[nylan8301]

Here's the deal:

I work for a retailer in the Omaha, NE area. I am the only member of head-fi that works in the department, and since I pine over our headphones and generally help people with their headphone selection (often recommending headphones that we don't even carry...I know, I'm a horrible salesman) I have been given the duty of creating a selection of music that would best showcase the headphones on display (many of which are not desirable). Off the top of my head, here's the list:

Bose OE (I know, I know...)
Bose Triport (Ditto)
Senn HD215's
Sony MDR-V6's
Senn PX-200
Senn PX-100
(Soon) JBL Reference 410, 420, 510, 610 (which, I understand, are AKG)
Other Coby Junk

I have at my disposal a media-center display player. The digital audio formats it supports are .mp3, .aac (which I understand is .mp4 as well...I could be wrong), .wav, and .wma

So...any ideas as to what I should do? Binaural recordings? What should I be looking for? What would YOU want for demoing headphones?

If this post is against any rules, please let me know...I don't want to get kicked off the forum.

 

[goldenratiophi]

Do a search on Head-fi for "ultrasone cd." There's a rather large topic of people raving about it.

Plus its binauralness with make customers think that the headphones are capable of more than they actually are

But yeah, really well recorded (and especially binaural) jazz and classical.

 

[nylan8301]

Quote:

Originally Posted by goldenratiophi /img/forum/go_quote.gif Do a search on Head-fi for "ultrasone cd." There's a rather large topic of people raving about it. Plus its binauralness with make customers think that the headphones are capable of more than they actually are But yeah, really well recorded (and especially binaural) jazz and classical.

I checked the free binaural recording thread, and I personally downloaded the files from the ultrasone CD, but how would I get them in a proper audio format without diminishing their quality? .wav seems like the best idea, and I could only find them in flac.

Is there any way I could get the ultrasone binaural cd? Do they sell it/give it away?

There is only one retailer in omaha that carries ultrasone...and I do not work for that retailer. Would they possibly have it?

 

[goldenratiophi]

You can transcode FLAC to WAV without losing quality. FLAC is lossless.

If you really want to buy it, you can do so here: http://www.shopatron.com/product/par...r=DemoCD/492.0

 

[nylan8301]

Quote:

Originally Posted by goldenratiophi /img/forum/go_quote.gif You can transcode FLAC to WAV without losing quality. FLAC is lossless. If you really want to buy it, you can do so here: http://www.shopatron.com/product/par...r=DemoCD/492.0

Thanks a lot! I should have this up and running tomorrow. I look forward to seeing customer's reactions.

Thanks, goldenratiophi. I really appreciate the help.

EDIT: Done and ready for work tomorrow. Now I just have to persuade my boss or the merchandiser to give me a 512 mb flash stick to use in the media center. The 256 mb won't be enough for the whole CD in wave.

 

[Bizzel]

I hate to rain on your parade but, if I was a customer who knew very little about headphones, and I bought a pair from your store based on my impressions of the binaural recordings, I'd be pretty annoyed when I found that 99% of my music didn't sound that way.

Personally, I'd find some well-recorded classical music in FLAC (a recent thread here comes to mind but I forget which) and play that since it probably won't be very compressed and it shows of the true capabilities of the cans well.

 

[fatcat28037]

Live - Alison Krauss & Union Station
Sounds of Wood & Steel - Various Acoustic Guitar Artists
Piece by Piece - Kathy Melua
anything on Chesky label

And yes, the ultrasone CD is excellent for demos but it's best to play music they've heard before it gives the customer a comparison.

 

[jilgiljongiljing]

Bizzel makes a very good point. Good quality classical recordings would be a safe bet, maybe some live show (unplugged maybe??? Clapton unplugged is a great recording) so that there is some variety.

 

[riceboy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fatcat28037 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Live - Alison Krauss & Union Station Sounds of Wood & Steel - Various Acoustic Guitar Artists Piece by Piece - Kathy Melua anything on Chesky label And yes, the ultrasone CD is excellent for demos but it's best to play music they've heard before it gives the customer a comparison.

I really like Katie Melua and Live by Alison Krauss & Union Station. Great choices