I listen mostly to acoustic jazz and modern pop and prefer a flat (un-eq'd) response, which is exactly what this combination provides. I was a (classically trained) rock musician back in the 70s and early 80s and also spent many years working in the high-end [home] audio field, so I guess I'm a...

Not all 320kHz MP3s are created equal.   For those of you who are hearing [qualitative] differences between FLAC (and other lossless formats) and 320kHz MP3s, let me suggest that you check your encoders and encoding settings, which can have a quite noticeable affect on the perceived sound...

For those of you who are hearing [qualitative] differences between FLAC (and other lossless formats) and 320kHz MP3s, let me suggest that you check your encoders and encoding settings, which can have a quite noticeable affect on the perceived sound quality of your recordings. In my case, I have...

Thanks, that's great information. Too bad I wasn't aware of this when I was on-the-hunt. Still, I'll have to check it out next time I take a trip to the local airport.

  Quote: Re enjoy vs analyze: To be clear, I don't think there's a right or wrong to the enjoy vs analyze camps. I just think you need to be aware of the options, so you don't confuse one for the other. Re identifying differences between low and high quality recordings: Back in the...

Quote: That's exactly right. Components may impress the logical side of your brain, but it's the emotional side that makes your toes tap.

Someone once told me the definition of an audiophile is someone that uses music to listen to his equipment. From experience, that's not altogether far from the truth. If you really want to see how good your headphones (or whatever component) are, get a copy of Nilsson's Aerial Ballet...

That's the spirit!!

Yup. Well, at least the harsh chorus sound in that Youtube video isn't harsh because of 'em.

Quote:   Yes, the chorus sounds harsh relative to the rest of the song, which is likely due to the producer (or recording engineer) having overdriven the recording amplifiers to give the recording a more edgy sound - a common practice in pop music. A couple of general comments: First, I...

Quote: I'm sorry. I (mistakenly) took your description of "a good pair of headphones is one that can be used without an amp, plays every bitrate from 128kbps or more well" to mean that you were running directly from an mp3 player into your headphones. Still, if you're dissatisfied with...

Quote: Unfortunately, alot of heavy metal's recorded with copious amounts of compression and limiting, which leaves recordings sounding kinda flat and two-dimensional. And if they've also been converted to mp3 format using a low-end converter (or the "fast" option in a good converter)...

Quote: Do you listen to alot of electronic and electronically processed music (as opposed to acoustic)?  

  Quote: I think most people go through this same thing. You buy a better (more expensive, better technology, great reviews, etc.) component and then you start finding all sort of warts in your previously glorious music, which sometimes can turn your (previously) favourite pastime into...