Audiophiles Unite!: Music Hardware

[AimingforYoko]

A thread to discuss receivers, speakers, headphones, mp3 players and the like. Which headphones are more overrated, Bose or Beats? Is a turntable worth investing in? Can you put together a decent sound system without taking out a HELOC? What the heck is a lossless audio format?

[Cranberry]

I can't afford to be an audiophile, and I don't know all of the related terminology, but I know that I hate it when I try to buy speakers and salespeople crank up the volume and overwhelm me with thudding bass. I got myself some Swans M10 for my desktop computer (I have this sound card, although I rarely use it with headphones so am probably not enjoying it as fully as I could) and I am happy with those. They have a really nice clear, balanced sound.

[AimingforYoko]

And yet another music format begins (some would say continues) its long death spiral:
Hyundai abandons car CD players.

[DeLurker]

I turned on MacGruber (stop judging me!) this weekend for some mindless distraction, but my nephew (23) and daughter (14) passed through the room and proceeeded to mock me for the next 2 hours (although they did also end up watching the whole movie).  At one point, his Blaupunkt removable car stereo gets broken when he is tossed out of the party he crashed.  I had to explain to both of them what it was and how it used to be an impressive thing.  Of course, this was back in the day when my after market 6 disc changer in my car made me Hot Stuff.

[ramble]

Which headphones are more overrated, Bose or Beats

I haven't tried Bose but my kiddos got Beats headphones from their dad for Christmas last year. Fast forward 8 months & one set is working every other day & at 10 months only one side is working on those odd days. She was careful with them & didn't do anything that hurt them. They just failed. She bought some cheapo knock-off style ones for $10 & they lasted about 10 months too. She gave up & went back to ear buds. The other Beats are still working but used probably 50% less so I'm just waiting for the fail to begin. Edited January 16, 2015 by ramble

[InDueTime]

Which headphones are more overrated, Bose or Beats?

 

I haven't tried Bose but my kiddos got Beats headphones from their dad for Christmas last year. Fast forward 8 months & one set is working every other day & at 10 months only one side is working on those odd days. She was careful with them & didn't do anything that hurt them. They just failed. She bought some cheapo knock-off style ones for $10 & they lasted about 10 months too. She gave up & went back to ear buds. The other Beats are still working but used probably 50% less so I'm just waiting for the fail to begin.

Some of the worst headphones I've seen are Skullcandy.  I know someone who had a pair of their earbuds, and they fell apart in under a week.

 

I wonder how many people (including myself) still use stand alone mp3 players/iPods/PMPs, verses those who just use their phones and tablets for music.

[Love]

I wonder how many people (including myself) still use stand alone mp3 players/iPods/PMPs, verses those who just use their phones and tablets for music.

 

 

I do I do....I still prefer my ipod Nano when listening to music.  I have tons of music that I have downloaded from CD's & Ares to my desktop  that I can't get on my iPhone.   I have iTunes on my phone by default, but never listen to it. 

[DeLurker]

I still listen to my Nano (from when they first introduced red).  I have the iPhone now but don't use it for music - it burns through a charge too quickly even with my minimal use on it.

 

I got my daughter the UE mini boom for Christmas - she's very pleased with it.  I've borrowed it a few times to check it out and found it had good size for a small speaker.  If you like a lot of bass, you'd probably want to look elsewhere, but I thought it had a good balance.

[harrie]

I wonder how many people (including myself) still use stand alone mp3 players/iPods/PMPs, verses those who just use their phones and tablets for music.

 

I still do, because I can just leave my iPod hooked up to the car.  That being said, my second iPod in ten years just abruptly shit the bed --  I guess that's not bad, longevity-wise, but I've had the most recent for less than two years -- and I'm starting to feel like I'm investing in pieces of crap.  And at $250, an iPod is an investment (in my book, anyway). 

 

I have an Android phone - does anyone recommend for or against switching to that for music?  Can I import my iTunes music so it's not all a gigantic waste of money?  Any thoughts would be welcomed.  Thanks in advance!

