[popandlockit]

Quote:

What's the bit rate of your music files? Did you rip them straight from the CDs yourself?

128. I use youtube...

 

[popandlockit]

So here's what I'm looking at so far based on what you told me:
[size=x-small][size=x-small]Approximate pricings low to high:[/size][/size]
Koss DJ100: $75
Sony MDR-V6: $75
Shure SRH440: $80
Creative Aurvana Live: $100
Ultrasone HFI-580: $120
Now which of these are "fun" headphones? I think that the Shure's aren't, and I'm not sure if the DJ100's are bassy, and I don't like that price tag for the ultrasones but the CAV's look promising, but I obviously have no experience with any of them. Also I'm not really liking this whole "burn-in" thing...  Any comments/suggestions?

 

[Eric_C]

WAIT. Your music comes straight from YouTube? That may be the problem right there.
Sound quality is all over the place on YouTube; sometimes it's good, sometimes it's terrible.

Borrow an original CD from a friend and try listening to music there first. There might be nothing wrong with your headphones or the computer you're listening to them on.

 

[popandlockit]

Quote:

WAIT. Your music comes straight from YouTube? That may be the problem right there.
Sound quality is all over the place on YouTube; sometimes it's good, sometimes it's terrible.
Borrow an original CD from a friend and try listening to music there first. There might be nothing wrong with your headphones or the computer you're listening to them on.

Hmm... you might be onto something there. Lol actually I have no techno or bassy CDs, but I'll find some. I'm pretty sure that the headphones sound different from when I first got them, but I will try that. Actually I was going to get my headphones checked out by someone before I bought another pair, in case they actually did work, I wanted to find out here what I could get in the same price range if they didn't... I didn't want to go and spend that much money on something I wasn't totally sure of anyway (I actually heard the XB-500s and liked them). But if you're right, this is gonna SUCK because I'm going to have to get music all from CD's if I want good quality audio... -_-

 

[Eric_C]

It's not all bad, man. Music doesn't have to be that expensive--old CDs can go for cheap, and Amazon digital and iTunes can be affordable options.
 
Plus, if you've been getting all your music from YouTube...then you've been stealing music all this time.

 

[popandlockit]

Quote:

It's not all bad, man. Music doesn't have to be that expensive--old CDs can go for cheap, and Amazon digital and iTunes can be affordable options.
 
Plus, if you've been getting all your music from YouTube...then you've been stealing music all this time.

Um... it's legal (for now). But am I REALLY gonna be able to tell the difference between 128 and the other one with the XB-500's/my untrained ears?

 

[miyinan]

I'd add about $20-$30 dollars to get some M50s or Q40s or may be add $50 for some DT770 80ohm

 

[machoboy]

It's not "legal" per se, it's just that nobody has any way of stopping it from happening.
Crappy time in human history to be a recording (non-touring) artist if you hope to make any money. The second you break through, all of your stuff is out there for free.
 
For the price of the Q40s I have to yet again recommend the shure 840s. They sound so much clearer.
 
I'm pretty sure those are the 840s in popandlockit's avatar. It's a holy omen. They must be your destiny.

 

[Tangster]

Quote:

Um... it's legal (for now). But am I REALLY gonna be able to tell the difference between 128 and the other one with the XB-500's/my untrained ears?

The difference from 128k to 320k is dramatic. The difference from 320k MP3s to 16/44 lossless is relatively small. The move to 24/96 is even smaller and pretty headphone dependent. I don't have any 24/192 music, but I suspect it's the same story of diminishing returns again.

 

[viralcow]

Oh yeah, you'll be able to tell the difference. Youtube sound quality is beyond terrible at times. Even going from 360p to 1080p makes a difference, due to higher quality streaming. Going from 128kbps to 320kbps or flac is definitely noticeable.

 

[popandlockit]

Quote:

Originally Posted ...by viralcow /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
Even going from 360p to 1080p makes a difference, due to higher quality streaming. .

Okay... I've heard that, but I've also heard that it only changes the video. Could anyone give me an example of a "great quality" video on youtube to listen to through the XB-500s and a bad one to see if I can tell the difference, preferably with bass??? 

 

[popandlockit]

Quote:

It's not "legal" per se, it's just that nobody has any way of stopping it from happening.
Crappy time in human history to be a recording (non-touring) artist if you hope to make any money. The second you break through, all of your stuff is out there for free.
 
For the price of the Q40s I have to yet again recommend the shure 840s. They sound so much clearer.
 
I'm pretty sure those are the 840s in popandlockit's avatar. It's a holy omen. They must be your destiny.

I don't really want to get in an argument or anything, but isn't ripping songs from CDs illegal? Songs on a CD are copyrighted, aren't they? I mean, once you rip a CD, you can give those songs to whoever. YOU might have payed for the songs, but anyone you give those songs to didn't. The artist is losing money bc of this. So it makes sense that he/she doesn't want you to rip songs, even if you keep them to yourself... The 840's are 50 over, not shure if that's worth the money with so many other headphones in that range as well (like the m50s that I keep hearing about...). What I mean is that I don't want the forum to go into comparing the 840s to other $150 headphones (upping the price range), then this conversation would go on and on. $50 is a lot more to pay, it would be different if it was like 10-20 more I guess... Same with the Q40s, as well, they're 35 over.

 

[Bkord123]

I have to agree. I burn everything at 128 just to I can fit all my music on my disk/player/etc. There's a big increase in sound quality from 128 to 320 but I don't notice too much of a different way above that.

 

[machoboy]

". The artist is losing money bc of this. So it makes sense that he/she doesn't want you to rip songs, even if you keep them to yourself..."

I don't quite understand what you mean. If you paid for the CD and rip the songs onto your computer then keep them to yourself then the artist isn't losing any money. Not a penny.
The loss of income stems from uploading it onto the "open" internet (torrent websites, youtube, etc.) so that nobody else ever has to buy the CD again.
 
A lot of people complain about you know, how the only musicians who seem to be making it big nowadays are more like circus shows than musicians. That's the reason right there: You can't upload concert tickets onto youtube.
 
I mentioned the 840s because a poster above mentioned the Q-40s.
 
I would actually say $120-170 is the "sweet spot" when it comes to headphones. More expensive and you see diminishing returns and micro-preference start to occur. Less expensive and corners are cut in regards to quality (both sound and construction).
 
I came here and made almost the same thread (best headphones under $100) before buying the 840s. (and Q-40s... and HFI 580s.. but that's another story). I was tired of buying $70 pairs that fell apart in a year and never sounded that good to begin with.

 

[Fuzziekiwi]

If your listening to 128 bitrate files its not even worth buying a new set of headphones lol...