[sennsay]

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.

I bought the Mogami #2893 separately and the connectors off eBay. Earlier posts cover the construction in detail. Venus Audio on eBay used to sell Mogami cables made up, though you still had to fractionally trim the connectors to fit the HD540s. I subsequently made Mogami cables for all of my cans, such was the quality and sheer 'quietness' of the cables, after all, they are very good studio quality microphone cables and very quiet cables are a must, no external noise allowed.

 

[sennsay]

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.

I find the elliptical ear openings may be allowing for the sometimes amazing soundstage height both above my eye-line and below my chin that occurs with good recordings. EG; Ricki Lee Jones' Naked Songs, a live set (or sets, different venues by the sound of them) that is not only stunningly intimate but on some tracks I truly feel that I am up in an auditorium with audience sounds coming from many directions, including below and around me, with extraordinary clarity and focus and so ALIVE! Tiny sounds, whispered voices so quiet I never knew they were there previous to cable and electronic upgrades more recently. The Mogami cable helps, or seems to, by having no added noise or distortion to misappropriate those tiny sound cues and may even be most of the reason for my findings. Same goes for many other, especially live, recordings.
However, I have never had such skull and capsule disappearing experiences prior to the 'wang' pleathers as a complete entity, so to speak. Space and openness yes, but not the whole 'close my eyes and complete immersion right next to the musicians' experience, as opposed to say the HE400S, which may have an even tighter image focus, (yet lack the organic 3D dimensionality of the HD540 Ref1s, even with electronic instruments) while sounding as if I'm standing back in the studio behind the recording engineer, watching the musicians instead of being right there with them .... smelling the beer and cigarette smoke on their clothes - HD540. Different perspectives. I can enjoy both, yet will always reach for the HD540s first.

 

[Starbound]

I bought the Mogami #2893 separately and the connectors off eBay. Earlier posts cover the construction in detail. Venus Audio on eBay used to sell Mogami cables made up, though you still had to fractionally trim the connectors to fit the HD540s. I subsequently made Mogami cables for all of my cans, such was the quality and sheer 'quietness' of the cables, after all, they are very good studio quality microphone cables and very quiet cables are a must, no external noise allowed.

Thank you for the tip on the Mogami #2893. I tend to be skeptical of the voodoo surrounding high priced cables with pixie dust that make your headphones sound better by magic (I feel most of this is just companies taking advantage of people's ignorance, pushing products at stratopheric prices with no verifiable benefit), but I understand that cables can affect the sound signal, and the Mogami is very reasonably priced.

I will look for the information in previous posts. I think this will be worth it for me to get a soldering iron.

 

[Starbound]

I find the elliptical ear openings may be allowing for the sometimes amazing soundstage height both above my eye-line and below my chin that occurs with good recordings. EG; Ricki Lee Jones' Naked Songs, a live set (or sets, different venues by the sound of them) that is not only stunningly intimate but on some tracks I truly feel that I am up in an auditorium with audience sounds coming from many directions, including below and around me, with extraordinary clarity and focus and so ALIVE! Tiny sounds, whispered voices so quiet I never knew they were there previous to cable and electronic upgrades more recently. The Mogami cable helps, or seems to, by having no added noise or distortion to misappropriate those tiny sound cues and may even be most of the reason for my findings. Same goes for many other, especially live, recordings.
However, I have never had such skull and capsule disappearing experiences prior to the 'wang' pleathers as a complete entity, so to speak. Space and openness yes, but not the whole 'close my eyes and complete immersion right next to the musicians' experience, as opposed to say the HE400S, which may have an even tighter image focus, (yet lack the organic 3D dimensionality of the HD540 Ref1s, even with electronic instruments) while sounding as if I'm standing back in the studio behind the recording engineer, watching the musicians instead of being right there with them .... smelling the beer and cigarette smoke on their clothes - HD540. Different perspectives. I can enjoy both, yet will always reach for the HD540s first.

You have an excellent way to describe your experience with these headphones. I ordered the wang pleather pads and I can't wait to try them on. I also made sure to order the thinner 2mm foam discs. Like @Precaud said, the seller is very amenable to send just what you need for a very affordable price.

The more I look at the stock velour pads the more I think that these headphones have barely been used by the previous owner. One of the foam discs over the driver have a white tear (it seems to be a tear) but it looks like this is a fairly common occurrence even in lightly used original HD540 Reference II headphones, apparently the original foam is not very resistent and it can tear.

I also ordered the HD430 pads from Sennheiser to try them on (and because they are supposed to have the set of plastic rings included). I would prefer not to have to tear the original pads apart just to extract the rings.

 

[sennsay]

You have an excellent way to describe your experience with these headphones. I ordered the wang pleather pads and I can't wait to try them on. I also made sure to order the thinner 2mm foam discs. Like @Precaud said, the seller is very amenable to send just what you need for a very affordable price.

The more I look at the stock velour pads the more I think that these headphones have barely been used by the previous owner. One of the foam discs over the driver have a white tear (it seems to be a tear) but it looks like this is a fairly common occurrence even in lightly used original HD540 Reference II headphones, apparently the original foam is not very resistent and it can tear.