[DeLurker]

You can, but I am not sure of the steps to do so although just do a quick search on importing itunes to android and you'll get plenty of guidance.

 

The people I know with android op systems tend to be pretty high on the technogeek scale so while they've explained the process to me, it sounded like the teacher's voice in Charlie Brown.

[harrie]

Yeah, I looked it up and then picked up a new iPod.  (It's a racket, I tell you!)   In most cases you need to download an app, and in some cases you need to change the format of the songs -- Apple uses one or two file types, and just about everyone else uses MP3.  

 

However - I recently read an article stating that baby boomers - which technically I'm one or two years too young for, but my years don't have a label unless it's the donut hole kids, I think? -- are widely seen by those who hire as being tech-averse.  So I have vowed to download an app, gut this out, and put some songs on my phone.  That way I'll be practiced and ready to roll next year when the iPod I just purchased poops out.  

 

DeLurker, I love the Charlie Brown voice reference, and hear it often myself. 

Edited June 11, 2015 by harrie

[Sandman87]

I use a pair of Grado SR 80 headphones for all my serious listening. The sound is better than any other 'phones I've ever tried in the same price range or lower. The only complaint I have is that the foam ear pads need replacing after only a couple of years of constant use. Fortunately, Amazon sells third-party replacement pads.

[InDueTime]

I've had this as my current PMP for three years.  It's still going strong, and will probably be my last stand alone music player.  Before it, I had a Creative Zen Vision:M.  My first player was a SanDisk Sansa that only had 512 MB of storage.

 

Do most people use headphones or speakers when listening at home?  I prefer headphones.

[funkopop]

Some of the worst headphones I've seen are Skullcandy.  I know someone who had a pair of their earbuds, and they fell apart in under a week.

 

I wonder how many people (including myself) still use stand alone mp3 players/iPods/PMPs, verses those who just use their phones and tablets for music.

 

I have an Iphone and an Ipod but I prefer to use the Ipod for music and podcasts, I download podcasts and Spotify playlists while at home then listen while I'm at work.  

 

I'm waiting with bated breath for the next generation Ipod to come out. My last Ipod's battery conked out on me so I went to the apple store to have them change the battery and they sold me a used Ipod for $80.   I was very happy about that.

Edited July 22, 2015 by funkopop

[Athena]

I can't wear most headphones for long periods of time especially the in ear ones. It hurts my right ear more than my left. I generally don't use them that much, but I will for a run. For that the sport ones which hook over your ear and have an in-ear component. They are less painful, but slip off every 5-10 minutes.. I'm still open to finding super comfortable earphones. 

 

In terms of brands, my Dad was a Sony guy growing up and in general, I've stuck with them for most of my ear and headphones. I am curious about Bose though.

[Sarical]

hi everyone
i was hoping someone could recomend me a guitar (electric) for my son https://bestelectricguitars.reviews/best-electric-guitars-for-kids/ , a child of 4 years of age. hes never off mine but its way too big for him. theres a few on ebay but their crap,so any advice would be welcome. cheers

Edited November 15, 2019 by Sarical

[One4Sorrow2TooBad]

Honestly, since he's 4 years old, what's the point in spending a bunch of money on a small guitar for him? I'm sure you can find something decent (Korean?, Malaysian?,made) for $150.00 or so. There are many guitars made in Korea now that are rebadged as the big names. Hopefully he will stick with playing as he gets older!

[Milburn Stone]

I guess I'm an audiophile, even though my home system cost "only" $2500 and some who also call themselves audiophiles spend anywhere between a hundred grand and a million bucks! How can we share the same label? I guess it comes to down to knowing what good sound is, and desiring to approximate it.

Anyway, I thought I'd pass along a tip. I found bluetooth earbuds on Amazon that are really good for around $25. Seriously, I doubt that AirPod Pros, B&W, Sennheiser, et. al., sound appreciably better than these. They're called the Tozo T9. The name sounds Japanese (on purpose) but of course they're from China. You can thank me later.