[CaptainSourMilk]

I was on the web fantasizing at earphones that were way out of my budget, when it hit me that i could get a 100000000 dollar set of earphones, but it would only sound as good as the quality of the music I get. And then I realized that the youtube downloads that fill up my music library are all pretty bad quality (mostly 128 kps)... So I was wondering if there are any earphones, or at least a sound signature, that can smooth out the music and make it sound better. My guess is that I would need a warm SQ. Anything under $100 would be great. (No over-the-ears) 

Thanks!​

 

[H20Fidelity]

Preferably what you want is something that has a forgiving signature to lower bit rates. I can't say any IEM will make 128kbps sound better, though more so won't make it sound any worse or reveal as many faults. Take a look at your options in the sub $100 sections.

http://www.head-fi.org/t/478568/multi-iem-review-247-iems-compared-ultimate-ears-superfi-5-pro-superfi-5-eb-added-07-23-12

I'd also probably ask ljokerl the creater of that thread. He'll have a good idea what might work.

 

[AstroTurf]

Apple Ear Buds...

They make craptastic music sound good.

Cheers, Jim

 

[biggbenn74]

As explained above, if the SQ of the music is bad enough, even your stock iBuds will pick up just about everything. Just listen to better quality music, I suppose. But, in all seriousness, Monoprice 8320.

 

[kmhaynes]

Sennheiser tends to have a rather laid-back, sometimes "soft" sound.  My MX560 & 760 still sound OK with 128k stuff, which other phones render as pretty grainy and scratchy.  Any earphones that are described as "detail" oriented will not do well with low bitrates.

 

[Techno Kid]

The Atrio MG7 are the most forgiving IEM's l've heard for poor quality recordings, they make 128kbps sound decent.

 

[CaptainSourMilk]

Hmmmm, I was hoping for something a little more fancy... I was thinking about the Brainwavz ProAlpha, since the warm ss should help smooth out the imperfections. Are those a good buy?