[lantian]

guys i am looking to buy a vintage Sennheiser and
my choice for now is the 424 because I've read somewhere it is brighter and have more bass with fuller mids than the 540 ,
is that true ?

Have not heard them, but be warn that the original ones have 2000ohm impedance.

 

[GU1DO]

The hd 540 is THE vintage headphone. If you want to buy a very good headphone and not spend much then I think you will be happy with it, although a good amp will help
Ive had a few others from around the same period such as HD400, HD414 - They all have similar sounds. Essentially smooth and often quite equal across all frequencies
although in a sense I feel anything special is kind of held back - there is no crystal clear highs, no thunderous bass and the mids are really nice
They all are really nice easy to listen to headphones that Im happy to have in my collection
Compared to the HD540 though . . . they are good
but the HD540 are spectacular. One of the best reference headphones ever made. Myself and others actually prefer them to the modern HD800S
They have a natural, human quality that is sadly lacking in modern headphones. They make the music sound like how is was played.

Anyway, it may well be as you say BUT bear in mind the brightness, more bass and fuller mids will in no way be 'better' than the HD540's
They are still are a really good headphone and in many ways outperform modern headphones. In some cases, maybe not technically but listenaly
Go for it
Ps: Its difficult to say if your statement is true because it depends very much on your source and amp and the condition / suitability of the pads.
I have certain combinations of high end headphone and amp that sound 'meh'..ok BUT then using a cheaper mp3 player with a cheaper amp
and they sound spectacular...o_0
Just something to bear in mind

i see .. its just i read in some posts the HD540 have thin sound but as you said its source dependent ,
the cheapest HD540 i saw is around 180-250$ , but the HD424 i could get it for 75$ , that was my main motive to ask here ,,
anyway i think i will go for the HD540 , beside my HD660 which is expected to arrive within 10 days
Sennheiser sound is growing on me although my first experience with the HD600 before many years wasn't that great.
Thank for the input

 

[GU1DO]

Have not heard them, but be warn that the original ones have 2000ohm impedance.

thanks for the warning ,, i suppose a regular speaker amp was used to power these monsters

 

[jon parker]

i see .. its just i read in some posts the HD540 have thin sound but as you said its source dependent ,
the cheapest HD540 i saw is around 180-250$ , but the HD424 i could get it for 75$ , that was my main motive to ask here ,,
anyway i think i will go for the HD540 , beside my HD660 which is expected to arrive within 10 days
Sennheiser sound is growing on me although my first experience with the HD600 before many years wasn't that great.
Thank for the input

If a 540 is sounding 'thin' then there is something very wrong somewhere in the audio chain!
the only thing that is a little tricky is finding the right pads as the original pads that were made for them do not exist anymore
You can still find new replacement velour pads for the Ovation II - not cheap at around $40 and they dont clip in but 4 double loops of
electrical tape on the bottom of the pads holds them in perfectly!

Please let us know how you find the 660's and the 540's when you get them. Be interesting to hear your thoughts on the differences

 

[dakanao]

There is one that ticks probably more than any other - the Littledot 1+ - headfi reviews here

1, its very good value for money - around $120
2, it is a hybrid - solid state AND 2x tube amp
3, The solid state part of the amp sounds very very good
4, There are loads of vintage tubes you can buy all of which alter the sound
5, the added tube warmth/clarity goes perfectly with ALL my vintage headphones
6, you can swop out and upgrade the DAC chip
7, more than powerful enough for even hard to drive cans

There are a multitude of others but none I can think off with this level of customization and with such an amazing price to performance ratio
I very much doubt the Geek Out or your laptop will even come close to showing you how good the 540's are!
I think, in that they sound as good as they are is a testament to the quality of the headphone rather than your hardware..which is still good

There is a handful of genuinely great headphone amps out there...but none as many as you might think. Sadly, often empty vessels make the most noise

Yeah it's stange, because the 300 ohm Sennheiser HD 650 also sounded better with my Geek Out 450 as compared to the headphone out of my laptop, but the Geek Out seems to give the HD 540 more edginess and sibilance, as compared to the laptop jack alone.

