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Simthaniel
Rigs
Modded headphones with qudelix at the core
When I received the Qudelix 5K, I had already modified a pair of Superlux HD-681 headphones. I previously soldered my own balanced connections to the drivers, providing multiple ways to connect and...
Apr 14, 2024
brothamike
A decent set of IEMs
I am in the midst of a 300 hour burn-in but, I will say I am enjoying how this set sounds so far. Before I received these which was btw late by a few weeks, I purchased a Sony/Kimber Kable MMCX...
Apr 12, 2024
merrick97
Should I exchange the PC38X for better headphones?
I bought the PC38X headphones FOR GAMING and they are great, but I have NO use for a Microphone since I don't do competitive gaming and I was wondering if there were better headphone options at a similar price without a headphone, where (presumably) more of the cost was put into making it sound better. I also find that my PC38X don't get quite as loud as I would like and I was wondering if a cheap amp like the iFi Go link would draw a little more volume out of my phones. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BN6MM822?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details I went with the PC38X since it was considered the best bang for buck headphones. I care most about using spatial apps like DOlby Atmos and DTS Headphone:X. Suggestions are welcome.
Apr 11, 2024
LostnAmerica
Sound Signature of the Grell Project.
Wondering what type of sound signature the Drop Grell project headphones will have or trying to attain. Any update would be appreciated.
Apr 8, 2024
Fabulous
Looking for a gaming/content audio setup
Hello! I'm looking for recommendations on audio setups. I'd be planning on using it mostly for gaming. Preferably I'd like a pair of large closed back headphones since I have a big head and jaw. I'd also like to hear myself through my mic with mic monitoring. As far as budget goes, I don't really have one. But under 600$ would be nice. I can go higher if needed. The audio setup would be connected to a high performance PC. Thank you in advance for any recommendations!
Apr 4, 2024
1plsd
$10 Drop Coupon Email not sent?
Trying to buy some gear off Drop for the first time. I was told I would receive an email with a welcome to drop $10 off promo. I never received that email. Drop was able to send me emails for my login token and email for Password update. But for some reason the $10 off coupon was never sent to me.
Mar 31, 2024
NMPacella
New here
Hello, I just joined, primarily for the audiophile products. Looking at purchasing the NHT C3 speakers for our new living room. Space is about 15 feet wide by 33 long and they will fire long ways. Space is just for general listening, music room with all equipment is downstairs, so hoping they will fill it with sound nicely. Cheers.
Mar 18, 2024
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Build/comfort: Build wise these are excellent. A step above my Sennheiser hd6xx and hd58x. They are solid with no play in anything and their steel feels thick and strong with the entire headphone having a wonderful texture to it. The earpads while unfortunately circular and barely fitting my ears in them, are more comfortable than my Sennheiser pads in every other way. Well, Sennheiser's velour is much softer but the other aspects of the pads and the foam make this a non issue for me. The headband has a thin padding to it and it conforms to the head very well without giving me any pressure points (unlike Sennheiser's 2 pad headband). The clamp is even and not too harsh out of the box even. When spreading the headphones, the action of pulling the cans apart is smooth, like addictingly smooth. It doesn't feel like Sennheiser's headbands where if you pull it any harder it may snap, these since they use pure steel, feel as if they could withstand bends a million times after the Sennheisers had broke. The heavy use of spring steel and heavy supple plastics makes the he4xx heavy but this never became a concern with comfort as they are so well sculpted to head shapes, Well done HIfiman.
Sound: These headphones are superbly dependent on their source and music files. I actually found myself enjoying these being played off of the built in headphone jack on the Google Pixel XL more than when they were played off of the Magni 3 and alc1220 since the pixel would make these less bright and bring the midrange forwards a small amount.. These headphones are bright. Let me get that out of the way. If you are treble sensitive at all like me, these will sound sibilant. Their treble is decently detailed and you do definitely get a sense of tactility out of it which is great and songs like "Jump" by Van Halen sound incredible on these. There is this separation to the instruments and the electric sound that is just heavenly and any song with quick stops and starts will sound excellent. Bass is present but definitely in a very low quantity. It has amazing detail to it and is utterly controlled and it sounds just amazing. Songs like "I Don't Wanna Live Forever" by ZAYN and Taylor Swift sound objectionably better on these than my hd6xx or hd58x. That song just sounds so clean and the bass doesn't overpower anything ever. With that being said, I found that sticking a thumb at the bottom of each ear pad to increase airflow increased bass substantially. To the point of there actually being enjoyable bass imo all without losing its sense of control. Bummer. Now mids, mids sound absolutely anemic. There is mid range to be had but that is only if the track you were listening to was already mid centric. In almost all pieces of music, these headphones sound utterly dull and thin. In classical pieces in particular that use horned instruments of any kind, trumpets especially, they sound like they have no presence and sound like someone forgot that they needed trumpets in their song so they pulled out their cellphone and played the trumpet into a microphone. They just sound terrible in this type of orchestral.
One of their redeeming qualities in my opinion is how they sound with stringed instruments. All I have to say is wow. Any stringed instrument be it piano, violin, cello, guitar, bass, they all sound absolutely incredible. They have such a sense of tactility and presence and you can hear the decay of the entire string as it was meant to be heard. Bass guitars have a depth to them but they keep their control and you can hear the metallic twang through the entire strum and you get the entire timbre. It is truly incredible. I cannot praise these enough for their sound with stringed instruments.
Unfortunately for these, both the hd6xx and the 58x exist. When I was reviewing the 58x, I was completely satisfied with them until I would put on the 6xx and then I would notice that the 6xx were better in most respects. But I could switch back and forth and be happy with either and in some cases, like mobile lisenting, the 58x would win. I would switch between songs to see which songs didn't play well with those headphones and it was terribly difficult to find any. With the he4xx, I was able to notice that these sounded overall worse on most tracks without switching to other headphones. I would listen to a few tracks and be bored by their thinness and lack of bass in tracks that were supposed to be bass heavy and then I would be forced to switch to another headphone because the sibilance of the pair were extremely fatiguing. Sometimes I would get used to the sound signature and think, "Okay this sounds pretty good" but then I would switch to my 58x or 6xx expecting the songs to sound just as good. Which technically I guess they did, except in every case they sounded better. They just had more presence and they sounded full and warm with bass that was more present without being overbearing like the Hyperx Clouds.
To some this will be an excellent headphone and they do have the benefits of planars but they just lack any sense of musicality to make them pleasant to listen to. Their sibilance makes them pretty much unusable to me which is a shame as when they did shine, it was epic. I will probably be selling these and buying a pair of dekoni blue's or something that sounds more full and fun.
I can understand your sibilance comment, which seems to be your big deal breaker. I'm not quite feeling the same way about the 400is, but if I might be able to contour the sonics of his headphone to my perfect headphone, I'd have the treble response be smoother, more refined, and a tad bit more extended. That, and just a bit more bass extension and I'd be good to go. There's much more to sonic presentation than this, but these tweaks assume what's there already with the 400i, which I'm otherwise liking well enough.
I like planars. I've had lot of different loudspeakers, and Magnepans have been pretty much my go-to speaker for a very long time. Given that I haven't quite found the thing, yet, there are a number of places I'm venturing towards in my headphone journey. Tubed amplification with the HD6XXs (I've also pretty much lived exclusively with tubed electronics in my speakered systems), which gets widely mentioned as lifting these to another, better place. A Dark Voice 336SE, or Bottlehead Crack, or maybe a Schiit Valhalla 2? As I'm looking for a version of the 400i that's just that much more refined, maybe a pair of Hifiman Sundaras, or make that reach up further to a pair of Anandas?