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I'm looking for a well-regarded set of replacement tips for my IEMs! Ideally, nothing beyond the $10 - $15 range (I'm sure the price point can go much higher than that.) I've finally worn out the pair that came with my Nuforce NE-700M's; they now tend to break their seal and slip out of my ear with ease.
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Aug 31, 2013 03:12
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Midorka posted:Check out the Sony Hybrid tips. Thanks! This looks to be up my alley. I was ready to buy a set of Comply foam tips, until I read about their general lifespan and special needs for cleaning/storage -- wouldn't work in my situation.
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Sep 1, 2013 19:48
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What's the opinion on buying "lightly used"? In this case, mid-tier open over-ear headphones, not IEMs or anything that could get all funky with earwax and sweat and whatnot. I'm pining for a pair of AKG K7XX, but they're a Massdrop collab that may never be for sale at retail again for all I know. I found a pair on eBay that claim to be lightly used and look as good as new in pictures, and common sense is telling me it's fine (since I've beat the hell out of my current headphones' drivers for the past 8 years and they still sound pretty solid) but I just wanted to make sure since it's eBay and all. I'd rather not gently caress over the seller by refunding (let alone eating the return shipping cost) if there's something wrong with them.Dr. Fishopolis posted:Fostex T50RP mk3 These seem pretty rad as well, and I dig the look, which does score extra points. They're in stock at the local Guitar Center, so I'll probably go demo them tomorrow and see if they're up my alley. I could devote the $50 or so I'd save over the used K7XX to replacement pads, too. About semi-open -- I've never tried a pair; is it drastically different re: hearing outside of the cans? I want to say openness is important to me, as my primary use for headphones is playing rhythm games where tight timing is key, and being able to hear your fingers pressing the keys in time with the music is a plus. I'm kinda kidding myself, though, since I've typically got my volume up loud enough to the point of drowning out that feedback, even with fully open headphones. enojy fucked around with this message at 06:11 on Aug 15, 2016 |
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Aug 15, 2016 00:34
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yesacs posted:The K7XX drops actually seem to happen quite regularly, I think there were two in last two months. In fact, another drop happened today. Son of a bitch! I literally just got back from picking up a pair of Fostex T50RP mk3's from Guitar Center after an impressive demo (thanks for the goon influence there, Dr. Fishopolis!) However, now that I'm home, I feel as if I'm ever-so-slightly underpowering them with my FiiO E10K (even though the math checks out based on impedance and sensitivity; I'm not super educated on this stuff, so I couldn't say for sure.) Fostex's 50-ohm, 92 dB/mW sensitivity vs. AKG's 62-ohm, 105 dB/mW sensitivity -- any opinion on which would be better driven by the E10K? The K7XX's would actually end up being cheaper, too, since I can already tell I'm going to want replacement ear pads for the T50RP's. Then again, the T50RP's are handling everything I'm currently throwing at it really, really nicely. Based on the limited provided specs of the E10K (rated at 200mW @ 32 ohms, assuming ~110mW @ 50 ohms[T50RP mk3], ~80mW @ 62 ohms[K7XX]) and the chart near the top of the page here, the T50RP mk3 require about 75mW and the K7XX require only 3 or 4 mW based on their respective sensitivities, but again, the whole "K7XX are hard to drive" trend via googling them is throwing a wrench in all of these dumb numbers when only a few mW at 62 ohms are puportedly required to fully drive them to 110dB. I think I'll probably end up returning these within the week grace period and give those K7XX's a shot based on my gut, even though I hear those too are harder to drive than the numbers suggest. If those don't work out, I can always sell them and head back to Guitar Center. This is my first time ordering something from Massdrop; are they already at their lowest price with the green bar already all the way to the right? enojy fucked around with this message at 17:44 on Aug 15, 2016 |
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Aug 15, 2016 16:53
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Dr. Fishopolis posted:The T50RP are definitely really loving hard to drive. I think a good rule of thumb is: if your amp is purely USB powered, it's probably not gonna cut it. The way I see it is that for most people they're amazing $250 headphones that come with a free amp. To elaborate: I looked up the SMSL SAP-VI. Please forgive me if I'm misinterpreting, but vendors that sell it rate it at 200mW of power to 32 ohms. The FiiO E10K is rated the same, so would you say they're roughly equivalent in power delivery? (Barring the power deliveries to other ohm levels that the manufacturers don't reveal -- for all I know, the FiiO could drop severely above 32 ohm due to its USB power while the SMSL might keep the mW higher as ohms increase.) They sound great to me, and the only indication I have that I'm underpowering them is the endless cave that is audiophile/headphone forums via google. Well, that, and the fact that I have to have the E10K on high gain at 50-60% volume to get them pretty drat loud and kicking. I'm alright with that, though, because there's no clipping, noise, or other unpleasantness. They're still loud down at like 30% volume, but they don't start punching until I get to 50%. Anything above 50-60% is painfully/damagingly loud. In the end, if I were to definitively find out that I'm only powering them to 85-90% of their potential and would need to invest hundreds more into an amp and DAC to get 100%, I think I'm alright where I'm at. I'm pretty sure I'm gonna stick with them, because hell, I've already ordered the Shure pads so gently caress it! Edit: I forgot to ask, how do you replace the pads? I'm sure it's just a matter of pulling, but I gave them a gentle tug and they didn't budge, and I don't want to break anything. enojy fucked around with this message at 05:31 on Aug 16, 2016 |
