Jump to content

Loky

Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Content Count

    17

  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by Loky

  2. Posted · Report reply

    Hi

     

    Thanks for referring me to the threads. I think my thread should be a follow up to these because in my humble opinion, the Xdreams are darn close to wired headphones in terms of sound quality. So wireless is getting close to acceptable.

     

    The new amphony 2000 should be quite good also, if only it were available here.

    Then again, someone in the previous thread mentioned that the sennheiser RS series phones were ok. I personally find even the top model (super overpriced) completely unacceptable. Even my amphony 1000 beats it flat. For the record, the S$260 amphony sounds like a $100 headphone, but its unique combination of being wireless and still reproducing full range audio anywhere in the home, makes it a winner.

     

    That said, I believe that no headphone user should ever have to be chained to the source device on a leash! With bluetooth and high bandwidth wireless LAN becoming common and miniaturized, I hope headphone technology will take another leap upwards.

     

     

  3. Posted · Report reply

    Anyone here into cordless headphones?

     

    For the benefit of those who don't know, there are generally two types: analog and digital. Signal transmission is either by RF or IR.

     

    IR has a short operating distance -- 30ft, direct line of sight required.

    RF penetrates walls and has a wider operating distance.

     

    However, analog transmission through RF means that the signal is like an FM signal -- dynamics have to be compressed, hf freq response limited to 15 kHz. So the senns range is out completely -- the sound is not acceptable to audiophiles.

     

    Digital transmission is the best, and can be done via IR or RF. The only affordable RF digital headphones I can find are from a german company called Amphony.

     

    http://headwize2.powerpill.org/temp/ces03/...2003_south1.htm

     

    This is what I am using now.

     

     

    The other type (IR digital) is available from a company called Xdream, that makes a S$300+ model.

     

    http://www.xdreamfones.com/

     

     

    Due to the high price of other brands, I have not checked out the other alternatives, but I note that many of these offer DTS or DD decoding. Price is around $800 or higher, so I won't be willing to try these anytime soon.

     

    Any other people wanna be free from the dreaded headphone leash?

     

     

  4. Posted · Report reply

    why don u try A/Bing it with another software cd player? as far as i know, microsoft bought pacific so I think there might at least be some benefits using wmp9 on hdcd.

    I've checked out the forum at Hydrogenaudio, and the people there think it's only detection. Very difficult to A/B on my pc system for now, so I won't bother. But if it is confirmed that WMP can decode hdcd fully, I will attempt to connect my Audigy2 sound card analog output to my hi-fi.

     

    In the meantime, still playing around with cheap/free cd tweaks!

  5. Posted · Edited by Loky · Report reply

    Thanks to all for your comments!

     

    What I did was -- manually and painstakingly peel off every bit of the sticky film from the pad, leaving behind the cloth. Now the whole phone looks like new!

     

    But eventually I do hope to get velour from Beyer. Should be quite comfy...

     

    Next target is my other headphones == ear pads also made of same stuff... and this time I don't think there is any cloth base. It's a pair of Amphony 2.4GHz wireless digital phones. I hope Beyer or some other manufacturer has velour pads for it too!

  6. Posted · Edited by Loky · Report reply

    I am using a Rotel RCD-02 HDCD player.  I have not heard SACD/DVD-A enough (my system doesn't play them), but I have a handful of HDCDs (mostly by Reference Recordings) which sounded pretty good to me, in terms of details and dynamics. I don't have non-HDCD versions of them to do an A/B though, so I can't tell how much of an improvement it is except by memory. My old non-HDCD player (Marantz CD63mkII) has died quite some time ago before I replaced it with the Rotel.

     

    Then again, like the tongue-in-cheek comment I posted, it may well be psychological. smile.gif

     

    Regards

    CK

     

    Hi

     

    Once, my friend was playing this cd-r copy of an HDCD recording I made for him. When the music played on his system, I was unimpressed. It sounded no better than the system characteristics that I had grown famililar with before this.

     

    Then I noticed that the HDCD light was not ON. That means the player did not detect the hdcd flag. But I was sure I had done a 100% dupe. So i restarted the cd player (Nad 541i), reinserted the disc, and this time the hdcd light came on. As you would expect, the sound was improved! The effect is quite subtle, but similar to what I experienced when I activated or deactivated upsampling on my MSB Link III. Sort of like -- more extended highs, more microdynamics, taller deeper soundstage.

     

    I have been eyeing an outboard HDCD decoder ever since -- Rotel 1066 looks like the perfect device for me.

     

    However, I do note that many audiophiles are not hankering after HDCD. Some say the very fact that a recording and its playback devices has hdcd just means that the pacific microsonic eqpt is used, and these just happen to be very good dacs. Some say that decoding is not necessary as long as the recording was encoded in hdcd, meaning better eqpt and care were used for ensuring a high quality transfer. Some others claim that hdcd is not an attractive proposition for manufacturers, so since it will never catch onto the main stream, they would rather leap one step above hdcd and go for dvd-a/sacd.

