Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners Wireless Headphones

Hmm. That was the one I figured you might like. Well, Master of Puppets is excellent (that's the one that's got Orion, the instrumental, on it).

Actually, Peter, I left them on at relatively normal listening volume (maybe a little higher than normal), but they are open headphones so it sounds like they're playing louder than they really are.

As to the cable (Cardas, well regarded in cable land), I stand by my assertion that the cable sounded much better after break in. In fact, when I first tried them on, I really couldn't detect much of a difference at all between the new and stock cables, and I pretty much felt like I'd been had. But I let them run in a day and then did an A/B comparison with the stock, and the Cardas was CLEARLY better. With the stock the treble was always a little sandy and the bass was a bit bloated, the treble with the Cardas is clean and more extended, and the bass is noticeably tighter and more defined. Plus the soundstage is much more cohesive and believable. Night and day, really. I don't think I could make myself believe imaginary differences that clear. The cable has pretty much addressed most of my nitpicks with the sound of the stock HD580 (though I still wish it had a little more kick to it).

Oooh, you're just asking for it 'round here. Cables AND break in. Didn't Peter warn you?

Oh boy...(starts frantically digging a foxhole)

EVERYONE TAKE COVER!!!!

Heh. I know, I know. I'm usually a skeptic of cables and break in on cables, but I swear it happened this time!

*puts on flame-retardant suit*

Uhh... what's the difference between night and day?

Welcome Adam, and our sympathy over your recent traumatic experience with the headphone cord. However, I'd caution you that it might not be over. I've seen all too many instances which began with something simple like that and developed into situations where audiophiles have spent all their money on high-end power cords and quit their jobs so that they'd have adequate time to supervise the burn-in. Then, after hearing that everything did sound better, they reasoned that similar performance benefits would accrue by replacing all the cheap power cords on everything in the house. Such things as a quieter vacuum cleaner, yet cleaner carpets, were reported. An especially poignant incident I experienced involved a good friend who bought a MagicPower Cord for his oven. He reported that the food developed subtle flavors and aromas he'd never experienced in his life and now invites us over frequently for dinner. He also prepares some food in an entry-level oven and pleads after serving both:"Can you taste the difference?". We smack our lips, nod and smile.

This doesn't have to happen to you, Adam, and since we're apparently of the same or at least closely-neighboring ethnic background, I feel a special responsibility. Although there are Audio Re-education Camps to which audiophiles can be committed upon application to the Probate Court, that shouldn't be necessary in your case. Peter seems like a pretty level-headed guy, and I assume Dr. Mark is as well. If they'd take some seemingly harsh measures that were for your own good, this can be worked out. You'd have to be confined in a room where they would take turns in reading to you several hours every day from basic physics and electrical engineering texts, with additional emphasis on the metallurgy of copper. Meals could be brought in(assuming that you were showing satisfactory progress)and sleep would also be permitted(it wouldn't be necessary to administer the orexins)in that case. Your family can help. Trust them . Good luck.

I AM amused.

Hehe, I suppose I was asking for this. It's too bad I don't have the stock cable anymore, as I gave it to another headfier (as we headphone geeks call each other) whose stock cable broke, or I could let Ken and Peter compare it to the Cardas themselves and hear the truth.


Be not afraid, JohnK, for I have not caved in to the voodoo of power cords and getting my cd player/amp/preamp/toaster oven modded to accept third party power cords. I'm sure you can probably hear *some* minor differences between your run of the mill 18awg power cord and a big beefy 10awg power cord made from ultra high purity silver with a special double braided geometry, teflon coating and the dust off a pixie's wings, but unfortunately pixie dust is rather expensive these days.

And I'm not all that impressed with all these cable manufacturers making these claims of the heavens opening to those who try their cables. Case in point, my main interconnects are a 1/2 meter pair of Outlaw PCAs running from my cdp to my amp. I recently ordered a 2 foot run of Signal Cable Analog Two interconnects to see if I could hear any differences. Both of these cables cost ~$50, and from what I've gathered from forum posts and reviews, the Signal Cable is supposed to be a giant killer and clearly better than the Outlaws. I've actually got a fairly good test system for this - my headphone amp has two inputs, and my sacd player has two outputs, so I can hook up two sets of interconnects and simply flip the input switch on the back of the amp to do quick a/b comparisons. So I let the cables ...(wait for it)... burn in for a couple days and tested it out. I think I might hear a slightly better soundstage with the Signal Cables, but to be honest, if someone were to give me the dreaded double blind test, I couldn't tell you which is which. They sound pretty much the same to me. I can't detect any tonal differences, any increase or decrease in resolution, and I'm ready to accept that the possible soundstage improvement I noticed was merely the power of suggestion and/or wishful thinking. So maybe I wasted $50, but at least I'm now certain that I don't have to spend money on anything other than source/amplification and speakers/headphones.