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Thunndarr
Joined: 30 Sep 2003
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 Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2007 10:08 pm Post subject: |
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| pkang0202 wrote: |
| seoulman1 wrote: |
| pkang0202 wrote: |
| Thunndarr wrote: |
| pkang0202 wrote: |
Well, for starters an audiophile would not be caught dead listening to MP3's.
I'm not an audiophile but I know a few. I know a couple guys that won't listen to anything that is not on vinyl.
I think for MP3's the encoding (bitrate) is more important than the player. |
There are a few things wrong with this post.
1. Guys who don't listen to anything that's not on vinyl.
Certainly, if someone prefers the sound that vinyl gives, that's their prerogative. However, if they prefer vinyl because they believe it is somehow closer to the way the music is supposed to sound completely ignores the fact that vinyl records are subject to all kinds of impurities, not only from dust and scratches, but also from the actual process of manufacturing the record. What it basically boils down to is that some people prefer the way vinyl sounds, which is fine and dandy, but it does not make vinyl empirically better than digital, just different.
2. Audiophiles wouldn't be caught dead listening to mp3s.
You may want to check out www.hydrogenaudio.com People have done blind listening tests at all kinds of bitrates and formats, and the consensus is that when you get over 192 (IIRC) the vast majority of people cannot differentiate it from uncompressed music.
3. "I think for MP3's the encoding (bitrate) is more important than the player."
I don't discount the fact that bitrate is very important, but when the majority of digital music is encoded at 128 and up (and if you're really serious, flac), you will definitely notice a difference in sound quality between different players. |
Can you stick to the topic. The OP didn't ask your opinion on my post. |
hahaha! he is just cleaning up your mistakes. |
Mistakes???
1. A couple people I know that are self proclaimed "audiophiles" prefer vinyl over any other formats. I'll be sure to tell them that their preference to vinyl is wrong..
I never said their preference was wrong, did I? I said that it wasn't empirically better, which is quite different.
2. I was under the impression that Audiophiles looked for the best listening experience. It just makes sense to me that they would choose lossless formats over compressed MP3's. It doesn't matter if the average person can't tell the difference between the two. Maybe audiophiles sit around with their DVD audio player and brag about how much "cleaner and fuller" the sound is compared to MP3 and CD's. I don't know, I'm not an audiophile, but it would seem to me that they would want the best.
Go read hydrogenaudio. The audiophiles over there have endless debates about formats and the "best" transparent compressions. Some people want what they consider to be the "best" even though they cannot personally hear the difference between a lossless codec and a high bit rate lossy codec. The bottom line is that professed audiophiles all have different preferences. Some go for transparent lossy codecs, some need the psychological comfort of flac.
3. I didn't say players weren't important. I said bitrate was probably more important than players. Any decent MP3 player will have a custom equalizer where you can adjust the settings to your liking. No player is gonna make a 96kbps MP3 sound like CD quality. Hence, bitrate is more important than player.
This part is where your argument breaks down. No audiophile (which is who we're talking about here, yes?) is going to listen to anything (other than voice) at 96kbps anyway, so this is a moot point. However, there are indeed sound differences between good mp3 players and depending on how finicky you are about your sound the differences can be quite large. Bottom line, having an equalizer will not change the inherent sound qualities of a particular player. (And a lot of true audiophiles prefer to keep the EQ flat anyway.)
