Digital Ready Headphones Needed!
ro...@gypsy.uucp
I am in the market for a pair of headphones for my stereo system. Since I
purchased my CD player I have been really cranking it up because I can't
seem to get enough of it. This is getting to be too loud for the general
public and I have to limit the music to blowing out my own eardrums. Can
someone recommend a set of headphones that really perserve the fidelity of a
CD player? I know that Sony makes a pair that is specifically designed for
CD usage, but I am wondering if there is really anything else. Any general
prices ranges for such a beast would also be greatly appreciated.
Steve Rosen
Siemens Research and Technology Laboratories
Princeton, NJ
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ka...@petrus.uucp
difficulty is not in finding phones that can do justice to the performance
of a CD player, but rather in finding a set that can ALSO seal out enough
room noise so you can hear the full dynamic range. On the basis of simple
performance, the best headphones these days seem to be the on-the-ear types
(e.g., Sennheiser) but they provide no isolation at all from room noise.
Listening to a CD player with phones like these while hacking away in front
of a noisy Sun or IBM PC is like listening to a CD player in a car -- you
end up cranking the volume so high to hear the quiet passages that you
damage your hearing on the loud parts.
Can anybody recommend a set of phones that are at least as good as the
larger Seenheisers AND do a reasonable job of sealing out external noise
AND aren't uncomfortable to wear?
Phil
Herb Chong [DCS]
In article <3020...@gypsy.UUCP> ro...@gypsy.UUCP writes:
>I am in the market for a pair of headphones for my stereo system. Since I
>purchased my CD player I have been really cranking it up because I can't
>seem to get enough of it. This is getting to be too loud for the general
>public and I have to limit the music to blowing out my own eardrums.
what is this with volume? there is realistic sound volume, and then
there's too loud. too loud for the general public usually means too
loud to be safe for the ears. my speakers are inefficient at 83db/W/m
and i think that running at about 10 to 20 W peak through them is a
realistic and comfortable sound level for listening. it's loud enough
to show the detail and have reasonable tonal balance when my tone
controls are shut off in my smallish room. the actual measured SPL is
about 95dB peak at my listening position. of course, i have
considerably more power at my disposal, but i rarely use it.
>Can
>someone recommend a set of headphones that really perserve the fidelity of a
>CD player? I know that Sony makes a pair that is specifically designed for
>CD usage, but I am wondering if there is really anything else. Any general
>prices ranges for such a beast would also be greatly appreciated.
what are you looking for, accuracy, or volume? if high accuracy is the
prime requirement, consider electrostatic or electret headphones (if
your budget can stand it). these phones will play loud too, but that's
not why you buy them. various models of Stax or Audio Technica
electret headphones are highly reccommended. people mention the
Sennheiser HD430's as another good headphone, but i have never tried a
pair. Sennheiser also makes electrostatic and electret headphones, but
no-one around here carries those models. if you read back through the
last few months of this newsgroup, there was an extensive discussion on
choosing a quaility headphone.
Herb Chong...
I'm user-friendly -- I don't byte, I nybble....
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Herb Chong [DCS]
>Can anybody recommend a set of phones that are at least as good as the
>larger Seenheisers AND do a reasonable job of sealing out external noise
>AND aren't uncomfortable to wear?
i think you will be hard pressed to find such a pair of phones. the
trend these days is for open-back headphones because they are lighter,
more comfortable, and generally still provide good bass response
because they use the trapped air between the driver and the ear as the
load to the driver. as i remember it, the older phones that were total
sealing types (Koss Pro4/AAA and the like) did not provide that good an
isolation anyways, at least not enough for the dynamic range for a CD.
and they were heavy and uncomfortable after only a few minutes of
wearing them. the typical dynamic range of a CD just isn't suitable in
any noisy environment like a car. a pair of headphones with
outstanding isolation provides maybe 10dB more room to work with, and
i don't think that's enough. what you really want is to stick the
CD output through a compression unit.
when i'm listening on my headphones, the noise from my refrigerator in
the kitchen is quite audible on the quieter passages and it's not a
noisy fridge though there are many quieter.
Ron Natalie <ron>
As far as headphones go. If you want reasonable durable use
KOSS-PRO 4AA vise grips. Otherwise find some nice electrostatics.
The problem with most of the light weight headphones is that they
don't provide good enough seal for really decent base response.
This is one of the advantages of the Koss's.
-Ron
Steve Tynor
>As far as headphones go. If you want reasonable durable use
>KOSS-PRO 4AA vise grips. Otherwise find some nice electrostatics.