 

[jon parker]

In general you 'should' be able to tell what something should sound like and yet . . .
Playing with a very mediocre mp3 player out of a new headphone amp and suddenly my 540 Gold sound exceptional but judging by the player they really shouldn't be sounding that good!!|
and yet, I use what should be a much better player and . . .not as good

 

[sennsay]

The hd 540 is THE vintage headphone. If you want to buy a very good headphone and not spend much then I think you will be happy with it, although a good amp will help
Ive had a few others from around the same period such as HD400, HD414 - They all have similar sounds. Essentially smooth and often quite equal across all frequencies
although in a sense I feel anything special is kind of held back - there is no crystal clear highs, no thunderous bass and the mids are really nice
They all are really nice easy to listen to headphones that Im happy to have in my collection
Compared to the HD540 though . . . they are good
but the HD540 are spectacular. One of the best reference headphones ever made. Myself and others actually prefer them to the modern HD800S
They have a natural, human quality that is sadly lacking in modern headphones. They make the music sound like how is was played.

Anyway, it may well be as you say BUT bear in mind the brightness, more bass and fuller mids will in no way be 'better' than the HD540's
They are still are a really good headphone and in many ways outperform modern headphones. In some cases, maybe not technically but listenaly
Go for it
Ps: Its difficult to say if your statement is true because it depends very much on your source and amp and the condition / suitability of the pads.
I have certain combinations of high end headphone and amp that sound 'meh'..ok BUT then using a cheaper mp3 player with a cheaper amp
and they sound spectacular...o_0
Just something to bear in mind

Very nicely described, jon. My feelings exactly. The HD540 Ref1s - as I have them here - truly sing with life! I can sometimes have fun with the HD250s, now that I have them close to as good as new, but they are NOT the sheer brilliance of the Ref1s! Neither are the HD6xx, far from it. Nor the HD430s, even further from it - I'm considering sourcing round HM5 pads to see if I can balance the sound, but they still have the clear 'analytical' sound (lacking true bass) that the boss of Sennheiser mentioned recently re the earlier headphones, lacking empathy and human flesh and blood body. Amazingly, I find I 'enjoy' the HD250s through my Corda 2Move portable DAC/amp via iTunes, despite the lack of Magni 3 power, lots of great detail and probably because there is less outright bass drive to set off the overabundance of mid bass - which is only fun for me with tracks that don't set off the certain bass frequencies. I suspect they will be great cans for movies. As far as music is concerned, the Ref1s rule by miles!

 

[sennsay]

i see .. its just i read in some posts the HD540 have thin sound but as you said its source dependent ,
the cheapest HD540 i saw is around 180-250$ , but the HD424 i could get it for 75$ , that was my main motive to ask here ,,
anyway i think i will go for the HD540 , beside my HD660 which is expected to arrive within 10 days
Sennheiser sound is growing on me although my first experience with the HD600 before many years wasn't that great.
Thank for the input

Actually, $180-250 for a set of cans this good is a bargain! Set 'em up right, good pads and inner foams, decent cable and a lot of new headphones look rather pale in comparison, despite maybe having finer detail extraction. I'd quite happily sell my HD6xx to buy another set of HD540 Ref1s/Ref 2s/Golds and may well do yet if the new Dekoni Elite Velour pads don't improve things a lot when they arrive!

 

[kefalo]

I have sennheiser hd540 I
what i get if i buy sennheiser hd600 or HD580?
in sound quality.

is it worth of upgrade

I have AKG K702 and they have a little more and little better bas than HD540.
I bought HD540 for 33 EUR. And for HD580 i have to give at least 100EUR.

Thank you

 

[sennsay]

I have sennheiser hd540 I
what i get if i buy sennheiser hd600 or HD580?
in sound quality.

is it worth of upgrade

I have AKG K702 and they have a little more and little better bas than HD540.
I bought HD540 for 33 EUR. And for HD580 i have to give at least 100EUR.

