Audio Why is everyone throwing away their wired headphones

Yes, no point buying too many headphones ( they just gather dust) I have at least 8 pairs laying around. You have indeed made a very wise choice with DT770 ( unlike M50/40 they scale up very nicely with amps) Now all you need is an amp and possibly an open can down the line.
Can try the new Fiio M3 pro, it is sub 100 USD, comes with a very decent DAC and extremely powerful amp for it`s size and can be used as USB DAC-amp like most DAP these days. There are not many reviews online, but the amp section is really powerful. I can easily drive the DT990( 250ohms) HD6XX /HD600 with it (with plenty of reserve)

Haha, i was about to bite the bullet on the audio technica m40x/50x but somehow while reading through the myriad reviews on head-fi, realised that the dt770 would be more my taste, sound-wise. While i haven't listened to the aths yet, i'm super pleased with this one.

Also, in hindsight, i could have bought an open backed model instead of the 770, but again, i'm happy. And i doubt i would collect 8 headphones (!) but an additional open-backed one later would be a good enough choice. Will check out that amp later, thanks.
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There are a lot of people who still use the old school method.
You can join this tracker via interview if you haven't already, it's the spiritual successor of oink and what.cd.
They have stringent rules for maintaining quality so you won't find bad rips here, ever.


cheers for the tip mate.
 
8 is the number of pairs I see everyday. Ashamed to admit the total number. Anyway DT770 is far superior to 50/40X, Audio Technica has much better headphones. Those two (specially the 50x) are grossly hyped (MKBHD started it). I think it will be easy for you to audition M50X (everyone and their friends) have it. Someone in the TE marketplace is selling a beat up but perfectly functioning pair for Rs 500, restoration (earpads, headband) should cost around 800 bucks. For 1.3-1.5k it`s a stellar deal for someone looking for first pair of cans.
 
I've had completely different experience. I have seen nearly all of my friends' who tried my HD650 clearly notice how detailed and airy the cans sounded. They are no audiophiles but do love listening to music. Same had happened many years before when I had bought Soundmagic PL-50 and Hifiman RE-1 from Amarbir. Also, once they have heard good headphones/earphones they can very easily see the shortcomings of their current devices.
I think you are right here. Its probably not 'audiophile-ness' but a case of ignorance is bliss. Earlier I used only Rs 300 earphones, then I switched to bluetooth and now those earphones sound like complete garbage. And when I tell people around me not use those earphones and buy 2k bluetooth, they are like meh..
 
Somebody mentioned a song called Butterfly Effect by Travis Scott to assess bass. Never heard it before, so gave it a shot...the song itself is not my cup of tea, but it's really bass heavy ( typical 808 stuff)
Now ,whoever thinks the so called audiophile cans can't do bass, listen to it with any bass light Sennheiser HD5 / 6 series or even DT 990, they absolutely blow XM3s, completely...with XM3s there are plenty of low end, but they were definitely boosted in a song which has at least 3/4 dB boost in around 70-80hz...just listen to this bass heavy modern song to understand how crudely the XM3s are tuned.
 
...a song called Butterfly Effect by Travis Scott...

My god that was an awful song. How can i unhear it now...

Reminded me of young thug.

I'm not a huge fan of linkin park or anything but i use lying from you to demo sub-bass. it's a quick and dirty method to do so and the synth (kick) bass drum is right in the intro itself
 
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I didn't want to criticize others' taste in music, hence refrained from making fun of that song.
I absolutely hate that synth bass sound, plus how badly they approach the bass line to a song ( usually they steal chords from some old song, make some changes with Scaler, convert it to midi with Melodyne, and either use the lower 3/4 notes or the entire chord two octave down and compress the hell out of the already nasty sound)
I wonder how someone can enjoy these with a BTNC can, which applies further compression to the already compressed audio!
 
Nothing wrong in expressing your own opinion, as long as you are not being offensive to someone.

What is garbage and noise to me may be music to someone else. And likewise the same way around.

I'm sure the song audio quality itself would sound 100 times better with real instruments though, even though the song itself may not be good. Music production is far too easy these days...
 
