[Lifted Andreas]

For you trance music lovers out there, my new podcast is online now!!
 
http://t4eofficialpodcast.podomatic.com/entry/2012-12-11T10_35_50-08_00
 
Also, new track by Onova is pretty smashing!! Enjoy.
 

 
Massive sound on the S500s

 

[analogsurviver]

Those of you who were from the beginning on this tread might remember my first reaction was lukewarm at best. Even after "everything", I have my reservations regarding higher pitched vocals with HA-S500s - as if something was getting "saturated". Recently, I have been "lucky" to find a track that shows HA-S500s at their absolute WORST . It is a part of the 24 free downloads from Linn Records ( I sam subscribed to their newsletter ) for this Christmas
 
http://christmas.linn.co.uk/
 
and on day 10 they had this:
 
 

DAY 10

Track:  Spem in alium
Album: Thomas Tallis: Spem in alium
Artist:  Magnificat
This spectacular performance earned a Gramophone 'Editor's Choice' plaudit, noting 'This is quite the best performance of Tallis' 40-part Spem in Alium that I have heard.' It was also selected as BBC Radio 3’s recommended recital of Tallis’ Lamentations.

Magnificat was formed in 1991 by conductor Philip Cave to explore the rich diversity of choral music over the last five centuries. The ensemble specializes in the restoration and performance of neglected masterpieces with particular emphasis on music from post-Reformation England and late 16th century Spain.
 
 
It is a splendid performance indeed; the way HA-S500 does "strangle the throaths of the singers" is a capital offence , murder of the music in the first degree.
I did hear it ocassionally now and then, but in no other piece was it so glaringly and constantly appearent as here. It is not the recording, which is superb ( checked with Stax Lambda Pro and AKG K 1000 and several speakers - nothing of the kind ) - HA-S500s just can not take that complex signal and output it as coherent sound. It is extremely difficult test - only very select few  will "survive" it. HA-S500 unfortunately not.
 
And this definitely is one of the best singing I have ever heard, either live or recorded. Chapeau ! -  to the conductor, choir and recording team.

 

[cute]

Quote:

Those of you who were from the beginning on this tread might remember my first reaction was lukewarm at best. Even after "everything", I have my reservations regarding higher pitched vocals with HA-S500s - as if something was getting "saturated". Recently, I have been "lucky" to find a track that shows HA-S500s at their absolute WORST . It is a part of the 24 free downloads from Linn Records ( I sam subscribed to their newsletter ) for this Christmas
 
http://christmas.linn.co.uk/
 
and on day 10 they had this:
 
 

DAY 10

Track:  Spem in alium
Album: Thomas Tallis: Spem in alium
Artist:  Magnificat
This spectacular performance earned a Gramophone 'Editor's Choice' plaudit, noting 'This is quite the best performance of Tallis' 40-part Spem in Alium that I have heard.' It was also selected as BBC Radio 3’s recommended recital of Tallis’ Lamentations.

Magnificat was formed in 1991 by conductor Philip Cave to explore the rich diversity of choral music over the last five centuries. The ensemble specializes in the restoration and performance of neglected masterpieces with particular emphasis on music from post-Reformation England and late 16th century Spain.
 
 
It is a splendid performance indeed; the way HA-S500 does "strangle the throaths of the singers" is a capital offence , murder of the music in the first degree.
I did hear it ocassionally now and then, but in no other piece was it so glaringly and constantly appearent as here. It is not the recording, which is superb ( checked with Stax Lambda Pro and AKG K 1000 and several speakers - nothing of the kind ) - HA-S500s just can not take that complex signal and output it as coherent sound. It is extremely difficult test - only very select few  will "survive" it. HA-S500 unfortunately not.
 
And this definitely is one of the best singing I have ever heard, either live or recorded. Chapeau ! -  to the conductor, choir and recording team.

 
Well I purchased and downloaded this track, and it sounds terrible on everything I own......so , what does that mean?  I should trash all of my headphones and IEM's......or, never  listen to "spam in allum" again!  

 
You have some of the very select few that will "survive".......and none of mine "unfortunately not", and I thank God that tommorrow is the end of the world!

 

[musubi1000]

what HP does the track sound good on? how much money do I need to spend to make it sound good to you? with no reference point its hard to speculate what you're gearing. especially when no one else is hearing this phenom.

 

[analogsurviver]

Quote:

 
Well I purchased and downloaded this track, and it sounds terrible on everything I own......so , what does that mean?  I should trash all of my headphones and IEM's......or, never  listen to "spam in allum" again!  

 
You have some of the very select few that will "survive".......and none of mine "unfortunately not", and I thank God that tommorrow is the end of the world!

It was not meant that way - I just wanted to show the exact Aichille's heel of HA-S500s. 
 
The said recording is extreme of extremes - never thought reproduction can get this good. For starters, it has startling dynamic range for vocal only piece - and given vocal is the most familiar sound to everyone ( you do communicate everyday to other people by talking ) , it is natural for us to be most critical of vocal - a violin can sound appreciable different from another violin, vocals, although far more diversified still, are in fact very close to each other. First thing to do - REDUCE the playback level until the loud, really loud parts sound at least kind of tolerable.
 
