Audiophile newbie advice

[angelmf2704]

Hello, I've been experimenting music and equipment for about 18 months. I have tested some headphones, dacs and budget speakers. Recently I purchased my first USB DAC (Hiby FC1), a budget but great option. I have used Sony's WH-1000XM3 for travelling and some casual use, don't criticize me nobody never advice about dedicated headphones for music. So I sold them and bought a new pair of Sennheiser HD560s. As my streaming service I use Tidal through the desktop app and Hiby Music. My first test with the bundle (DAC, Tidal and HD 560s) was very confusing. Some recordings that were bad mastered sounded worse and other tracks sounded more detail and like I was in the studio (like a live version). I have some questions

1.¿The sound coming out of my HD560s is correct without any technical failure?
2. ¿Music should sound like that'? ¿like a live version?
3.¿What can I do about bad mastered albums?
4. ¿Should I worry about MQA or just choose CD quality?
I'm very new to this topic.
Regards

 

[DCarmi]

1, Define correct. HD560S are fairly neutral which you could say is "correct", but others may disagree. Could you improve sound quality? Definitely, but what budget do you set?
2. I've been to quite a few gigs and heard some good sounding ones and some were just terrible . Comparing a studio album to a live concert is (IMHO), not overly useful. Even comparing a live album to a live concert is unhelpful because you need to factor in the recording equipment and the engineer. Again I have heard some poor live albums, from concerts I was at.
3. Not a lot, really! Tends to follow the "garbage in, garbage out" rule. The tendency to ramp up the recording levels, is an abomination.
4. In my opinion no need to worry. I'd expect only a limited number of people could reliably tell the difference in a blind test. I know I could not, with my aging ears.

Again, in my opinion, any system which you are happy with, is a good one. If there is something you are not content with, then some sort of upgrade (and audition) might be needed. Until then just enjoy.

 

[Tinman1952]

Hello, I've been experimenting music and equipment for about 18 months. I have tested some headphones, dacs and budget speakers. Recently I purchased my first USB DAC (Hiby FC1), a budget but great option. I have used Sony's WH-1000XM3 for travelling and some casual use, don't criticize me nobody never advice about dedicated headphones for music. So I sold them and bought a new pair of Sennheiser HD560s. As my streaming service I use Tidal through the desktop app and Hiby Music. My first test with the bundle (DAC, Tidal and HD 560s) was very confusing. Some recordings that were bad mastered sounded worse and other tracks sounded more detail and like I was in the studio (like a live version). I have some questions

1.¿The sound coming out of my HD560s is correct without any technical failure?
2. ¿Music should sound like that'? ¿like a live version?
3.¿What can I do about bad mastered albums?
4. ¿Should I worry about MQA or just choose CD quality?
I'm very new to this topic.
Regards

Hi. Your HD560s are neutral and very detailed. So good enough to reveal weaknesses in the rest of your system! It may be that your Hiby DAC whilst good value, is not really doing it for you. Also a laptop/PC is a notoriously noisy environment electrically and more expensive DACs deal with that electrical interference better. It’s all about the power supply to the DAC.
Sadly nothing we can do about badly mastered albums…..
Personally I wouldn’t worry about MQA….CD quality is more than good enough. 👍

 

[angelmf2704]

1, Define correct. HD560S are fairly neutral which you could say is "correct", but others may disagree. Could you improve sound quality? Definitely, but what budget do you set?
2. I've been to quite a few gigs and heard some good sounding ones and some were just terrible . Comparing a studio album to a live concert is (IMHO), not overly useful. Even comparing a live album to a live concert is unhelpful because you need to factor in the recording equipment and the engineer. Again I have heard some poor live albums, from concerts I was at.
3. Not a lot, really! Tends to follow the "garbage in, garbage out" rule. The tendency to ramp up the recording levels, is an abomination.
4. In my opinion no need to worry. I'd expect only a limited number of people could reliably tell the difference in a blind test. I know I could not, with my aging ears.

