[turimbar1]

I had one friend who listened to my hd555s and he just said they were like having speakers on his head. asked him about clarity, new textures etc, but he couldnt hear any. I was a little sad.
 
but really it takes hours and hours of listening before you start hearing and recognizing the world of audiophilia. 
 
I remember when I was 5 we went to someones house for a homeschooling thing (homeschooling was short lived tho). In this "class" we learned music appreciation and we sat down and listened to their very nice sound system (though I was too young to catch the name of it). I remember our teacher putting on classical music and telling us to listen to each individual instrument, the flute, clarinet, drums, violin etc. While I listened, something clicked in my mind and I was able to hear the different instruments and follow them. That was my first introduction to audiophilia and it left a big impression on me. 
 
so moral of the story, just because they cannot recognize what they are hearing does not mean it will not leave an impact.

 

[pp312]

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I had one friend who listened to my hd555s and he just said they were like having speakers on his head. asked him about clarity, new textures etc, but he couldnt hear any. I was a little sad.
 
but really it takes hours and hours of listening before you start hearing and recognizing the world of audiophilia. 
 
I remember when I was 5 we went to someones house for a homeschooling thing (homeschooling was short lived tho). In this "class" we learned music appreciation and we sat down and listened to their very nice sound system (though I was too young to catch the name of it). I remember our teacher putting on classical music and telling us to listen to each individual instrument, the flute, clarinet, drums, violin etc. While I listened, something clicked in my mind and I was able to hear the different instruments and follow them. That was my first introduction to audiophilia and it left a big impression on me. 
 
so moral of the story, just because they cannot recognize what they are hearing does not mean it will not leave an impact.

Are you saying he should have recognised the 555's weaknesses and tossed them away in disgust? I consider them a brilliant phone for the money--certainly in a different universe from what most people listen to day to day.

 

[chinesekiwi]

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The K701's are far more detailed sounding and far more refined as well. They have an emphasis on the highs and midrange and less on the bass.
 
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It's sort of funny because that's what happened when I used the Bose for the first time. I hope that it's going to be kind of like that feeling, only much much better.

 

I'm just beginning to get music in 24/96. I don't think I'll be able to deal with the Bose after I hear the K701's.

tbh, it's the mastering that matters, not the bit depth / sampling rate. One of the great myths of audio tbh. You can get very very very good recordings in 16/44.1. (see Patricia Barber 'Cafe Blue' album = basically the holy grail of mastering tbh).

 

[chinesekiwi]

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On another note my music teacher says that digital music is crap no matter what headphone you use... what is a good suggestion for him? He only listens to analog (records) music. By suggestion I mean would a uncompressed wma sound any better than flac ~500mb vs ~15mb or would an amp help digital music sound as good as analogue?

that's mainly due to the mastering. I'd show him science
 
http://www.audioholics.com/education/audio-formats-technology/dynamic-comparison-of-lps-vs-cds-part-4
 
If the mastering is the same on both media, the digital wins out easily. That said, my little bro has grew up on my setup and 'hand-me-downs' thus he knows good audio (and good music!). His friends are far more mainstream than him music wise. They all have some clue about audio thank god (cuz they've experienced my setup lols).

 

[JPresz]

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The K701's are far more detailed sounding and far more refined as well. They have an emphasis on the highs and midrange and less on the bass.
 
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It's sort of funny because that's what happened when I used the Bose for the first time. I hope that it's going to be kind of like that feeling, only much much better.

 

I'm just beginning to get music in 24/96. I don't think I'll be able to deal with the Bose after I hear the K701's.

tbh, it's the mastering that matters, not the bit depth / sampling rate. One of the great myths of audio tbh. You can get very very very good recordings in 16/44.1. (see Patricia Barber 'Cafe Blue' album = basically the holy grail of mastering tbh).

Well, if you get very good recordings in 24/96 would it not be that much better?

 

[chinesekiwi]

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Well, if you get very good recordings in 24/96 would it not be that much better?

yes, but as I said, it'd be the mastering, not the bit depth / sampling rate. A lot of people think that just because it has a higher bit depth and/or sampling rate that it's instantly better when it's not the case. Another case for great 16/44.1 mastering = Rebecca Pigeon's 'The Raven' album and Queen's 'Greatest Hits I' (1981 version) album. 

 

[JPresz]

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Well, if you get very good recordings in 24/96 would it not be that much better?

yes, but as I said, it'd be the mastering, not the bit depth / sampling rate. A lot of people think that just because it has a higher bit depth and/or sampling rate that it's instantly better when it's not the case. Another case for great 16/44.1 mastering = Rebecca Pigeon's 'The Raven' album and Queen's 'Greatest Hits I' (1981 version) album. 

