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The "Week-with-a-Crappy-Can" Challenge! OR "See how much of the experience the MUSIC carries!" - Page 3

post #31 of 52
10/25/12 at 12:27pm

Oh sweet. Awesome idea. I'll start today, with my absolutely atrocious Audatron SH-608Rs.


Edited by takato14 - 10/25/12 at 12:29pm
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post #32 of 52
10/25/12 at 1:33pm

I could listen to my music with my neon green skull-blandies! 


Oh wait, I don't have anything better yet.  Never mind. 

 

 

*waiting on MS1s*

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post #33 of 52
10/25/12 at 1:45pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by takato14 View Post

Oh sweet. Awesome idea. I'll start today, with my absolutely atrocious Audatron SH-608Rs.

 

I don't know enough about those (or most vintage cans in general) to know if you're funning or not. Are they really bad?

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post #34 of 52
10/25/12 at 2:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Argyris View Post

Quote:
Originally Posted by takato14 View Post

Oh sweet. Awesome idea. I'll start today, with my absolutely atrocious Audatron SH-608Rs.

 

I don't know enough about those (or most vintage cans in general) to know if you're funning or not. Are they really bad?

Yeah. So bad that I didn't even last an HOUR before having to go back to my good headphones.

 

Seriously these things are muddy and disgusting. Way too much bass that isn't even half-decent, boomy and peaky mids, no treble to speak of, no soundstage either, and the entire sound is just wet-blanket-ish and devoid of any details, dynamics, or anything. 

 

I just can't believe how quickly I caved, I thought I had a stronger will than THAT... >___<


Edited by takato14 - 10/25/12 at 2:27pm
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post #35 of 52
10/25/12 at 3:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Argyris View Post

 

I don't know enough about those (or most vintage cans in general) to know if you're funning or not. Are they really bad?

 

They're a Walmart headphone from the 80s, I have them too, they have no soundstage at all, it's 2 walls of sound planar to your ears, and the upper mids to treble are subterranean, its the most lifeless tonality I've ever heard, there'd have to be 5 more stages beyond REM to describe how asleep those pieces of **** are.

 

Unfortunately, all this test would do for me is make me miserable for a week, I'm too sensitive to wonky tonality and decay to last more than a few minutes...

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post #36 of 52
10/28/12 at 12:09am
Thread Starter 
Quote:

Originally Posted by IzzyAxel View Post

 

 

Unfortunately, all this test would do for me is make me miserable for a week, I'm too sensitive to wonky tonality and decay to last more than a few minutes...

 

I'm sensitive to spiky lower treble and shouting upper midrange. I'm sure most people are to at least some degree, but it really bugs me. Somehow I've managed to enjoy two relatively bright headphones for two years now regardless, thanks to EQ.

 

Unfortunately, you have to have somewhere to start from if you're going to EQ anything, and not all headphones give you that!

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post #37 of 52
10/28/12 at 7:53am

Thankfully I don't have to deal with it anymore, because the DT1350 is perfect, for now at least. (I'm sure that'll change once I listen to a TH-900, LCD-3, HD800 or an SR-007/9 :P)

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post #38 of 52
10/28/12 at 9:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Argyris View Post

That KPH-7 definitely doesn't measure that poorly for what it is.

They don't sound half bad either. wink.gif
Quote:
I imagine it's probably better than most of the pack-in type headphones that used to come with PCDPs. I wonder if they even bother with those headphones anymore, as the style seems to be for iBud-like things these days.

They are. And I have no idea if they still pack such headphones in with portables, but these would be the Rolls-Royce of those kinds of headphones imho (which isn't saying much, but you get the idea).
Quote:
For that matter, do they even sell PCDPs in big box stores anymore? It's been many years since I bought one, so I would have no reason to even check.

I heard about such recently, yes. Haven't looked myself - but I'm assuming yes, since they sell PCDPs and I still see people out on the street using them from time to time (they aren't very common, but every now and then I'll see someone on the train or tram with one, and remember the 90s).

My only gripe with the PCDP is that only a few of the early models had rechargeable batteries, and then everything went to blasted AAs. angry_face.gif
Quote:
Also, come to think of it, I did use headphones on a plane once. It was actually a weird setup from what I remember. It wasn't electric. Well, on some level it had to be, but they would give you the 'phones and you plugged this rubber tube (like a stethoscope) into a hole on the armrest, and it would channel sound into your ears from (presumably) a dynamic driver sealed in a chamber. There may have been passive drivers in the earcups. Of course I was way too young to think to check for any of this, but even then I must have been mystified by how it worked because I remember all these details now.

Pneumatic headphones. They're among the worst sounding thing ever created.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speaking_tube

They aren't common on modern airliners in my understanding (the last few times I've flown it's all been dynamic jacks in the armrest), being replaced by *VERY* bad dynamic headphones (that you pay a fortune for), which are usually wired in mono. Better to bring your own cans methinks (not that I've ever really had a desire to listen to the aircraft audio signals - I bring my own PDP as well).
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post #39 of 52
10/28/12 at 9:25pm

Just started day 1 of my week with the Apple Earpods.

