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headphones for poorly recorded music

post #1 of 17
10/19/02 at 6:00am
Thread Starter 
I think my audio system is too revealing for poorly recorded music to the extent that it becomes not very enjoyable to listen to those CDs. I'd like to get a more "forgiving" headphone. Any suggestions? HD600/HD580 come to my mind as I've read it described as laid back (less detailed). Are they good choice for my need? Are there any other headphone suggestions please?
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post #2 of 17
10/19/02 at 6:09am
Erm, DT-770's maybe? Their warm response may be flattering to lower sound-quality recordings...
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post #3 of 17
10/19/02 at 7:24am
Depends on your budget I guess. The DT250-80 is another popular one to look at, although I can't agree wholeheartedly with other guys sayings that the 250 makes poor MP3's sound reasonable (I think they still sound poor - it's just that the aliasing is slightly more difficult to hear).
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post #4 of 17
10/19/02 at 9:56am
DT250-80, DT770pro, DT531 are all fairly forgiving of bad recordings
mp3s still sound pretty bad on all three though, making cds noticably worthwhile.
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post #5 of 17
10/19/02 at 2:34pm

Re: headphones for poorly recorded music

Quote:
Originally posted by Gergor
Any suggestions? HD600/HD580 come to my mind as I've read it described as laid back (less detailed).
Don't confuse "laid back" with "less detail" -- definitely different things. The HD 580/600 have plenty of detail, and will reveal all of the limitations of MP3

None of the "good" headphones are really going to make MP3s or poorly-recorded music sound good. But something like the PortaPro will definitely sound better than something like the HD 580/590/600.
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post #6 of 17
10/19/02 at 3:33pm
I find my koss ksc35s and ksc50s to make poor recordings and mp3s listenable, and usually quite enjoyable.
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post #7 of 17
10/19/02 at 3:43pm
Thread Starter 
I have no experience with MP3, so i don't know what kind of problem MP3 has. My problems are with some of the early digital recordings in the early 80s, which are very harsh. And some of the very old recordings which go back as early as the 30s, which are muffled.

When I listened to these CDs, I get easily fatiqued with w2002, and F1. So I'm hoping to get another headphone which would be "easier" on me with these recordings.

I'm sure I've read comment in this forum that HD600/HD580 lack detail, compared to w2002... But this is beside the point, I guess the word what I'm really reaching for is "forgiving"?
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post #8 of 17
10/20/02 at 7:29am
Gregor,
All three headphones from Beyerdynamic that snufkin mentioned are good choices if you want non-fatiguing musicality instead of clinical and analytical sound. And the 770 Pro is my favourite headphone from Beyer. But I find a properly broken-in ATH-W100 even more enjoable and fatigue-free than the Beyers when I listen to otherwise annoying and harsh digital recordings.

BTW, several months of use have made my W100 more mellow than it had been in the beginning. Giving the W2002 more break-in might help as well (I have never heard one, though). How old is yours? There might be hope.
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post #9 of 17
10/20/02 at 9:24am
Check to see that your CDP can play back CDs with pre-emphasis properly. This is an old feature used by these 80s CD and if your CDP doesn't recognize it these CDs would play with treble much more emphasized than they should be...

Although I have no idea how widespread pre-emphasis support is. It may even be 100%... Just an idea
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post #10 of 17
10/20/02 at 10:13am
Default buds also nicely disguise poorly recorded music.
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post #11 of 17
10/20/02 at 7:08pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally posted by Tomcat
Gregor,
All three headphones from Beyerdynamic that snufkin mentioned are good choices if you want non-fatiguing musicality instead of clinical and analytical sound. And the 770 Pro is my favourite headphone from Beyer. But I find a properly broken-in ATH-W100 even more enjoable and fatigue-free than the Beyers when I listen to otherwise annoying and harsh digital recordings.

BTW, several months of use have made my W100 more mellow than it had been in the beginning. Giving the W2002 more break-in might help as well (I have never heard one, though). How old is yours? There might be hope.
From most of the responses so far, seems like Beyerdynamic in general is non-fatiguing in sound. I have been interested in DT880 since this thread. Wonder if DT880 is worth waiting for...

I have been having W2002 for more than 6 months now. But for a while I haven't been using it much, but it's now my primary phone. I'll give it more time to see if the sound changes. W100 is an interesting option, I haven't listened to it. Physically is W100 more comfortable than Beyerdynamic?
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post #12 of 17
10/21/02 at 2:46pm
Gergor,
the W100 is more comfortable than the 770 and 990 Pro models but since there are new non-Pro versions available of the 770, 880 and 990, they might be quite comfortable as well.
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post #13 of 17
10/21/02 at 5:26pm
the sony cd1700 (redshifter mod) are forgiving of older cd recordings, at least with an amp and a decent source. these headphones pull whatever warmth they can out of brittle recordings, and smooth over the sharp edges, while retaining good detail. i also like how they don't make every cd sound the same. i have not tried them with mp3 yet.
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post #14 of 17
10/21/02 at 7:30pm
Thread Starter 
Apparently, the same line of Sony phones (CD1700 and CD3000) sound completely different. Interesting...

Too bad CD1700 is not in production anymore...
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post #15 of 17
10/21/02 at 7:32pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally posted by Tomcat
Gergor,
the W100 is more comfortable than the 770 and 990 Pro models but since there are new non-Pro versions available of the 770, 880 and 990, they might be quite comfortable as well.
Hmm... I think I'll wait for the new Beyerdynamics. I hope it'll be available soon.
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