Again, in my opinion, any system which you are happy with, is a good one. If there is something you are not content with, then some sort of upgrade (and audition) might be needed. Until then just enjoy.

I'm sorry. When I said correct I meant normal. They could have been damaged in the transportation. I really don´t know since it's my first time listening them.

 

[Tinman1952]

I'm sorry. When I said correct I meant normal. They could have been damaged in the transportation. I really don´t know since it's my first time listening them.

Just to add…headphones are electro-mechanical devices so need some running in to sound as they should. At least 40 hours……

 

[angelmf2704]

Just to add…headphones are electro-mechanical devices so need some running in to sound as they should. At least 40 hours……

With all due respect I thought headphone burn in was not useful. But I trust a lot in this community so I will leave them running for some hours.

 

[Tinman1952]

With all due respect I thought headphone burn in was not useful. But I trust a lot in this community so I will leave them running for some hours.

Yes there are differing opinions on burn in for cables and electrical components, but headphones in my view are different. Most professional reviewers let them run in for a couple of days at least before critical listening. My personal experience with Sennheiser HD650, Shure 1540 and Quad Era-1 phones is that running in is essential. It sweetens the treble, opens up the soundstage and tightens the bass response. Remember these are mechanical devices too like speakers……. 🙂

 

[angelmf2704]

Yes there are differing opinions on burn in for cables and electrical components, but headphones in my view are different. Most professional reviewers let them run in for a couple of days at least before critical listening. My personal experience with Sennheiser HD650, Shure 1540 and Quad Era-1 phones is that running in is essential. It sweetens the treble, opens up the soundstage and tightens the bass response. Remember these are mechanical devices too like speakers……. 🙂

I have nothing to loose so I'm in. Do you have any recommendations to do it? Like specific tracks or something?

 

[Tinman1952]

I have nothing to loose so I'm in. Do you have any recommendations to do it? Like specific tracks or something?

Not really. Just use the type of music you normally listen to. I used to just plug it into a receiver playing my favourite radio station for several days…… 👍

 

[Gray]

1.¿The sound coming out of my HD560s is correct without any technical failure?
2. ¿Music should sound like that'? ¿like a live version?
3.¿What can I do about bad mastered albums?
4. ¿Should I worry about MQA or just choose CD quality?

My personal answers to each of your questions:
1) Yes, they are not faulty.
2) Yes.
3) Get something that masks the deficiencies.
If you do that, your best recordings will necessarily be compromised.....though plenty of people regard those compromises as a small price to pay to ensure their entire collection is at least listenable.
4) No and yes.
I've owned my 560S for around 8 months.
In my opinion, if you find the sound 'changes', to any noticeable extent, it will because you have come to appreciate their neutrality.
On the other hand, you may always dislike that style of presentation.
(In which case you may be more suited to something like the K712Pro that I've just rejected - which are somewhat more forgiving).
It's all very personal, but I find forgiveness unforgivable

 

[aversaurus]

I'm relatively new to streaming and I also find a massive difference in quality from one track to another and my hifi equipment is well burnt in

 

[Dom]

I find a big difference in volume, BBC Radio 3 is really quite even though the volume slider goes up to 11

 

[aversaurus]

Yes volume is part of the issue

 

[Gray]

I find a big difference in volume, BBC Radio 3 is really quite even though the volume slider goes up to 11

That's because R3 in particular is all about quality. R3 comes across as quiet because many of the others are artificially loud due to competing in the loudness war.
You should notice the actual music on R3 varies nicely between quiet and peak volume (it has a higher dynamic range) whereas many of the others are just a blob of noise.
If they were to let the quiet bits fall back naturally, they'd lose out to the others in the war. - so they compress the output to ensure quiet is never much below loud. The resultant **** sound is acceptable to many listeners, only because they've never known anything else.

 

[Dom]

It does appear to have a very high bit rate, 2.2Mbps every 5 seconds or so is shown in Windows, so your right Grey its about quality.