Headphones Question 0__o

Starting to feel like an Accessory forum thread-whore. Sorry XD

But I was in Best Buy today getting Civilization IV and since my father had an extra $10 rebate thing I got a pair of cheap headphones (they were 10$ after the rebate) because my current ones suck and the left earpeice works sporadicalyl which annoys me. Figured even if they are crap I wont be losing much.

The new ones are these Phillips souround sound earbud things. When I was playing my Mozart Operas they were fine. Played the operas nicer then my comp speakers actually (not saying that much: my comp speakers are pretty crappy). When I played Jack off Jill they sound strange. And sorta give me a headache (though it might be a random headache unrealated to the headphones 0_o). And they aggravate my weird not being able to sit still/wanting to shake/rock issues (um, dunno, don't ask, people randomly call me crazy sometimes XD). The music sounds faster. And sorta...more hyper? I don't really know how to describe it in technical terms cos I know like nothing about headphones.

The Amazon.com review of them has people saying they have crap bass. Not sure what that means -- could it be the reason for this?

Overall the sound is louder/better then my other ones -- dunno, music sound faster and not necessarily in a good way.

Any ideas of what the issue is/what I should avoid if/when I buy better headphones in the future? Or am I just crazy? XP

 

Earbuds in general have less bass and more high and mid-frequencies. This might be uncomfortable at first (if you're used to regular headphones), and may require you to change your EQ settings. Not sure what you mean by 'music sounds faster', but I'm guessing it sounds more 'tinny' and high-pitched, which might make it seem like it was sped up.

In the future, just read some reviews beforehand, depending on what you listen to with them, and stick with headphones unless you really hate them for whatever reason.

 

cassandra, it might be just the quality of the file. If that's the only file that sounds crappy, then the actual file itself is pretty rubbish. But if find the phones rubbish on all music and sound, then you should figure around with the EQ settings like Sacrf Face suggested.

Sound qulaity is usually measured in Kbps. Anything from 128Kbps to 192Kbps is flawless sound quality. But if they are new, I doubt they would be messed up. Look at the sound quality (Kbps rating).

 

well some 128kbps can sound pretty bad. Also, even if its 320kbps (maximum for mp3s) if it was taken from a cd made from mp3s already, it could still sound bad.

as to the headache, its probably the higher treble and playing it too loud. Do as the other people said and make sure to adjust the EQ. Also, headphone reviews will always claim that "the bass is bad." You CANT get good bass from headphones because they're so small. If people want bass, theyre more than welcome to get speakers and get a subwoofer. Honestly, if they sound good to you then its fine, just make sure to adjust the treble and don't listen too loud and you can avoid too much headache @__@

 

I find this statement completely false. You can get good base from headphones if you spend enough time/money getting a good pair. The only downside to headphone bass, is that you cannot feel it.. but you certainly can hear it. Just my $0.02

 

it all depends on your definition of bass. bass in the rap/hip-hop sense of the word has to be felt as much as heard to be meaningful.

 

try shure e5's or ultimate ears super.fi.5pros first and then tell me that headphones can't do bass

 

Oh, you can certainly feel it inside of your head, just not throughout your body (see Beyerdynamic DT770-80).

Note also that this thread overall is speaking in rediculously different terms. The DT770-80s that I mentioned above run around $150-60 at the cheapest, and properly should be paired with an amp. The E5s that jterp7 mentioned are double that price. For more innacurate but still relatively strong bass from headphones, try shure e2s (for canalphones) or Sony V6 or V7506 (NOT the V600) for full sized cans.

 

so i just found this post again, and in defense of my statement concerning bass, yes i meant it in the feeling sense. Sound wise, a good pair of headphones are capable of reproducing a wide spectrum of well tuned and clear sound. But simply because of physical restrictions, headphones cannot beat a good full stereo or even two good bookshelf speakers. edit: So my statement concerning bass was generalized and vague, i apologize. But we also need to remember that the post was originally concerning $10 earbuds Further, i dont even necesarily mean bass in the hiphop/rap/techno sense. My guitar coming through a good amp, i think is far more enjoyable to hear when compared to even a good pair of headphones.

 

heh yes the ultimate ears are around 150 and the shure's in the 300s, but to be honest, i currently use koss's ksc75, which i bought for 10 bucks at radio shack and has decent bass without having to worry about damaging them, i still have ultimate ears but those require handling with gloves for some reason..i have RMAed it twice

 

This is a pretty good article about testing headphones. Explains the bass thingy on headphones. Kinda old but good still.

http://www.headwize.com/articles/judging_art.htm

 

eh, I lost them so doesn't really matter much anymore. Sucks but that's how the world works for me. Worse that I can find my old half-broken ones either >.<

 

heh. the sony mdr j-10s are pretty good for around $10. I have several pairs of these lying around, real cheap but the sound is pretty good, fits in the ear well and stays in when i'm running. And the bass is decent and they are pretty loud without the full "in the canal grazing your ear drum" feel which i kind of find to be invasive.