[Rob80b]

Lol...obviously tongue in cheek...I just get a bit worried about the state of things in using EQ on the sound to hopefully emulate another headphone.
I've used EQ for the last 50 years or more but only in the mastering stage. Probably being an older Head-fi member I may be a lot more tolerant of what to expect from audio reproduction so my brain after more than 5 decades in this hobby automatically adjusts and has a much easier time in accepting any short failings in playback equipment, although today it is IMHO all rather very good.
Contrarily to that I'm extremely sensitive to any further digital manipulation of the original signal, took me awhile to be comfortable with CDs that were DDD.lol So I'm ok with a digital source, CD or Hi Res streamer going direct to amplification as reflected in my headphone setups, but if the signal is further manipulated through another digital device such as a PC I intuitively pick that up, adding additional EQ for me would be over the edge and too much processing of what is tolerable and sounds artificial.
All comes down to what one is used to and how their hearing has been educated.
Having said that the new S2 are obviously served up neat. : )

Sorry no EQ.

I don’t EQ. I’m more plug and play as I also listen to turntable. And digital I do streaming from nucleus.

https://help.roonlabs.com/portal/en/kb/articles/dsp-engine-parametric-equalizer

I'm like Ricco275...no provisions for EQ...straight from the source, CD, LPs and a streamer to a Headamp.

 

[Ricco275]

I'm like Ricco275...no provisions for EQ...straight from the source, CD, LPs and a streamer to a Headamp.

I find it hard to digest to spend way more on a head system than on a 2ch rig and having so many fallbacks. But I’m not giving up and sure will find some peace soon and relax enjoying music.

 

[Ricco275]

No, you bought the S2 and didn't like it.
Move on is my advice.

No, you bought the S2 and didn't like it.
Move on is my advice.

Running out of options

 

[Ricco275]

There are higher end, fun phones out here, I don't know them so cannot assist you there...but to pick up the S2 again.....why not....always good to have one phone around that you've found to be

..and relatively speaking.... reasonably priced.

Precisely my thoughts so far. And no much idea what to explore further.

 

[Rob80b]

I find it hard to digest to spend way more on a head system than on a 2ch rig

The headphone hobby has IMHO got out of hand and the uber expensive phones I've had on occasion to audition do not in anyway justify their price of admission. There is a lot of boutique stuff out there that attract the flies to the honey but who are we to say where they can spend their money.
Sennheiser having been designing and manufacturing equipment to record and reproduce audio signals for decades, they must be doing something right but there is a lot of romanticizing, wishful thinking, out there and for what ever reason the audio community has embraced it.

and having so many fallbacks.

Many head-fiers appear to be computer based and like tweaking to their hearts content, but they are tweaking, EQing the signal to the amp/headphones and not the headphones themselves, which are an electrical "mechanical" devise and much like using Photoshop for images when one enhances the original image, in this case the music, IMHO it is evident. (I say this from having worked since the 70s as a professional photographer, darkroom technician and taught Photoshop and I was also involved in music production and audio recording, ya I know, I'm old. lol)

But I’m not giving up and sure will find some peace soon and relax enjoying music.

Lets hope so...I've a pair of closed back HD820 on their way which many "reviewers" only suggest buying it if you intend to use EQ but I really liked the way they recreate the audio illusion straight up.

Bottom line the HD660S2 are a safe bet IMHO to enjoy music, don't need EQ and are pretty good at recreating most recordings regardless of genres. : )

 

[funkymartyn]

Ricco. Buy the senn 660s2,. (. Prices will get cheaper ). And get a grado sr225e, and one more of your choice . Then give them chance to break in a bit. And your ears to see if you can wear them for sessions. Not really expensive ,. And most cases you can return. But give them time.

 

[Sonic Defender]

No, you may end up needing/wanting to EQ often and it isn't really a tweak as much as an adjustment, a calibration that is meant to happen. Much like how you set your ISO, your whitepoint balance, look at the histogram and calibrate before taking a final shot. Those aren't tweaks, those are calibrations that it is understood are required so often that they are accepted as part of the workflow. Same goes with headphones, you are calibrating the sound to your hearing system which is unique to you and you are using a purpose built calibration tool the equalizer.

I am also a huge fan of 2ch and now 2.2 ch speaker based systems which I have used since the early 1980s. You really should be calibrating those as well with equalization to account for room modes. Sometimes a room is perfectly acceptable, but let me tell you, even in a room that has some sweet spots, there will be sour spots. Point in proof about 2.5 years ago I moved out of an apartment where my listening room was in an old building with 11 foot ceilings, solid walls and wood flooring. The room was 11'x11' and actually sounded pretty nice at modest listening levels which was of course all I could ever achieve with neighbours. I had some lovely Monitor Audio PL200s as my mains supported by a pair of lovely SVS SB2000 Pro subs, so quite a competent rig.

When I moved into my old childhood home which I have done after my parents moved out and I took it over, suddenly I had this great, full basement and I was convinced I was now going to be able to experience audio bliss as I could turn it up which I like to a point. Well go figure the basement had terrible acoustics, bass nulls and a truncated vertical spread because the ceiling was now only 7.5' high. The speaker rig sounded better in the small, square room even though such rooms are known to be problematic, now this space where I had room for the mains to be several feet out from the back and side walls and adjust my sitting position to be almost wherever I wanted was really not very good. The bass null was pretty impactful.

