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Burn-in revisited

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote morris_minor Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Feb 2014 at 9:02pm
Welcome to the forum, Mike!

Just leave the ULDE continuously powered up and it will perform its best after a couple of days. What headphones will you be using with it?

Edited by morris_minor - 18 Feb 2014 at 9:04pm
Bob

Majestic DAC/pre-amp
Accession MC/Enigma, Accession MM, Reflex M, Elevator EXP, Era Gold V
Solo ULDE, Novo, Lautus USB and digital, Libran balanced, CuSat50
2 x Proprius + Spatia/Spatia Links
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Hoy-m Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Feb 2014 at 9:48pm
HD 650s, at present the loaner is just a latent possibility in the hands of parcelforce (week overdue) hoping to collect it tomorrow. I have used a Novo for a couple of years now, and think it's excellent but looking forward to the Solo. I plan to give the PSU a go with the Novo as well.

Mike 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote morris_minor Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Feb 2014 at 11:00pm
I use 650s too. A great combination with the ULDE - enjoy your demo!
Bob

Majestic DAC/pre-amp
Accession MC/Enigma, Accession MM, Reflex M, Elevator EXP, Era Gold V
Solo ULDE, Novo, Lautus USB and digital, Libran balanced, CuSat50
2 x Proprius + Spatia/Spatia Links
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Lloyd Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Feb 2014 at 5:30pm
Hi.  I have just read pretty much all of this thread and have just registered as an owner.  Phew!!

I was then happy to see that it is still kind of active (I don't like bumping old threads, especially being a newbie) from morris_minor and others a week or so ago.

I have had the Gram Amp 2 Special Edition for a few years.  I have moved house a number of times since I bought it and things get mixed up - the AC adaptor is a brick, I hope it is the right one, 500mA.  24V.  Maybe I am different, but I have over a dozen of these black bricks floating around.  I am not happy to report that the Gram amp 2 was dropped once.  Oops.  

So, a couple weeks ago I grabbed a new Novo from a bloke in Oz, Geoff, who was very kind in answering my silly questions, like we don't call plugs phono but RCA - no, I can't plug my Rega TT straight in..  Yes, Solo Ultra Linear in my dreams one day.

Coupled with a Senn 650.  

Now - my point with maybe some relevance to this thread - I was most disappointed at first.  It sounded wooly, cotton wrapped.  I thought it may be my Senns, which have been unfairly described as veiled.  I have simply let it on 24 hours a day for a couple weeks, attached to the tuner with 650s plugged in.  At a low volume.  Switched off for a couple hours here and there.

I think it is beginning to shine!  Thankyou!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote CageyH Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Aug 2014 at 7:26am
Out of interest, what is the burn in time for the Proprius amps?
I'm on my mobile, and could not find a way of searching this thread to see if it has already been answered.
Kevin
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Fuzzy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Jun 2016 at 10:09pm
I am a fan of the Beyerdynamic DT880 headphones. I have owned a pair now for more than ten years (2003 model), but that is a 32 Ohm version. Now that I have upgraded my set up with a Majestic DAC and a Solo SRGII, I decided to buy a 600 Ohm as well. Right from the start, I was not very overwhelmed with the result. Also, the volume seemed rather low, even at about 'three o'clock' on the volume control. Maybe it is my imagination, but now, after about (just) 30 hours of burn-in, the headphones seem to give me just that much little higher volume at the same level on the volume control. I do have to admit I am, as of yet, only listening from iPod touch (mainly Apple lossless files) via 3.5mm to 2RCA to Majestic DAC. In other words, I wouldn't know how that would (if at all) influence volume and other things - so many things to learn yet, which is nice and interesting, of course. About the sound signature of the headphones, I couldn't really say anything has changed noticably yet, but that may come. Some say headphones need a few hundred hours of burn-in. Well, I guess I'll learn. And if the Beyerdynamic DT880's might not be the best (for the money), which ones might then be 'better'? (I think I rate transparency above warm sound, but I read somewhere that the attack is slow on the DT880's, which would result in a somewhat more fuzzy sound?)

Edited by Fuzzy - 30 Jun 2016 at 11:34pm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Graham Slee Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01 Jul 2016 at 8:02am
Headphones are tricky beasts, and some can sound really signatured. Why? I don't know.

They were originally intended for communications and have been developed over the years for the duties of studio monitoring, dj line-up, recording engineering, home listening, on the go, and high fidelity use.

I first bought some Sansui hi-fi headphones in the 70s thinking I'd get some enjoyment but mainly I fell asleep because the music was so boring. My first experience of "pure sounding" headphones was at a friend's flat - these were the plasticky bright yellow foam attired Sennheisers. I was taken aback by the reality of the music they produced. I (much) later bought something similar - Sennheiser headphones which looked the same but had black foam this time (can't remember the model). These too sounded so "pure".

When starting to test my headphone amplifier designs I bought some inexpensive Grado's and they were "different" but still quite acceptable. I then decided to try a Sennheiser headphone advertised in the pro-audio HBL catalogue. It was the Sennheiser HD250 II. I was surprised at its shrill sound. This was when I learnt about headphone burn-in. All this was new to me and it was before the web became stuffed with opinions. I left them running to no avail, and eventually stood them on top of a central heating radiator. A few days later I tried them again and the sound had changed completely - so mellow and wonderful.

I've had a lot of different headphones since (but never it seems the trendy ones people often  talk about), and none has been able to match the HD250II sound - not even the HD800!!

Second best to me is the AKG K701, but this took forever to run in. They actually belong to a friend who couldn't stand them. They are very amp-fussy and only truly sound good to me using the ULDE. In fact the K701 was used in the ULDE listening tests along with the HD250II, the Grado's and the HD600's.

My only memory of Beyer's was whilst working in broadcast audio and testing the headphone amplifier stages I was designing then. I have to say they didn't impress me, but then again, I don't know what type they were, and so perhaps this comment isn't valid today.

The Solos can drive 600 ohms but if the sensitivity of a headphone is too low, the milli-watts produced will not be deafening. Rather than using gain switches the Solos are designed to use full rotation of the volume control (not just the usual 11 o'clock of hi-fi). So, with such a high impedance it is usual to be using them at 3 o'clock plus - and up to maximum, because they won't distort with such a high impedance load.
That none should be able to buy or sell without a smartphone and the knowledge in how to use apps
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