Problems with HE5/EF5

[Vergex2]

Hi,

My setup currently is:

HiFiMAN HE5 -> About 12 days old
HiFiMAN EF5 -> About 12 days old
Nuforce uDac -> About 15 days old

I'm also using very cheap cables I got from the back of my TV. (age unknown, probably about a year or so)

All media is played off my computer.

(Please do let me know if I'm doing something very stupid and potentially bottlenecking my setup)

I've done some minor burn in (sine wave sweeps, white & pink noise) at low volumes, and played music from low to relatively high volumes. Burn in has been done for about 35 hours, and music for maybe 70.

I have a few questions:

Would stacking my EF5 on top of the DY1 (power supply) cause any heating issues? I don't have much space on my desk, and I know that I probably won't be able to feel that it has overheated until it is too late. My room temperature is usually under 20C, with peak being at about 28C.

I sometimes hear distortion when playing at any volume louder than whisper-quiet. There are things that I swear aren't part of the track. Will this be alleviated in time as my headphones mature?

When playing at high volumes (I'm not good with this, but I'm assuming it is around 80 decibels, 70 at least and perhaps much higher), my amp will occasionally 'die' and I'll have to turn it off, and back on. Am I putting too much stress on it? Should I simply not play at volumes that were commonplace for my HD555s which had no difficulty with?

Finally, the sound of my headphones still doesn't blow me away. When I first heard it just after I unpackaged it, I thought it sounded worse than my HD 555s + uDac, or HD 555s + Auzentech Prelude. Now, I think it is marginally superior (mainly in more details and percussion wise). Have I simply gotten used to the sound of the HiFiMANs? Or is burning in really taking place? Would it sound even better after more use? Or am I merely deluding myself?

Thanks in advance for helping me with a barrage of questions.

 

[Shahrose]

I'd replace the cables. Nothing fancy, just new, cheap, good quality ones like Blue Jeans. The headphones should not distort at all even at eardrum splitting volumes.

 

[gbacic]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vergex2 /img/forum/go_quote.gif When playing at high volumes (I'm not good with this, but I'm assuming it is around 80 decibels, 70 at least and perhaps much higher), my amp will occasionally 'die' and I'll have to turn it off, and back on. Am I putting too much stress on it? Should I simply not play at volumes that were commonplace for my HD555s which had no difficulty with?

This shouldn't happen at all, there may be something wrong with the amp and you should get it fixed/replaced.

 

[Head Injury]

I was using cheap cables, but bought some LC-1 interconnects from Blue Jeans Cable that are about four or five times as thick. Can't confidently say it improved my sound, but I swear quiet noises and treble detail come in a tiny, tiny bit better. Still, the confidence I can place in it over the cheapo cables makes it worth the money. Looks great too

What is your uDAC volume at? Some people get distortion at max volume, but I don't. Others get channel imbalance and other issues at low volume, but I don't. Also, are you using the RCA outs on the back and not the headphone jack?

.jpg]This image has the EF5 on top of its power supply. I personally wouldn't if I had the room because tube amps produce a lot of heat.

28C is pretty hot for a room. The EF5 should be able to handle that, but Little Dot recommends ambient temperatures no higher than 27C for extended periods for LD I+ users. I wouldn't worry about that if it's not constant.

I do agree with gbacic and that should not happen.

As for sound, you may not have been prepared for the relatively minuscule gains you pay for in this hobby. Don't believe anyone when they say something is leaps and bounds better than something else. Though you should be able to notice a big enough improvement. Have you been using your HD555 intermittently? If not, try using it and see if the difference sounds much bigger. It's always easier to notice what you're missing on a downgrade than it is to notice what you've gained in an upgrade.

Oh yeah, and what music do you listen to? If it's all crappy remastered or modern rock that's brickwalled into everything sounding the same volume, no amount of headphone upgrading will make it sound significantly better. If you're listening to low bitrate MP3s, the differences will be smaller than usual too. Try a jazz CD or something if you haven't yet.

 

[gbacic]

Do you have the amp set to the correct voltage setting for your area? The switch on the back (220V or 110V) changes this. Maybe this is the problem.

I wouldn't use the amp any more, there may be something seriously wrong with it and it could destroy your headphones which are probably fine.

 

[Vergex2]

Well, I live in Vancouver, Canada.

I believe my parts were from Hong Kong, just for reference.

There are 2 sets of voltages on my DY-1 power supply, the one on the left has a choice of 18V or 16V, I left it at the default 18.

The other voltage I changed from 220 to 115 - well I assume it is at 115. It says 115, and I'm covering the 220.

I'll definitely look into getting new cables soon.

I'm still not sure about my amp, a few more weeks of use may tell.

For my music, while most of my MP3s are at 320 and I get lossless whenever possible, the more I think about it, the more I know that a lot of my recordings were done in pretty crummy studios. I have a lot of underground music and the like. Don't get me wrong, I love dynamics, variation and all that, but it saddens me that for me, those tracks come from cheaper studios and low budgets.

Hopefully it'll be better after a few more weeks of use. Thanks for all the help so far and any more that I can get regarding my amp.

 

[mrarroyo]

Also check the gain on the top by the front of the sight glass. While at it make sure the tube is fully inserted and that the power cable going from the PSU to the amp is inserted correctly. Look at the cable end and match it with the receptacle in the amp. The voltage of 18V is the correct for the EF5, the 16V is for the older EF1.

 

[schweinhund]

My EF5 out of the box crackled bad and had some channel imbalance. I took out the tube and cleaned it up real nice and it solved everything. I'm not sure if that would help you but it's worth a shot. Also take off the label sticker on the tube if you haven't already.

 

[Vergex2]

I changed the gain from low to high because it was too quiet. Would this have any effect on performance elsewhere?

I'll also try to clean the tube soon.


EDIT: I also do have it plugged in the back of the uDac, not in the front headphone port as the HE5 doesn't come with a normal 3.5mm adapter.

 

[moodyrn]

There are a lot of things that could be causing this from bad cables, to bad or dirty tubes, gain setting, input voltage coming into the amp, bad amp, or problems with the headphones themselves. I would try schweinhund's suggestion and clean the tube pins. If that don't work, then I would replace the cables and work my way up the chain from there.

 

[Vergex2]

Cleaning the tubes has had a profound difference - now the background noise that persists even when nothing is playing is now non existent. Time will tell if it has any effect on music..

 

[schweinhund]

Glad to hear that helped. I think low gain should be enough volume too. When I think of it, mine was really quiet too before I cleaned the tube. I just couldn't tell because the crackling sound was so bad I couldn't stand turning it up.

 

[tvrboy]

Just to add my .02, the HE-5 will distort at very high volumes, even with the EF5 amp. Like others said, make sure all your cables are plugged in correctly and the setting is for 18volts. A recable won't solve your problem, this is obviously with the amp.

 

[AmanGeorge]

The distortion may be the fault of the uDac - a few folks including myself have had issues with this.

 

[Vergex2]

What DAC should I upgrade to, in this case then, if the uDac is the problem? Is it worth upgrading for, since it could potentially be a shot in the dark?