Headphones?

Go for the HD600s I did and haven't regretted it. Well worth the extra

i have just bought sennheiser HD 570:

i'm a bit disappointed because they are really not able to drive 128 kbps mp3s. at 192 kbps, it becomes more acceptable. not that those headphones are bad; actually they are OUTSTANDING if you use a VERY Hi-Fi source, but my old Sennheiser are better for the 128 kbps mp3s. that's bad because most of my mp3s are 128 kbps.

i still believe my old yellow sennheiser HD 424, made in the mid 80's, are the best ones for vynils if you consider their relatively low price.

GoldenSpiral wrote: greenback wrote: i have just bought sennheiser HD 570: i'm a bit disappointed because they are really not able to drive 128 kbps mp3s. at 192 kbps, it becomes more acceptable. not that those headphones are bad; actually they are OUTSTANDING if you use a VERY Hi-Fi source, but my old Sennheiser are better for the 128 kbps mp3s. that's bad because most of my mp3s are 128 kbps. i still believe my old yellow sennheiser HD 424, made in the mid 80's, are the best ones for vynils if you consider their relatively low price. a) You are a fool for ripping mp3's at 128.  (no offense, but nothing sounds more awful to me than low bitrate music) b) It is good that headphones sound terrible playing 128 kbps mp3's because it means they have a wider frequency response.  It sounds terrible because the speakers are trying to reproduce frequencies that were cut out of the file when it was compressed.  with a higher bitrate, they would probably sound heavenly.  If headphones sound good with low bitrates, it simply means they have terribly narrow frequency response. c) you dont have to spend hundreds of dollars for decent sounding headphones.  Take my Sony MDR-CD280's.  They're comfy, portable, and they sound fabulous.  I've never heard a bit of distortion out of them, even at extreme volumes.  I got them for $15 at Best Buy, and as I was searching for the image, I found them on amazon.com for about the same price.  Honestly, the only complaint I have is that the cord is too long and I have to coil it up in my pocket if I want to use them while walking.  (Yes, I am one of those nerds who walks around campus with giant headphones on...)

i will keep my old sennheiser for the 128 kbps mp3s, and use the 570 for better recordings.

@ 128 kbps, it seems the mid frequencies are dramatically cut off. it has nothing to do with the "narrower" freqency response. you seem to mix frequency response and bandwidth. the compression method simply cuts off the mid frequencies, but the bandwidth (highest minus lowest frequency audible seem to remain the same, while the frequency response changes for the worse. the harmonic distortion rate is also dramatically increased, obviously, since sound information has been chopped.