[cruizin caleb]

is this a noob question?

I was just wondering what type of headphones would make it easiest to differentiate - or hear the differences - between different bitrates...

to be embarrassingly

honest i can't tell the difference between 192kbps and 320kbps with my SR125s + uDAC
and i can barely tell the differences with 128kbps if unless i just focus on really really obscure distant sounds in a recording...
then anything under that i definitly can tell the differences...

 

[Head Injury]

Until you get into high-end or very resolving headphones like SR325is, K701/2, and the big guys in the 500+ range, it's mostly just a matter of experience. Once you do hear the difference, you'll never be able to go back.

My advice is to not even try. Enjoy the music, not the file format. When the change comes, then worry about it.

 

[cruizin caleb]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Head Injury /img/forum/go_quote.gif Until you get into high-end or very resolving headphones like SR325is, K701/2, and the big guys in the 500+ range, it's mostly just a matter of experience. Once you do hear the difference, you'll never be able to go back. My advice is to not even try. Enjoy the music, not the file format. When the change comes, then worry about it.

well i own a pair of RS-1's... i do not have them with me though. i am waiting till my Little Dot I+ arrives. do you think that will change things for me?
then i'll be using my uDAC + Little Dot...
i'm not in the market for buying a headphone just to hear the differences, i was more just curious...

 

[kool bubba ice]

DT48/K701/2/SA5000/DT880/Pro 900/W5000/325is

 

[Ninkul]

Depends on the music as well, the busier the music is, the more apparent bitrate differences are. Headphones with better resolution will show flaws more easily, with lower end headphones its harder to pick up flaws in bit-differences but it is still possible.

 

[Head Injury]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cruizin caleb /img/forum/go_quote.gif well i own a pair of RS-1's... i do not have them with me though. i am waiting till my Little Dot I+ arrives. do you think that will change things for me? then i'll be using my uDAC + Little Dot... i'm not in the market for buying a headphone just to hear the differences, i was more just curious...

Probably. Don't ask me specifically, I haven't used my HF-2 yet

All reasoning points to: Better (or more detailed) headphones = better detail resolution = worse-sounding low bitrates. Grados have detailed mids and highs (highs are where most of the data is lost, listen for cymbals) and will resolve well. Others like K701/2 are designed for the studio and pretty much have to detailed. DT48 like kool bubba ice was no doubt destined to point out were designed to be detailed in the same way long before it was meant to be listened to for enjoyment.

But yeah, if you're actively looking for the difference, listen to cymbals or other treble percussion. If the 225 won't show the difference, the RS1 should. I can hear it with my SR60, but anything above 192 I have to really listen for (FLAC and 320kbps is still indistinguishable, but I swear I can still hear something when I know it's FLAC

).

And like Ninkul points out, the mastering has a lot to do with it. In compressed songs and bad masterings the difference might as well not be there. it all sounds like YouTube.

 

[joelpearce]

I agree with Head Injury that the Grados tend to be pretty unrelenting for bad files or poorly mastered music. Any flaw kind of leaps out, even ones that are smoothed over by some of my other headphones.

On a great recording, they just sound soooo good, though.

 

[aimlink]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cruizin caleb /img/forum/go_quote.gif is this a noob question? I was just wondering what type of headphones would make it easiest to differentiate - or hear the differences - between different bitrates... to be embarrassingly honest i can't tell the difference between 192kbps and 320kbps with my SR125s + uDAC and i can barely tell the differences with 128kbps if unless i just focus on really really obscure distant sounds in a recording... then anything under that i definitly can tell the differences...

It depends on the music and it depends on your equipment. I think plugged into a really good DAC/Amp, and with the right music, you should be able to tell the difference between 192kbps and 320kbps quite easily. For me, I can tell quite readily with a lot of music. As the quality of your gear diminishes, its discriminating ability goes down so it takes less of your music to bring the difference out.

 

[krmathis]

Highly resolving ones, like ex. the K1000 and SR-007(BL).
Most of them bring out the flaws in low bitrate lossy files..

 

[moonshake]

With K271 or any other professional studio headphones and a decent source you can look for artifacts in 128kbps almost immediately. The extreme highs SQ becomes quite annoying.

 

[bbryann]

I have the Little Dot 1+ and a K271. The LD does point out the flaws of lower bitrate files.

 

[oqvist]

yup most studio headphones show it. some "audiophile" heapdhones does it best to cover it up though