Headphones

[A24 5,156]

My hero Inner Fidelity is actually very positive about these Sony headphones.

Alex

[King Mark 3,975]

I tried those. They didn't impress me and the music sounded muddy with no clarity

I'm beginning to think I can't go back to closed back headphones for home listening, the music feels too boxed-in. As sharp as the Sony 7506 sound, the upper midrange or treble gets annoying after a while and I go back to the Grados. I dunno. (the Grados are "brighter" than the Sonys but that's not what I'm talking about)

On top of this I bought this small amp I saw in several stores here (can't find ANY reviews).There's a line in and 2 headphone jacks in the back, and a volume control.

http://www.acclaim-m...-SKU_27481.html

So I plug it in the audio out of my PC and I get about a 3X amplification of my signal. No hiss or distortion added and it doesn't color the sound. Now I'm going somewhere and my Grado SR-60's sound to their full potential. Not only that, I can properly EQ them to improve the bass while lowering the itunes pre-amp to make sure nothing gets distorted

I'm thinking my final headphone upgrade choice may be the Grado SR-125's or 225's and return the Sonys

[A24 5,156]

I tried those. They didn't impress me and the music sounded muddy with no clarity

Would you say they sounded unnaturally muddy or muffled? These headphones are said to have a natural treble. They don't produce artificially bright frequencies. If your used to listening to Grados then most headphones will sound muffled. Maybe they don't sound open enough?

[King Mark 3,975]

I mean they also sound muffled compared to the 7506 . I tried both of them one after the other . And that the Grados are bright but don't sound as ear piercing as the 7506's. Grados are sort of the middle ground and the midrange is beautiful so that's why if I upgrade I'm looking more to upgrade in that line . I want more natural bass than the SR-60's and that's what the higher models have. Also now the Sennheisers 558/598 would work with this amp.

And also i prefer more open headphones

I do 99% of my music listening on headphones, so i have to make sure to pick ones I really like

I'm set for my portable device with the Shure SE215. No issues with those

[A24 5,156]

You're a difficult customer, KM.

[King Mark 3,975]

I am

Same when I buy a new TV. Lucky I only do that every 5 years

But right now the slightly EQ'ed and amped-up SR-60's sound about right

[A24 5,156]

Wow, I do at least 10 years with a TV. Although I must admit, the prospect of a larger plasma TV screen (60" instead of 50") is appealing to me now.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 12,386]

Could you imagine even 10 years ago you would be watching high definition video on a screen bigger then 70 cm?

We really have progressed.

[King Mark 3,975]

Absolutely

Music wise 10 years ago I had my MD walkman with a bunch a bulky disks I had to record manually and only held 74 minutes each

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 12,386]

Same here. But in those days we were happy, because it was a lot better then cassette tapes.

I was very interested in MP3 players in the early noughties, but became disappointed when I saw they could only do around 256 MB.

My PC in those days had 8 GB of memory, which was HUGE!.

[A24 5,156]

Could you imagine even 10 years ago you would be watching high definition video on a screen bigger then 70 cm?

We really have progressed.

No, (and yes, I saw HD TV more than 25 years ago at an audio video show) and that makes me really happy because now when I put on a blu-ray disc everything feels more 'cinema' . A 60" screen would probably increase that feeling even more. The most amazing thing about progess is that it only costs 999 Euro for having such a giant HD screen in your living room. My old small tube tv (a Philips 82 cm/32") costed a hell of a lot more! Damn! I would never want to go back to those days. Imagine going back the vinyl days!

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 12,386]

A pity broadcast TV is still struggling to keep up.

compressed SD looks horrible on a big screen.

[King Mark 3,975]

I was very interested in MP3 players in the early noughties, but became disappointed when I saw they could only do around 256 MB.

And the early ones sounded like shit

My first was the ipod shuffle

A pity broadcast TV is still struggling to keep up.

compressed SD looks horrible on a big screen.

I NEVER go to the SD channels anymore. Most have an HD equivalent here

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 12,386]

Sadly many channels here are still SD only. especially the digital networks.

We have not reached the pinnacle of the Great and Bountiful Kanadian Empire yet.

[A24 5,156]

Actually, SD looks fine on my Pana plasma which is 42". For movies and series on DVD (Blu-ray and DVD) I watch my Samsung plasma 50". I don't know how DVD will look like on a 60" plasma. Not very good, I'd imagine.

[Marian Schedenig 11,694]

Ugly!

