[GREQ]

Quote:

 I'm fairly experienced at this, I've been here since 2004. I've probably listened to more headphones than most people on this forum, I own http://www.headphonereviews.org and get quite a few samples through.

Sorry, but this doesn't actually tell us anything about you or how trustworthy your hearing or opinions are.
I'm not trying to insult you or invalidate your opinions - it's just a fact.
 
Even the most golden of ears could join yesterday and have 1 post to their name.
Anyone can audition hundreds of headphones and still have cloth ears.
Anyone can have a website to their name. 

 

[commando]

Quote:

Sorry, but this doesn't actually tell us anything about you or how trustworthy your hearing or opinions are.
I'm not trying to insult you or invalidate your opinions - it's just a fact.
 
Even the most golden of ears could join yesterday and have 1 post to their name.
Anyone can audition hundreds of headphones and still have cloth ears.
Anyone can have a website to their name. 

 
I reported what I heard with my own hears in order to help people who couldn't hear them all for themselves. You obviously disagree, though you haven't given any context, comparisions with other gear you've tried, it seems you just like to argue. Well, I'm done. If anyone has comments happy to hear them, happy to answer questions, but when you post to try to help people and get hassled that really puts you off trying to help people again. Maybe I'll report back after my follow up visit, maybe I won't.

 

[bixby]

Commando:
 
I agree with some of your concerns with the Momentum.  But I have to ask a question.  You stated in your backgrounder  that you used the Galaxy to compare against your home system and:
Listening to the same mp3 
 
Depending on the file quality, a lossy MP3 file is not the best way to compare cans and I would bet that with some of the phones you may be hearing the limitations of the format as well as some of the artifacts that go along with MP3 file conversion.
 
That being said, I think you have to go with what works for your situation.  I recently had the Momentums in house and  I spent hours whith them at RMAF and thought they were pretty fu.  My reservations about the mids being set a bit too far back for my liking and the slight bleed of the bass into the mids just did not do it for me.  But I think they work for lots of folks.  As for over the ear with the momentums, it was a no go here as well.  I know what you mean about folding an ear .  For me they were strictly on ears.
 
Good luck in the search and let us know if the Sonys improve in the mids.
 
PS  Have you thought about the Philips Fidelio X-1?  They have received some praise here, yet I have not heard them.

 

[commando]

Quote:

Commando:
 
I agree with some of your concerns with the Momentum.  But I have to ask a question.  You stated in your backgrounder  that you used the Galaxy to compare against your home system and:
Listening to the same mp3 
 
Depending on the file quality, a lossy MP3 file is not the best way to compare cans and I would bet that with some of the phones you may be hearing the limitations of the format as well as some of the artifacts that go along with MP3 file conversion.
 
That being said, I think you have to go with what works for your situation.  I recently had the Momentums in house and  I spent hours whith them at RMAF and thought they were pretty fu.  My reservations about the mids being set a bit too far back for my liking and the slight bleed of the bass into the mids just did not do it for me.  But I think they work for lots of folks.  As for over the ear with the momentums, it was a no go here as well.  I know what you mean about folding an ear .  For me they were strictly on ears.
 
Good luck in the search and let us know if the Sonys improve in the mids.
 
PS  Have you thought about the Philips Fidelio X-1?  They have received some praise here, yet I have not heard them.

 
Yeah that's why I said at the start this test was purely from an S4. The headphones could be quite different from a proper amp, though in my experience the difference is usually subtle, only occasionally do you get a marked difference. I think people hear what they want to hear sometimes, to justify what they paid for their equipment.
 
I listened to the Fidelo L1 in JB Hifi, a chain electronics store, plugged into their standard source. I wasn't impressed at all. But it was a completely unknown source and amp.

 

[bixby]

Just to be clear, I am more concerned about using an mp3 file than a phone.

 

[palmfish]

Yeah that's why I said at the start this test was purely from an S4. The headphones could be quite different from a proper amp, though in my experience the difference is usually subtle, only occasionally do you get a marked difference. I think people hear what they want to hear sometimes, to justify what they paid for their equipment.

I listened to the Fidelo L1 in JB Hifi, a chain electronics store, plugged into their standard source. I wasn't impressed at all. But it was a completely unknown source and amp.

I think your opinions/observations are completely valid and an asset to the community. Your experience may not mirror everyone elses, but the burden is on every individual to listen, evaluate, and form their own opinions.

Spend enough time participating in the community and you will discover other members with similar tastes and opinions. This is how reviews become more meaningful.

