So close to perfection, then...

[earwicker7]

I've been in a state of bliss over the last week since getting my HD650s with the Headroom Balanced Amp. I'd forgotten how much fun it could be to listen to music. I'm so happy that I just spent $5,000 on a CD player, which has convinced my friends that I've gone over the edge. And then it happened...

I noticed a really persistent ringing in my ears. Like 12 hours long. I've tried to be really easy on the volume, but it seems like the headphones don't "come alive" until they hit a certain sweet spot, which may be a little more loud than my ears should be listening to.

A question for long time listeners--am I going to have to spend the next 10 years keeping the volume low, or is there a way to make the HD650s sing without turning the volume up?

Oh yeah, does the ringing usually go away? I'm not listening to anything tonight, as painful as that is; I'm hoping that some rest will make them better.

[Dusty Chalk]

No, the sweet spot on the Sennheisers is just a bit too loud for my tastes -- that's why I don't like them.

Supposedly the GS1000 sound good low, but I don't like them.

You may want to just try a few different phones.

[Salt Peanuts]

No, the sweet spot on the Sennheisers is just a bit too loud for my tastes -- that's why I don't like them.

Same experience here. They've always sounded nice to me at meets (where I have to crank up the volume) but not so much when I sit down and listened to them at home.

As for ear ringing, I personally would wait to listen to headphones till it goes away (and see a specialist about it if it doesn't go away).

[mirumu]

If you are willing to apply some EQ you could try using the equal loudness contours as a guide to try and lower the sweet spot to a place where you can live with the lower volume.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal-loudness_contours

If you try this though do be careful because our brain tends to evaluate how loud something is based on the midrange. If you listen with the volume 3db lower but have to boost the bass 5db to make it sound right then you aren't going to be any better off at all.

Taking a break from music and other loud noise for a while is definitely a good thing. Given some time you may find that when you do start listening again that you can actually enjoy it at a lower volume. You would just have to resist any urge to climb back into the higher levels again. I actually did this myself. I'm still amazed but back in the day I could listen to my discman or iPod on almost full volume and still not think it was that loud. A real source and amp that could cleanly go even higher was just plain dangerous. After having such a break for a good few weeks I found my ears adjusted and I could listen at much lower levels. These days I listen at barely even half volume on my iPod. I also found in general that my hearing in general got more perceptive after this, I can only assume my ears had adjusted to protect themselves from the loud volumes I used to listen to.

[TheSloth]

The idea of 'volume' is very misleading. Sennheisers have a relatively benign frequency response curve, and due to the different level of sensitivity to both sound and damage as a result of such sound at different frequencies, you technically can listen to Senns louder (overally average dB) than other headphones such as Grado's or 880's for example which have large spikes in very dangerous hearing regions. Those spikes are not broad enough to make you think the can is 'louder' and therefore listen more quietly - they are somewhat stealthy in that they simply come across as a part of the sound signature - look at the 880 for example which has 8-10dB excess peaking at 8khz. A 10dB excess at 8k is far more damaging than an 8dB excess at 30hz for example.

Just something to consider... Of course, if you are hearing ringing, your ears are telling you it is too loud, but remember that a different headphone at a seemingly quieter volume setting could be even more damaging. It may of course make you want to listen more quietly due to 'coming alive' at a lower output level, but that doesn't mean you are any safer.

[earwicker7]

Thanks, all. Looks like I'm taking a break for a few days... well, maybe one if I can hold out

I'm wondering if a bit of soundproofing might be in order given that these are open cans? I'm in an apartment complex, so there are definitely ambient sounds abounding. Hopefully the new Opus 21 will be quieter than either of my computers, which is what I'm using as sources.

[TheSloth]

Thanks, all. Looks like I'm taking a break for a few days... well, maybe one if I can hold out

I'm wondering if a bit of soundproofing might be in order given that these are open cans? I'm in an apartment complex, so there are definitely ambient sounds abounding. Hopefully the new Opus 21 will be quieter than either of my computers, which is what I'm using as sources.

A very good point. You will be pushing the volume up a little because of the ambient noise - I've had that experience, and indeed it's far more comfortable listening at a lower level in a more silent room. If you can afford to quiet your surroundings, you will be doing your ears a great favour.

[earwicker7]

Well, I'm a renter, so I can't start tearing walls out... as much as I'd like to (take that, landlord!!!).

Does anyone know of some company (or person) in Los Angeles that I could pay to just soundproof my bedroom? It's pretty small, so I don't think it would cost much to do it right.

[grawk]

Well, I'm a renter, so I can't start tearing walls out... as much as I'd like to (take that, landlord!!!).

Does anyone know of some company (or person) in Los Angeles that I could pay to just soundproof my bedroom? It's pretty small, so I don't think it would cost much to do it right.

Just hang rugs on your walls

[earwicker7]

Just hang rugs on your walls

You know, that did work to a point back in my college band days. Thanks!!!

Any other tweaks I could do?

[Dusty Chalk]

You could just buy an isolation booth.

[Thelonious Monk]

i am sorry but you are fucking queer if you buy an isolation booth to listen to your hifi headphone setup in.

[earwicker7]

Call me a cocksucker but that isolation booth sounds like it might work...

