Beyer DT931 harshness?

[red_ryder 0]

Ok, I've used the headphones for about 2 weeks now, 72hrs of burn-in. On watching movies the sound is ok, bass is good. But listening to music it still sounds quite harsh. Especially the highs. The worst parts are when singers say the "sw" sounds like "swish", "swatch". Almost painful to the ears. I'm not listening at high volume either.

 

I know my rig is not optimized for music, so probably the fault lies with my equipment. I'm using a Philips Q50 DVD player as a CD player, connected via optical cable to a Yamaha 995AV receiver. Would getting a headphone amp reduce the harshness of the sound?

 

 

[Rameish 0]

Several things could be happening here:

 

1) Insufficient burn in. Burning till around the 300 hour mark should improve things.

 

2) Your yamaha receiver may not have a good headphone amp out (I really don't know how good or bad this one is as I have no experience with it). In which case getting an amp that has synergy with the 931 will reduce the sibilence you're experiencing.

 

3) A cheap alternative is to make a 120 ohm adapter. But you can also get one from Jan Meier at www.meier-audio.de for very little money. Hmm...lots of people have been asking me about the 120 ohn adapter that Jan Meier sells. Whay don't you organise a power buy to save on shipping and TT costs. I think headphonecrazy and av98m are interested as well.

 

4) DVD players then to have a brighter and thinner sound when playing CDs. There are exceptions of course but once again I'm not familier with your DVD player.

 

4) Some people just find the DT-931 bright no matter what amp or cd player they use.

 

Rameish

[red_ryder 0]

Thanks for the quick reply Rameish. Got somemore questions if you don't mind.

 

1) Ok, will try the 300hr burn-in. That should be the cheapest option.

 

2) Any recommendations on which amp have "synergy" with the 931s? Any comments Mackie? What's the ballpark price for a headphone amp anyway?

 

 

[Mackie 0]

red ryder,

 

Q50 dvd player is great as an AV component but certainly not optimized for cd playback. My Pannie RP82 and once another contender against your player in the AV playing field does not fare well in this aspect too.

 

The Yamaha AV amps has a sonic signature ie. aggressive, dynamic and these characters are certainly prevalent in the headphone socket as well. I can attest to this cos' I have AX-2. Once again, Yammie is great in movies but certainly not a contender against Marantz AV amps in terms of musicality.

 

DT-931 is a very analytical pair of cans (read ....... not bright) and any strength and shortcomings of partnering ancillaries will be exposed. All who have been to my place agreed DT-931 does not sound bright with my setup consisting of MF A3CD + RKV MKII/Caying HA-1A, albeit it's commonly accused of being bright. Neither opinions are wrong as sound is afterall subject to personal preference.

 

Burn-in mileage is rather short. I remembered having burnt in my pair of 931 for more than 300 hours. Bass tightens after 100-hour mark and the mids/highs continue to improve thereon. FYI, I've stopped burning in my new pair of DT150 only after having chalked up 500 hours and more. Good things come to those who wait.

 

Warm tube and ss headamps will go very well with DT931. As yet, Cayin and Corda HA-1 come to mind.

 

Another option U can undertake is to connect the Q50 to Yammie via a pair of warm sounding interconnects eg. Klotz GY107 and listen to music via the analogue option. Your current digital connection uses the onboard dac of the Yammie for both dvd and cd formats. Employing an analogue connection to eg. "CD" input selector on your AV amp will bypass the Yammie's dac. This should reduce some of the current undesirable effects heard via headphones.

Edited December 2, 2003 by Mackie

[red_ryder 0]

Hmm...that is certainly is food for thought.

 

Ok, I'll try the analogue connection with cheap RCA cables first tonight, see how it sounds. Thanks Mackie.

 

 

[Mackie 0]

My pleasure. Let us know how's the outcome via analogue option.