| Originally Posted by Gautama /img/forum/go_quote.gif V6 is the best of the MDR line. |
| Originally Posted by Gautama /img/forum/go_quote.gif V6 is the best of the MDR line. |
| Originally Posted by Gautama /img/forum/go_quote.gif Never heard any of the Sony line |
| Originally Posted by Febs /img/forum/go_quote.gif
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| Originally Posted by gabedamien /img/forum/go_quote.gif Rather than focus on terminology, I think the OP just wants to know how audio quality can improve in any sense. King-Reyes, focusing on just the headphones, you must first understand that the typical budget headphone really mangles audio. Many headphone drivers (the part of the headphone that produces the physical sound) are not responsive enough to correctly follow subtle details, and many do not produce all frequencies equally but instead have great difficulty (both in volume and in detail) with high and low sounds. Due to resonance with their enclosures and cheap engineering in general, they'll have severe spikes and dips in their frequency response and also be simply unable to follow an audio signal with tight accuracy and control. A good headphone will have much better frequency balance - with no exaggerated spikes or dips in random places - and much better detail, being more closely responsive to the signal. This will translate into much more detailed sound (so much more that most people hear entirely new instruments and parts of songs they though they knew well!), much richer and smoother sound (due to more even frequency response), and overall greater realism, presence, beauty, and texture. The actual mechanical ways that this is accomplished are better materials, resonance-free/canceling enclosures, methods of attenuating or letting pass certain frequencies, closer matching of left and right drivers, higher quality manufacturing methods, higher grade electronic components, and above all a much better designed and built driver model. However, there is a whole lot more to head-fi than just headphones. I'll just consider digital in the following: First, there's the original data (for instance, on your CD). On a good quality song, this will have been mixed and mastered by a professional recording company that knows the technical aspects of the process well. Audiophiles like to use exactly the original source data, or else a format that shrinks the filesize without losing any of the information. This is called lossless encoding, and preserves 100% of the quality. Examples of lossless are: CD, wav, FLAC, Apple Lossless. If most of your music is in 128 kbps MP3 files, you may want to start re-ripping your music in something better quality. MP3, along with AAC and Ogg, are examples of lossy encoding, i.e. ways of shrinking the filesize that LOSE some of the original info. These formats can be pretty good, but it might be a waste of money to spend on expensive headphones and amplifiers unless you are using a higher bitrate. For instance, many people are fine with 192 kbps AAC files, which are more difficult to tell from CD quality than 128 kbps MP3. Next you need some way to play your digital file. This can be a high-quality CD player, a computer with a very good soundcard, or a computer connected via digital cable (optical, digital coax, or USB) to a standalone DAC (digital-analog converter). There are other possibilities, but with CD audio these are some of the most common. An iPod is not the best source, but it's fine for portable use. What all of these have in common is a DAC (digital-analog converter). In a high-quality CD player, a good soundcard, or a standalone DAC, this component will be of good quality. Quality here means that the DAC produces an analog signal that is close to what the original data represented. In most consumer-grade equipment - such as cheap soundcards, laptops, portable CD players, etc. - the very cheap DAC does a surprisingly poor job of producing an accurate analog signal. Therefore many audiophiles who use digital sources like to get an amplifier with a built-in DAC. Which brings me to the amplifier. The point of an amp isn't to make headphones louder, it's to deliver enough current to drive the headphones correctly but without messing up the signal in the meantime. Again, cheap amps built into portable devices such as the iPod or computer headphone jacks are usually not up to the task of delivering enough current for upper-level headphones. Not to mention, they tend to introduce noise and distortion or to inaccurately amplify the audio with respect to frequency balance. A good quality amp will very cleanly and accurately amplify the signal to a level that can drive even the most power-hungry headphones well. So, to summarize, quality means detail, accuracy, richness, tonality, etc., all of which will result in more realistic audio, more things to hear in your music, and just plain better sounding results. Quality is attained through the following chain: Data: lossless or high-bitrate lossy Source: anything with a good DAC inside, that will create a nice starting signal Amplifier: anything that will cleanly and powerfully increase the current of that signal Headphones: anything that will accurately convert that signal into physical sound It's amazing how in most consumer setups each one of these stages is rather poor quality. A lot of improvement can usually be heard with an upgrade as low as $50! After that the sky's the limit for spending.
Good luck, GLL |
| Originally Posted by King-Reyes /img/forum/go_quote.gif OK That clears up about 90% of it, thank you very much. I am using Creative Labs Zen Touch 20GB and all the files I'm playing is either 320kbps MP3 all the way down to 128kbps (rarely, only old songs) and 1411kbps WAV. I listen them through a MDR-V6/7506 (General) and MDR-V700DJ (Hip-Hop, I like the bass and loudness). I still need an amplifier but I couldn't get a recommendation for under $50. |
| Originally Posted by phergus_25 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Do you NEED an amp to make it louder, or better quality? |
| Originally Posted by gabedamien /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hi again, glad to have been of help. I don't know how nice that mp3 player is in terms of audio quality, but most digital audio players are ok I think. Your files and your headphones are both fine by many people's standards - a range of up to 320 kbps MP3 and the MDR-V6, while not considered really high-end, will definitely get the nod from most people here I think. In considering what to upgrade and for how much, I'd have to look into how badly the V6 needs to be amped. I don't personally know if the V6 is a model that would benefit especially from amping or not. However, I agree with you that an amp of some kind would in general be the next place to look for a nice quality jump - especially for stronger and more detailed bass, which is one of the things that better amps really improve. Unfortunately, most commercial amps of acceptable quality start at around $150-200. Tiny for some people (who own multi-thousand dollar power supplies and multi-hundred dollar cables, etc.) but expensive for many new or budget-concerned enthusiasts. Here's an idea though: what about a CMoy (Chu Moy homemade amp)? These can be had for around $50 on eBay, or if you are feeling adventurous you can build one for yourself (see the DIY section on this site)! It's a humble but decent little amp that is fun to make and can be stuffed into all sorts of cool enclosures, like Altoids tins. [Edit: looks like someone just mentioned the PA2V2, another good option.] One more thing: quality is a weird thing. Sometimes it's very measurable, sometimes it's not (but still very obvious), sometimes it's extremely subtle and subjective. Some people are blown away by the difference between one component and another, and some don't hear that much difference between a $500 machine and a $3000 one. The amazing this is, though, that after all the upgrades, the comparisons, the new stuff, etc., one day you'll go back to your old cheap headphones straight out of a laptop jack and be horrified by how bad it sounds.
Good luck, GLL |