That piece will push your entire chain to the max - FORGET clips and similar, forget anything below CD quality. Forget 99% of the high end gear - it will not "survive" ! 
 
I have two korg MR1000 DSD recorders. The second is still in the stock condition, the first has been upgraded to the point I no longer see any reaL possibility to further improve it, at least not in the reproduction department. MR1000 offers recording and playback of both DSDs and all PCMs from 192/24 down to 44,1/16 (CD). So, naturally I downloaded studio master FLAC at 192/24 and played it on both Korgs - no prize for guessing which one did not "survive". I could go in great detail regarding failings of the stock unit - suffice is to say it does not support so great a recording. To be blunt - it "shouts" practically the entire duration of the recording - and it is a marketed as a professional recorder ! It is superiour to most, but not all, home high end gear, in sheeer SQ.
 
Enter the modified MR1000. It simply - performs. Entirely civilized, even in the most tense moments in music.Just for the kick of it, I loaded entire Linn Records Christmas free download contents to both MR1000s - and my A/Bing stopped after second or third song - no point making further comparisons, life is too short to be wasted like that. I simply enjoyed the music on the modded machine instead. A fitting compensation for months of figuring out how to get MR1000 really going - it was anything but picnic.
 
JVC HA-S500 deliver their goods in practically any department but two - soundstage and high pitched vocals, where it shatters to pieces like a glass window hit by a magnum bullet. Like I said, it did occur before, with flute(s) and vocals, but never so severely as with this superb track. I will try to ameliorate this unacceptably rough edge in HA-S500's performance - if I am sucessful, I will share the results.
 
Provided we get past the 21th unscaved.

 

[koreanzombie]

Quote:

It was not meant that way - I just wanted to show the exact Aichille's heel of HA-S500s. 
 
The said recording is extreme of extremes - never thought reproduction can get this good. For starters, it has startling dynamic range for vocal only piece - and given vocal is the most familiar sound to everyone ( you do communicate everyday to other people by talking ) , it is natural for us to be most critical of vocal - a violin can sound appreciable different from another violin, vocals, although far more diversified still, are in fact very close to each other. First thing to do - REDUCE the playback level until the loud, really loud parts sound at least kind of tolerable.
 
That piece will push your entire chain to the max - FORGET clips and similar, forget anything below CD quality. Forget 99% of the high end gear - it will not "survive" ! 
 
I have two korg MR1000 DSD recorders. The second is still in the stock condition, the first has been upgraded to the point I no longer see any reaL possibility to further improve it, at least not in the reproduction department. MR1000 offers recording and playback of both DSDs and all PCMs from 192/24 down to 44,1/16 (CD). So, naturally I downloaded studio master FLAC at 192/24 and played it on both Korgs - no prize for guessing which one did not "survive". I could go in great detail regarding failings of the stock unit - suffice is to say it does not support so great a recording. To be blunt - it "shouts" practically the entire duration of the recording - and it is a marketed as a professional recorder ! It is superiour to most, but not all, home high end gear, in sheeer SQ.
 
Enter the modified MR1000. It simply - performs. Entirely civilized, even in the most tense moments in music.Just for the kick of it, I loaded entire Linn Records Christmas free download contents to both MR1000s - and my A/Bing stopped after second or third song - no point making further comparisons, life is too short to be wasted like that. I simply enjoyed the music on the modded machine instead. A fitting compensation for months of figuring out how to get MR1000 really going - it was anything but picnic.
 
JVC HA-S500 deliver their goods in practically any department but two - soundstage and high pitched vocals, where it shatters to pieces like a glass window hit by a magnum bullet. Like I said, it did occur before, with flute(s) and vocals, but never so severely as with this superb track. I will try to ameliorate this unacceptably rough edge in HA-S500's performance - if I am sucessful, I will share the results.
 
Provided we get past the 21th unscaved.

 
Luckily for me I dont listen to 'old man' music. Terrible music to listen to.

 

[waynes world]

Quote:

For you trance music lovers out there, my new podcast is online now!!
 
http://t4eofficialpodcast.podomatic.com/entry/2012-12-11T10_35_50-08_00

 
Listened to that today, and just finished with your track. Great stuff as usual! And that Onova track is great too. Thanks. I have been addicted lately to the incredible $5 TDK MT300 iem's, so that is what I was enjoying those tracks to. I thought I'd better switch back to the S500's for a listen before posting a reply, and yup, the S500's rock. Awesome bass. Amazing for EDM. But we already knew that! What I am finding amazing are these TDK's MT-300's. They sound very much like in-ear S500's. I know, crazy.

 

[gopanthersgo1]

Listened to that today, and just finished with your track. Great stuff as usual! And that Onova track is great too. Thanks. I have been addicted lately to the incredible $5 TDK MT300 iem's, so that is what I was enjoying those tracks to. I thought I'd better switch back to the S500's for a listen before posting a reply, and yup, the S500's rock. Awesome bass. Amazing for EDM. But we already knew that! What I am finding amazing are these TDK's MT-300's. They sound very much like in-ear S500's. I know, crazy.

