That’s normal. Well, normal for those Hifiman headbands at least.
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I stayed with Hifiman. Got myself an Arya Stealth, and I like it very much, especially after adding a little bit of EQ to lower the treble a little bit. I am convinced these will stay with me for a long time. We know how it went the last time I said that, but these stayed with me for longer than the Sundara now and I feel no need at all to move to something else.
I got a Gustard X18 as a DAC and a Singxer SA-1 as an amp. Those make much less of a difference than the headphones themselves, but I hear, or convinced myself that I hear, something that I like enough to be happy about the purchase (actually, I bought them from Amazon with the serious intention to satisfy myself that they would make no difference whatsoever and quickly return them).
In the interest of transparency, I’ve started looking for a second pair of headphones, just to have some variety and keep noticing how much I like my Aryas, but I’ve found nothing that really strikes me as interesting enough, and I am in no hurry at all.
And I still go back to my Sundaras from time to time. As I said, I still love them.
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@InvisibleInk - How easy are the k371 pads to replace? I thought about getting a pair for my son, but that’s one thing I wasn’t sure about.
The Dekonis are pretty easy. Just a few mild stretches to get the inside oval edges into the grooves. They even have a YouTube video linked on their product page to show how it’s done. But you probably don’t need to watch that, since it’s fairly self-evident. Cheers!
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It’s a bit odd if the headphones are brand new - I wouldn’t expect any wear marks yet.
But like SenyorC said, that will happen with HFM headbands eventually.
I owe you some quick feedback so here you go. I’d rather not talk about sound so far as I really need to do more testing as well as potentially A/B testing, I don’t want to write nonsense stuff 
. It’s more like notes than anything else.
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HD560s : looks plasticy but feels solid and reliable; very long cable (annoying imo); adjustable headband doesn’t stick well especially when I take off my headphones; a bit tight (clamp).
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Sundara : looks more luxury but also more fragile; pads are bit thicker therefore more comfortable; cable looks cheap and it’s very short.
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K5 Pro ESS: happy with it, except the LED which is really bad. There are like two of them and they are very poorly calibrated, it looks extremely cheap. I checked other reviews and it doesn’t seem my unit is faulty. Excellent build quality. See here: https://i.imgur.com/ASfnnDK.jpeg & https://i.imgur.com/R07RrVu.jpeg
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K7 : Same build quality. RGB much cleaner and homogeneous. Unlike the K5, there’s a delay on the volume know, which is a bit annoying. led: https://i.imgur.com/CTI700N.jpeg
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K5 vs K7 size comparison: https://i.imgur.com/C2fuJaf.jpeg
I also have question. I heard in some video that I could use my DAC/AMP for my active speakers. Currently, they are connected through my screen’s jack port. Where would I need to connect them to in order to not burn my speakers, K7 and house? I still struggle with all the ports available and their purpose. Imo the PO port (3.5mm) would be bad because then I’d have two amplifiers working at the same time. So if I use the line-out RCA, my K7 will only act as a DAC and it will offer a cleaner sound that my screen’s jack. Is that right? FYI here are all the available ports: https://cdn.l7audiolab.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/1664641652-Rear.jpg
On the front, I’d use the LO trigger, but what about the PRE one?
Thanks in advance for your help!
Also, sorry if this is becoming off topic, but I feel comfortable here. If there’s a better place for general feedback and questions, I’ll move!
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K7 PRE = preamp output to your active speakers.
K7 PO = headphone amp to your headphones
Make certain to turn volume way down before flipping that switch between PRE and PO to avoid nasty surprise of head blown off volumes or damaged drivers.
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Thank you! And so why pre rather than LO?
Give or take another 1,000 (pick euro or $, your choice)
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Cables are a major hobby subtopic. Some swap them for perceived audio quality improvements, but many swap for comfort and use cases. Short for mobile, long for a large home amp that can’t be moved, etc.
Sennheisers are notorious for their clamp. You can often gently bend the flat metal springs inside to reduce clamp. The pads will also smush down over time and feel better, but at the same time the tone profile changes when the drivers move closer to the ears.
I can’t wait until you examine their products at the $1,000 and $6,000 price points.
It’s fine. This site has been dominated by mostly easygoing, solution-oriented people from the start. This is the right thread for posting too.
He he.
