[jadawgis732]

So I embarked on a week long quest to find good headphones for a good price last week and using this forum, and reviews from a retailer's site, I decided on the Audio Technica AD-ATH700 and got them Monday. From the beginning I didn't really like them. They were too loose even though I wear a size 7 3/8 fitted hat, looked ridiculous (adding 3 inches of metal bar to my head and being purple), and the bass was even worse than people said. Plus with my Android device being used as a PMP I couldn't EQ without inducing major distortion once I was actually ABLE to find a music app that allowed EQing (MixZink for those wondering). So I sent them back the same day and ordered the ATH-M50S that night. Got them today and they are fabulous! The fit is beautiful, the comfort amazing, and the bass is great.
 
Mind you I'm not an audiophile, but after listening to these I may become one, as I'm hearing instruments/tracks on songs I never heard before. Growing up playing the piano from age 5 (26 now) you'd think I would have a discerning ear able to pick out what I was missing, but not until I got a pair of Creative Gigaworks T20 speakers a month ago and now these have I had my eye (ear, really) opened up to this whole unseen world.
 
Anyway, preambles taken care of, I have a few questions for all of you headphone junkies. 
 
First, I would like some way to take care of the 8 feet of bulk wire I have when my media player is in my pocket. I saw this: http://amzn.to/fmuIVb but I'm not sure it'll be big enough for the bulky wire that the M50S has. If you're wondering why I didn't go with the coiled version, I have a few reasons. First the M50S was introduced 4 years later according to the etailer I purchased from. Second, despite this, it had almost 8 times as many reviews, so more people bought it. Third, I didn't know what a treat I was in for until I unboxed them and was greeted by an endless length of wire thicker than the DVI-d wire I am using for my display.
 
Second, I'd like to find some type of pocketable amp that allows me some form of EQ even if it's an analog switch for a bass boost. Do they exist?
 
Third, my sound card is an X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty, which I leave at home during the week while I'm at my dorm (lest I become THAT guy from down the hall with the annoyingly loud music) and so I haven't plugged into it yet. How do I get the maximum value out of the X-Fi when using headphoens? I've never connected any headset to it yet so I don't know, but I heard there is a special Headphone Jack. Does anyone know about this.
 
Fourth, is the Android a notoriously Audiophile non-friendly platform seeing as it can't really EQ (as far as I've found, maybe someone can correct me) or is there unseen value within?
 
Thanks for al lthe help you guys have provided during my search for headphones and I look forward to spending mroe time here now that I have a pair of headphones and can join the club. 
 
 
 

 

[mikop]

1. you can use velcro cable tie or something like "cable turtle" for cord management. the Sumajin cable wrap won't fit.
 
2. I don't believe there is any portable amp with full EQ. you can look into FiiO e5 or e7 which has bass boost (3 lvls on e7) which works pretty well.
 
3. no familiarity with your sound card. The advantage of FiiO e7 is that it also an DAC (external usb sound card if you will) which sound very clean and works well with M50.  Being portable and powered by internal battery or usb, you can use it with your laptop, walk around with it and use it at home. pretty versatile.
 
4. dunno.
 
 

 

[jadawgis732]

Thanks so much.
So I ordered the e5, as $99 for the DAC (which I may make a DIY type to see how it sounds, bypassing onboard/X-Fi entirely) was too much, but it did look cool. For the excess wire I think I'll just rig up something using a velcro strap, as the added bulk of a cable turtle isn't something I am interested in carrying. But yeah I'll let you know how it goes. Much appreciated.