For only $5? That's crazy!

 

[vsls]

I tried the "Spem in Alium" track (not my cup of tea as sound) FLAC and raw from my laptop. Nothing impressive I can agree on that. Then since I read analogsurviver's set up I was wondering that if we need a $1000+ DSD recorder just to reproduce this album decently, what is the point to use and judge a $50 headphone.
I'm not trying to defend the s500 but this comparison feels like using a Bentley chassis with a Suzuki engine.

 

[analogsurviver]

Quote:

I tried the "Spem in Alium" track (not my cup of tea as sound) FLAC and raw from my laptop. Nothing impressive I can agree on that. Then since I read analogsurviver's set up I was wondering that if we need a $1000+ DSD recorder just to reproduce this album decently, what is the point to use and judge a $50 headphone.
I'm not trying to defend the s500 but this comparison feels like using a Bentley chassis with a Suzuki engine.

The point is exactly that - HA-S500s can go (almost) in every department but soundstage and that glaring high pitch vocal problem with the "Bentleys",
despite being $50 headphone. I am not saying HA-S500 is equivalent of Stax Lambda or AKG K 1000, but it does have qualities way above its price. Making its few failures all the more clearly appearent. I will try to at least reduce the problem to more bearable level.
 
The said price is for stock Korg MR 1000. Mod adds appreciably to the end cost - but I feel the results justify each and every cent spent, I wish I could somehow be possible to present such audio quality on the internet - but that will be reality perhaps in (not so ) distant future. DSD at SACD quality needs 1GB for 22 min of audio, double DSD - 11 min for 1 GB - and if dedicated recorder did not provide for quality analog section, you can guess what incomparably more widespread PCs may be like in analog department that is ultimately make or break of any digital audio device - at least for the time
analog input to the ampilifier is required.

 

[Ghostfit]

Quote:

Ya everyone can participate. In fact the more the merrier..And I want to open up the sources to more than just clips. I will open it up to your source..The main focus of course is our enduring admiration of the HA-S500. Again more creative the better..With the Holidays coming around the corner it could be a nice opportunity to have Santa dawn a HA-S500. Lol. For example..
 
The more submissions on this thread the better the first place prize will get...Ooooooo.
 
Looking at the calendar I choose the 21st!, The friday before Christmas. Sounds good? Get your creative juices flowing.  Friday the 21st will be first ever. EPIC CREATE A DRINK N CLIP N S500 PIC FOR CHEAPO BUD DAY. Do it.

 
Here's my submission for this EOTW party, ....the last bottle of event dedicated, french wine I brought back from the FAI F2 aeromodelling WC 2000 in Landres France.

 
...and I choose to go out listerning to this song by MLTR - sweetest surprise.
(Sorry, youtube videos don't do justice to the SQ, just click on the link below and select play.)
http://mp3crop.com/music/mp3/My_Sweetest_Surprise_Original_Song_.html
 
Farewell and thank you for the Fish !

 

[sfwalcer]

^ It's clip party already??? You jumped the shark ghost, cheater!!!

 
I like your little hamster, cute touch.

 

[musubi1000]

The chinese site said CNT speakers exhibit extreme fidelity. make me ponder the possibility of a different kind of driver in the S500.

 

[analogsurviver]

Quote:

The chinese site said CNT speakers exhibit extreme fidelity. make me ponder the possibility of a different kind of driver in the S500.

It boils down to implementation - like I said in the HA-S770 thread, what good does an engine with hitherto unheard of performance bring if mated to a conventional chassis - if your goal is to win the race for ....... category of cars ? Motor = driver, Chassis = everything else making up a headphone.
 
If the cups exhibit acoustically unfavourable characteristics, no driver can compensate for those failings in earcups etc.
 
Another possibility is that chinese site meant "direct driven" CNTs - no conventional coil and magnet driven diahragm made out of CNTs, like in HA-S500, but electrical signal applied directly to CNTs themselves - such driver should exhibit much better characteristics still. 
The earcup problem applies just the same in this case scenario, too.
 
Earcup designs will be a compromise of performance vs cost - for good. I know of none that can not be further improved - but the amount of manual labour required to bring them up to desired performance would make the price prohibitive - and really good sounding earcups tend to look like a word this site censors to the max, not allowing even to write the full name of a very well known japanese major manufacturers to appear in full, like it should. Matsu****a !

 

[sfwalcer]

Since it is officially the 21st,
 
What is up with the long face???........
"All dressed up for the end of the world and got nowhere to go"
 
Well, let me hook you up with some CNT lovin' then!
"hmmmmmmmmmmm...."
 
IT'S OFFICIALLY A CNT + CLIP PARTY BEECHES!!! LETS GET STARTED!!!
"WOOOOOOOOO!!!"
 
Cheers, bottoms up you'll.

 

 
Dat classy/ whimsical K-hiphop swag in this MV is perfect for the mood of the pic above. Martinelli FTW!!!