. Cool, huh! 

 

[shinynugget]

could have saved $15!

 

[GearMe]

  I ordered these today, but I'm already feeling buyer's remorse. I was sold on these by reading through this thread, but it seems like peoples' opinion of these have fallen off a bit. I was hoping to get a nice alternative to my MDR-V6's, and these seemed like a good deal, but do these come anywhere even remotely close in quality to something like the HD598's, K701's or DT770/880/990's? I don't have a huge budget to work with, but I'd rather just save up if these are truly inferior cans. 

I appreciate any input.

 
Opinions will differ but I believe they're a good value for $45 -- especially if they're your first set of open headphones.  If so, these will give you an appreciation of the soundstage capabilities versus a closed set of cans.  They are nice to listen for multiple music genres...especially through a tube amp.
 
That said, I don't think they're as good as my 558's or 990s but those were 3 and 4 times the price of the Pioneers respectively.

 

[kc3902]

   
Opinions will differ but I believe they're a good value for $45 -- especially if they're your first set of open headphones.  If so, these will give you an appreciation of the soundstage capabilities versus a closed set of cans.  They are nice to listen for multiple music genres...especially through a tube amp.
 
That said, I don't think they're as good as my 558's or 990s but those were 3 and 4 times the price of the Pioneers respectively.

Thanks for the reply. I used to have the Grado SR-60's, so I've experienced open before. I'm hoping these will be good for jazz. I guess I'll open them up and give them a shot, I'm just hoping I don't regret the (admittedly minor) loss of cash that could've gone towards the K701 or 990.

 

[GearMe]

  Thanks for the reply. I used to have the Grado SR-60's, so I've experienced open before. I'm hoping these will be good for jazz. I guess I'll open them up and give them a shot, I'm just hoping I don't regret the (admittedly minor) loss of cash that could've gone towards the K701 or 990.

Yep...don't think you'll be disappointed in the value they give you.  I like them for jazz...was just listening to some (Brubeck, Krall, etc.) the other day on them.  They're also good for what I'll call easy listening (James Taylor, Eagles, etc) and for some 'live/concert' music recordings.
 
They're very different than the SR60's though as I wouldn't use them for some of the rock that I listen to with those.

 

[shinynugget]

Well my se-a1000's came in a day early. Apparently there is an Amazon distro center very close and they had them in stock. Now I'm just waiting for my Astro Mixamp to arrive to complete the set up.  I did give them a test listen last night and have a few thoughts. I'm a novice with regards to this kind of gear to read my opinion with that in mind.
 
I like the design, it breaks the mold of typical over head bands. They look a little more modern to my eye, some will like it. The build quality seems very good from jack with break preventing spring, to the braided cord to the headphone cups. All the materials and assembly add up to a nice set of cans. I do wish the silver ring on the outside of the cups was aluminum and not painted plastic, that's a nit pic though. The earcups don't have a leather or velvet covering, it is more of a woven material. It would appear to be well made and should last a long time and wear well. I'll get back to you on long term comfort as I didn't wear it more than an hour last night. Again user preference on whether you will like the earcup material. During that time they were very comfortable though. My head is on the large end and very round in shape. Even so the 1000's did not clamp too tight but I never felt like they would fall off either. I can see where someone with a smaller or narrower head should might feel like these are too loose. I have no need for the headband mod at this time. I also wear glasses when I'm at home(contacts otherwise) and these did not bother my glasses at all. I wear semi of full frameless with thin titanium earpieces. The cord is LOOONNNG on these. One of the first things I did was braid it to shorten the length. Even so I have more than enough to reach my chair in my gaming set up. 
As far as sound quality I think these sound fantastic. Especially considering it's very easy to be super cheap and buy $20-$30 and Wal-Mart or Target when these are going for $40 on TigerDirect and $55 on Amazon. I just grabbed a few CD's I had laying around and played them through my Sony HT. While my selection may not be ideal material it's what I had and I will try out more music later.
 
Def Leppard Rock of Ages: The Definitive Collection. This has a lot of songs from the pre-Mutt Lange era. So lot of really good guitar work from Steve Clark. 
 
Brave Heart SoundTrack. James Horner composed this so it brings in a variety of great instrumental elements. From Bagpipes to oboes and clarinets and subtle timpani work.
 
Star Wars The Phantom Menace. Hey it's John Williams, the man is a legend. 
 
Both these CD's sounded really good over the 1000's. I picked up things I haven't, or never heard in songs from both albums. The highs of Clark's guitar work were very clear without being harsh. The bass Leppard used in their earlier work wasn't very thumping but more loose and while it didn't have a lot of punch it was well defined. The snare drums sounded great as well with wonderful definition and clarity. These aren't the best cans for bass heavy music as you will lose that punch but classic rock and anything from the 50's or 60's will sounds good.
 
The music from Braveheart is something I've always liked. I have a soft spot for good bagpipe work and there is a lot of that on this album. This is a tough one to listen too in the car or in a noisy environment as there are a lot of quiet moments with only one or two instruments bridging parts of songs. I could here the vibration of the bagpipes like never before as well as the windwood instruments providing background . It was very easy to hear all the elements James Horner composed into them instead of hearing just silence as you might in other situations.
 
