Notices

I am interested in purchasing the AblePlanet NC600 set of headphones. They seem to be the highest quality set of headphones out there with the best quality for what your paying.

These in many ways will be only for use with my computer.. However, I have grown a bit tired of my ear buds (generic offbrand) I bought for my N810 and Ipod. (ipod is now mostly for car use).

My questions stem from the fact I have little knowledge other than what I have read recently about audio/mp3 stuff.

A. is it true that with higher quality headphones the quality in mp3 files become more pronounced? I have read that the better the headphones you have the more you realize your mp3's are horrible quality.

B.I like my music relatively loud.. and I feel like I already have bad hearing. If I get the set of headphones which cover my ears as opposed to the ipod style ear buds will this be better for my hearing?

C. Are the AblePlanet NC600 headphones "audiophile" worthy? and if they are will the N810 be able to play high enough quality files higher quality headphones won't sound like total garbage?

I am not an audiophile I hope to not become one. However, If I can really head the music more clearly and more pronounced with a better set of headphones and if I can make the music "sound louder" without really being louder and keep my hearing in better condition then I would be glad to drop 50$ on the headphones.

However, if its honestly not gunna help either way then I'll just save my money.

I am posting hear because the N810 is my media player and I need to know how it will work on scale compared to the Headphones. And I want to know if the Headphones are really high quality.

Thanks for the help and sorry if I rambled a bit.

Hi snow_fox,

I've spent a fair bit of change for this so called 'audiophile' gears, and first off let me say that there are LOADS of snake oil sales tactics and products in this product category.. so you have to be really wary to find good sources of information. Prices don't always equate to good quality as these parties can be really really bold (in what they claim and how they price their products). With that out of the way, I'm gonna try to answer some of your questions with what I've experienced so far

A. Yes. Probably the easiest property to discern that the high end headphones can bring to the experience is they can reproduce the extreme ends of the frequencies better. Most cheap earbuds cuts off the very low frequencies (<100hz) or high freq (>13000hz?) that takes away the bass punch and crisp percussion effects. Other than providing a 'more complete' frequency range, they should also reproduce it in a more balanced way. Some other more subtle properties that will be improved: better sound stage, more accurate imaging\positioning, more details across the frequency (better resolution?).

B. No. You should try to understand why you're playing the music loudly. If it's too boost a certain frequency that you enjoy from your genre (ie: low\bass for synthesized\rap\house\, mids for vocals, etc) then you should be looking for a headphone with that characteristic in the first place or play with an equalizer. If you're trying to get more 'details' from the music (ie: easier to listen to the lyrics), then a good pair of phones with good details and balanced presentation will also help you enjoy the music at a lower level. In general you shouldn't listen to your music too loud in any settings as it's detrimental to your hearing in the long run. A good pair of phones (and properly configured sources) will help you enjoy the most of your music at lower volumes which are safer for your ears.

C. Most 'noise cancelling' products seem to introduce its own negative artifacts from the noise cancelling mechanism to the music. Afaik it's not a popular brand among 'portable audiophiles' either.. some of the more popular ones I've seen are: shures, sennheiser, AKG, Beyer Dynamics, audio technica, etymotics, ultimate ears, and many more.

Maybe if you share a bit of the genre\type of music you'd like to hear it's easier to look up for the popular phones for said genre in the price range that you're looking for?

d) your n810's amp is the thing i would be the most concerned....

because audiophiles use these:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headphone_amplifier
with their headphones. costs $300-$500. No matter how good amp they have.

@YSSS: THe majority of music I listen to is "metal" I use the term very loosely and in an unelitist way possible. (I hate musical elitism, I've seen people make up genre's for bands which only apply to a single song). But, If you have ever herd of dry kill logic, disturbed, 3 days grace, some fear factory, Rammstein, sometimes Rise Against, Korn, Cradle of Filth.

I think its safe to say why I boost volume changes song to song. And keep in mind I am not aiming for 'hardcore audiophile' gear but, I would like to be able to hear various imperfections in the song. I've had ear bud style for many years cheap 10$ JVC gummy whatever earbuds.. 16-20 hz? doesn't seem right.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...E3B-_-26737001

Is the pair I am looking at. I would mostly like a noticible difference in the quality of music. I noticed these on sale and I am highly contemplating them. You would probably know better than I would if thats a good deal at a glance.

@ ossipena I'm not aiming to be a hardcore audiophile by any means.. Infact I'm not aiming to be an "audiophile" but, I would like to definitely hear music in a higher quality.

@Everyone, I am really more interested in this on something of a whim. I sometimes hear subtle thigns in music.. sometimes I hear it for the first time ever after hearing the song a million times. I just want to be able to notice more of these things. I was reading another forum and someone remarked to a user 'listen to the song not the equipment I have a high end rig and I still enjoy the radio but, I also appreciate my high end set up'

To be honest thats sorta my view. I want something that I can listen to and appreciate. If the headphones end up sounding horrible on my n810 and I can't upgrade the quality in anyway then I will use them mostly at home. I was just wondering if the n810 supports lossless playback.

if you want to hear subtle things, i suggest doubling the budget:


akg k141 studio

and something important: never order via internet unless you have allready test listened all headphones in your price range!!!

As far as price goes at full price the AblePlanet set I showed is only 9 dollars cheaper.

Now I'm wondering where I can go to test headphones.. sadly I live in louisiana.. People don't really care much about "quality" more about fitting in with ipods, and standard ear buds.

(Note I'm not knocking ipod or anything I am only saying where I live people settle very easily so stores tend to try and do whats best for the majority.

@snowfox: I have never heard of that brand, so I can't give any input on that particular product. Do note that headphones are products that are very easy to inflate the prices on and that there are plenty of low cost OEM producers out there. So I wouldn't put that much value on a 70% price reduction on products whose brand\reputations are unknown.

For $50-$100 pair of phones, I'd recommend looking at Grado (SR-60i or SR-80i). It looks sort of retro and it doesn't provide any noise cancellation whatsoever, but I'm willing to bet a pair of Grados that it'll sound better than most other phones in that price range

PS: I've never used a N810 or my N800 to play music from, so I've no idea what's the internal DAC+Amp sounds like.. ossipena has a point. YMMV.

Hm. Will check.em out.

I am gunna try to find a local music store and check with the music department at my college.

Snowfox

one simple test I find to see if you can hear the difference, or if your n800/headphones is constraining quality is to rip some cds at higher bit rates. Go for 320kbs and then see if you can hear the difference.

Most Audiophiles can, and so are happy to keep spending money until they cant, which is never of course

I mentioned in another thread about the Nokia BH-905 Blutooth headphones I tried recently at a Nokia store, and was blown away by them, with and without noise cancellation. This will bypass any limitations of the DACs on the n800.

N800 supports A2DP headphone profile with some tweaking if I a m correct.

Mike C

+1. Love my SR-60's.

And when your Grado pads wear out, you can rock some yellow Sennheiser cushions.


Grados are open-air, so they leak a lot of sound. Not good for studio or train commute situations.