MP3 vs Hi Res

Kijanki - what headphones and headamp are you using?

I have a totally modded out Lyr with Siemens CCA grey-plate tubes and I can hear the difference in .wav and 160kbps MP3. I am using HE-400 headphones.

The separation I get is unlike any other headamp however. The MP3 sounds a bit congested.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio

I just bought portable E07K from Fiio. IT is DAC and amp. Previously I made an amp for my brother using full discrete circuitry with whole bunch of output transistors and two double FET input pairs plus DC servo. I even simulated whole circuit in Pspice.

http://headwize.com/?page_id=79

This time I had no energy to build it again. I used to have Sennheiser 580 but now I bough AKG k271 mkII. Sound is still a little on the bright/rough side but it requires time.

I tried MP3s before and concluded that AAC is way better. MP3 has also better and worse encoders. Lame MP3 used to be a very good one but it was many years ago.

I don't expect miracles but so far E07K sound is very good. I have JVC K2HD record Wei-Li "Red Ciff Capriccio" with Gusheng (Chinese harp) close-miked. Sound is as pure and rich as it gets and this tiny amp works very well. Speakers give a little more punch at lower midrange but it might be headphones fault (I read about it). My Samsung Galaxy will drive this DAC thru USB port. I don't expect much from portable, but would like to store most of my records. So far my 64GB microSD card is almost full.

Kijanki - anyone that listens mosly to headphones owes it to themselves to use tube headamp. Nothing else like it. I am currently building the Bottlehead SEX amp and putting lots of great parts of my own in it. I expect it to crush the Lyr, although the modded Lyr is fantastic.

I've been to a few Head-Fi shows and listened to a lot of headphones. Only 2 challenged my ribbon speakers: HE-400 and and older Ultrasone.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio

Steve, I don't really like headphones, using them only on vacation etc. Tube amp is not that portable and is not battery powered. My tiny E07k works 22 hours on single charge.

AKG k271 mkII is not perfect but has better midrange and lower bass extension than k240. One can find much better headphones but not for $125 brand new, with 2 year warranty.

Will the real Steve N. please stand up. In the CD vs FLAC thread you write:

"If you are planning on USB from a computer and you actually have a highly resolving system, FLAC will not sound as good as .wav. Even AIFF files dont sound as good as FLAC. The differences are mostly in the imaging soundstage and compression. FLAC loses a lot of the airiness and high frequency echo cues from the venue.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio"

In this thread you write:

"Depends entirely on the kbps rate of the MP3. If it is 256k or above, it will sond virtually identical to a .wav file except on the most resolving systems on the planet.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio"

So a 256K Mp3 sounds as good as a .wav file but a FLAC file does not? What am I missing?