[n_maher]

Does anyone know of some company (or person) in Los Angeles that I could pay to just soundproof my bedroom? It's pretty small, so I don't think it would cost much to do it right.

Soundproofing, in my experience, is pretty much impossible to accomplish after something has already been built.

And if you're over amplifying the 650s to combat ambient noise then the solution is closed headphones. It doesn't matter how good something sounds if it ultimately ends up destroying your hearing.

[alfie]

I am sure I am going to write something really silly, but it happens to me: I always noted I pump the volume really upper when I am listening a balanced HD650 than I do listening not balanced. It is like the HD650 opens soo much, you want more and more. Difficult to believe, but that's it...

[Dusty Chalk]

i am sorry but you are fucking queer if you buy an isolation booth to listen to your hifi headphone setup in.

No, you're fucking queer.

[Dusty Chalk]

Any other tweaks I could do?

Yeah: switch to closed phones.

[909]

I'm so happy that I just spent $5,000 on a CD player, which has convinced my friends that I've gone over the edge.

What CD player were you listening to when you noticed this ringing in your ears? I assume it wasn't the $5000 source, and if not--what pricy source did you buy?

I can listen at pretty loud levels, if I wish. But it is dependent on the recording quality of the CD and I don't do it for long and thereafter take a break. In my experience with the HD650s and different amps and sources--I would first point my finger at the source. Though, it is best to listen at moderate levels. The only time I had such ringing in my ears was with the E5 -> UR4 -> Raptor -> HD650s. It went way after a day or two, but returned almost immediately when I went back to listening to this set-up and at moderate levels. I changed interconnects to the M-Paths, which helped. At the time I blamed the amp and interconnects, but after more time with different sources I firmly believe the E5 had been mainly responsible for this phenomenon.

[earwicker7]

What CD player were you listening to when you noticed this ringing in your ears? I assume it wasn't the $5000 source, and if not--what pricy source did you buy?

I can listen at pretty loud levels, if I wish. But it is dependent on the recording quality of the CD and I don't do it for long and thereafter take a break. In my experience with the HD650s and different amps and sources--I would first point my finger at the source. Though, it is best to listen at moderate levels. The only time I had such ringing in my ears was with the E5 -> UR4 -> Raptor -> HD650s. It went way after a day or two, but returned almost immediately when I went back to listening to this set-up and at moderate levels. I changed interconnects to the M-Paths, which helped. At the time I blamed the amp and interconnects, but after more time with different sources I firmly believe the E5 had been mainly responsible for this phenomenon.

Yeah, the player I'm listening to now is the crappy cd-player that is built in to my laptop. The new one is a modded Opus 21.

[909]

I bet you'll find much more listening enjoyment with your new source and you won't need to jack the volume up either. If you decide to listen loud (on occasion and taking breaks when you do ) I think the new source will greatly reduce the likelihood that you'll experience this ringing again.

[earwicker7]

Well, it looks like I have two choices here, as I listen to low-rent hip hop (I hope that isn't redundant ) pounding through my neighbor's wall...

I could do the rational thing and just kiss the sweet sweet sound of open headphones goodbye and buy closed headphones.

Or, I could do the insane thing and tell my daughter that her bedroom would really impress her friends if she had an isolation booth installed in the corner. I mean, how many seven year olds have their own isolation booth? Of course, I would just borrow it from time to time.

Why, oh why, does the second one hold SOOOOOOO much more alure?

[hungrych]

I can't begin to describe how ridiculous having an isolation booth for headphones would be, but good luck.

[earwicker7]

You know, on the surface, I understand why people think this is crazy, but...

Think of all the money we spend on this stuff. Nobody would sneeze if I said I was dropping $80,000 on a phonograph because it offered the right "decay" or "tightness in the lower frequencies," etc. Well, nobody on this site would . But for $3,000, I can get something that offers 30-40 dB of attenuation pretty much across the spectrum. I would pretty much, in a sense, be perfecting the sound of my open cans, as there would be virtually zero background noise; nothing to compensate for and nothing causing me to turn up the volume to drown out Britney Spears.

It's a credit card commercial... "Interconnects, $500 a meter. Modded Opus 21, $5,000. Not going deaf... priceless."

[Dusty Chalk]

Why, oh why, does the second one hold SOOOOOOO much more alure?

Because there's something wrong with you. Well...not wrong with you in a way that isn't wrong with many other people -- I suspect the allure is this feeling of "getting away from the world", which, now that I phrase it that way, can be very appealing.

But yeah, the whole point in having headphones (to me, anyway) is that one doesn't have to worry about all the things one has to worry about with speakers -- including room treatments.

Just MHO. If you do do it, I won't think any less of you (in fact, I rather admire people that know what they want and go after it with a gusto). I'd be curious as to your results, too.

[postjack]

But yeah, the whole point in having headphones (to me, anyway) is that one doesn't have to worry about all the things one has to worry about with speakers -- including room treatments.

Big bingo here. My house is old. Its all windows and wood floors. There really is no way I can get a real "audiophile" speaker setup going in this house without some serious modifications. I do have some speakers and a sub in the den, and I found I can put on some crazy hip-hop in there when I want a bass fix , but all my good sources are in my small listening area/office. I'm glad the floor in here is carpeted wall-to-wall, though, so it doesn't mess with my turntable.