runswithaliens

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runswithaliens's Community Profile

Forum Post Count:	444
Join Date:	1/11/09
Last Online:	1 day, 16 hours ago
Headphone Inventory	In order of purchase, most recent first: KOSS Tony Bennett Signature Edition Headphones. Purchased for work. Wow, what a deal at $49.95 through a local bargain store! These have re-awoken my enjoyment of drums! Art rock and Jazz Fusion bands of the 70's sound great. Very dynamic with great impact and detail. These are a complete anti-thesis to all of the smooth dark Sennheiser headphones listed below. These are a little light on bass (when played directly from the Sansa Clip Zip). And if you have ever heard titanium tweeters compared to Silk Dome tweeters on speakers, then these clearly have that titanium sound. Not super comfortable, but definitely better for me than those headphones that sit on the ears and I am able to wear them for longer periods of time. The headband doesn't appear to have any metal and so won't keep a better shape after bending attempst - and so it puts pressure on the very top, center of the head. Sennheiser HD202 - Purchased for work as an alternative to the PX100-ii. The PX100's get a bit uncomfortable on my ears after about an hour. So in comparison, the HD202's while much better padded, still manage to bother my ears after a while. I guess I just don't like headphones touching my ears. Oh, as for the sound, these HD202's are definitely mid-bass over-achievers. Had to turn down the bass on the Sansa Clip zip, and the trebble a little as well. Then, however they aren't bad at all. Smooth sounding and well worth the $26.95 they go for on Amazon. Good for classical. Sennheiser PX100-II - Having been so impressed by the HD650's I decided to try a pair of these for work and I am glad I did. They definitely sound like the little brother of the HD650's. I prefer the open sound of these compared to the closed-in sounding Yamaha RH-5Ma's. They also edge out the KOSS KTX PRO 1's in over-all sound quality with somewhat less fluffy bass. I do have one complaint though and that is the cord. It is very flimsy and ultra-thin, plus I find that for some reason with the one-sided connection I am frequently snagging it (update: no longer an issue now that I have the Sansa Clip Zip and so the cord isn't running across to a computer). Sennheiser HD650 - Was using these straight out of an E-MU 0404usb and thought they sounded surprisingly good. That is until on a whim I ran the E-MU into the back of a 30 year old Panasonic portable stereo I had sitting around. Wow, what a difference the Panasonic amp has made to the HD650s! I have no idea what it's power spec's are, but the music now has much more impact and fullness than the built-in E-MU headphone amp could ever hope to supply. It also adds a touch of smoothness, or eliminates a touch of digital harshness - depending on how you want to view it. I mention this not because the ol' Panasonic is such a great amp, but because it is still a noticeable improvement from the built-in E-MU amp so that it definitely brought home the point for me that amps do make a difference. Fostex T50RP - Great ortho sound qualities; vocals sound lifelike, as do real world sounds such as when watching movies. I bought a pair of Dennon D5000's at the same time and sent them back but kept these. The Dennon's made my ear's ring and that was at low volumes, where as these Fostex have never made my ears ring. So definitely recommended for anyone to try who suffers from Tinnitus after listening to other headphones. Haven't used these since getting the HD650s but really don't have an amp that does them justice yet. Yamaha RH-5Ma - Very nice solid and tight sounding if not ultra deep bass, extended treble, comfortable, great price. Just lacking in sound stage and the mids are a bit recessed for my tastes. Considering their relatively low price I am surprised they aren't more popular as portable bass-head phones. They isolate well once the music is playing and leak little or no sound. KOSS KTX PRO 1 - Good sounds if your budget is less than 20 bucks. Same driver as famous KSC-35. Just slightly uncomfortable after a while due to the ear cups only pivoting on one axis. Has built in volume control. Audio-Technica ATH-AD700 - I have to EQ the heck out of these to tame the highs and boost the bass (E-MU 0404usb being bright and detailed and with a 20 Ohm output impedance compounds problem I'm sure). There is a certain metallic sound to the highs that gets annoying even when eq'd. ----------------------- Had but didn't keep: Dennon AD5000 - Made my ears ring, and the bass was over-all very boomy sounding at times (using them directly out of the 20 Ohm E-MU 0404usb headphone jack - so not a good match). Occasionaly though at lower volumes I would hear really deep satisifying bass notes so they do reach deep. Also they did have good over-all sound 'texture'. I could have probably lived with the boomy bass and/or done the mod to them, but the fact that they were causing my ears to ring even at low volumes caused me to send them back. Audio-Technica ATH-A500 - Have a plastic resonance sound that I didn't like. --------------------
Headphone Amp Inventory	Panasonic portable stereo from the 80's I believe (Picked it up used at a Pawn Shop in Boise Idaho in the early 90's. At the time the shop keeper told me it had been formerly owned by a construction worker - and indeed it still has some white plaster on it that hasn't chipped off in the decades since then). Can't seem to locate a model name or number but it says on the front of it that its an: "FM-AM STEREO CASSETTE DECK TUNER AMPLIFIER". With a folding carrying handle on top it is fully portable using 8 D-size batteries or a 12 volt cigarette jack adapter in the car. Other features include: detachable speakers with speaker wire clips on the back so you can use alternate speakers, Metal/Normal tape option switch - but no Dolby B or C oh my, Stereo-Mono switch, Balance control, 5 LED level meter, Phono pre-amp, RCA line in, and out, built-in mic with 2 additional mic jacks, and a 5 band graphic equalizer. I mean what more do you want??? It powers the Sennheiser HD650s much better than the E-Mu 404's built in amp, but it does have a noticeable amount of noise and possibly other questionable audio "enhancements" so there is a trade-off there. OK, I really need to get the led out and order a real headphone amplifier and preamp... looking to Audio-gd at the moment.
Source Inventory	Computer out to E-MU 0404 USB. Wow, I really need to upgrade. It was a revelation compared to built-in motherboard sound but I think I would prefer something a little less analytical and a bit smoother sounding. Sansa Clip Zip - The Sansa pairs up extremely well with the Sennheiser PX100-II headphones. Absolutely no need of an additional amp. And it is so tiny, yet holds 36GB of music. The sound quality is just plain excellent. I also use this unit in combination with one of those tape deck adapters in my car so I can finally ditch a bunch of crappy sounding cassette tapes left over from the 70s and 80s.
Cable Inventory	Cables? We don't need no stinkin' cables.
Power-Related Components	CyberPower 1000PFCLCD UPS.
Other Audio Equipment	JBL LSR2328P Studio Monitors. An abundance of DIY Room treatments made with Rock Wool Insulation (Fireproof variety) and covered with cloth.
Music Preferences	The way is not difficult for those who have no preferences.