Does no one outside of this great forum care about sound quality anymore?!

[cochra1]

I've been reading various customer reviews of various media players as I'm considering buying something new. But I've been spoilt by the fine quality of Hi-MD/ATRAC.

And the reviews just fill me with despair. Such comments as 'this machine will store 6000 songs at 64 kbps so is fantastic!' Or 'I converted all my [insert random file type] songs into [insert another file type] so this player would recognise them, and it's great!!!' (forgetting that any conversion degrades the sound).

The internet is just full of comments from thousands of people that are listening to tracks that have been converted between multiple formats multiple times, and at crappy low bit rates. And they don't hear anything wrong with it! Is everyone deaf - or are they maybe listening to modern crappily mastered compressed songs that sound bad even in SACD? Who knows, but it's sad.

It's sad because manufacturers respond to customers needs. And most customers seem to be saying "I need something that will store a million songs on a 256mb memory stick!" rather than saying "I need something that retains the integrity of the original CD and sounds beautiful".

I was considering getting a Sony NWZA818 - but even the positive reviews have convinced me it's a step backwards in terms of sound, from Hi-MD.

[Strungup]

And with that realization , now we truly welcome you to the MDCF .

Sound Matters . ............. Eating American Food in Japan , is tanamount to the MP3 scenario , it just isnt the real thing , period . You cant fake it.

The MD is the only portable medium that reaches even close to area the Japanese call " manzoku" and it only comes with the proper ingredients .

You put on your Phones , slide in a disc , close your eyes and your there , in the Chamber Orchestra , not standing outside , peeking thru a crack in the door.

[kino170878]

What really slaps you in the face is the new iPod craze together with those hi-fi docking stations. Rather than purchase quality hi-fi separates these morons will hand over money for a complete joke of a system that looks and sounds utterly fake.

[Strungup]

On CNET , there is a section titled,......now get this ............" Cars , for your MP3 Player" , guess that tops the sound system .

[maxthrusters]

A friend of mine has an iPod. To get "quality" sound, he just turns the volume up louder! I think that says it all

[theblueraja]

I think sound quality is for earlier generations. Todays' youth will do a windows recorder rip of a Youtube video, compress it to mp3 and put it on their player and they are happy. I grew up at a time when we had STEREOS. The bigger, the better, and when technology kept pushing the envelope of HIFI. Hence I have a certain expectation. So basically, if you're old, you'll care

[BIGHMW]

What really slaps you in the face is the new iPod craze together with those hi-fi docking stations. Rather than purchase quality hi-fi separates these morons will hand over money for a complete joke of a system that looks and sounds utterly fake.

Kinda reninds me of some of the iSheep on the Head-Fi forums, yes there are Hi-Fi freaks out there on that board who do care about SQ as much as we do (They are more into matching headphones with PMP/amp copmbination than even we are!)

I even bit on the opportunity of buying a $160.00 USD Meier Audio Corda Headsix headphone amp because of them (see http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f5/headsix-h...-action-261529/ for more details on this great 9V-powered amp) and my MZ-NH700 sounds even better than it did before (it sounded great before, but man!!!.....)

They even inspired me to not only dig out my vintage 600-ohm Sennheiser HD420 headphones from storage (for 20 years ever since the first cord broke on them), but also, to restore tham, as I bought new replacement foam cushions for them, but also a parts HD420 setup to complete my restoration project as they now sound as great as they did when I first got them back in 1983!!!

[theblueraja]

.... they now sound as great as they did when I first got them back in 1983!!!

I rest my case.

[BIGHMW]

I'll do a pictorail of my vintage HD420 Sennheisers for all you guys. It'll take some of you back in time for a moment.

[Syrius]

Any Hi-MD unit with the HD/Digital amp will sound better than any Ipod with any external gear. Be it amplifier or docking station.

[GQ Smooth]

People place more emphasis on convenience than on SQ. With MP3 players people can carry around all their music, and many are prepared to sacrifice the quality that a Hi-MD unit would afford. I know I was.

[Sony_Fan]

In my opinion MD and Hi-MD are superior when it comes to reproducing and playing back music almost identical to the CD source. Where Hi-MD units fail, are the lows. They need more bass! No, I do not listen to rap or hip-hop. I like bass in my music when I'm listening to Madonna or Michael Jackson. In real life, there is a balance of highs, mids and lows. I love my RH1, but the the only thing is missing is the Super Bass button. Either way, the units are better than the "bandwagon" iPods.

[Syrius]

Yeah. HD Amp+Equalizer+Etymotic=liquid bliss.

[GQ Smooth]

In my opinion MD and Hi-MD are superior when it comes to reproducing and playing back music almost identical to the CD source. Where Hi-MD units fail, are the lows. They need more bass! No, I do not listen to rap or hip-hop. I like bass in my music when I'm listening to Madonna or Michael Jackson. In real life, there is a balance of highs, mids and lows. I love my RH1, but the the only thing is missing is the Super Bass button. Either way, the units are better than the "bandwagon" iPods.

You have a point there, but could it also be a fact that many people use their computer,s rather than their HI-Fis, which would be a better way to adjust your Bass levels?

[Strungup]

I rather prefer the old school way, turning knobs:

Umm Wiz you forgot a knob ....... where is the "Sexy Bass" I mean , you know ,.... you got the Super Bass , but dat dont mean nuttin widdout da Sexy Bass!!!

