[mendye770]

Another thought I had was maybe if I powered the reference 1 with a very powerful tube amp, it’ll Bring the 600 ohm to life, but who knows?

 

[T 1000]

Whatever you say, pal.
I have been long enough here on HF, such statements as yours always lead to the same outcome.
Beats is irrelevant example in this context.
Cheers

Of course, Beats is a bad example because many people buy it just for the letter b, music is less important. When I had the opportunity, I told some acquaintances that they have far better and nicer portable headphones than Dr. Dre .for the same price.
Anyway, the point is that there are people who chase performance by changing expensive headphones and audio components, constantly critically evaluate the level reached, and do not enjoy music, while many find joy in sound from a cheap and low-quality source. Many in a crazy race for better performance they forget what purpose of that hobby.
We are lucky with our HD 540

 

[Starbound]

They do have thinner ones, and you can ask them for the thinner (2mm) foam discs when you order. He sent me two sets when I ordered the velour pads, which I do not like with my HD560's, BTW. Creates the typical V-shaped tone profile. The main reasons are, the foam is too thick/.dense, and the inner hole is too small, which blocks the outer ports/openings on the baffle, or whatever that is called in headphone-speak. All of the aftermarket HD540-560 pads have small holes.

Thank you for that. I noticed that in the pictures in their auction the pleather also seem to have the elliptical ear holes, and I wondered if that would change the sound signature. I was going to order the pleather ones because @sennsay says this seemed to work well for him.

 

[Starbound]

I listened to my new HD540 Reference II (Ireland version) on some songs I am familiar with, and here are my thoughts.

To put it simply, the headphones sound natural, articulate, and detailed. The soundstage is good, but I wasn't floored. I think I will need to listen a little bit more later with different songs. I didn't find the bass lacking at all. I would say the bass is very accurate, but maybe I prefer light bass signatures. It doesn't convey the impact that you get from other headphones, maybe the sub bass is not there or is very rolled off, but the quality of what is there more than makes up for it. The highs are simply amazing, the best I have ever heard. They are not strident and they are very detailed. This is easily felt with cymbal hits or in some other sounds that have treble harmonics. For example, listening to Nick Drake's River Man the guitar part appears so realistic, because each pluck is represented with the correct harmonic overtones. In general, the high register sounds so realistic and airy.

The mids, as expected, are incredibly good. This is not a very flattering headphone, you will hear what is there. Most headphones will smooth things out (ugly things) and give you the aural equivalent of a 1970s glamour picture with a diffuse filter, so they make things sound pleasing, but the price is that you are not listening to what was recorded. I wouldn't say that the HD540 is analytical because to me that has a connotation of coldness and lack of integration or musicality. I would say the HD540 is more accurate than analytical if that makes sense. I think its Reference designation is fully deserved.

The only thing I noticed is some stridence in the high mids in some parts (I think this might have happened with an oboe or a french horn at a few points).

As far as amping, I am using an Objective2 amp, and with a Voodoo Sound Galaxy S1 (I know, I know.) I had it on Low Gain at around 3 PM for a comfortable sound level. It definitely needs an amp but it is not a monster. Bear in mind these are Reference II 300 Ohm, unlike some of the Reference models.

Some of the songs I listened to:

Second Movement of Beethoven 7th Symphony (Carlos Kleiber)
River Man (Nick Drake)
Signs Main Titles (Newton Howard)
E. T. The Extraterrestrial Credits (John Williams)
Can't Change Me (Chris Cornell)

Really amazing headphones, I am glad that the hype was warranted in this case.

 

[T 1000]

It's interesting that you say this, because @lantian and others disagree. But other users agree with you. In particular, I think that @o0CosmoMemory0o mentioned in the past that the Reference II were his favorite, and I think if there is an authority on HD540 must be he since he had like a dozen of them.

I guess there must be some variability between units, and the late production HD540 Reference II were made in Ireland, which some people say had more inconsistent production standards.

Mine is a late production from Ireland, by the way, but seems to sound amazingly good (although I have no other HD540 to compare it to).

My first HD 540s were from Ireland, I called them "visual headphones" at the time. I listened to Progressive on them until the morning hours, they were connected to my neurons.The current Gold is doing the same ,for a shade of lower intensity, but the years have passed

 

[T 1000]

I listened to my new HD540 Reference II (Ireland version) on some songs I am familiar with, and here are my thoughts.