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Aug 16, 2016 05:23
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Well, strangely, the FiiO E10K plugged into my retina Macbook Pro was just enough to power the Fostex (albeit high gain and 50-60% volume,) but when connected to my Windows PC (where I'll be using the headphones virtually the entire time,) it wasn't cutting it. Had to max the volume knob out and it still wasn't loud enough, and clearly not as powered as they were when connected to the Macbook -- everything sounded much flatter. Windows sound was at 99% just as it was on the Macbook, so I've got no idea what the discrepancy is. I guess I'll just replace the FiiO with something that puts out more power, because I already love the way the headphones sound on the Macbook. Edit: I think I solved the discrepancy; the games I play were defaulting to 75% of their own volume output! Dr. Fishopolis posted:Oh! Forget it, you're powering them just fine. That's better than my Monoprice dac/amp does, which sounds fantastic. Don't fall into the audiophile hole. If it's loud enough and sounds good, it's loud enough and sounds good. Thanks! I actually just went for the 840 pads; I didn't want to do anything drastic to the material/distance from ear to driver, and couldn't afford the 1540s because I am now broke. 
enojy fucked around with this message at 20:07 on Aug 16, 2016 |
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Aug 16, 2016 19:55
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I put those Shure 840 pads on the Fostex and they feel great now. My entire ears actually fit inside these. Didn't notice a whole ton of difference sound-wise, which is good! I had to abandon the FiiO E10K and go back to my receiver, though... the FiiO just doesn't have enough umph for these. My receiver barely has the umph with the volume right at 0dB. Over the past few days, I get the impression that they're pretty good all around once you replace the stock pads. They sound quite a bit better with some equalization.
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Aug 18, 2016 11:10
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AbsoluteLlama posted:Just ordered a DT-990 (250 ohm) Pro and ATH-AD900X. Try to find a PDF for your receiver's manual online, and see if it has any specs regarding headphone output. In my experience, receivers are hit or miss -- my Yamaha from early 2000 puts out lots of power (nearly too much!) but my newer, more expensive Sony receiver doesn't power the headphone port at all.
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Aug 23, 2016 17:27
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AbsoluteLlama posted:So I tried my receiver last night and it's certainly on the 'too much' power end. I have to turn it way down even listening to LPs. You're good, then! Especially if your 990s are the 250 ohm version. The main reason receivers can be considered overpowered is because their output impedance is often way high, like 8-10 ohms. Sometimes, it's because they just utilize the speaker amp to power the headphone out. The magic number is having your receiver/amp's output impedance be 1/8th that of your headphones (or less.) Having to turn it down for comfort is typically a good thing.
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Aug 24, 2016 16:33
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). I also looked into the onboard sound specs a bit more and it has a built in headphone amp. I actually have to turn the master volume way down even with the DT 990; no hissing and sounds clean. I'm actually very surprised (I'm used to lots of interference with onboard audio).
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surrender posted:I have a pair of HD598s and I don't think I'll need another pair of headphones until these break. Even though I mostly listen to hip-hop, I use these a lot more than my M50s. Based on the "mostly hip hop" comment, I'm assuming you aren't 100% satisfied with the low end on the HD598s? You could probably do a reverse 555/558 -> 598 mod with the right foam placed in the cup behind the driver. That's all that mod is (well, to "turn 555s into 598s" you just take the foam square out,) and I distinctly remember losing some bass when I did that. The hard part would be finding an appropriate foam... nothing dense, sorta transparent, very thin, like 5-6 sheets of paper thin. Also good luck breaking them. I used my dad's on-ear Sennheisers as a kid that looked like they were made in the 60's, and my 555s have survived 6 or 7 years of being tossed around on a daily basis. Curiously, the first thing to even come close to breaking is the foam padding's glue on the headband. Very glad to still have them around, and will almost certainly stumble upon some 600 or 650s eventually. enojy fucked around with this message at 15:45 on Aug 28, 2016 |
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Aug 28, 2016 15:43
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For affordable IEMs, The Verge just wrote a glowing review of these $38 IEMs. Takeaways are "compete with IEMs ten times their price" and "$38 IEMs will probably have their cable break or go faulty within a year no matter how much you baby them." my emphasis not theirs on that second part! Either way, I couldn't be mad at a pair of $38 IEMs going bad after a year if they sound anywhere near as good as the review claims. It's just the nature of the beast with flimsy cables, especially if you use them on the go.