Yes, it's easier these days, but that makes the platform way more fair and competitive at the same time.
When I started playing in local bands ( late 90s, Protool was not that common in India, at that time, we had to literally beg or borrow money to even make a 3 song demo tape)
Now people are making entire album from their bedrooms ( some are indeed good)
People like Hans Zimmer can make epic music from sampled instruments only too (Of course he can afford a real full orchestra) and sampling sound is improving very rapidly.
I,myself, after being part of at least 20 bands ( in India and Europe) can't often differentiate a good sampled acoustic drum track ( with superior drummer 2/3, even addictive drums 2) from a real drummer.
I will try to upload a few tracks in this thread ( produced by some friends/ fellow part time musicians), if you get time, please listen to them closely.
 
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I was totally wrong about XM3. They actually sound fantastic in wired mode ( while SWITCHED ON, everything is extremely balanced, yes the bass decay could be little faster with some more air in the highs, but still very good,A/B with a very expensive hifiman planer, really impressed), however still having the same opinion in wireless and completely passive (SWITCHED OFF) wired mode.
 
Maybe try another (BT) source and see if that's causing the lack of fidelity?

Also, what do you mean 'switched on' ? the NC ? If so, very strange, shouldn't it sound better without NC ?
 
No both ambient sound and NC turned off. Have tried all the sources I have ( 3 laptops including an old Mac, 2 phones)
May be the unit I have is defective.
 
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So my ears are well f*cked. Listened to some music for about an hour. Woke up in the morning and my ears were ringing quite a bit more than usual, left ear more than the right and also a bit muffled. I thought it was an ear infection. Then had an about 1/2 hour phone call using the same ear. My left is the dominant one. After that it was much worse. Left ear had an almost painful level ringing and felt completely blocked. Used ear drops, but it's obviously not an infection. About 36 hours later, it's subsided a bit. Left ear is ringing maybe 50% more than the right one. Not as painful as before.

Very afraid to visit a doctor. Coz of covid. Will be resting my ears for a good few days. Absolutely no headphones or earphones. Speakers very soft.

On the bright side, did a frequency test and i can hear from about 15k down. Haven't tried it before so i don't know if there's any recent loss.

Some online research shows that closed backs are not very good for tinnitus. If i had known i would have bought the dt990. heck they were cheaper than the 770s.

As i said before, i dunno if it's the lack of an amp that i have to turn up the volume on the headphones to hear clearly. So the spl + the closed back is definitely aggravating the tinnitus.

Will probably have to sell these headphones, which i really don't want to. They sound so good. But they sound killer too (pun intended) :-/

Edit: the frequency test was done with speakers, not the phones...
 
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You are right, avoid closed back headphones if possible.
Instead of DT990, I would suggest you some easy to drive planers ( hifiman HE400i, if budget permits hifiman Sundara) 990 is fantastic, but like all Beyer, the treble is slightly more prominent, can cause tinnitus( not the crazy trebles of their Tesla drivers)
AFAIK hifiman has quality control issues, if you end up buying them, please get them from a place with good return policies.
 
The main reason i specifically wanted closed-back headphones is because i use ceiling fans, sometimes at full speed in summer, and the noise is a lot. I don't want to use noise cancellation.

About the treble, even the 770 has quite a bit, very clear though, but I always EQ my audio output devices so that's a solution for the 990s too right?
 
The HE400i are great and also don't need an amp. My brother ordered them from Drop.com when they were $120/130. I think it cost him 12/13k landed in India.
 
Can't even think about this or any other headphones right now. The initial painful and ear blocked level of the tinnitus has reduced a bit but now it's just constant, loud and prominent, not in the background like before. It seems to be especially aggravated by running water like an aerator faucet or a toilet flushing. After opening a tap for like 30 seconds, i have about the same time of muffled sound, more in the left ear. I'll probably end up killing myself if this doesn't reduce soon...
 
Can't even think about this or any other headphones right now. The initial painful and ear blocked level of the tinnitus has reduced a bit but now it's just constant, loud and prominent, not in the background like before. It seems to be especially aggravated by running water like an aerator faucet or a toilet flushing. After opening a tap for like 30 seconds, i have about the same time of muffled sound, more in the left ear. I'll probably end up killing myself if this doesn't reduce soon...
Please see an otorhinolaryngologist ASAP. Looks like you have a bad ASOM/ CSOM.
 
Yes, i need to see a doc, but in the middle of this epidemic, especially seeing an ENT with cases surging everywhere, is very scary.
 
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