Final audio thread, D8000 / Pro / X8000 / Sonorous II / III / IV / VI / VIII / X

Headphones
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It’s very possible that I’m on a shitty week or something, while I don’t wanna do it, I might have to really consider moving to a regen supply. I’ve been keeping notes to track things so far, I’ll give it a few weeks to see if things shift/change

Yeah normally I listen at night and my patterns haven’t changed either, I also basically feel like one of those crazy tinfoil hat people scared of electronics considering everything except the genuine “I cannot disconnect this without compromising my health” (radon system, ac, fridge) devices are unplugged (or breaker turned off when not using), along with the bare minimum electronic devices needed (isp modem, desktop, monitors), so I can’t really unplug anything else lol.

Actually I might try and add a leftover filter to my desktop circuit just as a means to try and further eliminate any backfeed

It would be a shame if the hpa-1 wasn’t up for the task considering how good a match it was for the older d8000 pro, but the DC is a fair bit harder to drive from my experience so far so it’s very possible. I just have no idea what I’d move to that was a sidegrade at least, I would preferably like to upgrade but that has to be on hold until next year tbh.

Genuinely will work and sound good on anything lol

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303

I know me and some other people with Puritans recommend it to everyone, but really has sorted out power problems for people in the past like a charm. Still worth a try, I think, even if you just connect part of your chain to it.

Also, HPA-1c. Apparently improved power supply with more current capacity and better grounding. Could make the difference.

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304

It’s definitely on the list, there’s a lot I have to think about, but I do want to confirm it’s power first before I redo/retune all of my power setup lol

Potentially, although admittedly I’d maybe be more interested in modding what I have, although I feel like if I’m going to change to something, I’d rather try something much more different to see how things react

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305

Didn’t you mention a medical procedure? Those can alter hearing for a little, or any medications can change things too. Even getting a tooth out last year it shot up to my left ear and i feel it was annoying to listen to anything.

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Yeah, and one of them was getting my wisdom teeth removed which did fuck with my hearing, in the meantime I was using the hfm for that reason clamp wise, and it did feel like it changed my sense of hearing strange, but since then it’s really gone more back to normal from what I can tell.

The main reason I started suspecting the headphone itself is that I only noticed these differences with this headphone and they’ve been consistent so far, and for the hifiman nothing changed from what I expected or last heard, it’s only the final. Honestly I wish it was just a temporary hearing thing lol. It is pretty damn hot where I am, so I’m also keeping an eye on the power side of things to see if there’s a difference if we end up catching a break here one of these days

After constant burn in over the past few days, unfortunately it doesn’t seem to be improving or much different, but will keep at it since I know it can be a roller coaster for some stuff (about 20 hours burn in, 4 hours listening, repeat)

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307

It took me over a month to feel normal again. Even on antiinflammatories the inflammation stuck around and that side is now much more sensitive to flare ups. In the long term it does change your bones structure in that area which probably will screw with hearing at least for a bit. Sorry if that us not good news but it may be a cause.

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I’ve been recovering surprisingly fast, but I’ve also been pretty anal about making sure it heals properly. What I want to know is why this exclusively impacts only the final, and literally nothing else I have laying around lol. Unlucky I guess if this is the case, but still waiting to see, too many variables but I wanna have some excuse to vent my frustration somewhere lol

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309

It can be hitting a frequency that you are sensitive to a bit more now, the headphone fit can be pushing more on different parts of your face, etc.

I wonder if when you put them on if you hold them and pull them apart just a little bit to keep most of the pressure off of your head if itll do much. Probably no but hmmm

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310

I could totally see that, and I do think I could have a higher sensitivity to a specific sibilant freq and the final just hits that directly, but at the same time everything else just isn’t there specifically with the final, so that would make me lean more toward pad or fitment. It’s just also less likely because of how huge and conforming the final pads are, they kinda negate super sensitive fitment unlike something like an abyss. I’m making sure to keep the pads slightly compressed just in case to break them in. I was playing around with sealing to verify if it was the cause, but it didn’t seem to change anything in an unexpected way

I’m bringing in a pair of second ears as a sanity check next weekend so maybe that will help me figure out what the hell is going on too lol. If this truly is my hearing changing at least I can be thankful the hekse still sounds good to me, but considering everything has been largely consistent except the final, I still have no idea

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311

Iirc the pads on the final could turn pretty easy, is that stoll the case and maybe youre just out of the grooves? I know more wishful thinking but im hoping its a simple but overlooked fix.

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312

You have friends IRL?!?

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I do now, semi recently ended up giving them some leftover headphone stuff laying around and they were pretty impressed (it’s been fun seeing their reactions lol), so now they’re gonna come over and be completely ruined going forward lol.

I have some more thoughts on what the actual things going on are, but they’re still scattered and I need more time before I say anything else

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314

Some burn in notes, the initial smoothness and slight softness of the headphones is largely gone now, treble feels more prominent, along with also feeling like there’s more weight and richness when demanded. I still think it’s an inherently more neutral/cool/slightly clinical lean if I had to describe the signature, but balanced sounding regardless unlike the older d8000s. There’s more bite as burn in progresses as well, which is nice. I also feel like the slightly more distant and horizontally spaced out feeling has been brought in a way that’s more convincing and less distracting.

The overall process has been interesting, I feel like at first they’re more reserved and polite, they then take a turn more toward forwardness and brightness, then eventually fill in the bottom and become more complete and coherent, a bit of a roller coaster that feels like it’s still going (if the treble could slightly become a bit less forward that would be great lol). I’m sure it’s both the driver and the pads. Burn in on these is pretty important, and I can see why I’ve read some of the impressions I have now lol. Doesn’t feel over yet though so I can’t comment, I would estimate this pair is likely now at around 200 ish total hours of burn in/active music playback, I wonder if another 100 ish hours is when I’ll stop noticing changes.

Because of this, the issues with cable choice are further exaggerated and the stock is a more complete and correct sound over what I have, but does feel limiting in technicality and also does lean it cleaner. I will be going with either a danacable or brise when life permits and I think that will end up being a fantastic match in my chain with them.

Power is part of the problem, there’s something going on in my area that is really fucking with the power, and I’ve been making sure to drive around as much as I can to see if I can catch anything, and there’s enough bucket trucks out that it really might be a factor. It’s fairly consistent from day vs night so far, but I’d guess consistent issue lol. Remains to be seen, I also wish it wasn’t as hot lately which would help too.

I also think a recent update to Jriver has also improved things for the better slightly.

The sibilance is my hearing, the treble on the final just hits it much harder than other headphones I have, esp after further burn in. I ended up really drilling down into that. Hoping that goes away with time, but makes total sense after really looking into how dental stuff interacts with hearing. I just need it to go away in a few weeks. Please.

Things are getting better overall, and I think it’s been a combination of my negligence/stupidity, a strong burn in curve, and being unlucky with things that are less in my control lol.

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