To put it simply, the headphones sound natural, articulate, and detailed. The soundstage is good, but I wasn't floored. I think I will need to listen a little bit more later with different songs. I didn't find the bass lacking at all. I would say the bass is very accurate, but maybe I prefer light bass signatures. It doesn't convey the impact that you get from other headphones, maybe the sub bass is not there or is very rolled off, but the quality of what is there more than makes up for it. The highs are simply amazing, the best I have ever heard. They are not strident and they are very detailed. This is easily felt with cymbal hits or in some other sounds that have treble harmonics. For example, listening to Nick Drake's River Man the guitar part appears so realistic, because each pluck is represented with the correct harmonic overtones. In general, the high register sounds so realistic and airy.

The mids, as expected, are incredibly good. This is not a very flattering headphone, you will here what is there. Most headphones will smooth things out (ugly things) and give you the aural equivalent of a 1970s glamour picture with a diffuse filter, so they make things sound pleasing, but the price is that you are not listening to what was recorded. I wouldn't say that the HD540 is analytical because to me that has a connotation of coldness and lack of integration or musicality. I would say the HD540 is more accurate than analytical if that makes sense. I think its Reference designation is fully deserved.

The only thing I noticed is some stridence in the high mids in some parts (I think this might have happened with an oboe or a french horn at a few points).

As far as amping, I am using an Objective2 amp, and with a Voodoo Sound Galaxy S1 (I know, I know.) I had it on Low Gain at around 3 PM for a comfortable sound level. It definitely needs an amp but it is not a monster. Bear in mind these are Reference II 300 Ohm, unlike some of the Reference models.

Some of the songs I listened to:

Second Movement of Beethoven 7th Symphony (Carlos Kleiber)
River Man (Nick Drake)
Signs Main Titles (Newton Howard)
E. T. The Extraterrestrial Credits (John Williams)
Can't Change Me (Chris Cornell)

Really amazing headphones, I am glad that the hype was warranted in this case.

I'm glad you bought the right headphones, I wish them to last you a long time

 

[sennsay]

Oh yeah, you were the guy flaunting his 'wang' (pads) HAHA!

Say, do you remember if these pads came with the foam discs as well? From their auction it seems they do, but it shows the discs to be 5mm thick. Doesn't that seem to be much thicker than the stock discs? Do they change the sound, or did you use different discs?

I'm certainly one of the early adopters of the 'wang' pleather pads, I did not enjoy the velour pads on these headphones, they were 'ok' but meh too. The foam discs with the pleather pads are too thick, dampening the sound, losing openness and real definition .. for me. Fortunately, that first time I had also bought the velour set to try them out and realised that they had thinner foam discs so I used them instead. Bingo! They are very close to the original Senn disc thickness. I'm on my second set of pleathers and Velour inners now and it's unlikely that I will change anything at this stage, everything that I want from the Ref1s is all there, from stage height, width and sheer intimacy and presence.

 

[Precaud]

Wang will also sell you spares of the thin discs, I think it was $3 for two sets, no extra charge for shipping if ordered at the same time as a set of pads. Talk to them, they're good people to work with. He knows how to treat his customers right.

Based on sennsay's comments, I'm considering ordering a set of the pleathers.

 

[T 1000]

I'm glad you bought the right headphones, I wish them to last you a long time

I will give you another reason to take care of them.
They will rise with each of your system upgrades.
When building my system, I halfway thought that I had reached their maximum, and, better was not possible, but they improved to the end, showing what each added component brings to the system, no matter how subtle the upgrade was (fuses).They can always sound even better
I don't talk anymore to myself that it is not possible, the next upgrade will most likely be -Audio Gd -Di 20 HE, and then some good streamer.
They now sound the way I, earlier while listening to HE 560 on Marantz, imagined Susvara being heard on good devices.
For a reason, they should be highlighted , and be a signpost in a good direction in which future headphones should be created.

