For Newbies & Old-Hands:

[Rameish 0]

For newbies & oldhands: How to ask the right questions and give helpful advice respectively.

 

Disclaimer: IMHO, take my advice at your own risk. It is not my intention to upset anyone here. The product examples given below are examples only. They do not suggest anything. You may wish to substitue any other brand(s)/model(s)

 

For Newbies:

1) Always state what equipment you currently have and what is it that you wish to see improved. For e.g.: I have a Sennheiser HD-600 and am currently using it with an Airhead and my Panasonic SL-CT570 portable CD player. I would like the sound to be more dynamic as I listen to rock, heavy metal, and sometimes folk. I am also into DIY and do not mind building my own amp or upgrading my amp myself. My budget is up to S$250. What I would tell this guy is "get a regulated power supply from SLT for S$20. If that doesn’t work, then you might have to look into getting a Beyerdynamic DT-831 or if that’s too bright get a Porta Corda II for your Sennheiser HD-600"

 

2) Do not ask silly questions like what do you think of the Sennheiser HD-600. You’re obviously going to get answers like "I have it and I simply love it". The guy who just gave you the answer maybe using a Sudgen Headmaster with a Roksan Caspian CD player. Grado Headphones go well with Creek and Sennheiser HD-600 go well with X-Cans – if you like the Grado and Sennheiser sound to begin with and wish to tame the Grado’s brightness or Sennheiser HD-600 veiled presentation. However, IF you want MORE detail from your Grado, or more lushness from your Sennheiser then look elsewhere. BTW Sennheiser HD-600 goes well with Corda HA-2 at 0 Ohm jack and Grado RS-1 sounds very nice at the 120 Ohm jack. You may actually prefer it the other way around – look for an early review by Cmoy in headwize.com and you’ll find he preferred his HD-600 out of the 120 Ohm jack and Dr. Jan Meier prefers the HD-600 out of the 0 Ohm jack of the Corda HA-1.

 

For Oldhands

 

1) Always remember one man’s meat is another’s poison. I for example, I love the Grado RS-1 and HP-1 sound but the brightness (of the RS-1) sometimes gets on my nerves but I love the resolution it offers. The Sennheiser HD-600 is enjoyable, I really do like the warmth (I was a tube/valve addict for many years you see) but the veiled presentation (lack of separation, if you must) also gets on my nerves. Between the two, the occasional brightness that I am made aware of by the Grado RS-1 is more palatable to me. To my imaginary friend who sits right next to me when I listen, she prefers the Sennheiser HD-600. She agrees with me 100% about the Grado and Sennheiser but prefers the Sennheiser. Get the picture? Your ears are different from mine. Listening to other people and buying solely on that is, in all probablity, going to be a let down unless lady luck smiles on you on that day. Listening to other people, and then auditioning with your owns ears with your own music is going to give you a satisfactory experience at worst and probably will give you a good to excellent experience. The newbie’s wallet will also feel a lot heavier as he does not change equipment every couple of months.

 

2) Give advice that will clear up any confusion and not add to it. Do not say this is good and that is good etc. We all know the good models, there are no lemons here. So, good with WHAT is important and equally important is the type of sound you will arrive at. If a person mainly listens to classical, for example, I have no reservations whatsoever to recommend a Sennheiser HD-600 with an EarMax Pro or, I would say something like, "based on what I have read an AKG with RKV will probably be your ticket but I haven’t heard this myself, provided you have a source that is comparable."

 

3) Before recommending someone build an amp remember that DIY amps etc is for people interested in electronics as well as Music. Understanding the basic parameter of an op-amp verses another is not child’s play. Read the pros discussing various aspects of this op-amp and what you need to do, and reading their disagreements will give you an idea of what I’m talking about! You may need to use resistors to prevent oscillation for example when you switch op-amps. Even small capacitors can give you a nasty bolt 2 days later if you did not discharge it first. If you do not know the difference between pico/microfarad, K/M ohm, milivolt, ampere leave the building of an amp to someone else – even battery operated units. Doing things wrong can lead to a burnt voice coil on your precious headphone. It also helps if you know how to read a schematic or circuit diagram. Monkey see, monkey do is a no-no here. Learn basic electronics from someone first before you even attempt to build your first amp, modify a PCDP. Know how to solder well – dry joints or cold solder (basically a poor solder job) is a frustrating thing to trouble shoot. So…recommend DIY with CARE. It is a good alternative but without knowing the builder’s reliability or knowing how to build one can become a Pandora’s box of worms.

 

Additional disclaimer: Everything I have just said above is 100% biased, opinionated, and not to be followed unless you agree with my train of thought. And, even if you do agree, you do so at your own risk. I am adding this as there are so many yo-yos out there that will take what I have said and misconstrue. YMMV of course. E & OE.

 

 

[ablaze 0]

good read and nice of you to post such a long message. especially since I know you hate typing

I think a good take-home message here is to imagine everyone having a signature that says "DISCLAIMER, these are just MY opinions. and YMMV. you should always let your ears decide for you "