[Gluegun]

Uhhh...

A question.

When I do a search at shopping.yahoo.com, I see two different pictures.

Look.

http://search.shopping.yahoo.com/sea...4L&tool=0&did=

Do they have a split headband as pictured on the bottom ones, or a non-split headband, as seen on the top ones??

BTW, this is the cheapest place I can geth them for. Is this the right pic??

http://shop.store.yahoo.com/advantag...y-mdra44l.html

BTW, how do you think they got this quality? Did they design them *that* well, or was it blind luck??

 

[Vertigo-1]

They have the ability to fold, so a split headband would be correct. I'm rather interested in the one RickG posted though which has the special SL cable.

It should stay on during excersise...but then you'd be running them from a portable, and then they'd suck.

Quote:

BTW, how do you think they got this quality? Did they design them *that* well, or was it blind luck??

I think it's how they couple to the ears that's giving them their extra detail and transparency. They do go into your ears, like a canalphone. Canalphones in general offer a heightened sense of and background details regardless of their quality.

Quote:

muahahahaha..... , The more I think about- the more ridiculous it sounds. Sorry, I'm not buyin' it!

Fine, miss out on a great headphone then.

They smoke the Sennheiser HD-600s and Grado RS-1s for detail and transparency too.

And wasn't that what you wanted when you were considering the RS-1?

 

[RickG]

Ok, ok...that's it. I'm selling my Omega IIs, 325s....everything.....I just gotta have some of those MDR-A44Ls.....

 

[GoSh4rks]

Quote:

Originally posted by Vertigo-1 There's also an even cheaper variation of these that doesn't have the full sized headband, the A34L, which also comes with all of the U.S. model MD players nowdays.

wait.. so the 44s are the same as the 34s except the 34s have a smaller headband or something? hmm.. i have 2 sets of these...

 

[MacDEF]

<shakes head>

Poor Vert... the highs have really gotten to him...

 

[Duncan]

Quote:

Originally posted by MacDEF <shakes head> Poor Vert... the highs have really gotten to him...

lol MacDEF, and everyone else for that matter...

You may mock Vertigo but look at my heapdhone list, you'll see that i have three different sets of V.I.T.E. 'phones, and i can second Vertigos opinions on the A44s vs Grados...

To me, Grados (admittedly only SR-125s, but... still a valid case) sound very peaky in the upper midband, it screws with vocals, and although the A44s are ultimately a little syrupy in the mids (a'la E888s) they really do appear kinder on the ears, and more musical than my Grados

Better still are my (previous generation Sapphire evapourated diaphragm) A21 & A22s, these have got a much cleaner treble than the A44s, although some people might find this a shade bright, and the bass is very controlled compared to the slamming OTT nature of the EX70s

Maybe the MDR-A44Ls are the new budget E888s?? (Seeing that the A21 and A22Ls ceased production 8... no, 9 (Happy new year!!) years ago!!)

As a matter of interest though, the A44s are by far the most comfortable of the three pairs to wear... If you can find them, get a pair, i got these 2 years ago at a cost of £14... a veritable bargain!!

 

[Neruda]

Quote:

Originally posted by RickG muahahahaha..... , The more I think about- the more ridiculous it sounds. Sorry, I'm not buyin' it! Good one, Vert!!

I'm in the same boat, rick. If these things are at all similar to my Sony MDR-A30G's, and i bet they are, then they're worthless. And with all this talk about them being more analytical than the Grado 325's, I get the impression that they have a blindingly bright treble that some people would assume is better detail. And vertigo always says that he loves bright headphones, so I wouldn't be suprised if that were the case.

 

[Duncan]

Neruda... these are definetly NOT the brightest 'phones out there, they appear kinda dark compared to the Grados

I don't think its the treble that Vertigo likes, i personally think its the midrange, as i said in my post above, to me, it appears quite thick, the same way that the E888s sound

Hope that clears that up!?!

 

[Vertigo-1]

Quote:

I'm in the same boat, rick. If these things are at all similar to my Sony MDR-A30G's, and i bet they are, then they're worthless.

And have you tried them out of a nice headphone amp with a nice source lately? They're not bright at all. And detail may be equal to treble, but what have you got to say about them having a much better transparency than the 325s? That has absolutely nothing to do with treble. The A44s are plainly just doing something better than a multi-hundred dollar headphone can do.

I'm not equating these as portable headphones at all which is probably where everybody's going wrong, I'm comparing them directly as a full blown headphone from a full blown rig. If MacDEF can have fun driving his KSC-35s from his $1777 Max, what's wrong with driving the A44s from a full rig and discovering they improve by a LOT and can compete against other headphones? And I'm not even using my full rig, only a secondary one.

Bottom line, don't be dissin' until you be listenin'.

 

[joelongwood]

Quote:

Bottom line, don't be dissin' until you be listenin'.

I like it........a lot! I think this has the potential to be up there with "different strokes....."

 

[Eagle_Driver]

I own various Sony VITE headphones with 16mm drivers (MDR-W20G, MDR-A30G and MDR-A34L), and all I can say is this:

They sound like crap directly from most portable players, but sound MUCH better with a decent amp. (Like Vertigo-1 says.)

 

[r3cc0s]

ahha
that like


i'm sure even the krap assed v600 sound much better off a zotl amp as well
isntead of a pcdp

 

[Eagle_Driver]

r3cc0s, not all headphones sound significantly better with an amp. When I had those crappy Sony MDR-V600's, I had someone try them with a Headroom Airhead (not the Total Airhead) amp, and - guess what?

- they still sound like crap!! Those "dreaded" VITE's still whoop those horrid V600's when both are driven by a mid-fi amp - and by an embarrassingly WIDE margin!

 

[r3cc0s]

lol
but that was a ta

lol

anyways yea

true

it's like a 600/580 senn are much better with an amp
than a pcdp

 

[MacDEF]

Quote:

If MacDEF can have fun driving his KSC-35s from his $1777 Max, what's wrong with driving the A44s from a full rig and discovering they improve by a LOT and can compete against other headphones?

Good point!