Just ordered: ATH-M50 & Sansa Clip+

[MorbidToaster]

Cant some Beyer pads fit the M50? I could've sworn I saw that recently went crazy. I would LOVE a pair of M50s with Beyer velour pads.
 
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Well, right now I just have the 24 (16 gb card + 8gb internal), and it's brutal!

 

BTW, I did try fitting the Shure 840 pads on the M50 after reading the appropriate thread - hoping I wouldn't hear much of difference. Unfortunately, while they were INCREDIBLY comfortable it really seemed to diminish the sound. The bass seemed to decrease a lot - but even more than that everything seemed almost muted. Not just quieter - but much less vibrant.
 
It's a shame, because they do FEEL much better - but no go. Still, not a complete waste - as I got to meet the great folks at Sweetwater, and I almost can't wait to need need new stock pads for the M50 to deal with them again.

 

 

[gamersince1976]

I don't know - I remember reading this thread... hang on...
 
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/414574/velour-felt-pads-for-ath-m50
 
Anyway, I read through it at one point - I think the upshot is that it didn't really work. It's a shame, because it really would be great. I can tell this pleather is going to become an issue at some point - probably sooner rather than later. Even at home, where it's decidedly cool, they tend to get warm and... sticky. If I could replace my stupid mammalian blood with that of the reptile it would be fine - but I don't see that happening.

 
BTW, Marcus, I'm listening to that Rancid album right now - and it's awesome! I can't believe I haven't listened before now. Honestly, I think just the name of the band made me think I wouldn't like it. I also judge books by their covers, though...

 

[MorbidToaster]

That't the one I was talking about. I really want to try that with a pair of M50s.
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I don't know - I remember reading this thread... hang on...
 
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/414574/velour-felt-pads-for-ath-m50
 
Anyway, I read through it at one point - I think the upshot is that it didn't really work. It's a shame, because it really would be great. I can tell this pleather is going to become an issue at some point - probably sooner rather than later. Even at home, where it's decidedly cool, they tend to get warm and... sticky. If I could replace my stupid mammalian blood with that of the reptile it would be fine - but I don't see that happening.

 
BTW, Marcus, I'm listening to that Rancid album right now - and it's awesome! I can't believe I haven't listened before now. Honestly, I think just the name of the band made me think I wouldn't like it. I also judge books by their covers, though...

 

 

[gamersince1976]

Well, if you ever do - please let me know! Based on the 5 minutes of use I got out of the 840 pads I can't really justify spending more on something I'm so skeptical about, even if they are pretty cheap ($18.50 from Sweetwater). At least, not this week.

 

 

[marcusd]

You mean this mod guys?
 

 
 

 

 
This was our attempt in our own forum, www.headphiles.org and it came up a bit short as well - might just be a velour thing but these are the DT250 pads. 
 
 

 

[marcusd]

hehe.. you should also try some of their other albums: 

 
Out come the Wolves (1995) - generally considered their most successful
Rancid (Self titled album) (2000) - My fav)
Life Won't Wait (1998)
Indestructible (2003)
 
Look also for solo projects like Tim Armstrong. transplants and Lars Fredrickson 
 
 
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BTW, Marcus, I'm listening to that Rancid album right now - and it's awesome! I can't believe I haven't listened before now. Honestly, I think just the name of the band made me think I wouldn't like it. I also judge books by their covers, though...

 

 

[Inkmo]

Wow, so I feel like I ought to revise my previous opinion on Rockbox for Sansa.  I was talking with Ericj about it the other day and he pointed out that the guys at Rockbox actually, like, y'know.. FIX stuff when it doesn't work.  So, I went to their website, saw that they'd been through two versions or so since I last used it and gave it another shot.  I'm quite pleased that they seem to have fixed some of the most glaring bugaboos - specifically being able to USB charge in Rockbox now instead of booting back into the Sansa firmware.  I haven't listened enough to tell if the buffering problems I had with some oggs are still there.  Time will tell.  I'm also using Pictureflow now, which I like.  It will show you problems with your album art, though (like if there are white pixels on the top, bottom, or sides).  It seems to have trouble handling album artwork much larger than 300 x 300 px sometimes, so curb your desire to have hi-fi art in with your albums.  Apparently embedded art is still problematic, but I don't do that with my music so I couldn't tell you.  Database still feels a tad wonky, but it hasn't done the ol' "doubling your file list when you update" bug yet.
 
I'm sure everyone ignored me before anyway, but go ahead with the Rockboxing if you haven't yet.
 
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Inkmo,
 
I think you may be right regarding the shortened battery life.  I did seem to experience it during my use on my older Sansa.  I just finished installing Rockbox on my old Fuze that was sitting in my nightstand.  The "base" theme really tests your eyesight out (with the extremely small fonts!).  However, I did work through some of the initial settings (bass, stereo width, etc.) and will play with it a bit more and see what I think.  My primary player is the Sony, though.  Not sure if I'll Rockbox it.  The next move, though, is to get onto an amp and DAC.  Money, money, money - blah, blah, blah! 

wje: Rockbox has a benchmark page somewhere.  I think they actually showed that Fuze has a slightly shorter battery life on RB.  Of course, battery life gets shorter if you have the fancy sound processing turned on or if you're playing doom.
 
So far on the Fuze, the best theme I've seen is called ThinMod.  Also, I almost always use the 16 point Gnu Unicode font so I can see Japanese and Chinese characters.
 
