[jack95]

While listening to my ATH-M50s I heard a static like sound coming from my right driver. I only hear this on a select four or five songs and dont mind it to much if its only on a few songs on my entire ipod but I dont know why its only for these songs.
 
If you want to test this on your M50 or any other headphone for that matter, listen to the song Dark Quarterer by the band Dark Quarterer and let me know if you hear the static.

 

[racer_x124]

If you could link me to a high quality source I could test it out for you.

 

[muad]

 
Quote:

While listening to my ATH-M50s I heard a static like sound coming from my right driver. I only hear this on a select four or five songs and dont mind it to much if its only on a few songs on my entire ipod but I dont know why its only for these songs.
 
If you want to test this on your M50 or any other headphone for that matter, listen to the song Dark Quarterer by the band Dark Quarterer and let me know if you hear the static.

 
I've previously had similar experiences with this. Most often it turned out to be the recording. Does it do this throughout the entire songs or just certain parts? As racerx suggested... link the songs

 

[jack95]

I think you guys are right about the recording part because that song isnt recorded very well, but anyways here is the song.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcIqZtdsUks&feature=PlayList&p=899349E25CBB292F&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=106

 

[tisb0b]

I listened to the entire song on my setup with my pro900's, I herd a little bit static from 5:23 - 5:50 but other than that I noticed no other instances of static.  
 
Quote:

I think you guys are right about the recording part because that song isnt recorded very well, but anyways here is the song.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcIqZtdsUks&feature=PlayList&p=899349E25CBB292F&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=106

 

[jack95]

Quote:

I listened to the entire song on my setup with my pro900's, I herd a little bit static from 5:23 - 5:50 but other than that I noticed no other instances of static.  
 

 

When I listen i get static a lot from this song not just a little. 

 

 

[racer_x124]

Nothing for my (mostly untrained) ears on the RE0. I will test the M50 if need be when I get home.

 

[screwzloos]

Yeah, there's quite a bit of static in the right channel on that song. Every couple seconds there's a subtle click. The clarity you get with ATH m50 can be both a reward and a punishment.

 

[muad]

I get a constant popping from the right channel and sometimes the left also. It's very subtle though. It's not an unsettling sound though (as in it wouldn't make me think something is wrong with my headphones etc). For me the beginning of seven nation army (white stripes) sound like one of my drivers is blown. Or some songs I have, the mids get so high there's a slight distortion. Cat power tends to get that alot.

 

[Ham Sandwich]

Is your source for the Dark Quarterer a vinyl rip or a CD rip?  The clicks in the Dark Quarterer YouTube clip could be normal pops that happen with vinyl.  Some of the pops may have been partially edited in an attempt to clean them up while others were not (it is time consuming to manually edit out pops and clicks from a vinyl rip so often times they are not fully cleaned up, and even when cleaned up they can still be audible).
 
In the case of the White Stripes, that's just a crummy awful recording.  It is loudnessed and compressed.  In cases like that what you are hearing is digital clipping in the recording and distortion.  That's why it sounds like your driver is blown, your poor driver is trying to play a square wave of distortion.  Digital clipping like that isn't a nice thing to make your amp and headphones reproduce.
 
Also be careful with EQ.  If you use EQ to boost any frequencies you can cause those frequencies to clip and you'll hear the resulting distortion when that happens. 

 

[earerror]

Same here...i get some static on the right channel. The problems are not the headphones, its the record quality. Ham Sandwich explanation seems reasonable. 

 

[jack95]

I ripped it from a CD I have to itunes. Also, thanks for the replies, im glad im not the only one hearing this. Even though I don't mind it that much.

 

[Ham Sandwich]

 
Quote:

I ripped it from a CD I have to itunes. Also, thanks for the replies, im glad im not the only one hearing this. Even though I don't mind it that much.

 
The thing with good headphones (and also with good speakers) is you're going to be noticing other recordings that have odd unintentional sounds in the recording.  Everything from pops and clicks, things dropping on the floor in the studio, feet tapping on the floor, recording equipment that buzz or hum, instruments that buzz or hum, doors opening or closing in the studio, all sorts of things.  Those sorts of things don't necessarily make the recording bad.  They just are what they are.
 
The pops in the Dark Quarterer maybe could be tape splices.  I'm guessing they recorded to tape rather than digital.  Some of those clicks could be splicing in poorly from other takes.  Or maybe could be some of the studio equipment or instruments going through a failure or abuse phase.  Could be lots of things.
 
If it was pops from the CD, like if you ripped a scratched CD, the pops would be equal in both channels (both left and right).  So those noises are not likely from a bad rip.

 

[LurkerJeff]

It's all with the recordings. Whether you rip your own CD's or download them through "alternative" means, corruption in the data when the CD is being ripped (be it through a scratch, dirty disk, or faulty reading device) will result in a "static" sound.

 

[jack95]

I did a test and listened to the song with the ipod stock earbuds and didnt hear any pops so I guess it proves that higher quality headphones like the M50 would pick up on this sort of thing.