I thought so before I bought them, but it turns out they do look rather stylishly luxurious. Not that it really matters - they're not usable for the road, and when I'm at home, I don't see them when I have them on. Plus the sound is fabulous.

[King Mark 3,975]

Interesting article:

http://www.audiophil...eatures/rh2.htm

I could always get these headphones, they likely sound good. And there's a special 300$ off

http://www.amazon.co...=pd_sim_sbs_e_2

[Rachael Foley 10,162]

Anybody know about how good/bad the SONY MDR-zx100's are?

[King Mark 3,975]

It's likely they're pretty bad

If your gonna get something like that at least get Sennheiser PX-100 or Koss Portapros

[King Mark 3,975]

Ok, after careful consideration I got the Grado SR-225i. (returned Sony 7506)

They cost me 250$ but they sound really nice .

Not a huge, in your face difference compared to the SR-60's (same basic sound and balance) , but the music sounds more polished and refined ("smoother"). The staging is also wider.

In other words ,seems like a nice upgrade from a sound I was already familiar with

[King Mark 3,975]

Day 5 with Grado SR-225i

AMAZING

Jason if you were considering Grado SR-60 these are lightyears better

[King Mark 3,975]

I also fully recommend this Boostaroo USB powered amp (I ordered it for the hell of it expecting it to be garbage) . It's not a "soundcard" like a Creative USB DAC , only a signal booster but has a very dramatic impact on the performance of my new headphones. No software or drivers, USB is just for power and the signal still comes from the PC audio out. Signal is very clean and adds no distortion or artificial processing

http://boostaroo.com...-Amplifier.html

It's the best thing I've found so far and works 100% as described

[Jay 46,243]

Well my girlfriend got me the Sony MDR7506's for Christmas!

I'm checking them out for the first time right now. Started with the Star Wars main title of course (ESB actually)

[Datameister 2,586]

That's quite a girl you got, Jay.

[Jay 46,243]

Haha yea I guess I'll keep her around

Headphones sound great!

[John Crichton 4]

I need to give a VERY belated thank you to our good buddy Blume here. A looooooooooooooooooooooooong time ago I asked for some headphone advice, and he gave some very good suggestions. One was the Sony MDR-V6, and about a year ago I grabbed them while they were on sale at Amazon. I've been thrilled with them ever since, a very good pair of cans indeed.

[King Mark 3,975]

Grado SR 225i will be my permanent home headphones

I had the chance to compare them with the V6 for a few days and they and they are much more pleasant sounding

Still recomment the USB Boostaroo for anyone listening from the PC Out

[Maglorfin 219]

Still recomment the USB Boostaroo for anyone listening from the PC Out

This seems like a really nifty little gadget so I guess I'll be adding it to my next Amazon order! This is the same thing, right?

[King Mark 3,975]

Yeah that's it.

Works very well. Had been looking for a long time for something that does exactly that

[A24 5,156]

For anyone who wants a headphone for walking down the street while not looking foolishly, B&W's P3 is it! It's better and cheaper then their P5.

Alex

[Wojo 2,458]

People wearing headphones walking down the street are fair game for drivers. It's not even a crime in some municipalities.

[A24 5,156]

Pedestrians may walk down on the pavement side with headphones. Tell the world that I have said so.

I forgive you. I forgive you. I ...

[Wojo 2,458]

That's ok. I usually stay off the pavement. I don't want to get chewing gum on my tires.

[Brónach 1,330]

It's okay to walk down on the pavement with headphones. You basically have to fucking look when you're crossing the road. I almost got hit the other day.

[BLUMENKOHL 1,110]

There is no headphone other than buds and in-ears that looks good while walking around town.

[A24 5,156]

There is no headphone other than buds and in-ears that looks good while walking around town.

That's old-fashioned thinking. It's like saying people that wanna look good must wear contact lenses instead of glasses. Hip people in Paris, London and Milan don't wear in-ears anymore.

[Brónach 1,330]

I hate in-ears. Headphones all the way. They mess up my hair though.

[Jay 46,243]

See, I love in-ears, and hate headphones. Well other than the giant ones I use when at my computer

[King Mark 3,975]

Me too

For portable I plan to use Shure SE215 until they stop making them. Of everything I tried over the years (including my previous Shure models) , these are the ones I'm most satisfied with sound quality and comfort wise

[Koray Savas 2,260]

I don't use my iPod anymore. I use my 6 disc CD player in the car. At home I listen through my desktop speakers. On a plane I'll dust off my noise-cancelling Sony's.

