Outstanding. Yeah, this line of headphones is simply magical. Recently I read an outline from some site in the Czech Republic on the Sennheiser headphone line, and they coincided that the HD540 was the apex of the Sennheiser line to this day. The open and tonally accurate timbre and musicality are unmatched by the HD580 and later (shifting to a less open sound, adopting the Harman Curve instead of the Diffuse Field loudness curve, like the HD540), whereas the HD800 (which is a return to the same tonal balance of the HD540 generation) suffers from some lack of musicality and integration of the parts into a cohesive whole.Agreed, the Focal Elear cans I listened to had pinpoint imaging and a more distant soundstage than I'm used to, but I did not enjoy the music itself any more so, in fact the organic timbre and life-like feel, the emotional connection to the music is superior on my HD540 Ref1s, though to be entirely fair the Elears were played with a top end Fiio DAP and not from the Questyle QP1R and amp system I use here, which has become even more musically delicious with a few minor mods lately (not the Schiit Magni). I'm currently using the Elekit valve pre-amp, Schiit multibit DAC and hot-rodded amp/Class A power supply), liquid music with great clarity and insights into many favourite tunes that I've heard countless times and revelling in it. A long time fave, if only for certain tracks is Life Without Buildings' Any Other City album, quirky, sometimes hard to understand quite what Sue Tompkins (the singer .. for want of a better word) is saying and it's rhythmically interesting to me, bass guitar is both subtle yet essential backing to her vocalising. The last track, Sorrow, is recorded very simply but is still often hard to get right as a whole musical piece, this time though, with the system rejuvenated, I was instantly jaw-dropped. Not only was the kick drum on the far left bigger and meatier, but the sheer amount of air now coming from the bass drum knocked me out, Sue Tomkin's spoken/sung lyrics and utter bodily presence is what dropped the jaw, bass is subtle while distinct as an entity in itself, no longer lost in the background and rhythm guitar has it's own intricate delicacy. What a piece! Cymbals shimmered in intimate space, while seemingly a lot less timing distortion with the electronic mods has allowed drum and cymbal strikes and crashes to be revealed in an entirely natural way that is hard to describe, yet is obvious with every album I play, even AAC tracks from iTunes. Everything I played had an intimate organic fluidity, though there will be some folks who prefer a slightly more distant perspective and occasionally I would agree with them for some music. Ani Di Franco Live was also very intimate and 'you are there on stage with the musicians'. I have heard greater ultimate transparency (with a Sonic Frontiers SFL-1 pre-amp in the system), but not with this level of organic presence.
Never have I enjoyed Any Other City to anywhere near what I'm hearing now, the sheer body of Sue Tompkins in the music astonishes me, this is something that the Ref1s are already superb at in any of my systems, but now I'm experiencing something else again, even more real and alive. It actually shows me that the modifications to the h/p amp itself has been very beneficial now that I can hear it properly - I upped the gain on the output transistors to run a little further into Class A, along with some new shortened cables I made to go between the DAC and pre-amp, the usual pure silver Slinkylinks cables from pre to amp and a few other little mods. It leaves what I heard with the Elears far behind in heart and mind melting enjoyment, as good as they no doubt can be within an even better system than I heard them.
I'll still take the Ref1s any day!
I think the HD540 family extends quite a bit, probably up to the HD565, although I think the HD565 and HD545 are a little in between the HD540 and the HD580 tonally speaking. Below the HD540, it extends as far as I can tell down to the HD520 which I have. Let me tell you, they refer to this headphone as a "lesser member" of the family, but it could fool me. It is extremely similar to the HD540 Ref II, though perhaps it is more a lesser brother of the HD540 Ref I 600 ohm (if the Ref I 600 ohm is that superior to the Ref II).
To offer a counter to your experience and illustrate the magic quality of these headphones, I have been experimenting with the most minimal setup, and I am astonished at the results. It defies logical explanation, even.
The past 3 or 4 days I have been driving the HD520 from an 2005 RCA Lyra mp3 player which has a Sigmatel DAC. I already knew the RCA Lyra is a brilliant piece of equipment, a "sleeper" if you will. The Sigmatel DAC is the same one which was inside the iPod Shuffle 1st Gen, which many people consider the best sound quality in the iPod family up to a few years ago. It is extremely balanced and musical, with all the frequencies in the spectrum clear and present, but it suffers from some steady electronic noise (barely noticeable in most situations, depending on the headphone you connect it to). With my Sony MDR-7506, which are quite sensitive, the issue could be heard when there was complete silence, but it was inaudible otherwise.
I didn't know what to expect when connecting the HD520 to this thing (which to top it all, runs on an AAA battery). But my mind has been blown away. I am getting about 95% of the quality I get from driving the HD520 from my O2 amplifier. Maybe the highs can be slightly more shrill in some situations, but it is a tough call, I would need to A/B. The volume obviously needs to be almost maxed out (though I normally have to reduce it 1 or 2 notches depending on the source material because then it's too loud for me. Also, the electronic noise I referred to (a high pitch) is inaudible with the HD520, probably due to the higher impedance and lower sensitivity, I guess.
I was listening to the Nirvana Unplugged set and the realism is really stunning for this setup. Almost like being front row in the audience. I could hear things with clarity I could never hear with the 7506. Comments from the public, etc. The soundstage with the HD520 is so good that a few times somebody knocked something, or an amp was plugged or unplugged, and I looked behind me because I thought the sound was coming from my door in the living room, then I rewinded to replay and heard it again.
This generation of Sennheisers is golden, just amazing. These are not normal headphones, they are teleporting/time machines.
If somebody had told me that it is possible to drive an HD520 (300 ohm, 94dB sensitivity) with a rechargeable AAA battery for over 6 hours with this quality I would have said they were insane. You have to hear it to believe it.
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