Hello, everyone:

I was wondering what kind of music--or specific song--I should listen to on my ipod or PC (currently have integrated audio) to learn to discern quality of sound. I just spent $95 on Grados SR80 headphones and would get some nice speakers (Audioengnine A2s or A5s) with an x-fi or M-Audio sound card, but I want to make sure these things will actually make a difference for me.

What can you recommend for listening tests? What should I listen for? Because my PC soundcard is probably not as good as my ipod 5G sound, I'd be loading 320 kbps mp3s into the ipod. If you recommend using wave files for the listening test (or CDs themselves, played through the PC), I'll do that.

Thanks,
JM

Well since the purpose of your test is very subjective you should listen to music in whatever typical conditions are for you, typical music for you and so on... Ultimately your ears are going to be the biggest variable in all of this... if you can't hear the difference between the two sets of headphones (think hard) then the ipod ones should be just fine for you. OTOH, if you notice the difference between the Grados and the ipod phones then you should move on to testing out some speakers in the same environment since they give a different sound than headphones anyway.

Saying you can hear the difference between different headphones doesn't do any good when moving on to speakers because the listening experience is different. You'd be best off to see if you can borrow some speakers from someone before you buy & don't give in to some moron selling speakers, those listening booths/rooms in the stores are just that- listening rooms and aren't geared toward real life audio environments. I don't know about you but me I gotta factor in the kids... the laundry room... the lawnmower outside...

I think you need to do some more research regarding blind ABX tests. You are always supposed to have a lossless source file, then you compare various lossy encodings to that lossless file to see if you can hear a difference. Most people would agree that 320kbps is overkill no matter what genre you are listening to.

So rip a couple of tracks to a lossless format (WAV, FLAC, AIFF, etc.) and then encode that track using the encoder of your choice at various settings. Download a program called foobar2000 and install every option. Then conduct your blind ABX test with that software. That way your ears will discern if 320kbps mp3 is for you or not.

On top of that, you should use music from your library. Don't go out of your way just to find the limits of your lossy encoder of choice. Don't go with a Dimmu Borgir song unless you actually listen to metal, don't go with classical music unless you actually listen to classical. It would be pointless to conduct a blind ABX test using music that you don't listen to.

Thanks to you both for your replies. To clarify, I want to test headphone differences, not file differences. So for example, you might say, "if you listen to Darude's 'Tear Apart,' you'll notice that the bass in the grados sounds [descriptive words], whereas in the ipod ear buds it sounds [descriptive words]. And in Miles David's [song name], the cymbals sound like blah blah blah." Get it? I just want to know what details I'm supposed to be able to perceive. For now, let's assume my ears are fine and that a bit of training will allow me to perceive things that were always there.

I hope this clarifies what I'm after, and I hope it's possible to do this via Internet forum instead of in person.

So you don't have the Grado's yet?

I would say if you don't notice a difference in the SR80's and your earbuds, then there's no hope for you.
Really, there should be a huge difference and you'll be able to tell what sounds like what just from listening, you don't/won't/shouldn't need anybody to tell you what they'll be.

Ah, I see now. You shouldn't need any specific tracks to listen to. You should be able to hear the difference pretty much no matter what music you listen to. An upgrade in headphones is just that, an upgrade in the hardware used to play the music. If you can't hear the difference between those and the stock Apple earbuds (my $30 pair of Sony earbuds sound better) then count yourself lucky (I guess) and return the Grado's. You should be able to hear a difference no matter what tracks you listen to though.

Since you would really like some examples it seems, I would suggest something classical with strong dynamics. Try the "Gladiator" soundtrack or "The Mission" soundtrack. I m not going to suggest here what you should listen for,but it would be interesting to hear your opinion after you gave those a go.

When I want to compare various equipment, I've tended to listen to Dire Straits' Brothers in Arms disc. It is one of the first full 3 DDD albums and has a good range of music, from loud rock (money for nothing) to soft/quiet ballads (brothers in arms) to wide dynamic range (the man's too strong).

And its a great album too.

I use the Prodigy track "Mindfields" to test headphones, partially because I listened to it hundreds of times since I bought the album but mainly because it has a wide frequency range and a very snappy snare drum which often exposes headphones weaknesses.

For instance, on the heavy bass, almost junglist section of the song, the iPod headphones sound like they are behind a bandpass filter when compared to almost any decent pair of 'phones.

Thanks a lot, guys. I will give those soundtracks/songs a go, and will try to listen through a high-quality CD player instead of through my integrated sound card, which may be the quality bottleneck before the headphones have a chance to shine.

Now, off to the hardware section to get CD player recommendations.

Addendum: I just purchased a PA2V2 headphone amp to bring out the bass and higher freqs on these headphones. I'll report whether they sound considerably better than they do now, compared to themselves and to amped ibuds.

JM