>The problem with most of the light weight headphones is that they
>don't provide good enough seal for really decent base response.
>This is one of the advantages of the Koss's.
term!) I have a pair of Sennheiser 430's that are both comfortable
(they're lightweight, but around the ear), and have excellent response
(both bass and otherwise). Organ music can be uncanny in the 430's
(I've often been tricked into thinking my speakers were still on, due
to their good bass response. Oh yes, the 430's can be had relatively
cheaply. I bought mine for ~$70.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Never put off until tomorrow what you can avoid altogether.
Steve Tynor
Georgia Instutute of Technology
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--
Steve Tynor
Georgia Insitute of Technology, Atlanta Georgia, 30332
...!{akgua,allegra,amd,hplabs,ihnp4,masscomp,ut-ngp}!gatech!gitpyr!tynor
Chuck Forsberg WA7KGX
>difficulty is not in finding phones that can do justice to the performance
>of a CD player, but rather in finding a set that can ALSO seal out enough
I have a pair of Sony MDR-CD5 at about $80 discounted that do a fair job
of shutting out ambient noise. Their sound is about as good as any
cans I've heard, and they are sensitive enough to use with the headphone
output of a CD player. Their sensitivity also means longer battery life
when used with a battery powered radio.
The only cans I know of with bettern isolation are the Koss 4's, but
their sound leaves much to be desired. Senn's sound fine, but lack
the sensitivity and isolation needed to use them directly connected to the
CD player when a PC is nearby.
Having just said all that, I must admit to listening to FM most of the
time lately - it's less bother and the compression makes it easy to hear
on the speakers. Sometimes tho I just have to switch on the CD when
the record scratch and/or distortion get out of hand.
BTW, if anyone knows of a great sounding pair of cans with HIGH isolation,
let's hear about it.
--
Chuck Forsberg WA7KGX ...!tektronix!reed!omen!caf CIS:70715,131
Omen Technology Inc 17505-V NW Sauvie Island Road Portland OR 97231
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gda
The mention of possible hearing loss from "digital ready" headphones
prompted me to mention an editorial appearing in "Sound and Vibration", May,
1985. It discusses some experiments with "Walkman" systems, trying to
determine if they are dangerous to our hearing. The main points were
1) Early work, done with dummy heads, showed that dangerous levels were
possible, but failed to point out that at those levels the distortion was so
bad that no one would want to listen to it.
2) Experiments measuring the actual sound levels heard by people using these
players in normal situations (indoor, outdoor, on-the-job) showed pretty
safe levels (even for college students!).
So by and large, the "Walkman" was judged safe for use (the article goes on
to discuss whether or not the open-air type headphones provide any PROTECTION
from environmental noise, like in a factory; they don't). I was certainly
glad to hear this, since I have grown to depend on my Walkman; it gets me
through those late hours of computer hacking. (I've contended that if
Admiral Bird had had a Walkman he would have made the pole on the first
attempt.)
By the way, when I was working at AR, all we did to make our speakers
digital ready was to stick a label on them saying "Digital Ready". We'd
been pumping digitally generated signals through them for years.
Gray Abbott
Creare Inc.
Hanover, NH
{...dartvax!creare!gda}
job...@isucs1.uucp
just purchased a Sony CDP 302 cd player and have the same problem (that is
the neighbors can't appreciate a pair of Klipsches). I have had a pair of
Sennhieser 420 headphones for 3 years now, and have enjoyed them a great deal.
They also crank with the CD player. They retail for $90-100, but I got mine
mail order from Stereo Corp (NYC) for 48. I beleive the price mail order is
still about the same. It would be worth your time to audition these.
And about Sony headphones...the only ones I have seen of late are of the type
that you wear with your walkman. The Sony's MDRs that I have listened to tend
to be tinny and lack in low end, probably because of the size of the mylar?
drivers. But to each his own.
Dave Jobusch
Com S/Math Iowa State University
jobusch@iowa-state
isucs1!jobusch
s
H.SILBIGER
limits on exposure to noise:
Sound Pressure Maximum
Level, dB(20uPa) Time, hrs
85 hearing monitoring required
90 8
95 4
100 2
105 1
110 .5
115 .25
Levels over 115 dB are not permitted.
These levels apply to sound fields. Because of characteristics of the
ear canal, an additional 3 dB can be allowed when using earphones
of the closed type.
It is possible to get a hearing loss from listening to music at
excessive levels over earphones