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1st impressions Solo ULD trial

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gbr2004uk View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote gbr2004uk Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Feb 2018 at 3:45pm
More considered impression (latest).  Compared to the Bitzie/Lautus alone, adding the Solo UL/Cusat does give a noticeably enhanced fullness and spaciousness to certain timbres and pitches (strings, woodwind, higher frequencies) using the HD700, but for my purposes and disposable income not £X-enough of difference/enhancement to justify the investment.

But I've also taken the HD650 away from its semi-permanent connection to the Yamaha Clavinova (so useful for not inflicting my amateur keyboard efforts on anyone within earshot, especially during unsocial hours) and given it another go with the Bitzie.   (By the way all my pc music is stored as flac files, which is how I play it, using mostly foobar or occasionally VLC audio at flat EQ.)

The HD650 does extremely well with the Bitzie and seems to me to avoid the worst of the peak (Edit: of the 700) so often described around the web as "notorious" — see e.g. http://https://www.head-fi.org/threads/sennheiser-hd700-review.614011/ — but again, to my now old ears, the difference is fairly small.

I'm just coming up to halfway through the fortnight's trial and it's been a fascinating learning experience, if a somewhat bumpy one!   In the years since I've been using the Bitzie on a daily basis, and for hours at a time, I never had any reason to complain or to want more out of the system — until I recently got sets of Beethoven and Schubert string quartets, all on brightly-recorded CDs.  And there was something very unenjoyable about the higher frequencies — neurophysiological changes in my auditory apparatus?  something to do with CD recording techniques?  a sudden awakening to what had always been deficiencies in the HD700?

I now had the same response to the same frequencies / timbres in the recently released Marin-Alsop-Bernstein recordings: most of them fine, but some moments far too shrill (with the HD700, I've not played these on the 650).

By the way, I'm wondering if experimenting with lowering the EQ level (as can be done more easily with the VLC software) would help?  I'm about to try it -- although worry about whether it would alter the quality of the sound.  (Years before I read anything about hifi and the audiophile world, mucking about with EQ was the only thing I did apart from twiddling the volume knob.)

All best
Brian



Edited by gbr2004uk - 23 Feb 2018 at 3:50pm
Voyager 2009, Bitzie+Lautus cable 2013, Sennheiser HD700 & 650, Yamaha Clavinova
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gbr2004uk View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote gbr2004uk Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Feb 2018 at 3:55pm
That link doesn't seem to work.  Try:
www.head-fi.org/ ; threads/sennheiser-hd700  -review.   614011/   (without the gaps of course)
Voyager 2009, Bitzie+Lautus cable 2013, Sennheiser HD700 & 650, Yamaha Clavinova
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Ash Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Feb 2018 at 9:32pm
Unfortunately I don't sell re-conditioned HD250II or HD540II headphones anymore. If I did, I would recommend them over the HD650/HD700 as I suspect the improvement would be quite significant.
We do not see things as they are. We see things as we are.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote gbr2004uk Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Feb 2018 at 9:50pm
Thanks Ash.   I'm thinking of Beyerdynamic ...  Perhaps I read too much stuff on the web Wink but I think (now!) I want something that's even throughout the frequencies, no peaks, just well balanced.   I gasped when I saw that it's possible to spend thousands on electrostatic h'phones but I'm totally sure I don't want them.

I gather pretty much everything goes well with the Bitzie, but any recommendations?  And I know it's well nigh impossible to recommend one's own personal favourite to anyone else (one person's meat another's poison, etc ...)   I gather Grado are very popular amongst audiophiles.   I found a place that does a 30-day return, full refunds.  I'm tempted.

Cheers
Brian
Voyager 2009, Bitzie+Lautus cable 2013, Sennheiser HD700 & 650, Yamaha Clavinova
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Ash Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Feb 2018 at 10:05pm
HD540II is the only thing I would personally recommend wholeheartedly. I sold many on this forum after re-foaming all the earpads and had many pleased customers. That was about 4 years ago now. I quit headphones in 2015 after using AKG K1000 for a while then converted to custom speaker listening. HD540II provides a clear sound with an even frequency balance. It's an open-back headphone though.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote gbr2004uk Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Feb 2018 at 6:44pm
Originally posted by Ash Ash wrote:

HD540II is the only thing I would personally recommend wholeheartedly. ...
I'll spend time checking that out, Ash.  Thanks.  I've had only open-backed h'phones in the past and prefer the idea to closed back.
All best
Brian
Voyager 2009, Bitzie+Lautus cable 2013, Sennheiser HD700 & 650, Yamaha Clavinova
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Ash Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Feb 2018 at 9:21pm
Whatever you choose, just remember that high prices are no guarantee of high quality engineering and there is a lot of trash masquerading as professional equipment. Be sensible, critical and attentive with equipment choices.
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