What are you listening with?


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Hi Forum dwellers,


This might sound a bit strange, but up until last night, I haven't tried the Pandora for watching video. It's pretty damn amazing at how this device performs with a multimedia experience. There was this Tool DVD bootleg that I downloaded from their recent tour. I was WOW'd


Listened with a set of Shure SE-210, think they sound great on the Pandora with room for more volume if your ears are broke like mine (tinnitus/hearing loss).


Curious as to what others out there are using besides the speakers?


Peace & Pandora,


Link
 
A pair of Sennheiser PX200s - best headphones I've ever owned. I also bought a pair of the USB-powered speakers that are sold by Panda USB, though I haven't had a chance to try them with my Pandora just yet (they arrived earlier).
 
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A pair of no name ear buds I bought at the dollar store.


They cost me a dollar and are surprisingly good.


They're my third pair in 4 months. Sadly they will be my last pair as the dollar store no longer sells them :( I suspect they may have been name brand seconds that just needed to be unloaded and the supply ran out.
 
Well, it'll be a while till I get my Pandora(I'm a mid-to-late-January 2009 preorder), but I have some Denon AH-C452 earphones that I use with my current portable audio player(a Cowon iAudio U3 aka "my favorite thing in the world") that I'll also use with my future Pandora, and I purchased the M-Audio Studiophile AV 40 speakers to use at home with my future Pandora when it finally arrives.
 
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Out of the box they sound terrible, but after about a thousand hours of burn-in they are just awesome for most kinds of audio.
My PX200s were like that (only the bass, though - otherwise they sounded fine), except they only needed a couple of days to be broken in. I read about it beforehand, though, so I expected it. :lol:
 
Grado SR60s :) Very nice headphones, made me hear things I never heard before on records. The only downside is that they are very open so environment sound comes in and sound goes out of them. So in the train I have them at low volume but even then they are so good that the sound is very clear.


Im very happy with my SR60s


grado_sr60.jpg
 
I have Grado's also (SR125's) - these are bloody awesome headphones with the *only* problem being that they bleed sound, so others can hear what you're listening to, and these are thus not suitable for my work environment.


So for my current listening pleasure, I'm using Ultimate Ears MetroFi 220 in-ear monitor headphones, which I've come to absolutely love for their range and sound .. can't recommend them enough. Easily the best <US$100 headphones I've known.
 
Unfortunately I'm a total headphone audio nutter having everything from sennheiser earbuds through to AKG K701s and a good deal in between. Plus 1 Dac and 6 headphone amps :blink:


I've tried the Pandora with a few sets of my headphones and it performs very well with them all. I've also amped it up with a CMoy amp and it sounds pretty damn good. I'll do a head to head with my other portable sources at some point but suffice it to say the Pandora doesn't disappoint in the audio department.


I haven't be able to get my USB GO-Vibe Dac running with the Pandora yet but I haven't tried very hard.


If anyone is looking for an excellent sensibly priced smallish headphone then the Koss Port Pro is the way to go and they have a nice retro look that complements the Pandora ;) A smidgeon better than the excellent Sennheiser PX-100s and half the price. After a few days bedding in they don't sound too far away from the likes of Grado SR60s and Allesandro MS1s etc.


ToaD
 
A pair of no name ear buds I bought at the dollar store.


They cost me a dollar and are surprisingly good.


They're my third pair in 4 months. Sadly they will be my last pair as the dollar store no longer sells them :( I suspect they may have been name brand seconds that just needed to be unloaded and the supply ran out.
Ditto
 
I should have mentioned, the PX200s are closed and barely leak any sound at all, in spite of their size. :)
 
I've had Grado's in the past, love them, except, they are bulky, monster cordage, and sound escapes. Now looking at the high end of Grado's line, I'm intrigued. I've always liked the wooden cans, and now with the PS1000, I'm awed. The metal/wood combination seems like a very logical music chamber, hence a concert hall on your ear. $1600 price tag though.


I really like Shure and was considering a stepup on their line but after some research found the Westone to be cheaper and better review overall across numerous sites. UM3X Westone IEM $350-$400, same price as a Pandora. Really considering them.


Thanks for the feedback, glad to see people care about clarity in sound.


Peace & Pandora,


Link
 
Got a pair of Q-jays Dual Armature iems.


But I'll probably be using some plain old px100s, Yuin pk3s, and good old Koss KSC75s.


If we get some sweet midi software, I'll be using a pair of cable modded Creative Aurvana Live closed phones.


Oh the possibilities!
 
Too hear my Musik of the Mp3player, and when its comes meybe the pandora loud, i use my Roland Amp whit 20 Watt because it hase line in and needs only 24 Watt energie, my hifi needs 200watt.., so it is more economic.. and i can use it for my E-Guitar..


cube_20x_icon.jpg
.


As headphones, i use my Sennheiser MX560. for every device i have: DS, Mp3player, PSP, TV, When i play e-guitar and neverone wonts to hear (because they sleep) etc.


MX_560_ProductImage_black.jpg
 
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I'd say any Sennheiser or Grado :) or even ATC (or whatever, I always forget their name.)


The only problem is, once you get a good pair of headphones/buds, you're talking some good money for them, those kind.. you have to rerip your entire music collection, since you suddenly starting hearing all the imperfections of your earlier rips. *garg* :)


jeff
 
My PX200s were like that (only the bass, though - otherwise they sounded fine), except they only needed a couple of days to be broken in. I read about it beforehand, though, so I expected it. :lol:
Yeah, I also read about it beforehand, but... I didn't expect them to sound THAT bad. The sound was so incredibly muffled, it made me wonder how they could possibly improve to a point where they would actually sound somewhat clear.


And talking about bass: geez! On the lowest bass setting (they have a mechanical bass regulation mechanism) the bass was so horribly dominant, it seriously made me wonder it they are fake. And I'm not the only person experiencing that, there's a long thread about this on head-fi. There are indeed some incredibly genuine looking fakes out there which makes it all the worse.


After around 150 hours of burn-in, they began to show their real face. Just so you know should you ever buy a pair of these. Out of the box, they sound more horrible than you can imagine.
 
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:blink: I'll keep that in mind. The PX200s just didn't have enough bass for the first day or two, so I guess there's quite a difference between them and the IE8s.
 
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I'd say any Sennheiser or Grado :) or even ATC (or whatever, I always forget their name.)


The only problem is, once you get a good pair of headphones/buds, you're talking some good money for them, those kind.. you have to rerip your entire music collection, since you suddenly starting hearing all the imperfections of your earlier rips. *garg* :)


jeff
I've done my best over the years as a taper to preserve quality, staying digital, transferring digital, etc.


But there is always that stuff from the years when cassette was the only way to bootleg. Those were the days.


Peace & Pandora,


Link
 
Sennheiser HD-280 Pro, and for my crap smaller stuff, i use some iMetal earbuds( <$20) but after getting my sennheisers, im never going back to low quality again, and these things are extremely comfortable for me, even with my huge head, and they dont bleed sound, and after you take them off, you dont get that "i just had headphones on my head for 4 hours" feeling even though i can just about bang my head and they wont fall off, but as mentioned before, if youre getting high quality phones, be prepared to wait your time to burn them in, and be prepared to spend some money on an amp for pc if you want full use, and start getting rid of all you <192kbps mp3s
 
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