The moral of that story is that just because you are using 2ch audio it is quite likely to not be as simple as find the spot, set things up and go, you can have poor outcomes despite knowing how to position speakers generally, and in such a case you are likely to need to use technology to locate a better listening position and also very likely to need to use DSP so it isn't just with headphones. Sure, if someone wants to simply say what I get stock is what I get, that is perfectly valid and more power to anybody who feels that way. I really mean that. But with the ability to calibrate your system, should someone so chose to do so, I think that is also a valid approach and is not a tweak per say, but a calibration.

 

[Rob80b]

No, you may end up needing/wanting to EQ often and it isn't really a tweak as much as an adjustment, a calibration that is meant to happen........ ........But with the ability to calibrate your system, should someone so chose to do so, I think that is also a valid approach and is not a tweak per say, but a calibration.

EQ works, no denying that...my Velodyne DD sub has it built in and would be almost useless in my 2ch setup as there are too many peaks and valleys in my room, boosts and cancellations not to mention setting up multiple speakers for a home theatre.
My issue with using it with headphones "for me" is that the signal being in such close intimate proximity to the ear, we are not doing room correction per se, is that it is being processed, manipulated digitally multiple times, being re-sampled, sent to a Digital to Analogue Converter (which in itself is a can of worms) to be turned into an analogue electrical signal to power the drivers and "to me" all this over processing is obvious and has an unnatural, how can I say, taste to it.

As headphones are not perfect and cannot as yet reproduce the perfect audio illusion, neither can a stereo, but sometimes it does happen, my brain more often than not is quite happy to make the adjustments and if not, it's probably best to move on, but that's just me.

Again not saying it is not correct to do so, just not for me, I still prefer cotton, wool and leather.
But it is an overall EQ and not just applied to each recording, the sound becomes less raw without blemishes and to me it sounds unnatural, I guess I just prefer my images and music (recording) with warts and all.

 

[OkPsychology]

I still prefer cotton, wool and leather

Not a latex man, I see.

 

[panoptikon]

Placed an order on the S2 today. Demo:ed them yesterday at a retailer, unfortunately with a Burson dac/amp (not a fan) and an Argon bluetooth receiver, but I was able to make out that the midrange was resolved and believeable and that there was a nice musical flow. Compared them to the HD800s but prefered the S2's more dense and fluid sound.

The bass was not too impressive, lacking a bit of articulation. This is however a case where I think my Leben cs600x (OTC integrated amplifier) will do the trick. I was interested in the S2 in the first place because of their high impedance as well as recent positive experiences with the ie600. We'll see how it goes but I'm excited. It will complement my Audeze MM-500 that I use with my Audio Analogue AAdac's fantastic headphone output.

 

[Not so fat head]

I'm ok with all this return BS, as long as YOU pay a restocking fee that covers, disinfecting, thorough inspection and returning it to like new condition for resale. Otherwise, this hobby is doomed. I do know Amazon has 15 to 20% reactivated. They had huge storage areas with returned goods.
I bought a TWS with earwax in it...
So damn gross.......

 

[funkymartyn]

Just seen on the UK HotUKDeals site that Sennheiser are selling refurbished HD660s for. £270.

 

[Not so fat head]

I really like my HD-660S. Gets used several times a week and part of my rotation routine.. I recommend them for this price!

 

[Ricco275]

The headphone hobby has IMHO got out of hand and the uber expensive phones I've had on occasion to audition do not in anyway justify their price of admission. There is a lot of boutique stuff out there that attract the flies to the honey but who are we to say where they can spend their money.
Sennheiser having been designing and manufacturing equipment to record and reproduce audio signals for decades, they must be doing something right but there is a lot of romanticizing, wishful thinking, out there and for what ever reason the audio community has embraced it.

Many head-fiers appear to be computer based and like tweaking to their hearts content, but they are tweaking, EQing the signal to the amp/headphones and not the headphones themselves, which are an electrical "mechanical" devise and much like using Photoshop for images when one enhances the original image, in this case the music, IMHO it is evident. (I say this from having worked since the 70s as a professional photographer, darkroom technician and taught Photoshop and I was also involved in music production and audio recording, ya I know, I'm old. lol)

Lets hope so...I've a pair of closed back HD820 on their way which many "reviewers" only suggest buying it if you intend to use EQ but I really liked the way they recreate the audio illusion straight up.

Bottom line the HD660S2 are a safe bet IMHO to enjoy music, don't need EQ and are pretty good at recreating most recordings regardless of genres. : )

Agree with you and we share same passions as I’m a guitar player and photographer as hobby : )

 

[Rob80b]

I'm ok with all this return BS, as long as YOU pay .........

Times have changed and it only takes a few bad apples to spoil the lot...
When I bought the original HD800 back in 2014 I found I actually preferred the HD700 and was able to return them, like new of course.
No such option now .......

And with Amazon you never know what you may receive on their Warehouse deals due to unscrupulous buyers, once ordered a pair of HD650s and the HD650 box contained one of Sennheiser lower $70 models... : (

And I also see sometimes on Amazon UK, headphones deals that may or may not come with pads. ?????? lol