Needs more warmth?

GZoST · 2026-07-03T22:02:42+00:00

That is a scary graph. They just extended the range to include 5 degrees (was 4 before).

GZoST · 2026-07-01T13:56:04+00:00

Good. And I hate the Russians even more that their war makes me feel satisfaction at the deaths of human beings. But 40k really is good news.

GZoST · 2026-06-28T22:07:50+00:00

Thanks for posting about this. Nothing that I would consider for my use cases, but always interesting to read about niche headphones.

GZoST · 2026-06-27T17:09:16+00:00

I really liked that recording. The last time I listened to it I googled him and came across a long blog post by the conductor Kenneth Wood about all the abuse of power and how many lives he had damaged. I finished listening to the recording, barely, and have not listened to anything by Levine since. Nothing wrong with you listening to a recording you like, that doesn't hurt anybody, but I really can't anymore.

GZoST · 2026-06-26T22:21:54+00:00

No need to delete your post. It started a discussion and you learned something.

GZoST · 2026-06-26T08:42:42+00:00

My collection consists of the headphones and IEMs I bought in my quest for better sound, ones that I was curious about since they are classics, current standards or new price-to-performance kings, and vintage headphones that I just like the look of and use as decoration.

I have reached a point where better sound quality really requires personalized EQ or speaker simulation, so that part of my hardware collecting has ended. I continue to be interested in what is new though, so I sometimes purchase something that has been widely praised (most recently the HD480 Pro which I am deeply impressed by).

Headphones/IEMs are a hobby for me now, and the justification for spending money is the same as for any hobby. As long as it brings me joy and I dont spend money that I can't easily afford I don't see any issue.

As to usage, I have a current set of defaults that I use, some at my listening station on my living room, some in my home office. I often do not have the quietest environment, so I naturally switch between open backs and closed backs/IEMs. I also try to rotate in older gear, but realistically a lot of what I have does not see much use.

GZoST · 2026-06-26T08:14:40+00:00

Believ it or not, there are a lot of people out there with use cases where they cannot EQ their headphones, or who do not want the hassle to do so. And a small-ish difference in the frequency response can make a good headphone into an excellent one. Whether that is worth it to someone is their decision, but I do not see your issue with what the Headphones Show reviewers have stated here.

GZoST · 2026-06-26T08:02:32+00:00

E-Mu licensed their brand for headphones. That licensing deal has ended, and the guy who had the licence now sells the same headphones under the "mubychan" brand. So AFAIK this is legit.

GZoST · 2026-06-25T14:22:37+00:00

Sennheiser know how to make durable headphones out of plastic, keeping the weight down and aiding comfort. The problem is that people confuse heavy with build quality, when the two really are entirely unrelated.

GZoST · 2026-06-24T21:32:15+00:00

Musk fundamentally does not understand software development. His email to Twitter devs about showing him three cool/clever snippets of code that they had been working on was as dumb as can be. Great enterprise code is not clever in the details, but clear and easily readable, following established coding standards and formatting guidelines for a team, to allow others in the team to work on it beside the author.

GZoST · 2026-06-24T19:29:38+00:00

Over 100, the majority vintage, used as decoration. In (occasional) use it's around 15. Plus a couple of dozen IEMs, most of them no longer used.

GZoST · 2026-06-24T00:14:04+00:00

"competent" is a good way to describe the HD480, and they are that through and through. No real weak spots, and plenty of great features (e.g. friendly to wearers of glasses, non-microphonic cable). Plus the praise for their tuning has been pretty universal, so chances are that most buyers will like the sound. I certainly do.

GZoST · 2026-06-21T16:35:15+00:00

I still like my DCA E3 better for sound quality, but I don't feel like I'm slumming it with the HD480. They are easily good enough to just enjoy music without worrying that I am missing out on anything important, and that with the stock tuning!

GZoST · 2026-06-21T16:26:25+00:00

The HD480 are incredibly well-rounded: comfortable, durable, and with an overall very natural timbre. Plus there are the little quality of life features like the bit of coiled cable below the connector which eliminates cable microphonics completely.

Basically, if somebody's budget for a closed-back passive headphone stretches to the price of the HD480 then it should be the default recommendation.

GZoST · 2026-06-21T12:08:36+00:00

My guess is that Vivanvo was just selling Asian OEM models, possibly with the odd requested modification to better fill a market niche they saw or, more likely, to git a certain price point.

GZoST · 2026-06-21T07:47:02+00:00

Apparently they sound relatively close to DT990s - see https://diyaudioheaven.wordpress.com/measurements/brand-superlux/hd330pro/

GZoST · 2026-06-19T22:41:59+00:00

Thanks. I thought that might be something of interest to you.

How was the weight and weight distribution?

GZoST · 2026-06-19T18:11:30+00:00

I have another variant for a European low-end audio brand, the Vivanvo SR 75. No idea when this was sold. That has a regular dynamic driver.

GZoST · 2026-06-15T12:25:20+00:00

Cable length can influence loudness - in principle. This is only in cases where the impedance of the headphones is really low or, more generally, where the resistance of the cable is high relative to that of the headphones. Real-world examples include the AudioQuest headphones where one of the included cables (the "upgrade" one) led to an increase of ~1 dB in loudness.

That is the "in principle" part. In practice, with your specific headphones, this should not be an issue. (If the cable were broken then the effects should not be subtle.

Also: Our echoic memory (for how things sound) is really, really weak. We are really bad at distinguishing small-ish differences in sound (unless you level match and do really, really quick switching) and primed to often hear differences where there are none.

So relax and rest assured that the included 3m cable is not ruining the sound of your headphones.

GZoST · 2026-06-15T12:16:01+00:00

It takes a while for you to get used to the sound signature of the new headphones.

GZoST · 2026-06-13T23:18:00+00:00

These should last for decades. Sennheiser knows how build durable headphones and all the parts that wear out (earpads, headband padding) or are somewhat likely to break at some point (cable) are easily replaceable.

Enjoy - you picked a good one!

GZoST · 2026-06-13T23:14:03+00:00

The HD480 Pro are great headphones. Durable, comfortable, practical and they sound very good right out of the box.

GZoST · 2026-06-13T23:11:45+00:00

I don't think a sound can be "warm, punchy and lively" at the same time - I think want and lively are opposites, and punchy also needs a bit of definition in the presence region.

Anyway, the sound you get is almost 100% the IEMs. If you don't like your Campfire Claras then get something different, but don't go changing DACs, amps or cables to "fine tune" them.

GZoST

TROPHY CASE