ArtSalt Posted February 1, 2014 Report Share Posted February 1, 2014 I've been powering Ultrasone Pro750 headphones through A Musical Fidelity headphone amp with the source from a Naim CD player, but the sound appears rather MP3 like. Of course, when I'm listening through the speakers, it's a great sound, but there is a remarkable decrease in sound quality in headphones. The headphone amp is a couple of weeks old, so I haven't run/burnt it in yet, but I am not sure whether this is a headphone issue or amp. If it's the amp, then I am not going to get any mileage out of upgrading to better pair of headphones. I don't remember these issues when I had an old tape deck, you just plugged your headphones in and it was the same experience as with the speakers. Anyone else been having this type of headphone blues? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Dolan Posted February 1, 2014 Report Share Posted February 1, 2014 (edited) Well, the first thing to dispense of is headphone amps don't "burn in". Wires and transistors do not break in, only moving parts do, i.e. speakers. Next, I had a similar problem recently when I bought my new headphones and hooked my amp up to my old HK receiver pre-outs (was still waiting for my Emotiva amp and pre-amp to arrive). They sounded incredibly tin-y and very harsh. Freaked me out for a second, too. But then I decided to run my headphone amp straight out of my DAC instead, and all was more than right with the world again. Conclusion, something was horribly amiss with the pre-out on the HK. Now, the receiver was nearly 15 years old, and I had never used that particular output before, so I don't know if it had alway been shit, or what. I have no idea if that helps you, or not. But, I'd try running a different output from a different piece of equipment to check and see if you still get the same results. If so, then you have at least narrowed it down to either the amp of the cans. I'd be willing to bet you've got a bum pre-out on the CD player. What type of interconnects are you using? RCA? Edited February 1, 2014 by Scott Dolan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.:.impossible Posted February 1, 2014 Report Share Posted February 1, 2014 Only moving parts? Ever had a motherboard die? No moving parts... Just heat running through circuits. Ever seen a capacitor ooze? Usually replaceable, but the symptom of a greater issue. If wires and transistors weren't susceptible to change, wouldn't most electronics would last forever? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Dolan Posted February 1, 2014 Report Share Posted February 1, 2014 They don't "break in". They run as they were engineered to, and then they break. They don't break in, improve, degrade, and then die. They work as designed until they can't anymore. In other words, you're not going to see improvements in performance after running them for 100 hours. That's not how electronics work. That's not how electricity works. It starts and then it stops. Think about light bulbs. They don't get brighter after a certain "break in" period. And they don't gradually dim away to darkness. They work as engineered until the filament has reached its breaking point, and then they break. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted February 1, 2014 Report Share Posted February 1, 2014 (edited) Man, light bulbs are NOT capacitors and capacitors don't work anything like light bulbs. Just saying something doesn't make it true. Components do break in. ArtSalt, the best thing to do is to try the headphones out with different sources. Bug your friends and neighbors. That should give you a good idea of how they sound overall. And if possible, try other phones with the headphone amp. If you've used that daily for a few weeks it should be broken in enough if not yet seasoned to it's full potential. This should help you answer the question. Edited February 1, 2014 by jazzbo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted February 2, 2014 Report Share Posted February 2, 2014 Filaments will bug before they break, sometimes. Not dim, but just not work, and then do. Bulb not on, tap it, jiggle it, otherwise lay hands on it, it comes on. So yes, filament works until it doesn't, but not true of lightbulb, unless lighbulb = filament, in which case, who needs lightbulb? So it's not exactly always a straight line from Living Lightbulb to Dead Lightbulb. Lightbulb Lazarus, hey. The line curves (because "straight line" is a Newtonian construct that more or less is an illusion predicated on necessity, not fact, much less reality). Glad we "straightened" that out, now, back to our regular programming. Enjoy the curves! And say good-bye to incandescent lighbulbs anyway! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtSalt Posted February 2, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2014 As it happens, I dissmantled the set-up, reconnected it, kept everything on since Saturday morning and it seems to be working fine today with Art Blakey's Holiday For Skins Vol.1. I am erring on the side, that it was some sort of static in the amp or something on the connectors. In any event cured now, phew! Nothing more grating than having a set-up that isn't working optimally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted February 2, 2014 Report Share Posted February 2, 2014 Absolutely. Great to read that it's now satisfying! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Dolan Posted February 2, 2014 Report Share Posted February 2, 2014 (edited) As it happens, I dissmantled the set-up, reconnected it, kept everything on since Saturday morning and it seems to be working fine today with Art Blakey's Holiday For Skins Vol.1. I am erring on the side, that it was some sort of static in the amp or something on the connectors. In any event cured now, phew! Nothing more grating than having a set-up that isn't working optimally. Excellent! It's funny how electronics can seemingly have a mind of their own. Sometimes the simple act of just leaving them be, or unplugging and plugging them back in cures all that ails them. I had a similarly weird problem happen to me just this past week. I had been listening to my headphones, but decided I wanted to crank up the speakers instead. Well, with the cold dry air we are blessed with this time of the year, and my humidifier acting up, when I walked over to turn my headphone amp off it shocked the living shit out of me because of the static electricity that had built up in me. It was such a violent jolt that my subwoofer actually popped. So when I start playing something I note that the sub isn't firing. I try to do everything I can think of. Finally I shut the entire system down and fire it back up. Only now I can't get anything to play! Not even the mains. It was a true asshole puckering moment. So, I turn it off and walk away for a little while. Came back in and turned everything on, and it worked perfectly as though nothing had happened. Whew! I was getting really worried for a moment there. Edited February 2, 2014 by Scott Dolan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Dolan Posted February 2, 2014 Report Share Posted February 2, 2014 Filaments will bug before they break, sometimes. Not dim, but just not work, and then do. Bulb not on, tap it, jiggle it, otherwise lay hands on it, it comes on. So yes, filament works until it doesn't, but not true of lightbulb, unless lighbulb = filament, in which case, who needs lightbulb? So it's not exactly always a straight line from Living Lightbulb to Dead Lightbulb. Lightbulb Lazarus, hey. The line curves (because "straight line" is a Newtonian construct that more or less is an illusion predicated on necessity, not fact, much less reality). Glad we "straightened" that out, now, back to our regular programming. Enjoy the curves! And say good-bye to incandescent lighbulbs anyway! You should see how awesome the phone calls are now that my iPhone has finally broken in. Had to leave it on re-dial for the first 100 hours, but it was worth it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted February 2, 2014 Report Share Posted February 2, 2014 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluesnik Posted February 2, 2014 Report Share Posted February 2, 2014 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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