P.S.And one more thing, give them good cables

 

[Starbound]

My first HD 540s were from Ireland, I called them "visual headphones" at the time. I listened to Progressive on them until the morning hours, they were connected to my neurons.The current Gold is doing the same ,for a shade of lower intensity, but the years have passed

These are very special headphones, indeed. Not only the very engrossing and natural sound, but the ergonomic design and light weight makes them unbelievable transparent.

 

[Starbound]

I'm certainly one of the early adopters of the 'wang' pleather pads, I did not enjoy the velour pads on these headphones, they were 'ok' but meh too. The foam discs with the pleather pads are too thick, dampening the sound, losing openness and real definition .. for me. Fortunately, that first time I had also bought the velour set to try them out and realised that they had thinner foam discs so I used them instead. Bingo! They are very close to the original Senn disc thickness. I'm on my second set of pleathers and Velour inners now and it's unlikely that I will change anything at this stage, everything that I want from the Ref1s is all there, from stage height, width and sheer intimacy and presence.

That was a happy coincidence for you to have ordered both sets of pads and being able to mix the pads and the foam discs from the two sets.

I have a quick question about the plastic rings. Is there any way to get spare plastic rings in some way? Do the official Sennheiser HD430 earpads include the plastic rings compatible with the HD540? I'm talking about these: https://en-us.sennheiser.com/accessories-hd-430-ear-cushion

Thank you for your HD540 blog posts in the Australian site. I think that was you, anyway. Really engaging and inspiring!

 

[Starbound]

I'm glad you bought the right headphones, I wish them to last you a long time

Thank you! Yes, I intend to treat them very carefully. They are a special set of headphones.

Plagiarizing Obi Wan Kenobi, "This is the HD540, the headphone of a Jedi Knight. An elegant headphone for a more civilized age."

 

[Starbound]

Wang will also sell you spares of the thin discs, I think it was $3 for two sets, no extra charge for shipping if ordered at the same time as a set of pads. Talk to them, they're good people to work with. He knows how to treat his customers right.

Based on sennsay's comments, I'm considering ordering a set of the pleathers.

Yes, thank you for the tip. I sent the seller a message about the thinner discs, hopefully I will hear from them soon. I am planning on getting the pleathers and maybe two sets of the thinner discs, since I intend to wash the stock velours and replace the torn foam disc on one of them with these.

I was also thinking of buying the HD430 replacement earpads from Sennheiser, because it appears these include the plastic adapter rings. I'm waiting to see if anyone here with experience with the HD430 earpads could confirm this. Then I would interchange earpads without issue, though I don't intend to do that often. Ideally I will get a set which sounds best to me and go with it. Right now I am in the experimentation phase.

 

[Starbound]

I will give you another reason to take care of them.
They will rise with each of your system upgrades.
When building my system, I halfway thought that I had reached their maximum, and, better was not possible, but they improved to the end, showing what each added component brings to the system, no matter how subtle the upgrade was (fuses).They can always sound even better
I don't talk anymore to myself that it is not possible, the next upgrade will most likely be -Audio Gd -Di 20 HE, and then some good streamer.
They now sound the way I, earlier while listening to HE 560 on Marantz, imagined Susvara being heard on good devices.
For a reason, they should be highlighted , and be a signpost in a good direction in which future headphones should be created.

P.S.And one more thing, give them good cables

That is the hallmark of good equipment (transparency and scalability). A good headphone will scale well because it is not the bottleneck in the audio chain and it doesn't taint the audio signal with undesirable character. Honestly, I am very impressed with the sound of my HD540 Ref II coming from my Objective2 amp. Shortly I will be listening to them from my second O2/ODAC unit (this time straight through the ODAC, and I expect the experience to be even better).

The Mogami cables I hear about, do you need to buy the cable and the HD540 jack connectors separately and make your own, or do they sell cables for the HD540? I didn't see any of this in eBay. The HD540 Ref II I have (late production) has some information on the box, and it says that the cable is the 99.99% oxygen-free copper kind, supposedly better than the original steel cable, but I have the feeling eventually I will want to upgrade to see if it truly upgrades the sound even more.

 

[Miori]

Nice to see that this thread took life again and other people enjoy the sisters...
I'm not going to explain the differences I'm only saying that "First was the Ref.2, then came the Ref.1 600 and the Ref.2 rested, then came the Gold 600 and the Ref.1 and Ref.2 are resting".