[panoz777]

Quote:

The Ety's certainly will reveal poor mp3 encoding (a lot of which I hadn't noticed before),

do headphone reveal audio flaws more than speakers?

i rip all my audio cd into mp3 at 192-320kbps and some i DL from the net/ but i listen them [mp3]s throu my sb live plantium 5.1 with kliscph pro-media 4.1 THX speakers. i cant really tell between mp3 and cd audio..... but will the Ety heaphone will reveal all of the mp3 codec flaws?

 

[Xander]

I think it depends on the speaker and headphone, but as far as money vs performance value goes, headphones are way way more revealing. Especially the Ety's so I hear. Anyone care to chime in?

 

[joelongwood]

I don't listen to mp3's through my home stereo system, but I have been using an iPod and a Nomad II for portable mp3 listening. The mp3s on the Nomad were ripped by my son at a variable bit rate with 128 being the minimum. The iPod mp3s were ripped by me at variable bit rate with minimum 192.
Using ER6s, I can most definitely tell the difference listening to the Nomad.......highs are harsh......just doesn't sound very good. But the mix my son made is great, so I can look past the sound quality issues.
The Ipod is a different story sonically. Although I can hear a difference with the CD version, it is much closer than I would have thought. There is less airiness around the instruments and bit less depth to the music. But the highs are smooth and extended, vocals sound great, and the bass is tight. At least that's the way I'm hearing it. Hope this helps.

 

[Val]

Yes sir! Good headphones are more revealing than good speakers. For example, I am very familiar with the Chesky set of Beethoven symphonies, to which I keep returning due to its musicality and great analog sound (the Golden era of stereo, Kenneth Wilkinson as recording engineer) and recently tried them for the first time in headphones, while breaking-in my AKG K501s. I could immediately notice a couple of tape splices that I had never heard before.

Val

 

[moose]

I would certainly agree that headphones are far less forgiving to weaker recordings and to not so good mp3s. This is especially true when one compares the sound of the mp3s comming out of multimedia speakers to that of etys!

BTW, welcome to head-fi, val

 

[panoz777]

Quote:

This is especially true when one compares the sound of the mp3s comming out of multimedia speakers to that of etys!

my computer speakers are THX certified... aint that mean it can produce good SOUNDS?

im considering getting the Ety ER-6 for my mp3 player [nomad II mg]. it wont be enjoyable if the ER-6 reveals every audio codec flaws. my current set-up is the koss ksc-35 and senn. mx-500 [i like these headphone ... but i need some closed-type ;cans

//

 

[chych]

Quote:

my computer speakers are THX certified... aint that mean it can produce good SOUNDS?

Nope, all that really means is that Klipsch paid a pretty hefty sum of money to George Lucas to get their product THX certified, so people (like you

) will think it is a Godlike product.

So many things aren't THX certified, but are far far better than stuff that is, so much that it just isn't funny. The etys would probably be waaaaay over THX certified (if there was one for headphones that is), for example.

THX are like, the minimum requirements... and then there are different levels of THX too. It really does not translate to sound quality at all.

 

[danieln]

Right. Simplifying things a bit, THX guarantees that your speakers can play pretty loud. THX Supra certified speakers can play very loud.

 

[panoz777]

Quote:

THX guarantees that your speakers can play pretty loud. THX Supra certified speakers can play very loud.

damn sure.. my klpisch speakers have 400-watts... its freaking loud..


are there headphones that :sounds: similar to the Ety ER-6? i thinking of Sony V6..or Grado Sr-60>

 

[chych]

400 Watts? hehe... another lesson to learn. Power != loudness or quality. Not a BIT!

Anyways, the efficiency of the speaker matters more. Imagine a 1 Watt Class A amplifier. No, it does not suck, in fact it probably would cost several thousand $$. Imagine a horn speaker with a SPL of 120dB/watt. Imagine yourself deaf from one watt. You get my drift.

Anyways, the only 'headphone' that sounds similar to the ER-6 would be the... you guessed it, ER-4! Or possibly some Stax. The Etymotic is really has its own sound signature.

However, from what I hear, Grado headphones and the big Klipsch speakers (at least, the vintage ones I think) sound similar.

 

[panoz777]

before getting the Ety... i want to audition for some cans if i hear any mp3 flaw throu it?

or are there any headphone comment bout reveal too much mp3 flaws?

 

[Snufkin]

Klipsch promedia 4.1s are not "true" 400w RMS speakers, but that's an argument for another day.

I plugged a pair of Beyer DT231s into a soundcard that was running Klipsch 4.1s at the time and there was definately more detail with the headphones, while the bass impact wasn't quite the same, there was a definate quality difference in favour of the headphones.. which only cost something like $40US

With that out of the way, some headphones reveal flaws more than others, but it's not always a measure of how good the headphones are - I personally don't want to hear every single flaw in music more than the music itself, yet I still want good quality sound

 

[panoz777]

Quote:

I personally don't want to hear every single flaw in music more than the music itself

same here.... but if the headphone reveal too much it wont enjoyable exp. anymore.

 

[Neruda]

Quote:

Originally posted by panoz777 damn sure.. my klpisch speakers have 400-watts... its freaking loud..

Something you might want to know: 400 watts at full blast is only 3 decibels louder than 200 decibels at full blast. likewise, 200 watts is only 3 decibels louder than 100 watts at full blast. so unless you're constantly turning your speakers ALL THE WAY UP, you could get the same amount of volume with a 100 watt amp

. Not that having a lot of extra power is a bad thing...

 

[Gluegun]

Yea, watts dont give you that much more power, they just give you headroom, right?

So it doesn't distort in quite as many places?