[GQ Smooth]

I rather prefer the old school way, turning knobs:

Exactly

[Chrisrus]

And with that realization , now we truly welcome you to the MDCF .

Sound Matters . ............. Eating American Food in Japan , is tanamount to the MP3 scenario , it just isnt the real thing , period . You cant fake it.

The MD is the only portable medium that reaches even close to area the Japanese call " manzoku" and it only comes with the proper ingredients .

You put on your Phones , slide in a disc , close your eyes and your there , in the Chamber Orchestra , not standing outside , peeking thru a crack in the door.

[/quot

[Strungup]

Hey Chrisrus , you have to put your mouse in the box past the quotations when you want to type something and it show up .

When you hit "Reply " a little window opens up , sometimes below the visible screen , scroll down to find it, then type in the box .

Edited February 3, 2008 by Guitarfxr

[Sparky191]

....And the reviews just fill me with despair. Such comments as 'this machine will store 6000 songs at 64 kbps so is fantastic!' Or 'I converted all my [insert random file type] songs into [insert another file type] so this player would recognise them, and it's great!!!' (forgetting that any conversion degrades the sound).

The internet is just full of comments from thousands of people that are listening to tracks that have been converted between multiple formats multiple times, and at crappy low bit rates. And they don't hear anything wrong with it! Is everyone deaf - or are they maybe listening to modern crappily mastered compressed songs that sound bad even in SACD? Who knows, but it's sad....

In fairness theres been enough posts on this forum over the years about people loving LP2/LP4 and low bit ATRAC files, with stock headphones and transcoded files.

On the other hand if you are not in an ideal listening environment, its debatable if you'll hear the difference from a higher quality source, and sometimes you don't want to carry something expensive on you.

Then there's a lot of people who simply can't hear a difference. Either they don't have the ear for it, or their hearing isn't that good. On the flip side some who think they can hear a difference, can't. Its placebo.

I was considering getting a Sony NWZA818 - but even the positive reviews have convinced me it's a step backwards in terms of sound, from Hi-MD.

I would be interested in seeing any links you have on this. The recent Sony players do seem to have some quirks. On the upside its far more robust than a RH1, and where I am less than half the price of a RH1. Useful if you need a robust player. http://www.atraclife.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=4380. The Sony's seem to one of the better regarded DAPs, but not the best. People who are serious about quality I reckon go the route of a external headphone amp and decent headphones.

Theres a lot of other DAPs out there other than iPods. iPods are not that well regarded for sound quality, its been that way for 7 years. So why people have to keep on about them here I have no idea. Its old news. If you really want the capacity of an iPod and the advantage of their smart playlists/compilations you can go with an external amp or an iMod. Thats too much hassle for me tbh.

I have to wonder though, years ago we used to listen to the radio, Vinyl and cassettes on pretty dire gear but admittedly analogue. But still loved the music. Do welove the music less now, listening to a too hot CD in a club or a low quality recording of a local band. Some of my favorite music is dire quality, but its about more than just the quality. Though I love decent quality too.

[cochra1]

In my opinion MD and Hi-MD are superior when it comes to reproducing and playing back music almost identical to the CD source. Where Hi-MD units fail, are the lows. They need more bass! No, I do not listen to rap or hip-hop. I like bass in my music when I'm listening to Madonna or Michael Jackson. In real life, there is a balance of highs, mids and lows. I love my RH1, but the the only thing is missing is the Super Bass button. Either way, the units are better than the "bandwagon" iPods.

I never found HiMD units' bass to be lacking (and I started out with just a standard MD unit), as long as using reasonably decent earphones or headphones. Try some in-canal earphones (e.g. Sennheiser CX300 or similar). Compared to the other small earphones on the market, this design seems to reproduce the bass the best in my experience, and means you don't need to apply any EQ or bass boost on your machine. Both my RH1 and my NH600 are also capable of driving my lovely Sennheiser HD650 headphones - which are obviously better when driven by a dedicated amp - but still, I get a perfectly acceptable and enjoyable sound direct from my HiMD units if I'm listening in bed away from my amp.

But that's enough about my poor sex life.

Incidently, I have posted some questions in another thread about the new Sony MP3 players, if anyone has any answers.

Edited February 4, 2008 by KanakoAndTheNumbSkulls

[sputnik13]

Personally, I find my RH-910 EQ set to increase the treble, so no lack of bass in my view. Although that may be due to the buds I'm using as well, super.fi 5 pro, which supposedly has more bass than some other IEMs.

I didn't care too much about sound quality before I got my super.fi, after which I could actually hear all of those things that people were raving about with good headphones vs cheap $10 - $20 headphones. I even went and got an x-mod because I could hear all kinds of noises from my laptop that I could no longer stand (that's probably more to do with the super.fi's sensitivity though). I was debating whether to get a headphone amp, and I wanted a DAP, but I didn't want to spend too much $$ and conveniently enough my gf had an RH-910 she thought was broken.

I actually like the experience of changing discs when I want to listen to different genre's and such (call me weird :-P), so I've been wanting to get and MD anyway. Turned out it wasn't broken at all, just something funky with the disc release. I took it apart, wiggled it a bit, put in new batteries, and it's been working beautifully.

Now, I have an itch for buying MD stuff... I really need to stop buying stuff and save up some money... but some of these MD players are sooooo purty :-)

[Strungup]

Welcome to the MDCF!!! Sputnik . " MD players sooooo purty" yep the addiction has begun .