I also ordered the HD430 pads from Sennheiser to try them on (and because they are supposed to have the set of plastic rings included). I would prefer not to have to tear the original pads apart just to extract the rings.

Thank you for your comments on my writing, Starbound, I do actually enjoy the writing process, I have a set up I use that allows for really quite deep and totally immersive experiences, sometimes attempting to describe them is not easy.
I ended up doing just that some years ago, the pads were so worn I just cut the rings out with a scalpel. Ordering the HD430 pads is a good idea, I bought a pair of HD430's from a seller in Germany some 18 months or so ago, just so that I could get a decent Sennheiser headband for my HD250 Linear 1's, which I bought as a pair of capsules only from a repair guy, happily the HD430's came as a set of cans in very good condition that also had rings in good German pleather pads. I don't use the latter, too firm and they 'disturbed' me when using them briefly on the Ref 1's. The HD430s are fabulous for spoken voice (they came out at a time for studio use along with certain AKG models) and have amazing detail retrieval, yet have a very limited bass response or ability to even handle some low bass, just distorting in the process, 600 ohms too. The HD540 Ref 1's are far superior as an overall unit.

 

[Starbound]

Thank you for your comments on my writing, Starbound, I do actually enjoy the writing process, I have a set up I use that allows for really quite deep and totally immersive experiences, sometimes attempting to describe them is not easy.
I ended up doing just that some years ago, the pads were so worn I just cut the rings out with a scalpel. Ordering the HD430 pads is a good idea, I bought a pair of HD430's from a seller in Germany some 18 months or so ago, just so that I could get a decent Sennheiser headband for my HD250 Linear 1's, which I bought as a pair of capsules only from a repair guy, happily the HD430's came as a set of cans in very good condition that also had rings in good German pleather pads. I don't use the latter, too firm and they 'disturbed' me when using them briefly on the Ref 1's. The HD430s are fabulous for spoken voice (they came out at a time for studio use along with certain AKG models) and have amazing detail retrieval, yet have a very limited bass response or ability to even handle some low bass, just distorting in the process, 600 ohms too. The HD540 Ref 1's are far superior as an overall unit.

Yes, your appreciation for the HD540 really comes through! I should have the wang pleather pads in a couple weeks or so, and I can't wait to try the headphones with them. But the thing is that to me they already sound fantastic with the stock velour pads (I have the Reference II). This experience has really made me question my expectations about professional audio equipment and the advances in the field. I used to think that the HD600 was the most neutral and musical Sennheiser dynamic headphone, but to me my HD540 sounds better than my HD580 now. It sounds more open and natural, less veiled, despite being a previous model.

My theory is that despite marginal technological advances, the science and manufacturing of headphones was already ripe to produce amazing headphones by the 80s, so the limiting factor was the human factor (the designers, engineers, and testers who developed these). If you think of those people like a master violin maker crafting an instrument (the headphone) which is designed to play music much like a violin is, it is clear that while technology might have made modest advances, some other things have regressed. Leaving a chimp with an oscilloscope will only get you so far.

Thank you for your comment on the HD430. it looks like the HD5xx generation was an advance over the previous one. Sennheiser has a lot of interesting models, like the HD424x (2000 ohm hehe), but it looks like the 540 might be the apex on the dynamic driver front.

 

[T 1000]

I was on the verge of buying a used HE 1000 SE, but due to lack of proof of the original, I gave up.
Arya was sent to me, when it arrives I will see how it compares to the HD 540RG.

 

[jumpa]

I was on the verge of buying a used HE 1000 SE, but due to lack of proof of the original, I gave up.
Arya was sent to me, when it arrives I will see how it compares to the HD 540RG.

it will be very interesting to read your review on those two. I am waiting for my tube hybrid amp to arrive and will make a direct comparison on my HD 540 ref1 300ohm and hifiman HE500(which are not so far from Arya IMHO) thanks and cheers!

 

[T 1000]

I’ve read a lot of reviews about Arya, and I’m guessing that Arya have the same overall presentation, Arya has more low frequencies present (which can affect the overall sound), and has a prominent frontal display.
I’m right now listening to HD 540 RG and music through Audirvana, it’s hard for me to imagine it can get any better

 

[T 1000]

Thank you for the tip on the Mogami #2893. I tend to be skeptical of the voodoo surrounding high priced cables with pixie dust that make your headphones sound better by magic (I feel most of this is just companies taking advantage of people's ignorance, pushing products at stratopheric prices with no verifiable benefit), but I understand that cables can affect the sound signal, and the Mogami is very reasonably priced.

I will look for the information in previous posts. I think this will be worth it for me to get a soldering iron.

