[oqvist]

I am a bit curious exactly what this is. There seem to be different kind of sibilance... Some people seem to be immune to the effect too?

I get way more sibilance on my PRO 900 then on the 750 which I seem to be alone in??? Dampening them and such doesn´t have any effect whatsoever on the perceived level of sibilance on mine whereas others have different results too.

If you have damaged ears are you more sensitive to sibilance or is it the other way around? If you have rolled off hearing you are not as affected by this? Read something that the higher a headphone go the more pronounced this could be?

 

[Acix]

There are a number of different factors that cause sibilance. For example, if you listen to an mp3, the sibilance that you hear is a result of the compression into mp3 format. Another example would be unstable electrical current or the wrong voltage to your setup. Also it could be that the electricity needs to be grounded. Better cables and connectors reduce sibilance.

Some headphone drivers are more sensitive than others. In my experience with studio monitor headphones, the best ones will detect and display the sibilance.

So, in this case, the cure would be more expensive components and the maintaining them in the best way possible.

 

[Uncle Erik]

Kep in mind that sibilance happens in real life, too. Sometimes, sibilance is a matter of the headphones reproducing exactly what's on the recording.

 

[oqvist]

Yes I know it´s real sibilance but on the PRO 900 it´s about 10x as high as on the K701, 750 for example and it´s really piercing the ears at times. I could easilly ignore it on the 750 but quite frequently I find myself screaming and want to trash my gear

One more thing that is odd but it must be to some compression is that tv series so often have sibilance while movies pretty much never have any trace of it.

I do have an after market cable but it don´t do much difference.
Also I do get a phenomen with static discharges or something at times while moving around but I can´t say they sound faulty in any way. I tried it on my stereo on sibilance ridden tracks which is well about 60 % of my recordings at least and it allowed you to tune the treble... Less treble less sibilance, higher treble more way more.

Maybe the reason why DX 1000 and 650 is more forgiving more rolled off?

 

[Acix]

Quote:

Originally Posted by oqvist /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yes I know it´s real sibilance but on the PRO 900 it´s about 10x as high as on the K701, 750 for example and it´s really piercing the ears at times. I could easilly ignore it on the 750 but quite frequently I find myself screaming and want to trash my gear One more thing that is odd but it must be to some compression is that tv series so often have sibilance while movies pretty much never have any trace of it. I do have an after market cable but it don´t do much difference. Also I do get a phenomen with static discharges or something at times while moving around but I can´t say they sound faulty in any way. I tried it on my stereo on sibilance ridden tracks which is well about 60 % of my recordings at least and it allowed you to tune the treble... Less treble less sibilance, higher treble more way more. Maybe the reason why DX 1000 and 650 is more forgiving more rolled off?

I tried to warn people about the 750, but at some point I just gave up. If some people have fun with the 750, it's just fine with me. Everyone has their own taste. There are some problems there with the high frequencies and they can become super annoying after a few seconds. But they fixed that problem with the 900. Still, the titanium driver is a crazy one. It's really tough, tight and rigid...no flexibility at all. It helps with the speed, but the sibilance gets to the point of no return. I hope the mod helps with that.

 

[leeperry]

you can cut a lot of these by following this guide : http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f4/how...torial-413900/

 

[moogoob]

When driving my Grado 325i goldies from a portable amp (Headroom Total Bithead) I got sibilance on some tracks that was completely erased by upgrading the amp.

Sometimes, though, it's all in the recording and the only thing you can do is use a can with rolled-off/mellower highs.

 

[oqvist]

Acix but the 750 was way more forgiving in term of sibilance for me... That is what so weird since people suggest it has more then the 900?

 

[gregorio]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Acix /img/forum/go_quote.gif There are a number of different factors that cause sibilance. For example, if you listen to an mp3, the sibilance that you hear is a result of the compression into mp3 format. Another example would be unstable electrical current or the wrong voltage to your setup. Also it could be that the electricity needs to be grounded. Better cables and connectors reduce sibilance. Some headphone drivers are more sensitive than others. In my experience with studio monitor headphones, the best ones will detect and display the sibilance. So, in this case, the cure would be more expensive components and the maintaining them in the best way possible.

Sibilance is often made more noticeable by the microphone being too close to the artist's mouth although to an extent it is often unavoidable as sibilance a natural fact of life. Sibilance is removed professionally using a desser. The effects of sibilance can be reduced by lowering a small range of frequencies usually somewhere between 2kHz and 5kHz. If you find cables which remove sibilance, this is proof of a poor cable, unless of course you want your cable to be removing frequencies from your music. On the other side of the coin, if your amp or cans colour the sound by boosting these mid to high frequencies then you are likely to notice more sibilance.

The problem when mixing is that this range of 2-5kHz is the range where our hearing is at it's most sensitive. We want to try and boost these frequencies in a vocal line (or on dialogue in TV) to help it cut through the mix and sound clearer but it's often a balancing act between this and sibilance. So, the answer is not related to cables or electrical supplies but the colouration of your cans or speakers and occasionally because the engineer either hasn't quite got the balance right or hasn't been able to remove all the sibilance without making the track sound even worse.

G

 

[deaconblues]

The HD650 is the cure to sibilance. If it's sibilant on the HD650, it's gonna be sibilant on anything

 

[raif]

As a drummer, I would have to agree with the sibilance in real life comment. If I ever found a pair of headphones that properly emulated the way cymbal crashes sound when I am playing I would promptly throw them from my head.

Maybe it is just a volume issue...

 

[oqvist]

Yes it get less ear piercing if I lower the volume of course. But I run at 75 SPL so if I remove it to 50 so the sibilance gets at 75 so to speak it get a bit to much low volume for me.

As for HD 650 true it covers it up very well but it just doesn´t get me going with the music. DX 1000 is the one I run too when it just doesn´t work out or K701. Both showing it but at an acceptable level.

 

[Jewmeister]

Higher bit playback like 24 and 32 rather than 16 give higher dynamic range as well as lower sibilance, correct me if I'm wrong...

 

[gregorio]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jewmeister /img/forum/go_quote.gif Higher bit playback like 24 and 32 rather than 16 give higher dynamic range as well as lower sibilance, correct me if I'm wrong...

Sorry, but you are wrong. Higher bit depths (than 16bit) do in theory provide higher dynamic range but not in practice. Sibilance is not related or connected to bit depth in any way. IE., having more or less bits will not make a difference to sibilance.

G

 

[CDBacklash]

He is wrong about the sibilance but he is not wrong about the dynamic range. Stop injecting your beliefs into posts outside the 16/24bit threads.
@OP A cure would be to roll-off the highs gently. I wouldnt advise it personally, but you might enjoy it.