[christiffer]

I am new to the quality headphone area, last night I jacked my fathers pair of kenwood headphones which are a lot better than the standard head phones i have used with my ipod or stereo. listening to the music through them was amazing so now im on the hunt to find a good pair for me. I listen to a lot of rock and then everything else. Mostly rock, but after some research I am interested in the grado SR325i but wanna make sure they are good with my ipod and obviously they will be with my stereo...any other info or suggestions on headphones would be appreciated THANKKKK YOU

 

[lazee_bass_turd]

What's your main source going to be? SR325i's won't sound that great with iPods unless you buy a headphone amp.

 

[christiffer]

the main source would be ipod, it would be a must to get an amp? do they have real small ones? what are their average price?

 

[feh1325]

are you going to need isolation? and since you're using an ipod and concerned about an amp, i assume you want portability as well.

grados do not isolate well and many don't use them as portables because they are expensive and will make people look at you oddly...more so than usual

maybe try something cheaper, and if you like it, step up the ladder.
i suggest the koss ksc75, sportapros, or portapros for portable use. they are very cheap and have a lifetime warranty!
if you're content with the koss phones, then leave, block this forum, and run.

if you want more, get a grado. most people start with the sr60, move up to the sr225, and end up with the rs1.

amps come in all sizes and prices. the cheapest ones you'll find are DIY cmoy's. you can get them here on the for sale forums. other great starter amps are the PA2V2 and the Little Dot Micro +. both can be found on ebay and on the for sale forums. you can buy a new pa2v2 for 60 from gary at electric-avenues.com. gary is a great guy to do business with.


also, keep in mind that your rig is limited to your music files. make sure you rip your cds at a high bitrate!

 

[christiffer]

price doesn't really bother me too much, i don't wanna spend more than 300 though and how big are the grados? i'm already looked at with odd looks cause of the way i dress so adding bigger headphones won't really change much plus it's cold, so they can pass as ear muffs

, ....as for bitrates i download a lot of my music and try to get the highest bitrate possible and it's tough to find anything more than 256...what number should i be downloading and do you know any programs besides limewire that might have songs with higher bitrate. and as stupid as this question is roughly how big is the smallest amp for ipod use

 

[Walie]

instead of downloading your music, you could buy the CDs and rip them using yourself using Exact Audio Copy and then encode them using LAME to get high bitrate music files with good quality

as for the smallest amp, i suggest looking up the supermicro, the size of two quarters i think

 

[Meyvn]

Grados don't REQUIRE an amp, but they'll sound better with one usually. They're pretty efficient, though, so they'll run right out of your iPod just fine. They are NOT for portable use, though. Way too open. You'll end up playing them ridiculously loud if you're out in public, they won't sound so hot, and you'll hurt your hearing to boot. Grados are much more well suited for home enviornments, IMO. Personally, I find the SR325i just too bright. Not to mention it's ugly with that obnoxious gold trim. If I wanted something of that calibre in the Grado line, everything I've heard tells me the Alessandro Music Series Two (usually called MS2i around here) would be a better buy, for the same price. Honestly, though, if you've never heard a Grado, don't just assume you'll like it because they're good; it was the same thing I did when I got into audio, but when I actually listened to other headphones and got over the Grado name, I found that their brand just wasn't perfectly to my tastes. They make some GREAT headphones, and I really like some of them a lot (particularly their current top of the line, the GS1000), but do yourself a favor and check out multiple brands. If you want a really, really good pair on the cheap, though, I'd DEFINITELY get a Koss KSC75 for now, while you make your 'big decision.'

 

[Dept_of_Alchemy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by christiffer as for bitrates i download a lot of my music and try to get the highest bitrate possible and it's tough to find anything more than 256...what number should i be downloading and do you know any programs besides limewire that might have songs with higher bitrate. and as stupid as this question is roughly how big is the smallest amp for ipod use

Um, it's against the forum rules to talk about file sharing in the forums, it's so that RIAA won't send a friendly letter to head-fi.

So, about bitrate, many people rip their music in Apple Lossless format, which is playable on ipods. Other lossless formats such as .flac or .ape are also quite popular although not all can be played on ipods, but if you have files in .flac or .ape then it's quite easy to convert them into Apple Lossless and you're good to go. MP3 at 320 is also acceptable but if you hang out here long enough (bad idea, run away!!) you'll eventually be overcome by the desire to get everything in lossless anyway, so it'll save you some time in the long run to just do it right the first time around.

Most portable amps are about the same size as a credit card and maybe half an inch tall. Some run on 9V batteries and some on double As, some have recharging circuits built into them so you don't have to take your batteries out all the time. They range in price from $40 for cmoys to $300 for the Hornet (and beyond, of course). My favorate is the Bithead from HeadRoom, which can double as a USB soundcard for your laptop and you can get one used for $150. But that's just me.

It's my opinion that getting an expensive headphone right away (like the 325i) without trying out the starter models first (ksc75, px100, sr60) could potentially be an underwhelming experience in that your ears don't have the kind of sonic experience to fully appreciate these high-class phones. It's like wine tasting, they all taste pretty much the same unless you know what to look for. My vote goes to the px-100 from sennheiser, the bass is awesome and with it you don't really need an amp.

By the way, have you looked into IEMs? They're probably not too good for rock because they don't really let you feel the bass punch, but they're different and, you know, it could be fun.

Welcome to head-fi.

 

[christiffer]

okay so i have decided to go down in price a bit this way i don't need an amp, and i can use the money i would have spent on more expensive headphones to buy used cd's and rip them, then bring them back for credit, get new ones and continue doing that until i am musically satisfied

as for headphones i would like to spend around 150-175, they will be for both portable and home use, mostly portable so i am assuming i should stay away from open air headphones? any suggestions now...hopefully i am taking the right path...i do appreciate good sound though, ive always spent the extra money on speakers why not for headphones, any help would be AMAZINGGG

 

[christiffer]

would the sr125 be a good headphone to get for my situation?

 

[Walie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by christiffer okay so i have decided to go down in price a bit this way i don't need an amp, and i can use the money i would have spent on more expensive headphones to buy used cd's and rip them, then bring them back for credit, get new ones and continue doing that until i am musically satisfied

and on the sr125, ALL grado's are open, meaning their use in a portable situation would be severely hampered

 

[feh1325]

if you're gonna go for the 125, you might as well get the 225

 

[Walie]

but once you get the 225's, you'll be wondering what the rs-1's sound like!!

 

[christiffer]

thank you big help lol....i forgot to mention i live in new york city...so it is noisy as hell when i'm walkin through the streets...someone HELPPP

 

[Dept_of_Alchemy]

Shure E4c.