dcci

I Don't know how how legal around the globe is ripping of your own CDs to the computer. But in EU area it's now against the EU-copyright law that was launched month ago... So then France launched law that to sell any kind of copy protected material is forbidden. Jay...! Nice politics in EU...

Well I just found this Atraclife forum when I was searching Firmware update for my new NW-HD5 black, so I'm still catching up in the threads to be scanned. So, I have few opinions about the headphones, 'cause I own a few in that list above. Yes, the Grado SR 60 really sounds good, I have had those three years and still best sounding devices with any Sonys portable. Senheiser, well... mostly over priced plastic for portables, except those very affordable and simple Sennheiser PX100 that sounds great for that price, wich are also quite comfortable in the 'long run'. A year old pair still sounding nice...! AKG, hmm... Tested with my portables few that is said to sound very good, yes the sound is OK but most of those are too hungry for Sonys portables. Many AKGs are good for mastering some tracks with a real mixer table. I bought quite cheap K-55 for my portables few months ago, because those were advertized as OK closed headphones. But I can't make a good comment about those. Luckily those were very cheap... Sonys headphones, well... few of those sounds very good in portables, but sadly the plastics wont survive long... Had few in the past, but Grado's robustines won the competition, with exelent winter condition durability. And then comes the Behringer HPS3000 headphones. The pricing is amazing compared to the sound quality, at least in the northern europe 23eur. I advice test listening these headphones if there is a chance, only bad thig is the 1/4" TRS stereo jack that is not suitable for most portables. I have made an high quality adapter for that broblem... but that's a very different story. Yeah, KOSS Porta Pro headphones are also good sounding, except those have quite much Bass, but it is not bad at all. Mostly KOSS headphones aren't good in my ears, maybe it's just me...? that is only my little experience in head-fi world, but the bottom line is: If youre gonna compress the music in any way, you shouldn't spend too much money into the hi-end headphones, because you might hear what you are missing in the sound...

So, you don't just have good enough reference CD (TOOL - Lateralus) or headphones (at least GRADO SR60) to hear the difference... Well, this is just an opinion, but those headphones have been worth their price for my ears. Those are ugly but a perfect match with any Sonys portable, the sound is just nice...