[episiarch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by delenda est Sony Is the Sennheiser DT 231 closed or not? The ads say it is but yet Head Fi users state that it is not entirely so....

The ads say it is but yet the lovely wife sitting next to me on the couch trying to read her book in silence states that it assuredly is not so. She has no such complaint about K271, HD280 or HD25-SP.

 

[delenda est Sony]

Well, Sony does do a lot of harm to the headphone world by making such generally mediocre headphone products. The V6 is a fun headphone ("Ol Thumpy") and I have a warm fuzzy feeling towards the durable and easy to get along with EX71s, but sooo much else of the Sony product line is overpriced, poorly performing, and flashy. These seemed like grave offenses back when I was naming my avatar...

Now though, well, I guess Best Buy has to have something to sell in the headphones section. If Best Buy sold headphones based on quality rather than price point, then Sony might be different, but in the current electronics market, someone has to be the General Motors.

Now back to Beyer, I am alarmed that the normally accurate folks at Headphone.com have flubbed this one! To me the most important thing about closed phones is keeping sound IN! One's lovely wife might one day learn to tolerate one's love of Swedish death metal (unlikely I know..), but stangers sitting next to one on the downtown "A" train will likely be less tolerant. Sound leakage on closed phones should be prominently noted in the online description because it is so unexpected, and Headphone of course did not do this.

Even my disappointing 202s at the very least are discrete! And the 280s are even more ironclad... Even the clunky old V6 has no sound bleeding. Beyer, j'accuse!!

 

[Alex Altorfer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by delenda est Sony I don't plan to use my Total Airhead with the Ipod on a regular basis, so unamped performance on the Ipod is key.

Why not? If I had both I'd definitely use them together. Doesn't the TAH make a night and day difference sonically? Is the TAH so bulky that carrying it around with the iPod is a nuisance?

Cheers,
Alex

 

[Kenny12]

maybie hes looking for something a lot more portable?

 

[TheBigDu]

Hey all,

Sorry to correct you, but the DT 231 is not made by Sennheiser, it's made by Beyerdynamic. Furthermore, it is not closed at all (well, okay, a little bit). I bought a pair for my dorm-room computer earlier this year. The sound was pretty impressive (though slightly bass-lacking), but they weren't the most comfortable things out there, and for isolation, they really were just terrible, which is mainly why i returned them. Not only can you hear things other than the music, but everybody else really can hear the music very clearly.

Now I realize that you're on a limited budget, and I really can't recommend the right phone for you, maybe those cheaper Sony canal-phones? (i haven't been on here for a while, forgot the model number) I researched and researched more until I decided on the Audio Technica ATH-A500. They were originally out of my price-range too, but this little forum here can really work wonders on your budget. (i.e. raise it a lot)

Happy researching,
Brian

 

[delenda est Sony]

yup. my bad, started off calling em Beyer 231s and then eventually Sennheiserized em with all that Roman history stuff acting as a distraction. Ah, well, all these Teutonic headphone manufacturers sort of blur into one over time...

As for amping the Ipod, nah, doesn't really suit it. The whole point of Ipod is portability and carrying around even the admirably petite Airhead amp detracts from that portability. If I am going to be sitting in a cafe for hours, then maybe the Airhead will come along, but day to day use of the Ipod is best served au natural. The other funny thing is that the Total Airhead sounds much worse attached to the Ipod than it does to the ol CD player. Not worse in terms of sound quality, but the volume level is much lower.

Big Du's comments clinch the end of my brief infatuation with the 231s. The Senn 25s sounded like a good option, and then there is the flavor du jour, the ER6Is that have so many atwitter...

des

 

[Alex Altorfer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by delenda est Sony yup. my bad, started off calling em Beyer 231s and then eventually Sennheiserized em with all that Roman history stuff acting as a distraction. Ah, well, all these Teutonic headphone manufacturers sort of blur into one over time... As for amping the Ipod, nah, doesn't really suit it. The whole point of Ipod is portability and carrying around even the admirably petite Airhead amp detracts from that portability. If I am going to be sitting in a cafe for hours, then maybe the Airhead will come along, but day to day use of the Ipod is best served au natural. The other funny thing is that the Total Airhead sounds much worse attached to the Ipod than it does to the ol CD player. Not worse in terms of sound quality, but the volume level is much lower. Big Du's comments clinch the end of my brief infatuation with the 231s. The Senn 25s sounded like a good option, and then there is the flavor du jour, the ER6Is that have so many atwitter... des

It kinda saddens me that the iPod sounds inferior to a PCDP. Those lossy codecs are that bad aren't they!? I wonder if a larger portable amp like a Cosmic could make an iPod shine.

