Headphones

[crocodile 9,724]

Yes, I definitely get music-overload sometimes. But sometimes it can be a real sanity saver as well.

EDIT: Gosh, now I want these headphones. Read some reviews and they're not expensive at all.

Karol

[A24 5,155]

I love the youtube reviews of this guy:

[Wojo 2,458]

I don't travel, bike or walk around while listening to music.

I really resent the people who do. Ok, when I'm traveling as a passenger, I'll listen to headphones to immerse myself, but usually end up falling asleep on a bus ride, or trying to take photos out the window on an airplane. And when driving, I either have the radio on or my iPod plugged in.

But the people who wear headphones/earphones while jogging or biking...grrr. It's like they're in their own little world, oblivious to the rest of us. As a driver, this aggravates me. They should do a study of how many people are mauled by animals, hit by vehicles, or nailed by trains because they were listening to music and didn't hear death knock.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 12,385]

I really resent the people who do.

But the people who wear headphones/earphones while jogging or biking...grrr. It's like they're in their own little world, oblivious to the rest of us. As a driver, this aggravates me. They should do a study of how many people are mauled by animals, hit by vehicles, or nailed by trains because they were listening to music and didn't hear death knock.

[Wojo 2,458]

You're European, you don't count. I don't have a shot of hitting you with my car. You give me the finger again, and I'll take that shot.

[A24 5,155]

Yesterday I almost crashed my bike into another biker because she was completely in her own world while listening to music. It reminded me of Wojo's rant about folks wearing headphones in traffic.

Alex

[Wojo 2,458]

Wearing headphones while driving is illegal. Wearing headphones while biking or running on the open road or a trail should be as well. Wanna jog on a track or treadmill? Go right ahead.

Or...they just make it open season on people who wear headphones jogging or biking. Wanna listen? It's fine. But you're fair game if I drive into you. I'll start putting stickers right below the side mirror for the number of confirmed kills I score.

[Rachael Foley 10,162]

Great, Now I am on Wojo's Hit list.

[Wojo 2,458]

Nah. The flip side is that it beats the hell out of my car, and the dings are expensive to get touched up.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 12,385]

Pedestrians in my country are fully protected by law against the scourge of the motor car.

[Wojo 2,458]

That's because you live in teensy ittle bitty country that anyone with enough time on their hands could walk from one end of the other to without having to drive.

Here, we drive to protect ourselves from the lions, tigers, and bears escaping from everyone's local menagerie.

[Jacob 1]

Oh my.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 12,385]

Thats great, beat up on the weak countrirs. Ill have you know we used to rule the oceans!

[Wojo 2,458]

[A24 5,155]

I dunno, I mean, nobody drives a car in Manhattan. There, you either walk or take a cab.

[Koray Savas 2,260]

If that were the case, there'd never be traffic.

[crocodile 9,724]

These are just extras. Severely underpaid, I might add.

Karol

[A24 5,155]

If that were the case, there'd never be traffic.

Well, there is but they're no locals. The rest are cabs and people delivering stuff.

[King Mark 3,975]

Anyone has the Seinheiser HD 558? I can get a good deal on them

[A24 5,155]

Checked it, sounded good, but not as good as the HD 598 (the ugly beige one).

[King Mark 3,975]

I can get the HD558 reduced 100$ from 250$ to 150$ this week

I might try them but the impedance could be too high for the PC soundcard

[A24 5,155]

What's the impedance? Sennheiser usually is 32 ohm.

Hey, look, here's a comparison review between the HD558 and the HD598. Wow, he's even explaining with photos how you can make the HD558 sound almost identical to the more expensive HD598! (Apparently, they both have the same driver, only the housing is different)

http://www.headfonia...d558-and-hd598/

Edit: In answer to your query, one of the readers responds with:

Even though these are 50 Ohm phones, anything can drive them well, and they make everything sound better, be it a hifi or a an ipod (don't turn your nose up at me! I've got both).

Alex

[King Mark 3,975]

I tried a store demo of the HD558

they sounded good but they are much harder to drive than my current Grados and I don't think they would cut it on my PC unless I buy a headphone amp.(another 150$)

I like the 1 cord design. They'd be much easier to use than the tangle prone grados

I might buy this DAC and amp for my PC

http://www.nuforce.c...ucts/iconudac2/

[A24 5,155]

It's like you didn't even read my post.

[King Mark 3,975]

well. yes.

but the 598 would cost me a fortune here and I'm not "modding" anything.They had a deal on the 558 for 150$ so I was curious .

The thing is they store put it on special but it was nowhere in stock and you had to order them..so I didn't buy them

[A24 5,155]

"Modding" the thing wasn't the only thing in my post but anyway ...

If impedance is the only factor (I'm not sure) that decides whether a pair of headphones will be compatible with a PC or an portable device (tablet, Ipod, phone) than 50 Ohm can't be the problem. Both my Blackberry phone or my Toshiba laptop can drive my Audio Technica studio heaphones (50 Ohm) without any problem. Usually you only need headphone amps for models like Beyerdynamic DT-770/DT-880 (250 Ohm versions) or Sennheiser HD650 or comparable.