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Hahahaha, I actually chuckled in real life!
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LO = Line Out, Typically you would send a line out to a preamp.
Preamp should give you volume control with the front knob.
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I have a question about streaming videos to my headphones. I currently run: PC running Roon → Zen Stream via wireless → RME Adi-2 → Jot R → Raal Sr1a’s.
Sometimes I watch dvds or youtube videos on my PC that I’d like to use my zen stream → Raal chain with. Is there a way to do this without connecting my PC directly to the DAC? (I don’t want to snake a long cable across my room to my DAC.)
I still want to do way more testing but things start to make more sense now. Obviously, everything below is only my point of view so it’s highly subjective and my ears/brain still need a lot of practice. I also need to become more familiar with all the audiophile wording.
tl;dr: Sundara >> HD560S >>>> Fidelio X2
I won’t even mention the X2, apart from the lows which are decent (but still not as good as the Sundara, clearly), I really realize I’m not a big fan of it, even with EQ.
EQ used: - oratory1999 - harman. I still haven’t tried to manually edit frequencies, but I guess it will come at some point!
- Sound Impressions: I prefer the Sundara for spatialisation (slightly), lows (clearly, deeper and stronger), comfort (clearly), a bit more details.
- Genre impressions:
- On Disco/Funk/R&B, Sundara sounds much nicer thanks to the better lows.
- On Rock, things are not as obvious. I still slightly prefer the Sundara but it’s not a clear winner.
- Overall: I’m really liking the Sundara, I might keep it with the K7. Tbh, in terms of value, the HD560s is the clear winner, especially if you take into account the fact it doesn’t need a DAC/AMP combo as much.
Does any of this make sense?
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This hobby is such a love/hate relationship (more love than hate of course).
it seems there are so many bias, subjectivity, pseudo-science and opinions are so contradictory, well first of all I have no idea who to believe, and I have no idea how much it influences my personal opinion.
While doing A/B, lows sounded much better on the Sundara but my HD560s wasn’t plugged to my K7, I just plugged it back and lows feel much stronger, almost on par with the Sundara. I have no idea if it’s the source different, or if it’s placebo, or if I’m going crazy.
EDIT: to put some perspective, a few years ago I became really into building a desktop PC. While it was really confusing and it took me a lot of time to understand things, at least things are way more objective in general. In X scenario, Y component will OBJECTIVELY be better.
But in audio, everything is so subtle, I guess that’s what’s beautiful.
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Oh, yeah, your findings are somewhat expected. Properly amplified HiFimans are just going to swamp that competition.
Since I’ve done my homework, I will answer: of course, thanks to the planar driver. 
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Not thanks to the planar driver - thanks to the fact that it is a better compromise of all of the design and cost choices. There are really good Dynamic Driver and Planar Driver and Electrostatic Driver headphones. There are some pretty poor ones in all categories also, although less so in estats because they are going to start with a higher price point overall and have a more audiophile audience.
We’ve 'splained that the Senn’s are in their consumer audio line, not their audiophile line. They will sound somewhat better with proper power, but they also quickly reach their maximum potential.
As far as who to believe, I like to quote George Leroy Tirebiter 
“Vote for me because I never lie and I’m always right.” I’m just the same and as reliable, believe me on this.
From the Firesign Theater’s album, Don’t Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me the Piers
First time I did a callout inside a callout, but there are no badges for that. You really should follow the link and listen to some Firesign Theater. On headphones. Now follow in your books and repeat after me as we learn our next three words in Turkish. Towel. Bath. Border . . .
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I can’t help you with who to trust as I don’t even trust my own ears some days 
But now that you have experienced those headphones, do some research on them. Read or watch some reviews, read some threads, etc. Take note of the reviewer’s or posters that hear them the same way you do and have similar opinions to your own.
This will not make anyone more trustworthy but it will help you get to grasps with who shares similar tastes to your own and may help with forming opinions on things you haven’t heard.
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I’d be happy to give it a go. Any album (and specific references?) in particular?
Usually I prefer to listen to my own music because well, I like it, but if you have some albums to share with outstanding recording/mastering, please share them! It reminds a few years ago, I went to an audio show and I found out the outstanding sound coming out of demos/presentation was largely due to the great selection of songs. And while it may sound obvious to you all, I find that these criteras are wayyyyy more important than the file format.