The Star Wars soundtrack was simply amazing when heard through these. There is so much going on in many of these songs it's hard to isolate one area of excellence. This is where the 1000's shine and I look forward to more Classical and Jazz on these. 
 
I played a little Battlefield 3 last night as well. I used the Tritton AX720 amp with an adapter cable. The soundstage and definition were terrific. Again, a little low on the bass but who needs it with clarity like this. The positional audio was good but the Tritton amp was never the best at this so I will wait to reserve final judgement until the Astro arrives. Overall these sounds like good gaming cans and I will try out COD: BLOPS 2, COD: BLOPS and COD: MW2 just for reference tonight. 
 
Overall these things are the best $55 I've spent in a while. For the price I paid these are definitely over achievers and I don't feel like I'm missing by not having the ath-ad700's. These will be with me for a long time to come.

 

[techboy]

I had a pair. They are excellent in the sub $100 range but that is it. Hd 518 is likely better from my trial of it.

 

[shinynugget]

The Astro Mixamp came in Wednesday and I hooked it up for a little Thanksgiving gaming. I played COD:BLOPS 2, BF3 and Diablo 3. The Astro made huge difference compared to the Tritton amp. Positional cues were very accurate with really good soundstage depth. With Dead Silence(Ninja in Modern Warfare) and Awareness on I was able to clearly other players not also using Dead Silence. Even after having not played COD for several weeks (thanks Diablo 3!) I had a positive K/D on all my games running that class. In BF 3 the sounds of choppers, jets, and tanks was incredible. Very accurate cues allowed me to turn and spot threats more quickly. Saved my bacon on a couple occasions when tanks were rolling on Flag B of Kharg Island. 
So far very happy with this setup and as long as the Astro Amp holds up and the dogs don't chew my headphone cable I'll keep it for some time.

 

[Phishin Phool]

I ordered these today, but I'm already feeling buyer's remorse. I was sold on these by reading through this thread, but it seems like peoples' opinion of these have fallen off a bit. I was hoping to get a nice alternative to my MDR-V6's, and these seemed like a good deal, but do these come anywhere even remotely close in quality to something like the HD598's, K701's or DT770/880/990's? I don't have a huge budget to work with, but I'd rather just save up if these are truly inferior cans. 


I appreciate any input.

I still use mine quite often ad they are eady to drive and dound great. Aftet 6 mos with them my only big criticism is they are bads light, accurste but light so unles ypu need 'thump thump thump' I think you'll be pleased

 

[cam94z28]

Thanks for this thread. I was eyeing  these when they were WAY more expensive, and watched them drop down to $80, $55, and the $45 which they now are. So, I'm VERY tempted. But, I noticed one important spec that bothers me. Do these seriously only have a sensitivity of 12dB? I could only imagine what it would take to drive these.
 
Please tell me this is a typo, and these can be powered relatively easily from a portable player. I do have a few cmoy amps, and a Home Stereo Receiver which would probably power them, but don't want to have to rely on them. Players i have are Sansa Fuse v2, Nationite S:Flo2, and Spotify over my Android phone (LG Optimus L9)

 

[SanjiWatsuki]

  Thanks for this thread. I was eyeing  these when they were WAY more expensive, and watched them drop down to $80, $55, and the $45 which they now are. So, I'm VERY tempted. But, I noticed one important spec that bothers me. Do these seriously only have a sensitivity of 12dB? I could only imagine what it would take to drive these.
 
Please tell me this is a typo, and these can be powered relatively easily from a portable player. I do have a few cmoy amps, and a Home Stereo Receiver which would probably power them, but don't want to have to rely on them. Players i have are Sansa Fuse v2, Nationite S:Flo2, and Spotify over my Android phone (LG Optimus L9)

It's a typo. It's probably 112dB given the 0.01V to 90dB and its impedance.

 

[DigitalDreams]

Cam, I have been running mine on my Zune and even my Android tablet from time to time and it has had plenty of volume for me but that is listening at home too, not in an outdoor/noisy setting.

 

[Trenne]

Just ordered a pair of these. Will be using these at the computer together with a schiit magni\modi.
Will be fun to see how they compare to my Momentums. Don´t really have any high expectations. So who knows might be a pleasant surprise.
Now I just need to wait 1-2 weeks for them to ship to Sweden.

 

[Phishin Phool]

  Thanks for this thread. I was eyeing  these when they were WAY more expensive, and watched them drop down to $80, $55, and the $45 which they now are. So, I'm VERY tempted. But, I noticed one important spec that bothers me. Do these seriously only have a sensitivity of 12dB? I could only imagine what it would take to drive these.
 
Please tell me this is a typo, and these can be powered relatively easily from a portable player. I do have a few cmoy amps, and a Home Stereo Receiver which would probably power them, but don't want to have to rely on them. Players i have are Sansa Fuse v2, Nationite S:Flo2, and Spotify over my Android phone (LG Optimus L9)

The actual/true sensitivity is 102dB.

 

[shinynugget]

Thanks for posting this. The braiding worked great and make the cord far more manageable. I even intertwined my mic cable into the braid to reduce cable clutter.