[Marian Schedenig 11,694]

I hate in-ears. Headphones all the way. They mess up my hair though.

[Jay 46,243]

I don't use my iPod anymore. I use my 6 disc CD player in the car. At home I listen through my desktop speakers. On a plane I'll dust off my noise-cancelling Sony's.

I use my ipod 100% of the time while I'm in my car now. I have a thing in my car that charges it and takes it output from the bottom and goes right into the Aux-In that my car has, and I can also control it via a remote that's attached the my steering wheel. It's awesome.

[Koray Savas 2,260]

My car doesn't have those features unfortunately.

[BLUMENKOHL 1,110]

There is no headphone other than buds and in-ears that looks good while walking around town.

That's old-fashioned thinking. It's like saying people that wanna look good must wear contact lenses instead of glasses. Hip people in Paris, London and Milan don't wear in-ears anymore.

If being hip and fashion trendy is your thing sure go for it.

I like good classic timeless style. And that means being discreet and not looking like the guy who loads luggage onto my plane. I actually don't like the white Apple bud design for that reason. Too flash.

[Wojo 2,458]

I don't use my iPod anymore. I use my 6 disc CD player in the car. At home I listen through my desktop speakers. On a plane I'll dust off my noise-cancelling Sony's.

I use my ipod 100% of the time while I'm in my car now. I have a thing in my car that charges it and takes it output from the bottom and goes right into the Aux-In that my car has, and I can also control it via a remote that's attached the my steering wheel. It's awesome.

As I've posted before, my Ford's head unit is a factory 6-disc MP3/CD changer, but lacked an input. Ford added them in '08, mine's an '07. I paid a half-assed audio shop to install a line-in headphone cord, but they did a half-assed job. The toggle switch is not hidden at all, the cord is ugly, and there is absolutely no gain on the input signal, so I have to crank the iPod to full volume (or just backed off, to reduce clipping) and crank the car volume up all the way as well, and even that isn't good because I swear the background static is harmful to health. (And if I forget the iPod was on before changing stations, the sonic boom is three blocks across.) If I wanted to listen to my music via air-based FM transmitter instead of what I have, I'd rip my music at 64 kbps.

Well, after going about two weeks without using the iPod because of a short commute and just listening to a loud rock CD over and over again, I wanted to listen to my iPod. I threw the switch to make 89.1 my iPod input...and I still heard static. So either the switch has gone bad, the audio input is shorting somehow, or has come loose from the back of the head unit. I have been too busy to diagnose it in the evening, but it's a real bummer. At this point, I would like to invest in the kind of sound system Jay described. I need to take some measurements of how big my current head unit is to see how big a hole I need to fill, but it really sucks..

[Jay 46,243]

My car doesn't have those features unfortunately.

Oh, the only thing my car came with was an Aux-In. The rest is a separate device I bought. This one:

http://www.kensingto...e-and-ipod.aspx

It's amazing

[Koray Savas 2,260]

My car's radio is like built into the dash. I asked a friend from Car Fi when I was at BBY, and he said it'd cost around $500 to install a radio with an aux input. I said no thanks, I'll live with CDRs.

[Datameister 2,586]

I lucked out and my car has an aux input. It's also got a built-in USB input like what you're describing, Jay, but I've found that mine doesn't work too well, so I just use the aux input for my iPod. Works just fine...except I do have to crank the volume up on my iPod and on my dashboard, and for some reason, a random radio station can be heard in the static if I turn the volume way up for a quiet part of the music. Gets a little annoying, but it's not a huge deal.

[Ren 77]

My car can navigate my iPod through the dashboard while it's plugged in to the aux in. I can also sync it with Bluetooth.

[Jay 46,243]

I lucked out and my car has an aux input. It's also got a built-in USB input like what you're describing, Jay, but I've found that mine doesn't work too well, so I just use the aux input for my iPod. Works just fine...except I do have to crank the volume up on my iPod and on my dashboard, and for some reason, a random radio station can be heard in the static if I turn the volume way up for a quiet part of the music. Gets a little annoying, but it's not a huge deal.

My car doesn't have any USB input, and I certainly didn't describe anything to do with one My Kensgington LiquidAux plugs into my cigarette lighter. Then one wire goes into the bottom of my ipod, and the other wire goes into the AUX-IN in my car. Perfect sound quality at full voume. Well, my car's speakers such so I have to crank it all the time. Either that or ipods just don't get very loud