Headphones. NEVER AGAIN will i put less then 100$ on my ears

[trevorjk]

Good lord... I can see it now (walking into a store)

You: I would like the most enormous, iced out goofy looking headphones imaginable.

Clerk: We have just what your looking for...

hrm if that was meant as... what a waste of money... then you my friend do not like a crisp clear sound

[-=Squid=-]

hrm if that was meant as... what a waste of money... then you my friend do not like a crisp clear sound

It was meant as, "good lord your headphones are goofy looking."

... I'm sure they sound nice.

[Miscue]

Audio is one of those things that can really screw you over. Once you hear how music was meant to be heard, everything else sounds like crap. And you have to shell out thousands to get that sound.

[Steelrat]

well i mainly listen to music on my computer... i run a hercules game theatre xp external soundriver and the maximum input power on my headphones is 3,500mW not sure if this helps... but do you think i should get an amplifier? i mean right now the bass is a little scratchy but i still have to mess with the equalizer a little more... how much do these amplifiers cost if i could use one? links to sites? ive never heard of these so please a little more info is greatly appreciated

THE must-browse site for headphone afficianados. http://www.headphone.com/layout.php?topicID=1

Remember, headphones are like conventional speakers in that power needs are based on efficiency. For my home system I run a set of Mirage M-5si speakers, which have a very low efficiency, and power them with a 200 watt Adcom amp. Now, most of the time the amp is fine, but when I hit a severe bass transient, like the drums in Verdi's Dias Irae my amp's protection circut kicks in, and I can very briefly hear what is called "clipping" which is when the amp is unable to supply the power the speaker is demanding. Its not a good sound.

The same thing happens with headphones. The good ones are inefficient, mainly due to their increased bass response. Now, when a demanding passage comes along, the amp clips, because mose headphone amps are crap, especially the ones in computer equipment. The headroom stuff is wonderfully engineered, and combined with the right "cans" will provide a great listening experience.

And Zaust, you twerp, no matter what you say, I will still get goosebumps when I listen to Michael Dynna's "Sky 7" or "The Drowning Plains" on my Sennheisers

[trevorjk]

hmm interesting... now i have a question... for some reason when theres lots of base i get a scratchy or fuzzy sound out of them, is this what you call clipping? or is there still something wrong on my end? would a portable amp say one of the 2 cheaper ones on that list you gave me solve that problem? so far i love these things but on the higher bass notes it gets a fuzzy sound to it. anyways thanks for the link

[painball]

I just got a new pair of Sennheiser PX100's. They were only $50, but so far I really enjoy the sound quality (for the price I paid). Plus they fold up to fit in my pocket, what's not to love about that?

[ubooze]

I got Sony's MDR-V600s. They were just 100 bucks compliment my PC and iPod just fine, but I am hoping to maybe build a CMOY amp and get some higher quality headphones along with either a portable Koss or Sony set.

Headphones are the best damn thing I have bought. I won't disturb anyone and I can enjoy the great sound and have enough bass in my head.

[digitard]

When I used to DJ I used a pair of Sony 700's.

Awsome for DJ'ing (electronica ... not that wedding style people call themselves DJ's for ).

Deep bass, good clean treble... I dug em. BUT... alas. I threw a party a long time ago, house party, and out of the 200 people who attended someone decided to walk off with my headphones (probably a DJ threw them in their bag since a few dj's during the night used them), but nobody fess'd up. Punks!

[Steelrat]

hmm interesting... now i have a question... for some reason when theres lots of base i get a scratchy or fuzzy sound out of them, is this what you call clipping? or is there still something wrong on my end? would a portable amp say one of the 2 cheaper ones on that list you gave me solve that problem? so far i love these things but on the higher bass notes it gets a fuzzy sound to it. anyways thanks for the link

There are so many variables involved in audio systems that its hard to pinpoint what could be causing that. It could even have to do with the source electronics, be it a CD player or whatnot. It could also be that you are hearing what is actually on the recording. Most high end speakers and cans strive to have a flat frequency response. The bad thing is, most recordings are made to work with the cheap crap stereos that the majority of people have, so they tend to boost the midrange and highs, while reducing the low end. When you listen to one of these recordings on a high end system, they sound like CRAP. It bugs me to no end that some of my favorite music was recorded in a crappy fashion, and there is nothing I can do about it. I almost cry everytime I have to listen to the terrible recording of Queensryche's Operation Mindcrime, which is a fantastic album.

Something fun to do is to go out and buy a quality recording or two that you can use to test your hardware. If you need recommendations I can give you some.

No matter what, though, I would recommend anything from Headroom. The guy who started the company is often seen jamming out with his headphones on, and is a true music and headphone lover. If the problem persists, its the souce material, the source electronics, or the headphones.

[Hairball]

Remember, headphones are like conventional speakers in that power needs are based on efficiency. For my home system I run a set of Mirage M-5si speakers, which have a very low efficiency, and power them with a 200 watt Adcom amp. Now, most of the time the amp is fine, but when I hit a severe bass transient, like the drums in Verdi's Dias Irae my amp's protection circut kicks in, and I can very briefly hear what is called "clipping" which is when the amp is unable to supply the power the speaker is demanding. Its not a good sound.

I'm sure you know this, but clipping = very, very bad for speakers. I'd get a new amp as soon as possible.

I'm looking for some new earbuds for my iPod mini... the stock ones aren't THAT bad, but I'd like some higher quality ones anyway. I'd gladly get a set of traditional headphones, but to me they're just not portable enough with the tiny iPod.

[Steelrat]

I explained it poorly. Its a momentary clip, followed by nothing as the protection circutry cuts in. Clipping will toast speakers, so your advice is sound. Good equiment will protect you.

As for the IPOD, good headphones will reveal the limitation of MP3 and other compressed formats. Keep in mind that the encoding used for CDs was selected because it was determined that 44.1 khz was the minimum sampling frequency before degredation of the sound occurred. So once you start compressing that, like the MP3 format and such, you do start to degrade the sound. Shoot, listen to an LP with a good cartidge and table, and it'll whoop an equivilant CD. The fact is that anything less than analog compromises the sound.

[trevorjk]

hmm i seam to have fixed the problem. but when i listen to my music at a normal to moterate volume level i get a fuzzy sound. the fuzz is kind of in theback round so err.. but when its low or really high(the volume) you dont notice it

[AssassN]

I'm wearing Sennheisers now. The quality rocks, customer service, the design, everything is awesome. I have broken them 2 times beause sometimes I fall asleep with them on and i roll over on them. Both times I have just shipped them back and they send me a new pair and batteries (they are wireless) completely free of charge. I can hear EVERYTHING and do it walking around my house. I will never go back.

[coolcatpete]

For Christmass my parents grabbed me some BOSE head phones and they rock the house, the problem is that they are hard to wear around in school because I dont want them to get stolen. So in school I wear some 470 sony in ear crap things. All my friends were like man your sont headphones are awesome then I show them wat up and they flip.
Pete

[ASDadam]

I love my ancient Koss Pro4AA's. They have beautiful clarity and bass. Heavy as hell, but great great headphones.