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Were my expectations too high? - Page 3

post #31 of 38
7/15/08 at 11:27pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Golden Monkey View Post
One thing you may not be used to re: sound quality is the big improvement overall. Once you go hi-fi, even portable, it takes a while to realize what makes it truly hi-fi. At first, it just sounds like too much going on in your head, lol. Tendencies when you are starting out are to focus on how much louder or bassier things are, but as you grow to appreciate clarity, focus, detail, resolution, etc. etc. you can really begin to discern differences.
Good point. The se530's are sounding better and better every time I listen to it after I had adjusted the EQ and other sound settings (mainly fixing the bass issue) I read a post here that talked about different bit rates on mp3 files and I noticed that all my mp3's are in 128 or below. I assume that this the possible culprit that's causing the horrible sound quality. I'll try and convert some of my mp3s to 320 and see what happens.


Quote:
Originally Posted by dvessel View Post
One small suggestion. Gather up all the music that you absolutely love and are familiar with that's of reasonably good quality. It'll draw you in faster on all the nuances you might not have noticed before. Ignore your equipment at first and just take it in. Focus on the *music* then take it from there with these other suggestions.
Hehe I'm doing that as we speak. I just have to get off my lazy butt and convert my old cds to MP3 format :P

Quote:
Originally Posted by soozieq View Post
david21 - if you don't mind paying for return postage from the UK to US, I'd be happy to send you my Denon C700 or C551 for you to try out for a couple of weeks
Thank you for the very generous offer but no thanks. Once I get more experience with identifying certain sound qualities will I take you up for your offer. Your offer just shows what a great and trustworthy community this is especially when offering a new guy like me your IEM's
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post #32 of 38
7/15/08 at 11:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by david21 View Post
Good point. The se530's are sounding better and better every time I listen to it after I had adjusted the EQ and other sound settings (mainly fixing the bass issue) I read a post here that talked about different bit rates on mp3 files and I noticed that all my mp3's are in 128 or below. I assume that this the possible culprit that's causing the horrible sound quality. I'll try and convert some of my mp3s to 320 and see what happens.]
That'll make it worse if you convert from 128k mp3 to 320k mp3. If you don't want to lose quality, you can only encode from a lossless source such as a CD (typically PCM 44.1 kHz 1411 kbps) or FLAC.
A better option is variable bitrate (vbr) mp3 also or if your DAP can support it (very few), .ogg Vorbis.
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post #33 of 38
7/15/08 at 11:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by david21 View Post
Thank you for the very generous offer but no thanks. Once I get more experience with identifying certain sound qualities will I take you up for your offer. Your offer just shows what a great and trustworthy community this is especially when offering a new guy like me your IEM's
You're welcome. And the offer stands if/whenever you want take it up. And at least it's a way of trying something new without having to invest more money in something you may not like.

Also, 128kbps mp3's aren't going to sound great with any decent headphone. They'd probably sound better with something cheaper since the flaws wouldn't be so noticeably audible. First of all, if you have any of the original CDs, try ripping at a minimum of 320 for starters. I seem to remember the E500 does much better with decent quality files. You might find you change your mind about them after all
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post #34 of 38
7/17/08 at 6:29pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Golden Monkey View Post
Yup, that's true...just enjoy your faves, and you'll start regularly having "wow, I never noticed that before!" moments all the time. If you get bogged down in expectations, you'll forget to listen to the music that makes you happy, and instead will obsess over the equipment and subsequent loss of cash, ie: "aw man...I spent 5X more on these than my old ones, they should sound 5X better!"...
Having gone through that experience myself I completely second that.

david121, I have a Cowon D2 and Triple Fi's, not the Shure's. What I do have in common with you is that I have upgraded straight to a hi-end IEM from sub 40 - dollar range (spent more in the last year on player and 'phones than I have in the rest of my life!). I have zilch experience compared to all the people who have given such good advice to you. But I do know that as Golden Monkey described above , I had a lot of worries about my purchase in the first month. I was never really 100% sure if my player and phones had the best possible synergy and I thought the Triples sounded better on my old Iriver H320. And in fact as someone mentioned, the Shures were more generally recommended with my player. I'm still wondering if I need an amp or not.

In my experience, time was the critical factor. I listened a lot, I kept tweaking settings, and I am still weeding out low quality files. As I listened longer, I began to like what I was hearing, more and more. It's two months now and I do believe that my ears are still growing (not literally!) daily. Some songs give me incredible joy, some sounded like s*** initially, but somehow, as I keep trying stuff out, they get to sound better.

I guess my point is, be patient with your gear and keep experimenting like you have already started doing. I'm sure you will be rewarded with a sound you like. Good luck!
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post #35 of 38
7/17/08 at 7:26pm
Thank you geekchic for that. That should be the first thing that's mentioned to new comers instead of going in head-first on all the possible hardware issues which tend to do more harm than good IMO.
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post #36 of 38
7/19/08 at 5:00am
Thread Starter 
Update:

After several weeks of using the se530, I can finally say in confidence that I'm in LOVE with this IEM. I'll admit that it did take me a while Once I got over the hump of doubting my purchase and trying to find negatives about them, the se530 sounded so much better! Weird huh? You guys are right, patience with new equipments is necessary!

On a serious note, I think my ears had to adjust to the se530s before I could fully enjoy them. After all, I did spend all my life listening to headphones ranging from $10-$40. Now when I'm comparing the se530 to the other headphones, the 530 easily blows these guys out of the water with its clarity and bass (the good kind of bass)!

1 thing I've concluded (as mentioned by other members) is that the Sony+SE530 combo requires minor EQ'ing to actually sound good. W/O eq'ing, it simply sounds.. flat.

The hissing with this setup (se530+a829) is noticeable even with the attenuator. But when pairing up my 530 with an old Sandisk player, the hissing is nonexistent. Why is that? I'm considering switching to the stock Sony buds that came with the player because it produces NO hissing at all and the SQ is actually good enough for me. Unless of course there's a way to reduce the hissing..
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post #37 of 38
7/19/08 at 5:12am
Thread Starter 
Just for future reference, I'm blaming this forum if I ever go broke
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post #38 of 38
7/19/08 at 9:53am
Hmmm i hope the synergy between my 80gig Ipod/Ibasso D2 Boa and SE530's is good If its good then ill prob look at selling my PK1's.

@David21..

I hope i dont fall rock bottom either lol, spent a lil over $1500 in 2 months on headphones etc etc :/
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