     

    I, for one, would prefer defeatable hdcd decoding, so that I could do comparisons. I also heard the Pacific Microsonics is hoping to incorporate the technology into dvd-a recordings and normal dts/ac3 soundtracks. Maybe then it will spill over to all cd players.

     

    In the meantime, I note that Windows Media Player 9.x detects hdcd encoded recordings. Does anyone know if it actually "decodes" the bitstream? Or it's just a detection feature?

  7. Posted · Report reply

    If anything, seeing the HDCD LED light up will psychologically make you think it's a HDCD CD, which makes you think it sounds good/better. smile.gif

    CK,

     

    You seem to swear by HDCD. Is it really that good?

    HDCD doesn't seem popular, and many of the high end cd players/DACs don't even feature it. What hdcd decoder are you using? Compared to SACD/DVD-A, how does HDCD stand?

     

    Please enlighten me cos I have always wondered how HDCD sounds when decoded properly.... Thanks!

  9. Posted · Report reply

    surprisingly crygenically treating the tubes is cheap even though it sounds super expensive for such a time consuming process. price quoted online was 5usd a tube

     

    i have yet to try the black cd's yet cuz i just bought some just now but the slower burning speed sorta makes sense in that you do reduce jitter in the recording.

    Talking about Qoo...

     

    I *swear* that any music cd sounds better when I am sipping a chilled icycold glass of Qoo green grape! whistling.gif

  15. Posted · Report reply

    Headphones let us hear differences between tweaks more clearly... so I'd like to start this thread to compile a list of tweaks to cds. Here is what I have heard about so far:

     

     

    1. Colouring the rims and inner rim with Green or Black pens

    EFFECTIVENESS: Good

     

    2. Cutting the rim with a lathe so that the rim is angled 45 degrees

    EFFECTIVENESS: New product, unproven

     

    3. Applying antistatic solution to reduce static, or other means to remove static

    EFFECTIVENESS: Not sure

     

    4. Applying any liquid to improve clarity, reduce scratches or increase refractivity

    EFFECTIVENESS: Varies

     

    5. Shining flourescent light over the cd before playing

    EFFECTIVENESS: rare new technique, not proven

     

    6. Cryogenically freezing the cd in sub-zero temperatures before thawing

    EFFECTIVENESS: Dunno

     

    7. Putting the cd in a sealed bag and freezing inside the freezer for 16 hours

    EFFECTIVENESS: Tried it, no noticeable improvement

     

    8. Putting a special mat over a CD when loading, to balance it + block light loss

    EFFECTIVENESS: More harmful to the cd player mechanism than what the improvement is worth

     

    9. Applying a special green plastic ring around the cd when playing

    EFFECTIVENESS: Similar to 1) but much more costly

     

    10. Duping entire CD to black cds using EAC/cd writer

    EFFECTIVENESS: Tried it -- sonic improvement varies with system character

     

    11. Digging ears thoroughly before listening to any CD

    EFFECTIVENESS: Definite, but has the side effect of making unwanted sounds (nagging from parents, gf, etc) more prominent also

     

    12. Using Yamaha's AudioMaster II technology to burn a cdr at 4x speed to reduce jitter

    EFFECTIVENESS: Mild if noticeable at all. Better effect on black Melody cdrs though

     

    13. Sanding the rim of the cd

    EFFECTIVENESS: Negligible if the rims were unsmooth in the first place.

     

    14. Applying damping material onto the cd's label surface to control resonance

    EFFECTIVENESS: Dunno

     

    15. Make 6 black or green lines emanating from the centre of the CD. Each line is a little less than one quarter inch wide. It's like cutting a cake into 6 equal pieces.

    EFFECTIVENESS: Never tried.

     

    16. Throwing the cd away and listening to the vinyl equivalent.

    EFFECTIVENESS: This is not a tweak, but I'm sure vinyl enthusiasts wish every newly released cd has a vinyl equivalent!

     

    Anyone who can contribute more tweaks/info/opinions to this thread is most welcome!

  16. Posted · Report reply

    You know how those Sony headphone earpads have this thin plasticky material that simulates real leather?

     

    It's crackin up on my V7 headphones!

     

    At least the foam inside is still intact. I am thinking of covering the entire pad with some kind of cloth, velour, velvet or whatever.

     

    The questions are:

    what materials have any of you guys tried, if any?

    I ain't good at sewing, so how does one cut the material and sew it?

     

    Any advice appreciated! blink.gif

  17. Posted · Report reply

    Hi people

     

    I am looking for a pair of dispensable (meaning, won't feel heartpain if the thing is lost or stolen) above average headphones for office use. Main source device is cd-rom drive.

     

    As I am on a tight budget, I can't buy new, so am looking for used. I like the Sony GD-series phones with big 30mm diaphragms, but I will consider others brands and designs. One requirement is that the cable be at least 1.5m long if not longer.

     

    Budget: $30 max (ie, your product should have cost at least $45 new). blush.gif

     

    Anyone with an offer please sms me at 90103680 for fast response.

     

    Thanks!

×
×
  • Create New...