Sennheiser PC37X randomly goes bad after disconnecting the cable ?
Greetings, Yesterday I was using my headset like normal with my macbook, just listening to music and on a call with people like usual, and the headset was perfectly fine. The stock wire that came with the headset is extremely long and yesterday it annoyed me very much that it kept getting tangled with itself, so I decided to see if the cable is replaceable. I pulled out the cable from the headset and saw the adapter, and looked online for a replacement. Upon plugging it back in, the audio sounded extremely muffled and washed out. Im not sure what I did wrong to make it mess up like that as I've always taken good care of it, ive had it for about 2 years and its always just been chilling on my desk, but anywho I thought the cable just went bad and ordered a replacement. The replacement came, and the issue is still persistant, so I am not sure what the issue is I've tried multiple different headsets and the issue is not with the port, and I also tried it with my windows laptop and...
Apr 23, 2024
I'm using the Massdrop LCX as DAC/AMP.
The lazy way to get an EQ is with a Creative E5. Install the software on your PC or mobile device and you can take your EQ and power with you :) Alternatively, just find some software (like APO and foobar) and work from there (that way you don't have to change your DAC/AMP).
But yes, the V-Moda M-100 with XL pads with decent power and EQ are insane and you'll be hard pressed to find something crazier at sub bass reproduction whilst keeping the rest of the frequency response coherent (though a few exist).
The Camfire Cascade has very strong mid-bass even outta the box, not so much with sub though.
The cascade just keeps rising well until 100 Hz where it slowly drops until 200 Hz. These things are bass monsters. More so, the dB variance between the low-end and other frequencies shows how bass-y these things are. I don't know if you had a bead seal on them when you tried them as these are very sensitive to that. So much so, those who hate all that bass have mods to relieve pressure this way to lessen the low-end presence.
I also own Fostex Ebonies and while they have some great bass, it doesn't hold much of a candle to the Cascade (for sub-bass and impact): https://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/massdrop-fostex-th-x00-ebony-measurements.2434/.
Even the NightOwl I mentioned above has more sub-bass action and impact over the Fostex models but not to the extent of the Cascade: https://www.innerfidelity.com/images/AudioQuestNightOwlStockPads.pdf.
Best part is, everything I listed responds very well to EQ. So, if you wanted to give them a few more dB in the low-end, they can take it and create so much bass it will rattle your jaws and cheeks. Shockingly, the headphone that has the tightest bass, is the NIghtOwl. The Fostex and Cascade definitely win on quantity but they can be considered boom-y by comparison (although they are not boom-y by typical standards).
This is all from a bass perspective, mind you.
The NightOwls sounded like a claustraphobic mess which I wouldn't recommend listening to if you can AB them with...anything else. Listening to them alone, I'm sure they'd sound lovely and mushy and some people love their SS because it's so different, but just like all the Mr. Speakers cans, they're just not for me.
Although it's nice that you've posted the measurements, it's definitely half the story in this case; especially in regards to comparing the various cans. The guy said that the M100s had more "punch" than the Cascades, but actually listening to it live, I would have to disagree - EQ or no EQ. But it does show midbass elevation. I do need to sit down and compare my listening experiences with the actual untouched FR graphs.
I've heard criticism about the NightOwl, but never this. And I'd have to say either your auditioned a bad copy or your ears were completely off that day. At $400 nothing can hold a candle to it in terms of punch, definition and clarity, but specially at the bass/sub-bass region. From Audio-Technicas, Sennheiser, to Fostex Mahogany which I've compared in detail can match the dynamics and punch of the NightOwl.
What amp are you using with your Fostex? I believe you have the PH and I have the Ebonies so there are some differences there but I have noticed nothing but better control and much tighter bass with the Ebonies from a very good amp (sampled on an iFi Pro iCAN both tube and SS). Otherwise, I find the Fostex to have more quantity but lacks quality. The NightOwl is the opposite, lower distortion in the lows and better quality bass while having less quantity. The FR graphs even support exactly what I'm hearing. Throw in that the Fostex is slightly rolled until 20 Hz (closer to 50-60 Hz for the PH) where the NightOwl is not. The NightOwls are rather linear and have a slight downward slope from 10 Hz to 250 Hz. Again, I sampled these from the same iFi amp and my findings were as I've just explained. Despite their low impedance, the Fostex respond well to powerful amps (I attribute this to the biodyna driver capabilities).
As I'm curious, what's your audio chain like? For your amp and bass in general, you want an amp that can generate gobs of current so the voice coils move enough (or have enough displacement) to generate deep, punchy bass. Planars suffer from this "issue" too when it comes to them sounding their best and having their patented "planar slam."
Also, I must say that the Focal Elex arguably has some of the best bass extension, texture, and tonality of any headphone I've heard. And while they may lack the visceral impact of the NightOwl, Cascade, or Fostex, they have the perfect amount of snap/tautness (snares drums are a treat) the other headphones absolutely lack despite being "basshead" cans. They also reach down to 5 Hz and can convey those tones (more the feel, really) over perfectly. To my ears, the Elex bass is "perfect" despite not having visceral bass slam.
Clarity...I wouldn't associate the NightOwl with that - HOWEVER, it's very important to state what you listen to and specifically which headphones you're comparing against. I still believe that I could enjoy the NightOwls with some isolated listening, but I personally didn't like what I heard that day. I was listening to Branches by Submotion Orchestra at the time.
