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r/oratory1990 r/battlestations r/OLED_Gaming r/headphones
▲ 6 r/oratory1990

Unit variation on the HD 800 S?

Does anyone know what the unit variation is on the Sennheiser HD 800 S? I’m considering getting one open box (from headphones.com, if that matters), but I’m concerned that open box units may be more likely to have a worse frequency response than new units. For example, if a unit has less bass than average, then it might be more likely that a buyer doesn’t like it and so they return it and it ends up being sold open box, whereas this would be less likely with a unit that has a more average amount of bass. I know the HD 800 S has tight tolerances, but maybe this is still a possibility?

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u/7370657A — 21 hours ago
▲ 2 r/OLED_Gaming

Tips for reducing QD-OLED black level raise?

So I just bought an ASUS XG32UCDS for $600. It’s my first OLED monitor, though I’ve had OLED smartphones and an OLED laptop. Originally I was leaning toward getting a WOLED (due to not having black level issues) and spending more (maybe even getting a 48-inch LG C6 instead of a monitor), but for $600 I thought this was a good deal and a lot of people like QD-OLED so why not get it. Anyway, I love it, looks great in a dark room and HDR is excellent. I’ve mostly been using it in dim lighting conditions in a basement with only one warm light bulb turned on with the light bulb being behind the monitor, and again no issues with black level raise there. But I want to get a new desk and move it to a different room (I also plan to get new speakers, and my current setup is in no way optimal for placing speakers), so again I will have to figure out the lighting once I move the monitor to a different location. And in its current location, the black level raise is super noticeable when the lights are on, and I’ve read claims that make it seem like it’s only noticeable if you deliberately light up your room super brightly, but the lighting conditions I’m talking about are similar to typical office lighting. It’s really nothing out of the ordinary. And even with just a dim, warm lamp in the corner turned on, but with the lamp not behind the monitor, I can still see the black level raise. The ambient light in this case is less than in a room during daylight with the blinds closed. Yet all the time I see people on this sub saying that they can’t notice black level raise on QD-OLED even with some lighting, which leaves me wondering if these people are genuinely blind (jkjk) since I refuse to believe that all these people only use their computer in pitch black rooms, or if I’m doing something wrong with my lighting. So do I just have to place all of my lights behind the monitor or point them away so that there’s no direct line of sight between a light bulb and the monitor? Would a lamp shade fix this issue? Is ambient light a significant contributor to this, or do I mostly have to worry about direct light?

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u/7370657A — 29 days ago
▲ 123 r/headphones

Sennheiser HD 480 PRO Impressions

Yesterday I bought the Sennheiser HD 480 PRO for $399 on Amazon, and today they arrived. I like these headphones. Previously, I had been using a Sennheiser HD 6XX with some custom EQ, which I was very satisfied with in terms of sound quality. I also have an HIFIMAN Arya Stealth, but I haven't been using it much recently. I do not work in professional audio, so I suppose I am not part of the primary target audience of this product, but the HD 480 PRO has some good reviews from consumer-focused reviewers, and as a closed back it has some desirable qualities that open backs lack, so I was hopeful that it might be able to replace my HD 6XX as my main headphone. Here are my (unavoidably subjective) impressions.

  • The HD 480 PRO are more comfortable than the HD 6XX. The HD 6XX have a higher clamp force that can get uncomfortable after a couple hours, and my ears touch the foam inside the earcups when wearing the HD 6XX. These aren't problems with the HD 480 PRO.
  • Without EQ, bass seems to reach Harman levels almost all the way down to 20 Hz. I tried adding a 2 dB low shelf filter centered at 105 Hz with a Q of 0.707, but that was too much bass for me, so I'm not using any EQ to boost the bass. With the HD 6XX, I needed almost 10 dB of headroom to EQ the sub bass to reach Harman levels down to 20 Hz, so that headphone was significantly harder to drive in practice. The bass is textured and well-controlled, but I honestly can't say I've noticed a huge difference in bass "speed" between headphones beyond maybe mid bass bloat screwing with things on some. The (sub)bass on the HIFIMAN Arya Stealth didn't seem especially fast to me, despite how much its speed is praised. Anyway, I'd say the bass is better on this headphone than any headphone that doesn't have a good bass shelf, which is almost all open backs I'm aware of. Not needing to use EQ to have a bass shelf is the biggest reason I bought the HD 480 PRO instead of an open back as my next headphone.
  • On the provided frequency response graph, there is a dip centered at around 250 Hz. You can use a 1-2 dB peaking filter centered at 250 Hz with a Q of 1.0 to add some warmth, but honestly I didn't find this make a huge difference. I might even prefer the sound without this boost, so I again decided not to use EQ here.
  • There is a bigger dip centered at around 4.5 kHz. I tried using EQ to correct this, but the sound without EQ sounded less colored and better to me than when using EQ here. My custom EQ for the HD 6XX also has a recession in the 3-6 kHz region. Maybe Sennheiser has some newer research and knows something that the rest of us don't and this dip is intentional, or maybe this is just a subjective preference of mine.
  • To my ears, without EQ the HD 480 PRO sounds somewhat blunted compared to the HD 6XX, though it doesn't lack detail. This is entirely fixable with EQ. Just add a 2 dB high shelf filter centered at 8 kHz with a Q of 0.707. This results in a textured yet smooth treble. It you want even more treble, just increase the filter to 4 dB, and there will be even more texture, yet the treble will still be smooth and not fatiguing. I do prefer the treble with the 2 dB shelf filter, but for now I am running the HD 480 PRO without any EQ to see if I can get used to its sound signature without EQ, since I suspect the EQ I used for the HD 6XX made me prefer my treble to be a little hot and it would be nice if I didn't need to use EQ anymore.
  • I'd say the treble is a little smoother with less severe peaks and dips on the HD 480 PRO than on the HD 6XX, which already has smoother treble than other headphones I've tried (such as the Arya Stealth, which disappointed me with its huge treble peaks). Overall, the treble is really good. Still not as smooth and natural as on a decent pair of speakers, but I don't think that's possible with headphones.
  • The timbre is comparable to the HD 6XX when the amount of treble is EQed to be similar.
  • The soundstage is noticeably wider than on the HD 6XX, though the difference isn't crazy. I'd say that on the HD 6XX I can hear sounds coming from about 1 inch away from my ears, whereas on the HD 480 PRO it's about 1.5 inches. If you really care about soundstage, get a pair of speakers, lol.
  • Sound isolation is obviously a lot stronger than with the HD 6XX.

Overall, I'm happy with the HD 480 PRO. They didn't blow me away (no headphone has), but they are competent and make my music sound as it should. Compared to the HD 6XX, they need less EQ and are easier to drive (especially if the bass on the HD 6XX is EQed to be comparable). An Apple dongle will easily drive these to unsafe listening levels. They sound good even without any EQ, which would be true of the HD 6XX if it weren't for the lack of bass. That said, the HD 480 PRO is $180 more expensive than the HD 6XX, but I'd still recommend the HD 480 PRO if you have and like the HD 6XX and want something a bit different, with more bass. I'd recommend something else if you prefer especially bright sound signatures. I will try using the HD 480 PRO as my daily driver headphone and see how it works out.

u/7370657A — 2 months ago