Possible improvements to equipment? (Sony XB700)

Quote:

Originally Posted by moose392 

Because of the comfort level of these headphones, I hesitate when I think about buying new headphones. Anyone who has owned these know what I mean.
What I would like to know is if there are any other headphones with similar comfort and better sound quality.

Denons & Beyers.

Very best,

Quote:

Originally Posted by MalVeauX 

 

Denons & Beyers.

 

Very best,

Yep, more specifically the DT770 Pro's and Denon D2000's.

Quote:

Originally Posted by moose392 

Because of the comfort level of these headphones, I hesitate when I think about buying new headphones. Anyone who has owned these know what I mean.
What I would like to know is if there are any other headphones with similar comfort and better sound quality.

It might help to improve whatever DAC and headphone amplifier your using.

So what DAC and amp are you using?

Quote:

Originally Posted by moose392 

I'm using a Nexus 7. Because I have read that an amp is not needed to drive these and it will not improve anything, I have not felt the need to buy one.
The Nexus 7 has a realtek DAC, but I am unsure of the quality.
My N7 is rooted so I could always use a USB DAC, but I don't have that kind of money floating around.
How much do you think that would improve things?

I was asking because the XB700s are 24-Ohm headphone so you would want to plug them into a headphone jack that is 3-Ohms (or less) for best audio quality.

I would assume the Nexus is low Ohms.

So the XB700s a very easy to drive (at 24-Ohms), so an amp is not really needed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by moose392 

Exactly. So now I am just thinking about getting completely different headphones. How much of an upgrade are the DT770 Pro's from Audio Technica ATH-M50s? Will they be worth the price jump?

Before you go spending even more money, consider, a higher resolving headphone will not necessarily sound better unless the original source media you're playing is of high caliber, and not just high quality bit rate, but also simply the original recordings themselves need to be higher quality or really well done. If you're listening to itunes, youtube rips, downloaded variable rate MP3, etc, then you're in for some disappointment when you buy nicer equipment only to find it may sound even worse to you on something with some treble resolution that the XB series headphones lack and suddenly you start hearing all the imperfection, hiss, noise, artifact and grain. To give you an idea, if you get new headphones, sample some stuff from HDTracks.com and compare to some streaming stuff on youtube.

Very best,

Quote:

Originally Posted by MalVeauX 

 

Before you go spending even more money, consider, a higher resolving headphone will not necessarily sound better unless the original source media you're playing is of high caliber, and not just high quality bit rate, but also simply the original recordings themselves need to be higher quality or really well done. If you're listening to itunes, youtube rips, downloaded variable rate MP3, etc, then you're in for some disappointment when you buy nicer equipment only to find it may sound even worse to you on something with some treble resolution that the XB series headphones lack and suddenly you start hearing all the imperfection, hiss, noise, artifact and grain. To give you an idea, if you get new headphones, sample some stuff from HDTracks.com and compare to some streaming stuff on youtube.

 

Very best,

+1 THIS

After getting both my etymotic hf5 and my beyer dt-880, I have graduately become more and more annoyed by the production quality of my former favorite band (machine head). Their best album are simply ruined by being rather unbalanced and the guitars are a bit blurred and then there is some nasty clipping in the bass region on top of it. The music is great, the production isn't.

Quote:

Originally Posted by moose392 

Wow I'm amazed how much better flac sounds than 320kbps. I wonder if Google Play supports flac?

Are you SURE it sounds that much better. Often it is just your brain thinking so. Most people (if any) can reliably tell the difference between a well encoded 320 kbit mp3 and FLAC files. Alternatively you can try abx plugin for foobar2000

Quote:

Originally Posted by moose392 

Ok I compared 320 to flac and I cant tell any difference. Do you think a better sound card or DAC would improve things. Could this be the limiting factor in the system?

I guess you are not supposed to be able to tell the difference. But if you are looking for the ultra-small and subtle details that must seperate 320 kbit and flac, then I think a good dac would help.