[Loser777]

I recently purchased a RX700, and while plugging it directly into the line out of my PC it sounded fine (for a non-burned in set of cans), though I noticed immediately that things would start to get scratchy sounding at higher volumes when plugged into my Ipod. I noticed this scratchy sound problem with a friend's HD280 also on my Ipod, (didn't have a chance to test this on my PC though). Do I need an Amp or something? It's not that everything sounds scratchy, but things like cymbals and stuff become really harsh and inaccurate.

Does this mean I need an Amp or is this a problem that cannot be corrected?

 

[royalcrown]

Sounds like distortion to me. I'm not familiar with the RX700's, but especially if they're low impedance (they're Japanese AFAICT from Google, and Japanese phones tend to err on the low impedance side), but when your phones demand too much current from a given source you'll get distortion. However, that being said, HD280's shouldn't distort from an ipod unless you listen to the headphones eardrum-shatteringly loud. Where's the ipod's volume at when you listened to the HD280s?

 

[apatN]

What was the quality of the mp3s you used like? 128kb/s will sound ugly.

 

[Drag0n]

All Head-Fi'ers need an amp!!!'
What is this world coming to???!!!

 

[Loser777]

The songs I were listening to were 320KB/s, and I usually listen to stuff above "halfway" on the volume bar. It varies with songs, as some I crank all the way up to be comfortable with. I don't think it's my head messing with me, because though I expected the HD280s to be crazy, I was like ugh this doesn't sound good at all, and same with my Rx700s which were a bit better. Again, these problems went away on PC.

I don't know what part of the sound stage snare/cymbals/percussion belongs to, but at higher volumes, it gets noticeably crappy. At a comfortable volumes, it's an annoyance, and if I crank it up it gets to be intolerable.

EDIT: Well it seems the problem has gone away slightly after around 16 hours of burn in?? Anyhow, I'm going to be ordering a cheapo E3 as a $6 experiment to see how much these would benefit from an experiment and how useful a full-size amp would be.

 

[royalcrown]

If the problem lessens with burn in, it's probably due to you just getting used to the signature of a given pair of headphones, or even perhaps in your case you getting used to the audible defect. I'm actually surprised you're cranking your ipod past the halfway mark with the HD280's, I barely have them up to 1/8th of the bar, if that at all. If you're listening to music that loudly, there's a very good chance that you're simply overdriving your ipod. However, I'm not 100% convinced that this is the case as I can't test it myself (I just can't listen to music on my headphones that loudly). If you're getting problems across headphones at a high volume, then it might be your iPod being overloaded. That being said, don't be too surprised if the E3 doesn't solve your problem, because I'm not entirely sure that you absolutely need an amp.