[ADUHF]

I've been curious about this. How does the boost sound with this? Does it sound on the clean side or more distorted for headphones like HD600?

https://www.schiit.com/public/upload/general/loki-mini-front-1920.jpg
https://www.schiit.com/public/upload/general/loki-mini-rr-1920.jpg
https://www.schiit.com/public/upload/general/loki-mini-pcb-1920.jpg

Haven't tried it myself. So I can't tell you much beyond what's in the sales blurb on the Schiit site. Looks like a piece of fairly high-quality, low noise gear though, with straight analog in and out. So I wouldn't think it would add alot of distortion... unless you try to push your HP's beyond their natural capabilities. Which is not hard to do with some open-back headphones in the bass.

If your HPs are fairly rolled off in the bass, then an EQ like the Loki will not really be able to extend them much deeper, if at all. All it can potentially do is give you some ability to rebalance the other parts of the frequency range relative to the bass that is there. That's really about it... As I was sayin earlier, if there is no bass to begin with, then you can't really increase it. The physics in an open-back headphone just won't permit it. There may be more adjustability in the bass on closed-back HPs though, which already have some more bass present at the lower frequencies.

Looks like this goes between your source and amp, which I believe is the way most EQs are designed to work. That's the way they appear to be showing it in their stack anyway...

https://www.schiit.com/public/upload/general/big-stack-plain.jpg

 

[CaptainFantastic]

It's been confirmed by several reputable sources that the Loki does not add any distortion.

 

[staticV3]

It's been confirmed by several reputable sources that the Loki does not add any distortion.

The only electrical audio component which does not add distortion is a wire. Everything else will. The only question is: to what extent?

 

[Majestyk]

There is bassy. And then there is bassy though, Majestyk. I'm sure you're not trying to suggest that the HD 600 can sound as bassy or well-extended in the low-frequencies as some of the better close-back HPs. Because that would be utter nonsense... unless maybe you're willing to close them up.

I'm merely suggesting that they can sound as bassy, or at least very close, as the 650's with my receiver. In fact, +2 is where I keep the bass for most recordings. But it should also be noted that I use older pads. I just can't get that nice juicy bass with new ones.

With some vintage receivers (mainly pre-mid 70's), you don't have to boost the bass at all to get great bass extension. The 650's can sound too boomy on these particular units.

 

[Majestyk]

I agree btw that tones controls are still useful. And can be handy for tweaking the sound for different types of music as well. I wouldn't use my current HPs without them, or at least some basic type of equalization.

Oh yes! I mean, imagine your 600's sounding similar to the 650's but without the smoothed vocals. It can be done with some gear.

 

[ADUHF]

I'm merely suggesting that they can sound as bassy, or at least very close, as the 650's with my receiver. In fact, +2 is where I keep the bass for most recordings. But it should also be noted that I use older pads. I just can't get that nice juicy bass with new ones.

With some vintage receivers (mainly pre-mid 70's), you don't have to boost the bass at all to get great bass extension. The 650's can sound too boomy on these particular units.

I don't currently own any Sennheisers, except for an old broken pair of PX-100's that I should have pitched ages ago, which doesn't really count. A receiver is one option I've been considering though as a replacement/upgrade for my current setup.

Not sure exactly which Senn I'd go for, if I was buying. But it would most likely be one of the bassier cans. Either closed, or maybe something like the 58x Jubilee. I tried an HD 558 a number of years ago. And it just didn't do much for me. And I'm a bit spoiled now from listening to closed or semi-open headphones for so many years.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

Sennheisers are not bass cannons. I like the house sound although for the last decades they've gotten away from that. Sennheisers are musical, magical, lyrical. They produce bass as you heard it when the guys played it for most genres of music. They don't sound like lowriders in a drive-by parade.

 

[staticV3]

Sorry if it's partially unrelated to this thread.
As a follow-up to my HD600 AutoEQ Preset roundup, I gave my K712 the same treatment.
As with my Senn, the measurements from Reference Audio Analyzer and rtings seem to again be the most faithful. However, two things were different this time around:
Innerfidelity joined the pack and gave a result slightly different from, but overall very close in quality to, the one from rtings.
RAA was cleary superior to all other measurements, putting it at the top and subsequently pushing rtings and innerfidelity down to a shared 2nd place.

 

[bagwell359]

Sennheisers are not bass cannons. I like the house sound although for the last decades they've gotten away from that. Sennheisers are musical, magical, lyrical. They produce bass as you heard it when the guys played it for most genres of music. They don't sound like lowriders in a drive-by parade.

The 600's get a bad rap in the bass. Firstly bass isn't all about big low notes. There is speed, tone and accuracy which the 600's are great at, and then there is the fact that most amps don't have enough juice to drive the bass properly.

On my Rag 1, flat @ 90Hz, down at least 4db at 60 Hz

On the BHC w/ speedball, flat at @ 60 Hz, down 3db at @ 35 Hz

That's why I'm building a BHC w/ speedball to support the 600, and look at ZMF and 800.

 

[Slim1970]

From what I’m hearing the HD600’s don’t lack bass at all. It sounds killer out of my Cavalli Liquid Carbon 2.0 and Dekoni elite hybrid pads on them. I find the bass to be very articulate. It just doesn’t extended down to the lower sub bass levels, but the Dekoni pads gets you close.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

The 600's get a bad rap in the bass. Firstly bass isn't all about big low notes. There is speed, tone and accuracy which the 600's are great at, and then there is the fact that most amps don't have enough juice to drive the bass properly.

On my Rag 1, flat @ 90Hz, down at least 4db at 60 Hz

On the BHC w/ speedball, flat at @ 60 Hz, down 3db at @ 35 Hz

That's why I'm building a BHC w/ speedball to support the 600, and look at ZMF and 800.

Well-said, as usual

 

[ADUHF]

From what I’m hearing the HD600’s don’t lack bass at all. It sounds killer out of my Cavalli Liquid Carbon 2.0 and Dekoni elite hybrid pads on them. I find the bass to be very articulate. It just doesn’t extended down to the lower sub bass levels, but the Dekoni pads gets you close.

See my suggestion here re sub-woofers for one possible solution...

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/am-i-not-an-audiophile.932476/page-6#post-15624013

Might work. Might not. It's basically the same principle you'd use in a studio though, to extend the bass on a pair of smaller studio monitor loudspeakers. So I don't see why it wouldn't work.

 

[sajunky]

It does. It has a slow roll-off, but it is a first order filter type, easy to compensate in the analog preamp if you prefer more bassy behaviour.

There is no usual peak in the middle bass section which gives increased perception of a bass on poor recordings, it is why you do complain in my opinion.

 

[thewind32]

Hey there, my HD 600's headband padding has flattened and I'm wondering if I should replace them for the first time. I use them pretty much daily, to the point where I don't even remember how the original padding felt like.

Could those who have replaced the padding chime in whether it makes a big difference in comfort? Also, opinions on the 600's 4-pads one vs the 650's 2-pads one?

 

[gimmeheadroom]

I haven't tried the 650 but I like the 600 design. It looks like it would distribute the pressure better.