I have the Queen album, it's quite good. And yeah, I've read that sometimes the extra bits can be made up of noise and nothing more. I recently got the Beatles vinyl "Master Recordings" rips, and I would like to hear them on 24/96, but I don't even have my hp's or an amp/dac to test them out to see if there's much of a difference

 

[turimbar1]

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I had one friend who listened to my hd555s and he just said they were like having speakers on his head. asked him about clarity, new textures etc, but he couldnt hear any. I was a little sad.
 
but really it takes hours and hours of listening before you start hearing and recognizing the world of audiophilia. 
 
I remember when I was 5 we went to someones house for a homeschooling thing (homeschooling was short lived tho). In this "class" we learned music appreciation and we sat down and listened to their very nice sound system (though I was too young to catch the name of it). I remember our teacher putting on classical music and telling us to listen to each individual instrument, the flute, clarinet, drums, violin etc. While I listened, something clicked in my mind and I was able to hear the different instruments and follow them. That was my first introduction to audiophilia and it left a big impression on me. 
 
so moral of the story, just because they cannot recognize what they are hearing does not mean it will not leave an impact.

Are you saying he should have recognised the 555's weaknesses and tossed them away in disgust? I consider them a brilliant phone for the money--certainly in a different universe from what most people listen to day to day.

no no, I was expecting him to be wowed by the hd555's because he was used to normal headphones and speakers, I was disappointed when he could not recognize their inherent superiority

 

[Keiko]

For me, I've let everyone in the family pretty much try my headphones... My siblings are into skullcandy so to avoid that I had given each of them a pair of Sony MDR-V150 (the cheap one lol) and they still Like those compared to the K701's even. My step father who considers himself knowledgeable in these things owns a pair of Sennheiser HD448 & Actually preferred the 701s. I've gotten... "Dam! those are huge!" on many many occasions... I've never mentioned the prices because I consider it bragging. But whenever I see a store selling Candies, Bose, or Dre, and any mainstream brand (Theres two here in Germany I cant remember the name, but theyre like in every skater/emo shop) I always tend to talk bad about them to whoever is next to me so I can smack some sense into them. on a few occasions someone near me who was pondering wether to by them or not would ask about other brands & if I had my porta's I'de let them try them out. Some funny reactions I've gotten when out in the city or walking around with full sized cans (Mainly AKG) this person just shouted out "AKG!!!!" (This happened when i was in stuttgart other day) I put the 701's on a 8 month old baby I was baby sitting & played some music (Mainly mozart) off my pc with an amp & he got really really excited & smiling alot. I'm training him to be a PS3 lover & audiophile by nature Back in Highschool I let a friend try the 701's (without an amp hooked up to an Video Nano) he always used stock ipod earbuds and he was like "Holy mother of f**king crap!" parental reactions have always been the typical "yeah...it sounds good" Alot of size comments, because back in school I think people only cared about in-ears so they could listen to music & hide the cables thru their jacket/shirt so the teacher wouldnt see what they were doing. Ah... one friend lol listened to them and was like all excited "ITS AN ORGASM FOR YOUR EARS!!" and tried making other people in the class try them on. It wasnt until the 701's were officially brought to JP cause of the anime K-ON!! That people finally started taking notice of my headphones and constantly commenting, probally because they suddenly realized how expensive they were 79,500 Yen at release here (roughly $800 USD)

 

[Chimera-se]

^ That part about the baby is SO cute! And that's too much $ for 701's, btw...

 

[Keiko]

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^ That part about the baby is SO cute! And that's too much $ for 701's, btw...

AKG wasnt really a highly marketed brand when those came out. It's around the same price you'd get it in europe & the U.S nowadays. I didnt pay that much for them anyways.

 

[pp312]

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Are you saying he should have recognised the 555's weaknesses and tossed them away in disgust? I consider them a brilliant phone for the money--certainly in a different universe from what most people listen to day to day.

no no, I was expecting him to be wowed by the hd555's because he was used to normal headphones and speakers, I was disappointed when he could not recognize their inherent superiority

Thanks. The point wasn't quite as clear as it might have been. (Or maybe I'm too far into the silly season).

 

[Deep Funk]

Some people are already surprised by the clarity of the PX200 II...

 

[JxK]

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Some people are already surprised by the clarity of the PX200 II...

Going from ibuds to the px200 ii is indeed a massive improvement. Probably a fair bit larger than going from the px200ii to a well amped hd650, diminishing returns being what they are.

 

[PascalT]

"Not bad" - after listening to the T1.
 
I'll make the father in law listen to the LCD-2 in a few hrs when he gets back