Minidisc players and headphones

[South_Korean]

i dont see any minidisc posts in here lol. but since i decided to get a 600D minidisc player for cheap portable use, i was starting to wonder if any pair of headphones would sound good with hi-sp formatt? i will have an amp too. the headphones i am specifically targetting are the AKG K240s which ill get after the minidisc player.

 

[joelongwood]

Minidisc players, both home units and portable, sound great with headphones.....but I've never heard the Hi-SP format. I would think, and this is purely conjecture, that the more compression, the poorer the sound quality.
The best sound quality, in any case, is obtained with a line-out through an amp. Unfortunately, I don't think there are any portable units out there today that have a dedicated line-out, and the headphone amps in them have gotten weaker and weaker over the years, most likely to extend battery life.
My personal preference among brands is Sharp, as they seem to provide a more detailed, powerful sound than the Sonys.
BTW, I'm moving this to the Portables forum, where it should get more responses.

 

[South_Korean]

makes more sense to.


i nees to have more than 5 hours on an MD though, so i want to go for a Hi-Md.

but if i amp it, would it sound better? just wondering, not that i need it to sound awesome cuz ill be working outside and need to be alert.

 

[joelongwood]

Quote:

Originally Posted by South_Korean makes more sense to. i nees to have more than 5 hours on an MD though, so i want to go for a Hi-Md. but if i amp it, would it sound better? just wondering, not that i need it to sound awesome cuz ill be working outside and need to be alert.

In my experience, most headphones, even less expensive buds, sound better amped (to my ears, of course.) This includes 'phones like the Sony EX-71, which, when paired with the PocketampV2, actually sound pretty good, with tighter bass, more midrange, and tamed highs. Each headphone will react differently to how it's being driven. The key, for me, to this whole headphone thing is to find synergy.
Hope this helps.

 

[South_Korean]

but how can one find synergy if they dont know if the amp can solve that specific problem a pair of headphones have?

 

[joelongwood]

Quote:

Originally Posted by South_Korean but how can one find synergy if they dont know if the amp can solve that specific problem a pair of headphones have?

That's why I have so many headphones and amps. But for most people who don't have that luxury, the recommendations and impressions on this site are pretty good for determining what works best with what.
When I become interested in a piece of gear, I often spend countless hours using the search function and reading everything I can find. There is an unbelievable amount of information on this site. Also, HeadWize, while most forums are not nearly as active as they once were, maintains an excellent library with great information. For me, learning about this stuff is almost as enjoyable as the listening.......the journey is the reward.

 

[South_Korean]

thanks, you have been good help.


and yeah, sometimes i screw my homework to read posts all day LOL. nerdy but hey, its something we are all interested in, some more than others

.

 

[South_Korean]

bump, but also a question; is sony the only company that make software to make Hi-lp/sp formatts?

 

[tbdoah]

Hi-SP and Hi-LP are native only to Hi-MD, of which Sony is the only company that has manufactured Hi-MD units (besides an Onkyo bookshelf unit). Therefore, yes.

 

[Mano]

i have some questions about hi-md players, im currently using the same himd unit (mz-nh600d) and im thinking about using flash players, im actually doubting between 2 models: iaudio 5 and muvo tx/fm , how does sound quality compare between them and the himd unit?, i know himd uses atrac and the flash players in question will use mp3 (or ogg and mp3 if i choose the i5), but if anyone can guide me on this sq comparison issue with the mentioned players it would be great.

i will be using the portable unit with my lucky pair of E2c´s, lucky pair because i got them at about 15 USD, a darn good deal...

 

[Mobile Fuzzman]

I think that MD suck! and yes i have had 1 infact ive had 2 and they are the worst music player you can buy it was so bad i had to go back to a cd player and i got better sound out of a 20$ cd player than one of those crapy things

 

[joelongwood]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mobile Fuzzman I think that MD suck! and yes i have had 1 infact ive had 2 and they are the worst music player you can buy it was so bad i had to go back to a cd player and i got better sound out of a 20$ cd player than one of those crapy things

So, I guess you don't like MD.

To my ears, probably a lot older than yours (trust me, I know), MD, at least the earlier units, comes much closer to CD sound than any MP3 I've ever heard, at any bitrate. The newest MD unit I have is a Sharp DR7, about 2 years old, that sounds much richer and fuller, with great detail, than any iPod I own. Maybe the newer MD units have sacrificed sound quality for extended battery life.

 

[Eagle_Driver]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mobile Fuzzman I think that MD suck! and yes i have had 1 infact ive had 2 and they are the worst music player you can buy it was so bad i had to go back to a cd player and i got better sound out of a 20$ cd player than one of those crapy things

 

[South_Korean]

yeah What. dont discourage me please lol. this is the only thing i can get with my budget.besides, joelong is right, MD plays files that are closest to CD quality than any other type of player out there. and i will be getting an AMP. no one answered about that.

so ill ask again lol. would it greatly imrpove any imperfections atrac may perform on the file by amping the MD unit?

 

[jpelg]

Back in the day, Sharp produced MD units with exceptionally powerful headphone outputs. The newer models do not have such high power ratings, but are reported to sound quite nice.

Sony's Hi-MD units are capable of playing exactly CD-quality sound if you use the straight PCM recording method (~1.25 hours of audio on a Hi-MD disc). It's the best sound out there in a truly portable unit, next to the actual original CD. Way better than any mp3. Even Hi-SP is better than high bitrate mp3's, imo.

Of course you lose the storage capacity, but you want quality over quantity, right

?