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Aug 29, 2016 22:58
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Stan Taylor posted:I'm about to get my first (and hopefully only) USB DAC for use with my desktop. Is something like the FiiO E10K a good bet? I was expecting it to have like a 1/4" plug because any time I get a decent pair of headphones they seem to have that size of plug, but is there any difference at all or is it mostly for legacy/hifi support? I've come to terms with the FiiO E10K and would recommend it for someone looking to power most headphones for under $100. I was pleased as punch with it until I tried my Fostex T50RP mk3's with it, and had to nearly top it out just to get them to an optimal (LOUD) volume. These headphones are notoriously hard to power, though. If I really wanted to fully wring them out, I'd be looking at hundreds of dollars worth of outlet-powered amplification. Gotta draw the line somewhere; I'll settle for 95% satisfaction. The FiiO sounds excellent, clean, and bright with everything else I've plugged into it. I use it primarily with music/rhythm games where millisecond reaction timing is key, and it's great on that front -- no lag whatsoever. That was a worry of mine due to the USB nature. I mean, my knowledge of computer hardware forces me to acknowledge that it isn't truly lagless, but we're talking a handful of picoseconds here. Essentially lagless; equivalent to onboard sound. FiiO specs it for up to 150-ohm headphones, and delivers 200mW @ 32 ohms, which is all the details they give you. That's plenty for most non-audiophile applications. Check your headphones' sensitivity and impedance -- if they're above 95dB and below 150 ohms respectively, the FiiO will probably work out great (that's like 95% of headphones that don't require a hefty portion of a paycheck.) Otherwise, it's a craps shoot. If you post which headphones you'd be using with it, I could give you a confident yes or no. The 3.5mm port is no problem, just pick up an adapter! enojy fucked around with this message at 11:33 on Sep 7, 2016 |
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Sep 7, 2016 11:30
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Edit: removed
enojy fucked around with this message at 14:26 on Sep 9, 2016 |
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Sep 9, 2016 14:23
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snipermonkey posted:So I'm thinking of buying new headphones and I have narrowed it down to the AKG k702 and the Sennheiser hd598. My previous headphones have been Sennheisers and my current one is a hd518. I like the comfort of the Sennheisers and I have had no problems with its sound. The AKG k702 and the Sennheiser hd598 are discounted to the same price in amazon UK (about 145 pounds) and i do have a fiio e17 so driving both of them shouldn't be a problem. I use my headphones mostly for gaming and watching videos and when I listen to music there is no preferred genre. Can you try on the K702s anyplace? The way they auto-adjust was actually a deal breaker for me, although they were very comfortable. I just prefer a very snug fit, and that was difficult to accomplish with AKGs. Both sound great, though.
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Sep 25, 2016 22:11
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NewFatMike posted:Do the AKG 7XX cans need an amp? Strongly considering picking a pair up. Yes and no, they'll just sound kinda dull without an amp, but you can probably get them loud enough. They don't need a great amp; my FiiO E10K pushes them just fine. Your laptop may even have a built-in headphone amp that does a sufficient job. If you've got a pair of HD600s on the way, though, those need an amp for sure. If the price tag doesn't turn you off, the Schiit products I've used were excellent and will power anything you ever buy ("the stack," pretty sure it was their base model amp & DAC combo.) enojy fucked around with this message at 01:55 on Dec 26, 2016 |
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Dec 26, 2016 01:47
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Lord Grundle posted:Thanks! I went with the Sennheiser and I should have them by this weekend. I was gonna err on the side of the Sennheisers, too. Although they're comparatively light on bass compared to the M40x, this can be remedied sufficiently with a lil EQ. On the flip side, M40x are decidedly bass heavy, and I'm willing to bet they'd get pretty fatiguing quick with enough double bass in your metal. The Sennheisers are also way more comfortable once you pass an hour or so. Edit: just looked up HD598C under the hunch that the "C" stood for "closed" and I was right! Maybe you won't find any issue with light bass. I was basing that comment on the open HD598. enojy fucked around with this message at 02:29 on Jul 8, 2017 |
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Jul 8, 2017 02:26
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