Until recently, I was also skeptical the improvement that cables will bring. Don't let logic to guide you, try them, and it will convince you.
For my ears, all types of cables are affected; for headphones, USB, interconnect, power supply ..., and the differences are very noticeable in the type and purity of the cable.
Now I believe that a carefully selected cable brings a bigger shift in sound than if you invested equivalent money in upgrading a certain component in your system and sticking to the same cables,IMO
I only think that they are too expensive

 

[Starbound]

Until recently, I was also skeptical the improvement that cables will bring. Don't let logic to guide you, try them, and it will convince you.
For my ears, all types of cables are affected; for headphones, USB, interconnect, power supply ..., and the differences are very noticeable in the type and purity of the cable.
Now I believe that a carefully selected cable brings a bigger shift in sound than if you invested equivalent money in upgrading a certain component in your system and sticking to the same cables,IMO
I only think that they are too expensive

Yeah, it makes sense a bad cable would affect the sound signal negatively. With the Mogami it looks like it is not necessary to spend much, and the results are really good.

I have been trying to look for HD540 connectors online without luck, and the Mogami #2893 I see in Amazon is expensive compared to what it should be. I will go through this thread for this information during the weekend.

 

[sennsay]

Yeah, it makes sense a bad cable would affect the sound signal negatively. With the Mogami it looks like it is not necessary to spend much, and the results are really good.

I have been trying to look for HD540 connectors online without luck, and the Mogami #2893 I see in Amazon is expensive compared to what it should be. I will go through this thread for this information during the weekend.

Try this link, these are what I have bought for my Ref1s. https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Gold-pl...ck-HD265-HD565-HD580-HD600-HD650/112901486539
Mogami is not expensive, have a go here: http://www.mogamicable.com/category/bulk/microphone/quad/
I bought mine from an importer in Australia, not exy at all.

 

[T 1000]

I started the day with this
Kind of Sunshine-Nicola Conte
you don't need coffee or orange juice

 

[Starbound]

Try this link, these are what I have bought for my Ref1s. https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Gold-pl...ck-HD265-HD565-HD580-HD600-HD650/112901486539
Mogami is not expensive, have a go here: http://www.mogamicable.com/category/bulk/microphone/quad/
I bought mine from an importer in Australia, not exy at all.

Thank you, this is really useful. When I buy the connectors for the HD540 I also need to get connectors for an HD520 that I got that has the stock steel cable (I think the HD520 are from the HD540 Ref I generation, so it is probably the same kind of steel cable the Ref 1 came with).

I have been testing the HD520 the past couple of days and it has been really interesting. It shares many of the traits of the HD540 but it doesn't reach its level of brilliance, or almost perfect neutrality, but it is a brilliant budget headphone (it was the lowest tier in the HD5xx family in the second half of the 80s) in its own right. I wonder how much I can get from it by changing the pads and the cable. The original pleather pads in mine seem to have their foam lost most of its elasticity over the past 30 years.

 

[sennsay]

Thank you, this is really useful. When I buy the connectors for the HD540 I also need to get connectors for an HD520 that I got that has the stock steel cable (I think the HD520 are from the HD540 Ref I generation, so it is probably the same kind of steel cable the Ref 1 came with).

I have been testing the HD520 the past couple of days and it has been really interesting. It shares many of the traits of the HD540 but it doesn't reach its level of brilliance, or almost perfect neutrality, but it is a brilliant budget headphone (it was the lowest tier in the HD5xx family in the second half of the 80s) in its own right. I wonder how much I can get from it by changing the pads and the cable. The original pleather pads in mine seem to have their foam lost most of its elasticity over the past 30 years.

The only way you will find out is from the experience of doing those things That steel cable is .. well .. steely in it's sound, especially in the upper mids, a touch edgy with some music, though I've heard worse cables over the years. I've certainly had many years of great joy even with the steel cable and original pads, and I still have that original steel cable with it's DIN plug/adapter to 6.5mm plug on the end (I gather for balanced operation at the time), every now and then to give myself some perspective I take off the Mogami and plug in the original cable ... it doesn't stay long. That upper mid grainy edge appears immediately and lacks some body to images. In saying that, when I bought the cheap Sennheiser replacement cable, made with it's thin copper that just felt 'lacking' in quality, the sound smoothed out a bit alright, but so did some finer detail and openness, while sounding a little lifeless and boring. I went back to the steel cable at the time very quickly and stayed with that tattered item (the channel wires had separated some years back from constantly dancing around in sheer pleasure and occasionally pulling the cables from the cans ... none of which has damaged the headphones themselves - this happened many times over the years!). It was only when I used the Mogami cable on my Denon AH-D1000 cans (the famous Merkel mods elsewhere in Head-Fi) that I thought to make some cables for the Senn HD540's. I've never looked back (other than the brief re-establishment of my decision to check that I had actually upgraded by moving to the Mogami from the Steel cable by going back to the latter from time to time).
The stock HD650 cable is better than both the steel and el cheapo Senn replacements, while the Mogami is better for any Senn I've had in house, including the HD6xx I had for some months a few years ago. They just didn't have the sheer openness and organic fluidity and timbre of the HD540 Ref 1's, despite marginally finer midrange detail.
This is of course my own experience and may not be that of others.