Tell me how that DAC quest of yours goes.  I'm looking to do the same thing for my at-work setup.  The headphone out on my computer is unacceptably noisy.

 

[tyoung8]

Quote:

Wow, so I feel like I ought to revise my previous opinion on Rockbox for Sansa.  I was talking with Ericj about it the other day and he pointed out that the guys at Rockbox actually, like, y'know.. FIX stuff when it doesn't work.  So, I went to their website, saw that they'd been through two versions or so since I last used it and gave it another shot.  I'm quite pleased that they seem to have fixed some of the most glaring bugaboos - specifically being able to USB charge in Rockbox now instead of booting back into the Sansa firmware.  I haven't listened enough to tell if the buffering problems I had with some oggs are still there.  Time will tell.  I'm also using Pictureflow now, which I like.  It will show you problems with your album art, though (like if there are white pixels on the top, bottom, or sides).  It seems to have trouble handling album artwork much larger than 300 x 300 px sometimes, so curb your desire to have hi-fi art in with your albums.  Apparently embedded art is still problematic, but I don't do that with my music so I couldn't tell you.  Database still feels a tad wonky, but it hasn't done the ol' "doubling your file list when you update" bug yet.
 

 
Really?  When did that version came out?  That was the most annoying thing about having to boot back into Sansa firmware and when I first installed it, I thought I did it wrong because I couldn't USB charge in rockbox.
 
 

 

[peskypesky]

this thread has me wanting to order a set of these ATH-M50s. if i do, it'll be with a coiled cable, which i much prefer.

 

[Inkmo]

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this thread has me wanting to order a set of these ATH-M50s. if i do, it'll be with a coiled cable, which i much prefer.

I'm sure they can be auditioned pretty easily.  I've seen them in brick & mortars.  Doesn't Guitar Center carry these?

 

[wje]

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Originally Posted by Inkmo /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
I'm sure they can be auditioned pretty easily.  I've seen them in brick & mortars.  Doesn't Guitar Center carry these?

Yes.  Guitar Center carries the M50 headphones.  While I have a few Guitar Center stores in my area, I've noticed that the stores either carry the straight or the coiled cable version, but usually not both models.  I guess it depends upon the store.

 

[gamersince1976]

I had no idea these were in Guitar Centers! 
 
Unfortunately, my pair seem to have developed a slight issue. I'm hearing new distortion all over the place, and over several tracks. Luckily, Amazon's return policy really is pretty simple - so I'll be shipping these off on Monday with the new pair coming Wednesday. I should be able to go two days without, right? 
 
Right?
 

 

[MorbidToaster]

And this is what back-up cans are for.
 
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I had no idea these were in Guitar Centers! 
 
Unfortunately, my pair seem to have developed a slight issue. I'm hearing new distortion all over the place, and over several tracks. Luckily, Amazon's return policy really is pretty simple - so I'll be shipping these off on Monday with the new pair coming Wednesday. I should be able to go two days without, right? 
 
Right?
 

 

 

[jerg]

Do you recall any accident involving the cans? Or did they seemingly sporadically developed the issue? We are talking about the M50 right? Hopefully it's an isolated issue eek.
 
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I had no idea these were in Guitar Centers! 
 
Unfortunately, my pair seem to have developed a slight issue. I'm hearing new distortion all over the place, and over several tracks. Luckily, Amazon's return policy really is pretty simple - so I'll be shipping these off on Monday with the new pair coming Wednesday. I should be able to go two days without, right? 
 
Right?
 

 

 

[wje]

Quote:

wje: Rockbox has a benchmark page somewhere.  I think they actually showed that Fuze has a slightly shorter battery life on RB.  Of course, battery life gets shorter if you have the fancy sound processing turned on or if you're playing doom.
 
So far on the Fuze, the best theme I've seen is called ThinMod.  Also, I almost always use the 16 point Gnu Unicode font so I can see Japanese and Chinese characters.
 
Tell me how that DAC quest of yours goes.  I'm looking to do the same thing for my at-work setup.  The headphone out on my computer is unacceptably noisy.

 
Inkmo: Thanks for pointing out the ThinMod theme and the GNU Unicode font @ 16 point.  I just set up my Fuze this morning with that theme and parameters.  Things are looking really good - from a usability standpoint at this time - and, to my aging 47 year-old eyes.  

 
As far as the DAC goes, I've held off a bit.  Work, etc. has taken my time.  However, I'm not without some good alternatives for the moment.  I'm running my Grados with my home gear and my Squeezebox players, which feature Burr-Brown DACs.  I'm very pleased with what I'm hearing.  When it comes to using my portable players (Fuze, E200, and Walkman) - I picked up a pair of Klipsch Image S4 ear buds this week.  While I do have window to return them, I think they might be "keepers" for me.  I use them to go to sleep at night as they are a bit less clunky than my Grados and use them a bit at work, if I'm on a project that allows me to concentrate and have my music rolling.
 
I'm still seriously considering trying the FIIO gear, though.  I have an authorized vendor about 10 miles away as listed on the FIIO distributor Web site.  At the beginning of last week, they only had the iPod LOD connectors, but were out of the Sony and Sansa LOD connectors.  I may make my move once I can confirm these connectors are in.  The F7 / F9 combo would allow me to travel to work with the F7 and I could use both the F7 / F9 at bed side.  I don't think I'll move away from my main level system of the Squeezebox and Onkyo, though.  Again, I like the sound and a 25' Live Wire headphone extension cable from Guitar Center allows me to move between the living room and office area without jeopardizing my listening.