Shure 1840 Bass Distortion

[DavidKamPhoto]

I have Shure 1840 headphones (Shure's flagship model) plugged into an M-Audio M-track.

Running this bass sweep

I find that the volume on the M-track has to be at less than half to avoid distortion on 40-80hz.

I doubt my headphones are blown as I'm the only person who's ever used them and max volume on M-track isn't even that loud, although too loud for me, I usually hover around 70% max volume.

I've checked for debris on the drivers and have found nothing.

Do these headphones just suck? Is this the M-track's fault? Something else?

Thanks for the help!

 

[DavidKamPhoto]

cat

 

[TLS Guy]

cat

People get into a lot of trouble with headphones. Your problem is the M-Audio. It is a cheap and cheerful device and obviously its headphone amp is problematic for driving phones. They do not specify the output impedance of the M-Audio which they should.

Normally good studio phones have an impedance of 250 or 600 ohms. Consumer headphones usually have impedances in the 8 to 30 ohm range. Your Sens have chosen a middle course with an impedance of 65 ohms.

Now I have done some digging and found that another individual with AKG headphones with an impedance of 62 ohms has the same problem you do. It seems that M-Audio unit has trouble driving headphones over 30 ohms impedance.

In general high impedance 250 or 600 Ohm phones sound best with the headphone amps of good expensive pro gear like mix desks. I have always used high impedance phones.

So you are driving your M-Audio into voltage clipping of the headphone amp.

Your solution is to buy a headphone amp comfortable with phones of 65 ohm impedance and up, and connect it to the line outs of the M-Audio TRS outputs.

 

[DavidKamPhoto]

People get into a lot of trouble with headphones. Your problem is the M-Audio. It is a cheap and cheerful device and obviously its headphone amp is problematic for driving phones. They do not specify the output impedance of the M-Audio which they should.

Normally good studio phones have an impedance of 250 or 600 ohms. Consumer headphones usually have impedances in the 8 to 30 ohm range. Your Sens have chosen a middle course with an impedance of 65 ohms.

Now I have done some digging and found that another individual with AKG headphones with an impedance of 62 ohms has the same problem you do. It seems that M-Audio unit has trouble driving headphones over 30 ohms impedance.

In general high impedance 250 or 600 Ohm phones sound best with the headphone amps of good expensive pro gear like mix desks. I have always used high impedance phones.

So you are driving your M-Audio into voltage clipping of the headphone amp.

Your solution is to buy a headphone amp comfortable with phones of 65 ohm impedance and up, and connect it to the line outs of the M-Audio TRS outputs.

You are the best. I found the person who had the same issue as me, and it sounds like almost the exact same issue.

Link: http://community.m-audio.com/m-audio/topics/m-track-distortion-in-headphones

I plugged the headphones into an iPhone and ran the signal and it didn't distort. Going to get an amp!

 

[DavidKamPhoto]

UPDATE: I bought a headphone amp and the bass no longer distorts on that frequency sweep.

My headphones also can now go loud enough to use SonarWorks Systemwide as an added bonus!

 

[TLS Guy]

UPDATE: I bought a headphone amp and the bass no longer distorts on that frequency sweep.

My headphones also can now go loud enough to use SonarWorks Systemwide as an added bonus!

You got results because you followed advice.

 

[slipperybidness]

You got results because you followed advice.

What a novel concept

 

[slipperybidness]

UPDATE: I bought a headphone amp and the bass no longer distorts on that frequency sweep.

My headphones also can now go loud enough to use SonarWorks Systemwide as an added bonus!

So, what amp?

 

[DavidKamPhoto]

So, what amp?

http://uk.creative.com/p/sound-blaster/sound-blasterx-g5

All DSP and snake oilery disabled. $110 off Amazon.

And then calibrated to flat with SonarWorks Systemwide:
http://www.sonarworks.com/systemwide

 

[TLS Guy]

http://uk.creative.com/p/sound-blaster/sound-blasterx-g5

All DSP and snake oilery disabled. $110 off Amazon.

And then calibrated to flat with SonarWorks Systemwide:
http://www.sonarworks.com/systemwide

I see that amp has a switch for headphones of 32 to 150 ohm and for 150 to 600 ohm. I don't think I have seen that before, but it is something all headphone amps should have.

The output impedance is a very low 2.2 ohms. So I'm not surprised it solved your problem.