[Androktasiai]

Hey,
 
I am listening to some music Johnny Cash - Hurt on my HiFiMan HE-500 headphones running through a DAC and then through my Schiit Lyr Amp.
 
I am noticing some very annoying scratchiness/distortion which, to my ears, appears to be coming from the bottom of the left phone around 3:02 and gets worse all the way until 3:27 of the song.
 
Can anyone that has a pair of HiFiMan HE-500s listen to a FLAC or 320 Mbps version of this song and see if you notice the same thing?
 
I am afraid something is wrong with the headphones...
 
Thanks.

 

[Androktasiai]

I am running through the DAC at 24/192 using Asynch USB from my computer.

 

[MalVeauX]

Heya,
 
HE-500 on Bifrost & Lyr (and Asgard) here. Not hearing any scratches. Mine's from a CD (The Legend of Johnny Cash).
 
What's the source of your music?
Are you using compressed MP3 or equivalent?
Try and play directly from CD if you have it, if not, try to obtain it or a lossless equivalent.
 
Very best,

 

[takezo]

it sounds clean on mind. you may want to make sure the headphone cable is secured tightly.
another thing to try is to switch the cables around. left to right and vice versa.
if the left channel still distorts even after the cable switch, then you'll know it's the headphone
and not the amp/source.

 

[Androktasiai]

Source is FLAC audio file. its between the guitar runs, you have to be listening for it, but when you hear it, it is annoying as hell, sounds almost like a blown speaker, but these are planar magnetics, don't know if that's possible.
 

 

[Androktasiai]

I hear the same thing (not as defined however) on my Denon AH-D2000. Maybe just the audio track?

 

[takezo]

yeah, if that's the case, the file is crappy.

 

[Androktasiai]

its almost staticy, almost as if its guitar strums that are really rough, not scratchy, its hard to explain
 

 

[Androktasiai]

Let me try another version of the same song. Hold on.

 

[LFF]

Sounds like a bad encode...
 
If not...make sure there is no hair poking into the driver.

 

[Androktasiai]

I have tried 3 versions of the same song, all FLAC files, every one has the same static towards the end of the song 3:02-end, it comes and goes, and its very faint, but I pick it up on both my headphones (AH-D2000 and HiFiMan HE-500)
 
Maybe my ears are too sensitive, but it definitely is scratchiness in the background, coming through the left phone when the guitars and background music crescendo it becomes very audible.