Headphones and Source

[cnhardwick]

First story: I have a pair of Shure SE215. At first I really disappointed at how they sounded out of my Apple iPod touch (4th generation). But after trying them out on my Sansa Clip they sound much more impressive.

Second story: I have a pair of Monster Miles Davis Tributes. They sound amazing (although a little bass heavy) when paired with my iPod touch. But when I try them with my Clip they sound veiled.

Is this all in my head? I have known all along my Clip and iPod make my headphones sound slightly different, but never night and day like this. What is going on here?

[CrowdAds]

[kredig]

play around with the equlizier...this will change a lot

[totalimmortal]

I have the MDT's and they're a little power hungry. Someone on Head-Fi commented that they were not impressed with how they sounded on a Clip.

BTW the EQ stays on Flat all the time on my 4S.

[saratoga]

Originally Posted by totalimmortal

I have the MDT's and they're a little power hungry.

Power hungry usually means that something has low efficiency (that is, it needs a lot of voltage/power to be loud). This is not the case for the MDTs:

http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/...visTribute.pdf

39 millivolts to reach 90dB SPL is not very power hungry!

Originally Posted by totalimmortal

Someone on Head-Fi commented that they were not impressed with how they sounded on a Clip.

If he implied it had something to do with the clip's power output, then you should probably be ignoring that person.

[The DarkSide]

Those iem's aren't power hungry!!! And they'd work fine with a clip,...

[El C]

Originally Posted by totalimmortal

Someone on Head-Fi commented that they were not impressed with how they sounded on a Clip.

Quite a fair amount of people there will discount the Clip because they have more "audiophile" equipment. Why exactly was he not impressed?

[mbamg]

Originally Posted by El C

Quite a fair amount of people there will discount the Clip because they have more "audiophile" equipment. Why exactly was he not impressed?

I'm not impressed with the Clip's sound, period. For the price it's decent: it supports expandable memory, it starts up quickly and Rockbox supports it, but before that I already had an E-Series Walkman, and even though I found many flaws in the Walkman none of them had to do with the sound.

The Clip on the other hand just sounds lifeless. Perhaps the Walkman has a warmer sound signature, which I seem to prefer.

[Enigmatic]

Originally Posted by mbamg

I'm not impressed with the Clip's sound, period. For the price it's decent: it supports expandable memory, it starts up quickly and Rockbox supports it, but before that I already had an E-Series Walkman, and even though I found many flaws in the Walkman none of them had to do with the sound.

The Clip on the other hand just sounds lifeless. Perhaps the Walkman has a warmer sound signature, which I seem to prefer.

All good MP3 players sound neutral.

http://anythingbutipod.com/forum/sho...1&postcount=34,
http://temp.elektrokrishna.com/abx/.

[IDvsEGO]

And all great mp3 players sound neutral and have great equal and sound enhancememts.

[saratoga]

Originally Posted by mbamg

The Clip on the other hand just sounds lifeless. Perhaps the Walkman has a warmer sound signature, which I seem to prefer.

Different mp3 players do not sound warmer. Basically all of them sound the same, until you present them with a load they have trouble driving, in which case they'll distort a bit.

If something sounds lifeless that means its working correctly. If it doesn't, that means something is wrong.

[Marvin the Martian]

Originally Posted by saratoga

Different mp3 players do not sound warmer. Basically all of them sound the same, until you present them with a load they have trouble driving, in which case they'll distort a bit.

If something sounds lifeless that means its working correctly. If it doesn't, that means something is wrong.

I've had several of the Walkman DAP's over the last few years, and they definitely have a "house sound" that is not neutral like the Clip players.....the low end is boosted somewhat. Whether that is what people mean when they use the "warmer" term or not, I don't know. It is a pleasing sound to many people, but neutral it is not.

[saratoga]

Originally Posted by Marvin the Martian

I've had several of the Walkman DAP's over the last few years, and they definitely have a "house sound" that is not neutral like the Clip players.....the low end is boosted somewhat. Whether that is what people mean when they use the "warmer" term or not, I don't know. It is a pleasing sound to many people, but neutral it is not.

The RMAA tests I've seen for the Sony series have all been quite flat, at least with the EQ off. Perhaps you're listening with the effects on turned on?

FWIW "warm" doesn't really have a very specific meaning. Usually its some combination of rolled off treble and higher bass, sometimes also a bit of distortion like on analog equipment. No MP3 player will have this though, so probably in this context it just means "bass boost EQ preset" or similar.

[Marvin the Martian]

Originally Posted by saratoga

The RMAA tests I've seen for the Sony series have all been quite flat, at least with the EQ off. Perhaps you're listening with the effects on turned on?

FWIW "warm" doesn't really have a very specific meaning. Usually its some combination of rolled off treble and higher bass, sometimes also a bit of distortion like on analog equipment. No MP3 player will have this though, so probably in this context it just means "bass boost EQ preset" or similar.

Well, I don't have a Sony anymore, so I can't say for sure if there was an effect still on or not. Anyone else here still have a Sony and a Clip to compare?

[Enigmatic]

Originally Posted by Marvin the Martian

Anyone else here still have a Sony and a Clip to compare?

Me. I have listened to a Sony MP3 player and to a Clip+. Both had their equalizers turned off. Both were playing identical files. I used the same pair of headphones with both MP3 players. I was switching back and forth between the players about five or six times. They sound about the same.