Finally, these are meant to be "on the go" headphones and the S4 is certainly one of the more ubiquitous phones out there. A valid source for evaluating these headphones in this context.

 

[palmfish]

Just to be clear, I am more concerned about using an mp3 file than a phone.

Not to turn this into a "Sound Science" discussion, but I think there is absolutely nothing wrong with using an MP3 file to evaluate headphones. Even if it is possible for humans to tell the difference between MP3 and lossless (which I doubt), it is supremely unlikely that this difference is perceptible with a "portable" headphone plugged into a cellular phone. And in the ridiculous event that someone can still hear the difference, it will be so extremely subtle as to be completely irrelevant to the overall sound characteristics of the headphone anyways.

For example, my HD800 - arguably as resolving a headphone as any - sounds like an HD800 whether its plugged into a dedicated headphone amp or directly into an iPod. An amp may certainly step things up, but only a relatively small amount in the overall scheme of things.

 

[commando]

Double blind tests of high bitrate mp3 files with great headphones and expert listeners routinely show that mp3 files are absolutely fine. I think it comes back to people spending a bunch of money and wanting to justify their purchases to themselves.
 
I'm a very practical, perhaps slightly cynical engineer.

 

[MacedonianHero]

Quote:

Double blind tests of high bitrate mp3 files with great headphones and expert listeners routinely show that mp3 files are absolutely fine. I think it comes back to people spending a bunch of money and wanting to justify their purchases to themselves.
 
I'm a very practical, perhaps slightly cynical engineer.

I guess on a truly good rig, I can hear differences and they do matter to me. But, for portable headphones, I really don't think one should worry...on the go, who wants a DAC/AMP to lug around with them? I do agree for portability, high bitrate mp3s are just fine.
 
Just something to consider, I've auditioned a lot of gear and then brought it home for a few days and sometimes after that, my thoughts have changed. 

 But, sometimes like in the case of the SRH940s, they didn't.

 

[bixby]

oh, god here we go.  Yea, been there done that........double blind with an old ipod and some $100 buds, still something not right with mp3s but that is my ears and if I want to rip to lossless that will be my perogative.
 
I was just trying to point out some of the variables that may be audible to some people and some cans can pick them up better than others and skew the results.
 
Later

 

[palmfish]

Quote:

oh, god here we go.  Yea, been there done that........double blind with an old ipod and some $100 buds, still something not right with mp3s but that is my ears and if I want to rip to lossless that will be my perogative.
 
I was just trying to point out some of the variables that may be audible to some people and some cans can pick them up better than others and skew the results.
 
Later

 
You did double blind testing with earbuds and iPods?!?! Lets see... 2 identical iPods, both set to exactly the same volume. Both playing the same track, only one is MP3 and one is lossless. You are blindfolded - and you had two friends with you - one who was also blindfolded and switching the 1/8" plug back and forth for you, and the other recording the results!
 
You sir are one dedicated audiophile! A tip of my hat to you!

 

[GREQ]

Quote:

I reported what I heard with my own hears in order to help people who couldn't hear them all for themselves. You obviously disagree, though you haven't given any context, comparisions with other gear you've tried, it seems you just like to argue. Well, I'm done. If anyone has comments happy to hear them, happy to answer questions, but when you post to try to help people and get hassled that really puts you off trying to help people again. Maybe I'll report back after my follow up visit, maybe I won't.

I don't need to give context when a full list of the headphones I've owned are listed in my profile. 
I don't even bother listing all the headphones I've auditioned because it would be too long. 
If you want context, I've listened to music almost every day of my life and have been playing music on several instruments for 17 of those years, and still regularly do to this day.
 
It seems when someone needs to back up their opinions, they tend to be ones who are most insecure.
 
If you can hear a channel imbalance on two sets of $300+ headphones, then the first step is to find out what's wrong with the source equipment or gear, or find another set of non-faulty headphones to listen to, instead of posting it up as some kind of truth representative of all copies.

 

[commando]

I never said the channel imbalance was in all copies, that'd be crazy. It's just the drivers aren't quite matched in that pair. 

 

[GREQ]

I know, but you also said you were trying to help people. Posting up about faulty headphones you come across does not help anyone; it just added confusion.

 

[LFC_SL]

Quote:

Just to be clear, I am more concerned about using an mp3 file than a phone.

 
A properly ripped and encoded lossy file from original CD is absolutely fine. We are in the portable forum, not the home listening section