They do actually sound decent, and surprisingly bassy. I can see why folks upgrading from the previous earbuds would be impressed.

 

Isolation sucks (hardly surprising) and even in the relatively quiet train I take to work, this means jazz and classical pieces are useless. Pop and rock is fine.

 

More updates at the end of the week.

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post #40 of 52
10/31/12 at 6:32pm

Ok I have to say I am close to giving up. Why? Isolation.

 

In quiet environments the Earpods are very decent. They have a nice, inoffensive sound, and enough bass--I can follow bass lines in jazz numbers easily, for example. Also, they're comfortable. They seat themselves easily in my ears, never hurt, and never threaten to fall out.

 

But I'm finding myself turning the volume much higher than I'm used to or should; it's over 50% on average. And even then I can't hear all the music, sometimes any of the music! Just today, one track was so soft (a Django Reinhardt) that I didn't realise it had started playing for a whole minute!

 

The worst was trying to listen to a podcast. Music, I can get by without hearing every single note when I'm commuting and simultaneously reading something on my phone. But a podcast, I need to hear every word! I bumped up the volume just to catch what was being said, only this increased all the sibilant sounds too, and that made it painful to listen to.

 

So, when I get home today, I'm packing up these Earpods and returning them to my friend. They're just not worth the potential ear damage. 

Would be keen to try a pair of IEMs for a week, though.

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post #41 of 52
10/31/12 at 7:11pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Eric_C View Post

Ok I have to say I am close to giving up. Why? Isolation.

 

In quiet environments the Earpods are very decent. They have a nice, inoffensive sound, and enough bass--I can follow bass lines in jazz numbers easily, for example. Also, they're comfortable. They seat themselves easily in my ears, never hurt, and never threaten to fall out.

 

But I'm finding myself turning the volume much higher than I'm used to or should; it's over 50% on average. And even then I can't hear all the music, sometimes any of the music! Just today, one track was so soft (a Django Reinhardt) that I didn't realise it had started playing for a whole minute!

 

The worst was trying to listen to a podcast. Music, I can get by without hearing every single note when I'm commuting and simultaneously reading something on my phone. But a podcast, I need to hear every word! I bumped up the volume just to catch what was being said, only this increased all the sibilant sounds too, and that made it painful to listen to.

 

So, when I get home today, I'm packing up these Earpods and returning them to my friend. They're just not worth the potential ear damage. 

Would be keen to try a pair of IEMs for a week, though.

 

I don't blame you. I know all too well that protecting your hearing is paramount, having messed mine up for a few (very scary) days a little more than a year ago. I actually posted a thread about it warning people to be careful, since at the time I had thought I'd done permanent damage. Luckily it cleared up after a few days, and I've been very weary since then.

 

There's lots of crappy IEMs out there. I'm sure ljokerl's mondo epic thread can help if you need to select a poison.

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post #42 of 52
11/1/12 at 5:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Eric_C View Post

Ok I have to say I am close to giving up. Why? Isolation.

 

In quiet environments the Earpods are very decent. They have a nice, inoffensive sound, and enough bass--I can follow bass lines in jazz numbers easily, for example. Also, they're comfortable. They seat themselves easily in my ears, never hurt, and never threaten to fall out.

 

But I'm finding myself turning the volume much higher than I'm used to or should; it's over 50% on average. And even then I can't hear all the music, sometimes any of the music! Just today, one track was so soft (a Django Reinhardt) that I didn't realise it had started playing for a whole minute!

 

The worst was trying to listen to a podcast. Music, I can get by without hearing every single note when I'm commuting and simultaneously reading something on my phone. But a podcast, I need to hear every word! I bumped up the volume just to catch what was being said, only this increased all the sibilant sounds too, and that made it painful to listen to.

 

So, when I get home today, I'm packing up these Earpods and returning them to my friend. They're just not worth the potential ear damage. 

Would be keen to try a pair of IEMs for a week, though.

I doubt the Earpods have worse isolation over my SE-700s... God I hate using them portably, but at the same time I wanna keep listening to them...

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post #43 of 52
11/1/12 at 6:22pm

Those Pioneers sure are handsome lookin' headphones, though. Kind of like some of the Stax, no?

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post #44 of 52
11/1/12 at 8:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Eric_C View Post

Those Pioneers sure are handsome lookin' headphones, though. Kind of like some of the Stax, no?

Yeah, they're truly one of the most gorgeous headphones I've ever seen. Very Stax-esque.

 

Unfortunately they're almost as hard to drive as an electrostat as well XD

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post #45 of 52
11/2/12 at 11:31pm
Thread Starter 

Agreed. That SE-700 definitely has the Stax aesthetic. I guess that was the style in those days, since I've seen a few other vintage headphones (one of the Sansui ones comes to mind) that looked similar.

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Head-Fi.org › Forums › Misc.-Category Forums › Members' Lounge (General Discussion) › The "Week-with-a-Crappy-Can" Challenge! OR "See how much of the experience the MUSIC carries!"