Thank you

There may be different replies from different folks, but the only thing that really counts as an upgrade is if it's an upgrade for you using your own ears and gear. For me, the HD6xx is NOT an upgrade over my HD540 Ref1s (I rarely use the HD6xx for the time being), which incidentally have superb bass in their current form and are quite superior to the stock HD6xx. Are your HD540's as stock? If you have the stock cable with them you will certainly lose out on some bass impact, soundstage solidity and have an upper mid peak.
There's no accounting for experience, kefalo, I've been learning so much from just buying and swapping pads on all of my cans, some are fantastic, others, like the Brainwavz HM5 on the HD6xx are simply ... to put it very mildly ... not good at all, despite their wonderful comfort. I've ordered a set of Massdrop Dekoni Elite Velour pads which are on their way shortly. The Dekoni graphs showing the frequency response of their different pads, show that the Elite Velour pads are more likely what I'm looking for with my own HD6xx. May they bring those cans into balance for me, otherwise they will be on the market!

 

[kefalo]

There may be different replies from different folks, but the only thing that really counts as an upgrade is if it's an upgrade for you using your own ears and gear. For me, the HD6xx is NOT an upgrade over my HD540 Ref1s (I rarely use the HD6xx for the time being), which incidentally have superb bass in their current form and are quite superior to the stock HD6xx. Are your HD540's as stock? If you have the stock cable with them you will certainly lose out on some bass impact, soundstage solidity and have an upper mid peak.
There's no accounting for experience, kefalo, I've been learning so much from just buying and swapping pads on all of my cans, some are fantastic, others, like the Brainwavz HM5 on the HD6xx are simply ... to put it very mildly ... not good at all, despite their wonderful comfort. I've ordered a set of Massdrop Dekoni Elite Velour pads which are on their way shortly. The Dekoni graphs showing the frequency response of their different pads, show that the Elite Velour pads are more likely what I'm looking for with my own HD6xx. May they bring those cans into balance for me, otherwise they will be on the market!

I have original cable with steel, not copper.
Driver speaker are original.
And I do not know are pads original.
I have bought artificial leather pads but I do not know hot to instal them.

My question is.
Do I get something different with copper cable
And are my pads original.
I have never seen this one and they look thin.

 

[trellus]

Were the HD 540 Reference Gold ever sold in the US, or only Germany and European markets?

 

[kefalo]

And how to change pads on this headphones?

 

[jon parker]

And how to change pads on this headphones?

WoW, I have never seen original pads in that good quality
I have the 560 velour Ovation pads on my Gold 540's with currently available cable from Senn. - both currently available from Sennheiser spares - Ive made links to both in previous posts in this thread.
With my current equipment Im very happy with this set up
On my normal 540's I have original velour pads from an old Ovation 560 = These are perfect pads for the 540
To remove pads - gently put your fingers under the inside of the plastic ring off the pad itself inside the cup and gently prise up around the edge a bit at a time
(The back of your fingers should be resting lightly on the foam as you do this)

To test the new pads you bought - use some electrical tape - make some loops and stick 4 loops of electrical tape on the back of the pad - Gently but firmly press the pad up ino the capsule - The tape will hold the pads in perfectly and none destructiblely!
(original pads are attached to a specially made plastic ring which you can no longer buy)

 

[kefalo]

WoW, I have never seen original pads in that good quality
I have the 560 velour Ovation pads on my Gold 540's with currently available cable from Senn. - both currently available from Sennheiser spares - Ive made links to both in previous posts in this thread.
With my current equipment Im very happy with this set up
On my normal 540's I have original velour pads from an old Ovation 560 = These are perfect pads for the 540
To remove pads - gently put your fingers under the inside of the plastic ring off the pad itself inside the cup and gently prise up around the edge a bit at a time
(The back of your fingers should be resting lightly on the foam as you do this)

To test the new pads you bought - use some electrical tape - make some loops and stick 4 loops of electrical tape on the back of the pad - Gently but firmly press the pad up ino the capsule - The tape will hold the pads in perfectly and none destructiblely!
(original pads are attached to a specially made plastic ring which you can no longer buy)

Done.
Thank you
I was soo nervous during changeing that I forgot how it sounds before. But with this artificial leather i think bass is better but. But that is just on first listening. I will experiment more