In article <(E-Mail Removed)>,
ScottW <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> My Sansa clip with Sony MDR-EX85 buds (total cost about $100) provides
> sound competetive with any hi-end system the industry can offer.

> ScottW

Wow, that's quite a statement. Of course, that rig SHOULD be SOTA,
since the buds can go down to 5Hz according to Sony.

On Jan 24, 6:45=A0am, Jenn <jennconductsREMOVET...@mac.com> wrote:
> In article <7s1tdnFpt...@mid.individual.net>,
>
> =A0ScottW <Scott...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> > My Sansa clip with Sony MDR-EX85 buds (total cost about $100) provides
> > sound competetive with any hi-end system the industry can offer.
> > ScottW
>
> Wow, that's quite a statement. =A0Of course, that rig SHOULD be SOTA,
> since the buds can go down to 5Hz according to Sony.

You might be underestimating where SOTA is in personal listening
But aside from the soundstage location, the discomfort factor, and the
lack of feeling
the bass, the sound in my ears is really about as good as it gets at
any price IMO.
Makes it really difficult to entice young people who grew up
accustomed to the
drawbacks of personal listening systems with nebulous benefits
of expensive hi-end setups.

ScottW

In article <(E-Mail Removed)>,
ScottW <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> On Jan 24, 6:45=A0am, Jenn <jennconductsREMOVET...@mac.com> wrote:
> > In article <7s1tdnFpt...@mid.individual.net>,
> >
> > =A0ScottW <Scott...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> > > My Sansa clip with Sony MDR-EX85 buds (total cost about $100) provides
> > > sound competetive with any hi-end system the industry can offer.
> > > ScottW
> >
> > Wow, that's quite a statement. =A0Of course, that rig SHOULD be SOTA,
> > since the buds can go down to 5Hz according to Sony.
>
> You might be underestimating where SOTA is in personal listening
> But aside from the soundstage location, the discomfort factor, and the
> lack of feeling
> the bass, the sound in my ears is really about as good as it gets at
> any price IMO.
> Makes it really difficult to entice young people who grew up
> accustomed to the
> drawbacks of personal listening systems with nebulous benefits
> of expensive hi-end setups.

Well, I guess that we just disagree (nothing wrong with that, of
course!) I've never heard anything like the low frequencies present on
many recordings with earbuds.

Do you use WMA lossless?

"Jenn" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)
> In article <(E-Mail Removed)>,
> ScottW <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>> My Sansa clip with Sony MDR-EX85 buds (total cost about
>> $100) provides sound competetive with any hi-end system
>> the industry can offer.

> Wow, that's quite a statement.

Probably not hype, given the range of performance that high end audio
equipment includes.

The Sansa clip is like a lot of digital players - basically a CD quality
player, if you load it with audio files that can exploit it. Major
limitation is lack of output for use with earphones that do not provide a
high level of effective performance. IOW, with some high impedance
headphones, an external headphone amplifier may be advisable.

The Sansa clip is said to have FLAC (lossless) file support, which addresss
any perfectionist audiophile concerns with lossy compression.

The MDR EX85 earphones seem like a good match with 16 ohm impedance and 105
dB/mW sensitivity.

I've long been an owner of MDR EX70 IEMs, and recently purchased a pair of
MDR EX76s when my more expensive Shure IEMs failed while I was on a camping
trip.

> Of course, that rig
> SHOULD be SOTA, since the buds can go down to 5Hz
> according to Sony.

The downside of earphones (these aren't exactly earbuds, but rather are
proper IEMs) is that they don't provide the chest and gut stimulus of a good
subwoofer. The plus is that due to the miniscule volume of air they work
with, it doesn't take a lot to provide ample SPLs at low frequencies.

On Jan 25, 10:36=A0am, "Arny Krueger" <ar...@hotpop.com> wrote:
> "Jenn" <jennconductsREMOVET...@mac.com> wrote in message
> > In article <7s1tdnFpt...@mid.individual.net>,
> > ScottW <Scott...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> >> My Sansa clip with Sony MDR-EX85 buds (total cost about
> >> $100) provides sound competetive with any hi-end system
> >> the industry can offer.
> > Wow, that's quite a statement.
>
> Probably not hype, given the range of performance that high end audio
> equipment includes.

Well, I wouldn't claim "state of the art", but my rather more
expensive setup with an iPod "classic" and Sennheiser IE8 "in ear"
headphones is truly a "high end" experience for me. And it is
available on the bus.

The imaging is distorted of course, as with all earphones, and there
is no physical slam to the bass as there can be with a large
subwoofer, but there is plenty of bass, and deep bass at that, on
offer, along with very low distortion and detailed midrange and
treble. I find it sonically, for all practical purposes, at least the
equal of any "high end" setup using speakers I've heard anyway.

And as I said, I can experience this while riding the bus, at
considerable volumes and without disturbing anyone nearby.

On Jan 25, 5:20=A0am, Jenn <jennconductsREMOVET...@mac.com> wrote:
> In article <7s3snfFdb...@mid.individual.net>,
>
>
>
>
>
> =A0ScottW <Scott...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> > On Jan 24, 6:45=3DA0am, Jenn <jennconductsREMOVET...@mac.com> wrote:
> > > In article <7s1tdnFpt...@mid.individual.net>,
>
> > > =3DA0ScottW <Scott...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> > > > My Sansa clip with Sony MDR-EX85 buds (total cost about $100) provi=
des
> > > > sound competetive with any hi-end system the industry can offer.
> > > > ScottW
>
> > > Wow, that's quite a statement. =3DA0Of course, that rig SHOULD be SOT=
A,
> > > since the buds can go down to 5Hz according to Sony.
>
> > =A0You might be underestimating where SOTA is in personal listening
> > But aside from the soundstage location, the discomfort factor, and the
> > lack of feeling
> > the bass, the sound in my ears is really about as good as it gets at
> > any price IMO.
> > Makes it really difficult to entice young people who grew up
> > accustomed to the
> > drawbacks of personal listening systems with nebulous benefits
> > of expensive hi-end setups.
>
> Well, I guess that we just disagree (nothing wrong with that, of
> course!) =A0I've never heard anything like the low frequencies =A0present=
on
> many recordings with earbuds.
>
> Do you use WMA lossless?

No, VBR.
I read the clip supports lossless but it didn't work for me.

ScottW