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
- The systems and machines you describe are purposefully engineered with very different tolerances than the human auditory system. Most of our modern machines are based on logic circuits, and very few of their systems would be built with highly discriminatory circuits requiring precise sampling of analog inputs with extreme time domain sensitivity (radar, radio, and other communication systems, along with some telemetry gatherers, are possible exceptions here — but how many of these are closed systems that deal with highly repeatable phenomena?).
- Logic circuits are built around a system of checks for voltage within a certain rage (“do I see 5V +/- 1V? If yes, engage function. Otherwise, ignore it, or do something else instead.”). The tolerance is required because the electrical systems in these environments (particularly cars) are often quite turbulent. Inaccuracy is therefore built into the equation; however, when sensitivity (fidelity) demand increases, tolerance decrease.
For systems that require extremely high fidelity, the government and the medical industry have actually turned to high-end cable manufacturers (or in some cases, high-end audio manufacturers grew out of their early days experiences manufacturing extremely precise wire for hire):- Shunyata has posted videos on YouTube discussing the use of their cabling to ensure the proper performance of ultra-sensitive medical equipment.
- It’s ironic that you used NASA as an example, because Nordost cut their teeth building precision cabling for the space shuttle program. :^) It was after the challenge of that project (and other aerospace ventures) that the founder of Nordost decided he could take what they had learned and apply it to rewiring his home audio system... and shortly thereafter the company pivoted into the hifi space.
In certain applications a bunch of bulk copper wire just isn’t accurate or reliable enough. Human hearing seems to be one of those. We have enough of our own built in tolerance to go “yep, that sounds like a cello!” but we also have the sensitivity to know “hey, that sounds like a recording of Yo-Yo Ma playing cello in a room about yay big and I can almost see what the bow looks like as it draws across the strings. Wow!” and even, “my eyes must be playing tricks on me, because Yo-Yo Ma is *in my living room* but he’s invisible! No, seriously, he’s right there! And my living room is also the Opera House!” That’s the difference great wire sufficiently run-in can make, all other things being equal. I might characterize the last two as the difference between excellent cable that’s straight off the shelf and the same cable with 100-200 hours of recent playtime on it.