Of course that would ruin the iPod's portability even further. Maybe a pair of high end Etys plugged directly into the iPod is the ultimate answer?

EDIT: Oh, I just noticed you've said "not worse in terms of sound quality, but the volume level is much lower." Obviously the codecs are not to blame.

I can't seem to find any PCDP with a line out (like the iPod does) these days. Maybe portable minidisc players do, but I ain't got no minidisc recorder either.

Oh BTW, Des, it seems your command of French is very good. Trés bien!

I couldn't find the definition of the word "atwitter". Is it a typo?

Au revoir,
Alex

 

[delenda est Sony]

Hi Alex,

per Dictionary.com (a great site!)

a·twit·ter
adj. Being in a state of nervous excitement; twittering

seems to be a good description of the general mood over Ety's new product!

My own Sony DFJ61 is a fairly common CD player that has a line out feature. It's Sony's second most recent generation of CD player and still should be available somewhere. It sounds pretty good, is very durable, and plays for many hours on 2 AAs without using one of those annoying battery expansion packs.

The Ipod does have a lineout kit available that connects to the docking slot and brings out an unamped signal. This may correct the low volume from the headphone jack according to some, but I haven't taken the plunge yet. (The kit available from SiK costs only $22, so it is not one of the worst things to experiment with I suppose!)

 

[Alex Altorfer]

Hi Des,

Quote:

Originally Posted by delenda est Sony Hi Alex, per Dictionary.com (a great site!) a·twit·ter adj. Being in a state of nervous excitement; twittering seems to be a good description of the general mood over Ety's new product!

Thanks. This is not the first time my 350,000 entry Franklin Electronic Webster Dictionary and Thesaurus failed me. I better use that dictionary.com link.

Quote:

Originally Posted by delenda est Sony My own Sony DFJ61 is a fairly common CD player that has a line out feature. It's Sony's second most recent generation of CD player and still should be available somewhere. It sounds pretty good, is very durable, and plays for many hours on 2 AAs without using one of those annoying battery expansion packs.

Hmmm. Unfortunately this particular Discman model is not easily found in Brazil, but I'll look around. I actually have a vintage Sony D-50. It has a massive battery pack and it's line out is only avaliable via it's likewise bulky powersupply unit. It's defective too.

Quote:

Originally Posted by delenda est Sony The Ipod does have a lineout kit available that connects to the docking slot and brings out an unamped signal. This may correct the low volume from the headphone jack according to some, but I haven't taken the plunge yet. (The kit available from SiK costs only $22, so it is not one of the worst things to experiment with I suppose!)

Cool. Let us know how that works once you get it. I would assume the amped signal should be louder than the line out, but you never know. Also, I don't think the docking slot would give you any portability would it? Probably just like my D-50s PSU.

Cheers,
Alex

 

[delenda est Sony]

Quote:

I would assume the amped signal should be louder than the line out, but you never know. Also, I don't think the docking slot would give you any portability would it?

Actually for some reason the signal out of the Sony 61 line out jack sounded much clearer and even I think stronger than that from the headphone jack.

As for the Ipod line out, the kit mentioned is really just a wire, i.e. no bulky mini-docks or what have you, so it is as close to portability as could be hoped for a piece to connect Ipod to something else...

http://store.sik.com/merchant.mv?Scr..._Code=S03-1007

 

[Alex Altorfer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by delenda est Sony Actually for some reason the signal out of the Sony 61 line out jack sounded much clearer and even I think stronger than that from the headphone jack. As for the Ipod line out, the kit mentioned is really just a wire, i.e. no bulky mini-docks or what have you, so it is as close to portability as could be hoped for a piece to connect Ipod to something else... http://store.sik.com/merchant.mv?Scr..._Code=S03-1007

Cool! That's gotta be a useful little wire, though perhaps a bit overpriced at U$ 22.00. Oh BTW, I see you've just bought the Ety ER-6! That's awesome! Please let us know what it sounds like with your iPod.

Cheers,
Alex

 

[delenda est Sony]

sadly Ipod accessories are synonymous with "overpriced"...

The ER6i probably will take the place of new full sized Beyers or Senns. For my own usage, it makes more sense as maybe 75% of my listening is done while commuting where a more traditional headphone would make less sense to use, especially if it was "leaky"...

I'll keep you posted. I want to see especially if the bass is more noticeable and how the sound compares overall to the old ER6.

des