My wife is learning to play cello right now so I am hypersensitive to how it sounds since I'm hearing her play it almost daily. I can for a fact state the NightOwl sounds substantially more clean, clear, and precise over the Fostex while listening to Yo-Yo Ma for example. It's not even a contest really. The Fostex has the wrong tonality and timbre, and lacks the weight needed for conveying the artists emotions as they play their strings. The same applies for the blues when you have a fast, super talented guitarist like Lightnin' Hopkins and trying to pick up on all the fine details in his playstyle. The Fostex again can't keep up nor convey the proper range of the notes being played (watch the video and you'll understand the depth of layering and weight I am talking about): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BATlJwKB8ts.
Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoy my Ebonies for certain things but the NightOwl is superior in many ways comparatively (comfort, overall sound quality, etc ).
I use my Creative E5 for my amp to test everything because it comes with an inbuilt EQ and tested most of the cans through them. However, when I was at the show, pretty much every table had a Chord Hugo or Hugo TT or other dedicated things. In regards to my Purplehearts, it was interesting today because mine are only a couple months old with probably less than 150 hours on them, but I turned them up and they handled the volume very well. With the extreme bass EQ, it still started to struggle when I turned it up, but again, that's fine, my V-Modas can deal with the extreme side of things. Annoyingly, the creative doesn't list their output power ratings - I think I found someone give it once somehow....but I have no link and I don't even think I interpreted what they were saying properly. Anyway, on high gain, they get loud quick - I listen at moderate volumes at 19/100, 29 when I'm listening "loud" and today I got it up to 49 and it was loud and clear, but...still loud, so only one song lol.
I haven't tested the Nightowl extensively enough to know how it responds to different amps, so maybe it sounds vastly different on a very powerful / high end amp.
I agree with the quality remark in regards to the Fostex, my critical listening EQ lowers (-3db I think, don't have it right now) the 60hz region whilst slightly (2db) boosting the sub bass region and to compensate for the volume, I take around 1 or 2db of the whole treble region and it's just nice and smooth for Atmospheric Bass music which is 63% of my listening. Without lowering the bass, it's a lil muddy outta the box. Fine for normal music, but bass music is already bass-centric.
Agree with the planar thing also - I was holding out on giving up after my creative just causes distortion when you turn up the insensitive ones because everyone says they do the best bass - but even though the Hugo, JUST before it was about to get to the perfect level, it started breaking up. So I agree they're awesome, but it's a different signature to what I'm looking for. HOWEVER, I will travel the world of planars again if I acquire an iFi and switch to APO for my EQ over the inbuilt creative one. Then I can put the rumour to rest once and for all (but I suspect you can't have ultra fast accurate sub-bass of the planars and the visceral sensation you get from competent dynamic drivers when they reproduce sub-bass in one can. The Kennerton Odin was REALLY close though...but I digress).
My main chain is laptop, DAC/AMP, Cans. Single-ended only.
If the Elex is heavily based on the Elear, then again, perhaps as you describe, good for drums and "naturally occurring" bass, but I wasn't wowed by its depth of bass for the music I usually listen to. Anything from Artic by Aether on the nicer side of things to Train Of Thought by Tryple on the heavier side of things, or my personal favourite sub test track, Lion by Dillard. That one usually cripples headphones if you turn it up :P
Cans like the Focal Clear and the Sennhierser HD series where the bass is just present but clean are nice sometimes, but for the majority of my listening, there's just no point in me indulging in such a SS. Even out of all the cans mentioned in this thread, I still swear by the Beyer DT 770s for movie watching over everything. They just do that really really well to me. Anyway, digressing again :)
I know we probably won't see eye to eye on the Elex but it can reproduce down to 5 Hz. It's also incredibly fast for a dynamic driver and has some of the best dynamic range of any headphone I have heard. You can distinctly hear various bass notes from 20 Hz to 60 Hz. That's nothing to sneeze at. And although I always say they need a touch more impact without EQ (similar to the Elear), their bass is truly otherwise perfect.
Either way, nice to have a humble conversation with a fellow basshead that cares about the low end more about than boom-boom-pow one note bass.
Just going off sound signature and characteristics though, similar to the Mr. Speakers Aeons (both) I just felt boxed in and I couldn't appreciate what the manufacturer was trying to achieve with the headphone.
I would like to hear the Elex, and possibly the Elear again. Maybe with something like La Ritournelle - I think it could shine there from your description. That kick drum is sublime.
Yes, agreed, this was a good conversation and diversity in the headphone community keeps things interesting :D
I don't know if you;re into IEMs, but I also own the Campfire Atlas and they have some of the best sub-bass I have ever heard from such a small device. I had the Andromedas and promptly returned them after I bought the Atlas. Oddly enough, I also liked the Vega but the Atlas is the superior upgrade over its brother. You owe it to yourself to try them at some point as they're truly unique with their single dynamic driver in a sea of multi BA IEMs and anemic, weird bass.
Oooo, I kinda regret not trying the in ears now - imagine having the whole campfire lineup and not listening to the in ears D: Next year though :) For now I will stick with my cheapies for in ears for now - made by a company called Tranya, who seem to have shut up shop and left Amazon :S