headphone business

Digression:

Back when Gene claimed most computer sound cards can't adequately
drive headphones from the headphone jack... there's some truth to
this, but a cheap way around it is to get headphones with smaller
drivers!

Few weeks back my $300-in-1999 Sony MDR-F1s blew a fuse, and
Sony wants $350 to fix them! So I went down to Best Buy and bought
four different pairs of headphones for under $40/pair. The results...

For $10 you can't do better than Sony's "H.EAR Vertical" phones,
MDR-J10. They sound great, and are (for me) comfortable to wear
for hours. Rather than being attached to a band to go over or
behind the head, they sit on the ear, but they're super-lightweight
and place no stress on my ears whatsoever (and don't make you
feel like you're wearing headgear).

For $40, the MDR-EX51LP are amazing. They're in-the-ear style,
which some people don't like. But these don't bother me a bit,
they're only slightly less comfortable than the above phones, and
the in-the-ear style provides some isolation if you're trying to
listen in a noisy cafe. And the drivers can be nearly microscopic,
which means they can be incredibly cheap while still being light,
fast, and accurate. These are rated at 100 dB/mW sensitivity with
a frequency response of 6-23K Hz! You can practically power them
by looking at them aggressively.

-Carl

Carl,

--- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, Carl Lumma <ekin@l...> wrote:
> For $40, the MDR-EX51LP are amazing.

I'm going to look for these from a place I can return them if they suck, because occasionally it would be nice to have in-ear (and cheap) phones. But I'll be very, very surprised if they can beat the trusty old (and still being produced, and still as dorky-looking as all get-out) Koss Porta-Pros.

And I'll a/b them also with my Grados and Sennheisers, because I want to know what they can't do as well as what they can.

Always good to have something small and cheap, because if it works well (musically) at least you don't cry too much when you lose them!

Cheers,
Jon

>And I'll a/b them also with my Grados and Sennheisers, because I want
>to know what they can't do as well as what they can.

Grados cause me blinding pain, so I can't use them. I'm saving up
for Senn. 600's, and I'm still looking into getting my Sony F1's
repaired

I mentioned the advantages of in-the-ear. The disadvantage is that
you loose the 'outer ear related transfer function' effects, since
you're bypassing the outer ear.

>Always good to have something small and cheap, because if it works
>well (musically) at least you don't cry too much when you lose them!

And you don't have to spend $$$ on a headphone amplifier.

Really though, even the $10 Sony H.EAR J10's sound better than most
hi-fi cans from the 80's, and they're probably among the most
comfortable things I've ever worn on my head. We really live in an
enlightened age. :)

-Carl

Taken to metatuning...

--- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "Jon Szanto" <JSZANTO@A...> wrote:

/tuning/topicId_52266.html#52269

> Carl,
>
> --- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, Carl Lumma <ekin@l...> wrote:
> > For $40, the MDR-EX51LP are amazing.
>
> I'm going to look for these from a place I can return them if they
suck, because occasionally it would be nice to have in-ear (and
cheap) phones. But I'll be very, very surprised if they can beat the
trusty old (and still being produced, and still as dorky-looking as
all get-out) Koss Porta-Pros.
>
> And I'll a/b them also with my Grados and Sennheisers, because I
want to know what they can't do as well as what they can.
>
> Always good to have something small and cheap, because if it works
well (musically) at least you don't cry too much when you lose them!
>
> Cheers,
> Jon

***I've been *very* surprised by the new "in your ear"- type
headphones. Although not in this league, I bought some Panasonic
ones for my mp3 player, and they are the best sounding of any of the
inexpensive headphones I have around... (are those also called "ear-
bud??")

(Or was that "Rosebud..." :)

J. Pehrson

--- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, Carl Lumma <ekin@l...> wrote:

/tuning/topicId_52266.html#52270

> Really though, even the $10 Sony H.EAR J10's sound better than most
> hi-fi cans from the 80's, and they're probably among the most
> comfortable things I've ever worn on my head. We really live in an
> enlightened age. :)
>
> -Carl

***This is exactly what I'm talking about... I thought I would *try*
the little $15 Panasonics, "just for kicks" thinking that that "ear
bud" type couldn't be anywhere near as good as the larger outer-ear
models. And, yet to *my* ears, they were superior. I threw out all
my other inexpensive sets that I use for this and that and bought
*four* sets of them... :)

JP

--- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "Jon Szanto" <JSZANTO@A...> wrote:

/tuning/topicId_52266.html#52271

> Taken to metatuning...

***Well, OK, Jon, but I don't know how much I'm going to be following
that... very busy these days...

JP

--- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "Joseph Pehrson" <jpehrson@r...> wrote:
> --- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "Jon Szanto" <JSZANTO@A...> wrote:
>
> > Taken to metatuning...
>
> ***Well, OK, Jon, but I don't know how much I'm going to be following
> that... very busy these days...

I didn't care who followed the thread, I just wanted to give the list a break from OT noise...

Cheers,
Jon

>/tuning/topicId_52266.html#52270
>
>> Really though, even the $10 Sony H.EAR J10's sound better than most
>> hi-fi cans from the 80's, and they're probably among the most
>> comfortable things I've ever worn on my head. We really live in an
>> enlightened age. :)
>
>***This is exactly what I'm talking about... I thought I would *try*
>the little $15 Panasonics, "just for kicks" thinking that that "ear
>bud" type couldn't be anywhere near as good as the larger outer-ear
>models. And, yet to *my* ears, they were superior. I threw out all
>my other inexpensive sets that I use for this and that and bought
>*four* sets of them... :)

I did the same!

-C.

--- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, Carl Lumma <ekin@l...> wrote:

/tuning/topicId_52266.html#52383

> >/tuning/topicId_52266.html#52270
> >
> >> Really though, even the $10 Sony H.EAR J10's sound better than
most
> >> hi-fi cans from the 80's, and they're probably among the most
> >> comfortable things I've ever worn on my head. We really live in
an
> >> enlightened age. :)
> >
> >***This is exactly what I'm talking about... I thought I would
*try*
> >the little $15 Panasonics, "just for kicks" thinking that
that "ear
> >bud" type couldn't be anywhere near as good as the larger outer-
ear
> >models. And, yet to *my* ears, they were superior. I threw out
all
> >my other inexpensive sets that I use for this and that and bought
> >*four* sets of them... :)
>
> I did the same!
>
> -C.

***cool, dude... :)

JP