[King Mark 3,975]

What I was trying to say is that I tried the 558's on my ipod and it couldn't drive the earphones at max volume. And the amp in my ipod nano is stonger than my PC's

[A24 5,155]

Ah, they aren't as LOUD as you want them to be. Do you have the habit of putting your volume to the max on your PC?

[King Mark 3,975]

I sort of have to on some c.d. The earphone jack isn't very powerful ( about 1/2 as loud as ipod)

[King Mark 3,975]

Well, I'm not sure about getting new headphones anymore but I'm sure getting the NuForce UDAC-2

I read a few reviews and now I'm really curious

[AI 0]

Don't waste your money on that garbage.

For less $, you can get pro audio sound and durability with one of these puppies;

http://www.amazon.com/Behringer-Control-UCA202-Audio-Interface/dp/B000J0IIEQ

[Trent B 354]

I'm telling you guys if you got the V-Moda Octave earbuds you'll be glad you bought them. They are pretty powerful and have a nice crisp sound and are great for film orchestra scores. They can also be worn for a long time with out hurting your ears like most earbuds. They are worth 100% of the price.

http://www.amazon.com/Genuine-V-Moda-Octave-Earbuds-Headphones/dp/B0035BHB5S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1319962617&sr=8-1

[Xander Harris 9,674]

These remain my favorite:

I also have the iGrados for portable use.

[King Mark 3,975]

yeah I use those form my PC currently. I just replaced the pads

[Wojo 2,458]

I sort of have to on some c.d. The earphone jack isn't very powerful ( about 1/2 as loud as ipod)

When I find albums that are too quiet, I try to boost the volume of the files themselves on the PC. Many older classical music albums are extremely quiet with respect to newer soundtrack and rock albums.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 12,385]

You mean most new soundtrack and rock albums are far too loud!

[King Mark 3,975]

All I see in stock in stores are various incarnations of Monster Beats headphones. I bet they sound like crap but they seem like the in thing right now

[BurgaFlippinMan 7]

they are very overpriced and quite ovely bassy. good for em hiphop i guess.

[A24 5,155]

You mean most new soundtrack and rock albums are far too loud!

Indeed but some old albums are too quiet with maximum peaks at -5dB. (0dB is the maximum in digital recording). You can easily change the volume (gain 5dB) without changing the dynamics of the track.

Alex

[King Mark 3,975]

yeah but playing around with the file volume themselves is a bit tricky. It's time consuming and easy to cause distortion

Don't waste your money on that garbage.

For less $, you can get pro audio sound and durability with one of these puppies;

http://www.amazon.co...e/dp/B000J0IIEQ

yeah especially after reading this

http://www.anythingbutipod.com/forum/showthread.php?t=61746

[A24 5,155]

yeah but playing around with the file volume themselves is a bit tricky. It's time consuming and easy to cause distortion

Depends on how you do it, I guess. The following procedure shouldn't give you any problems. 1) Import a CD track in an sound editing program (Wavelab, Soundforge). 2) Let the program find the maximum peak (takes about a few seconds). 3) Adjust the volume or maximize the signal (takes about a few seconds). For best results, opt for -0,3dB instead of 0dB. 4) Save.

Finished.

Alex

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 12,385]

I'd hate to do that for my entire collection though....

[A24 5,155]

Does your entire collection sounds too quiet?

[Wojo 2,458]

Yes, my entire collection consists of ancient classical music recordings that were mixed too quietly, with not one new soundtrack or rock album to be found...

[King Mark 3,975]

Got this external USB Soundblaster X-Fi HD soundcard. Has a dedicated headphone amp

http://www.bestbuy.c...856324c6b85en02

Does what I wanted plus a ton more options. So far I can say it's a big step up from the earphone output on the PC

[Koray Savas 2,260]

Wonder how much I get that for

[Jay 46,241]

What do you guys think are the best headphones for under $100? These are going to be for home use only, so I don't care about mobility, or noise cancellation. I'm not looking for ear buds here - I want ones that comfortably covering my whole ears. These are the ones I have my eye on now:

Sony MDR7506

But I'd love more opinions! Just make sure they are under $100 Thanks!

[King Mark 3,975]

The new updated Grado SR60i. no doubt they kick the sony's ass

http://www.stereophi...60i_headphones/

[Jay 46,241]

Aha, interesting! Any idea what the difference is between these?

Grado: SR60i headphones ($79)

Grado Prestige Series SR-60i Padded Headphones ($79)

Grado Prestige Series SR80i Stereo Headphone ($99)

[King Mark 3,975]

First 2 are the same. I think you can also get a pad that leaves a hole in the middle but I wouldn;t get that it's less comfortable.

SR60i fixed the issues of old SR60 (slight lack of bass and some found the treble a bit harsh)

SR80i is harder to drive properly (again the whole headphone amp thing ), so I wouldn't get that for a regular PC headphone jack .Yes if you plan to use your stereo amplifier