[rlzpatientbul]

So, I've been using Sennheiser HD 515 for about 10 years, I've found them to be perfect in regards of sound quality for both games and music. Especially in games they are completely flawless, considering their price.

I just received an HD 569 yesterday and I've found a significant distinction in the sound, specifically the trebles in games sound muffled, quite noticeable compared to the crisp sound of 515, although the 515 are supposed to be slightly lower class headphones (correct me if I'm wrong). It is not a loudness issue, the volumes are just fine. Could it be because they are brand new and need to be "broken in"? Can I break them in quicker by playing high treble sounds and music on a high volume for a few hours/days?

Or should I just return them and pick something else.

Any information would be highly appreciated!

Thank you!

 

[Evan McNaughton]

If I had to guess I would say it is a combination of things. I can't speak from experience as I don't own a pair myself but from the frequency response graphs I've seen online there seems to be a drop off in the treble in the HD 569s. However, they could need to be "broken in" although I've read several articles saying that headphone break-in is more of a myth than anything, RTings has a pretty well-written article on it where they show that the frequency response does change over time but that it's a change too small to be humanly perceivable. I should note that they did not have a pair of open-backed dynamic driver headphones in their sample, so there is always the odd chance that they may change more than other types of headphones, although I'm highly skeptical of that. That being said if you do decide to attempt to break them in I recommend doing a frequency sweep or white/pink noise at around 90db giving them a 10-15 min break every hour or so to cool down the drivers to avoid having them overheat. But truth be told, your probably best off returning them and looking for a different pair of headphones, if you're looking for a pair with good high-end I would recommend looking into a pair grados I hear that they tend to have a very good high end. Hope this helps!