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In any case, I'm not saying this to be argumentative. Read those forums I linked, the people there say the same thing. |
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pkang0202
Joined: 09 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2007 10:08 pm Post subject: |
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| seoulman1 wrote: |
when u are deciding upon an mp3 player the biggest factors to consider are the quality of the internal amplifier and mp3 decoder. |
That is something I didn't know. Like I said, I'm not an audiophile. I go on a bunch sites and read reviews of MP3 players. When I find one in my price range with good overall reviews then I buy it. |
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xenok
Joined: 03 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2007 5:58 am Post subject: |
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if audio quality is your main goal, look for any mp3 player that has support for a line-out. this way you can bypass the internal amp (almost always non-audiophile quality) and hook it up to a decent portable amp. that is the audiophile portable music solution (of course, you need to add audiophile quality cans to go with it).
aside from the availability of a line-out, i don't think the rest of the hardware makes a huge difference. |
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DCJames
Joined: 27 Jul 2006
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| Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2007 7:53 am Post subject: |
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| xenok wrote: |
if audio quality is your main goal, look for any mp3 player that has support for a line-out. this way you can bypass the internal amp (almost always non-audiophile quality) and hook it up to a decent portable amp. that is the audiophile portable music solution (of course, you need to add audiophile quality cans to go with it).
aside from the availability of a line-out, i don't think the rest of the hardware makes a huge difference. |
You have any recommendations for nice quality cans for under 100,000won? |
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seoulman1
Joined: 02 Feb 2007
Location: Jamsil
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| Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2007 8:04 am Post subject: |
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for headphones I would go for grado, sennheiser or boss...
It depends on what you want though. A good store will allow you to test each pair until you find the 'sweet sound'
If you want deep bass you will need a larger pair.
http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-6450_7-6247126-1.htmlhere is a good page showing off some of the top mp3 players. |
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Kid65
Joined: 20 Jul 2007
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| Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2007 2:23 pm Post subject: |
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So does anyone actually know of a decent audiophiles mp3 player? I'm in the market for one at the moment.
I have some Sennheiser HD555 (about $100 worth) and they are fabulous , but as far as i'm aware are not made anymore. I'm currently ripping my entire music collection to mp3 at 196kb, anything above that is superflous to me.
I always keep my portable CD player to hand at the moment, people call it old school but the sound quality is top notch, I just feel it's time to move on... |
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seoulman1
Joined: 02 Feb 2007
Location: Jamsil
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| Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2007 8:08 pm Post subject: |
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| as i said im just going to wait for the new ipod in september... but thats because i want the video option |
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huck
Joined: 19 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 7:39 am Post subject: |
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| doesn't it all depend on the headphones? |
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rocklee
Joined: 04 Oct 2005
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 2:11 pm Post subject: |
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| Headphones are only part of the equation. Like they say "garbage in, garbage out". Everything depends on the source, that's why the media used and the player is so important. |
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xenok
Joined: 03 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 3:16 pm Post subject: |
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let me repeat myself, for an mp3 player, you want something that has a LINE OUT, not a regular headphone out. this way you bypass the crappy headphone amp (this is true for practically every portable player out there). the drawback to using a line out is that you probably will need a portable amp to drive your headphones (esp since quite a few audiophile headphones have high impedance). so i would say any mp3 player with a line out is audiophile quality. this is true for portable digital audio players.
if you're getting a CD player, then yes the DAC is the critical factor for audio quality. however, for mp3s, your source is already in a digital format (i do hope you encoded at a decent bit rate) so all you need is a transparent transport, and using the line out instead of the headphone out, will do that for you.
as for headphone recommendatinos, i like IEM (in ear monitoring) phones, like Shure or Etymotic, although they can be dangerous if you plan to use them will walking or moving around. i also find the Sennheiser PX100 to be very good, even though i'm not a basshead; and i hear Sennheisers are priced very reasonably in Korea. in terms of value, a lot of people swear by Koss KSC 75, although i wished they were more comfortable to use (mine keeps falling off). |
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harryh
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: south of Seoul
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| Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2007 8:05 pm Post subject: |
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Here is my rig, with line out going to the Headphone amp. Gives people an idea.
Couldn't live without my line out and amp. Also, rockbox was a nice addition. I've managed to EQ things to my taste. The etymotics aren't bass monsters, but sound great now after EQ.
At the end of the day, let your ears decide.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/11527886@N08/sets/72157601513656702/ |
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