[scottm18]

I have one that came with my Sonorous X headphones that do work on the Pioneer. Looks like high-quality silver braided litz but I have no details on them at all. I do know at least at initial listen it made the SEM5 a little too bright...but maybe I'll break it in a bit more cuz cable hasn't been using until recently. Added close up if anyone knows what this may be..maybe the knurled end & painted R channel red dot is a help?

 

[dougms3]

I have one that came with my Sonorous X headphones that do work on the Pioneer. Looks like high-quality silver braided litz but I have no details on them at all. I do know at least at initial listen it made the SEM5 a little too bright...but maybe I'll break it in a bit more cuz cable hasn't been using until recently. Added close up if anyone knows what this may be..maybe the knurled end & painted R channel red dot is a help?

That looks like final audio's premium cable. High silver content tends to accentuate the higher frequencies

If you haven't used it before, its gonna take some time to burn in, silver takes long time to burn in, maybe 100+hours to settle in.

Should sound real nice once it's settled in, if its still too bright maybe a slightly thicker earpad might help.

In stock form it was a tad on the bright side for me which some thicker pads remedied.

 

[arturro13]

If you haven't tried a high quality cable for this headphone you're missing out.

I used a moon audio silver and a wywires platinum cable with it and they have their differences in the way they present the sound but both are way better than the stock cable. Pioneer is not a cable company and won't pay alot of money to provide high quality cables at that price point. I think its fairly obvious at this point that none of the flagship headphones ever come with great cables, aftermarket always offers better solutions.

Fully agree. Stock cable is not bad with vocals but a lot is missing.

 

[arturro13]

That looks like final audio's premium cable. High silver content tends to accentuate the higher frequencies

If you haven't used it before, its gonna take some time to burn in, silver takes long time to burn in, maybe 100+hours to settle in.

Should sound real nice once it's settled in, if its still too bright maybe a slightly thicker earpad might help.

In stock form it was a tad on the bright side for me which some thicker pads remedied.

Imho it is not Final Audio cable.

Did you mean this one as premium version?
https://audio46.com/products/final-audio-ofc-silver-coated-replacement-cable-for-sonorous-d8000

I tried briefly D8000 Pro with this cable. Not very convenient, heavy. Just silver plated and compering to pure silver it was audible, that it is not so transparent. Rather mediocre cable for the price.

This one from scottm18 looks to me like custom made. I have also custom silver with the same (or similar) earcup plugs with red dot.

Sharpness and brightness can be result of many things (even quality of soldering tin). And yes with more usage time sound can change quite a bit. For me silver is not sharpening in good setup, just giving pure music with more details.

 

[scottm18]

I'll have to try different pads .. a few threads up are some good suggestions.

I thought Final's silver cable look like this...

But it did come with a Sonorous X (secondhand)... so it could be Final...especially since the cables have to be very slender on the ear cup to fit the original locking barrels.

 

[dougms3]

I'll have to try different pads .. a few threads up are some good suggestions.

I thought Final's silver cable look like this...

But it did come with a Sonorous X (secondhand)... so it could be Final...especially since the cables have to be very slender on the ear cup to fit the original locking barrels.

I think either one will be an improvement over the stock pioneer cables.

 

[arturro13]

I have one that came with my Sonorous X headphones that do work on the Pioneer. Looks like high-quality silver braided litz but I have no details on them at all. I do know at least at initial listen it made the SEM5 a little too bright...but maybe I'll break it in a bit more cuz cable hasn't been using until recently. Added close up if anyone knows what this may be..maybe the knurled end & painted R channel red dot is a help?

This one has 16 strands (8 per channel)? This is quite a lot.. I wonder how it sounds and whether it is not too much.. Usually I see cables up to 8 strands.

You could make two cables out of this one

 

[scottm18]

Not sure where it came from but it looks expensive I'm going to try to break it in and use it a bit over the weekend and see what I find...

I did find that either 3.5 mono or stereo will work for a cable for each headphone (SEM5 is stereo earcup while X is mono) ...not sure why sometimes they are mono versus stereo connectors.

Lots of playback variables to try on N8ii too:. Tube/SS/Class A/AB amp/High-Power...etc.

 

[PioneerPurist]

So, I tried the SEM5 with my Sony Walkman NW-ZX507 and compared it to my dedicated PC set-up with Pioneer U-05 headphone amp/DAC.

The change is subtle, but I think the NW-ZX507 is a more pleasant and warmer listen whereas the U-05 is possibly a bit more detailed (barely noticeable) but has a little harsher/brighter sound. I'm leaning more towards the Walkman tbh, however I have hardly burned it in (Sony suggests 200+ hours), so will need to do a lot more listening/comparing...

 

[Metron]

Hi everyone. Is there a frequency response graph posted anywhere for the Pioneer SE-MONITOR5?

 

[Chris Kaoss]

Found just this review from german side "Kopfhörer.de" with measurements included.

 

[Chris Kaoss]

After lending the SEM5 to my younger brother 5 month ago, i'm starting to miss it badly.

Have to bring them back home soon, or buy them again. ^^

 

[Metron]

Found just this review from german side "Kopfhörer.de" with measurements included.

Many thanks for that! The English Google-translated page is as follows:
https://www-kopfhoerer-de.translate...l=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp

If this is the RAW version of the graph then I'm at a loss: It's so far away from the Harman curve that it looks like that the mids are overstated and the highs are severely underrepresented!

 

[arturro13]

Many thanks for that! The English Google-translated page is as follows:
https://www-kopfhoerer-de.translate...l=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp

If this is the RAW version of the graph then I'm at a loss: It's so far away from the Harman curve that it looks like that the mids are overstated and the highs are severely underrepresented!

This measurement I suppose confirms my search for different earpads to achieve better clarity. I also don't like suede so ended up with Dekoni TH900 and Brainwavz Round sheepskin.

 

[Metron]

This measurement I suppose confirms my search for different earpads to achieve better clarity. I also don't like suede so ended up with Dekoni TH900 and Brainwavz Round sheepskin.

There is a ~3dB hump between 50Hz-100Hz and a very significant belly (up to -18dB at ~5KHz from the Harman curve!) between 1KHz and 10KHz; how do you fix that?!
https://jazztimes.com/reviews/products-and-gear/audio-files-the-harman-curve/
Anyway, they also come with an extra pair of (p)leather pads, have you tried them?