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Which ones?

Just listen to your speakers. They will break in as they play.

Here is a guide to making MP3s. You can mostly skip steps 3 and 4.
 
Should I keep them at reasonably low volume levels so they won't blow or something?

thanks for the ripping info :)
 
I seriously don't have any CD's though......I just need to know what bitrate to use? I have like 500 songs with 128-256...should this sound good enough? i can just rent some cd's at the library and rip them...thanks for the info
 
I know this sounds like a stupid question, but can you get programs that can change the bitrate of an MP3?
Click to expand...

Yes, but don't do it. Taking a 128Kbps mp3 and converting it into a 256kbps mp3 ("transcoding") actually results in a loss of quality.

Keep your downloaded music in the form you downloaded it in unless it's lossless, like a FLAC or a Shorten file.

Taking a lossy compressed file like an mp3 or an AAC and trying to make it larger only makes it sound worse, because the information you want to add back to the file was already gone to begin with.
 
ok, so should i make replica's of the the songs i have, or is 128-256 high enough?
 
If you can find higher bitrate encodes of the same songs and they arent transcoded you could download them if you want. 128kbps mp3 is too low for my tastes, but 256kbps (LAME or FhG) is usually fine.

It depends on your ears to some extent, but I think most people with good multimedia speakers like the ones you're buying will prefer at least good quality 160kbps mp3 encodes for most if not all types of music (except maybe monophonic jazz from 1924).
 
Yea, if you can manage, stick with 192Kbits or above. A lot of the 'scene' groups are now ripping using APS, which is about godamn time. Now, if somebody could convince them to use track numbers, and properly name artists and track titles for compilations, that would be a different matter.

And yea, don't re-encode mp3s, it's a terrible idea. Listen to Leukotriene =]
 
also, what volume level should I have my satelites and subwoofer at to break them in? and how long should I do this for?


Thanks :)
 
eli said:
also, what volume level should I have my satelites and subwoofer at to break them in? and how long should I do this for?


Thanks :)
Click to expand...

Breakin is one of those points that is heavily contended. Audiophiles will defend it to their last breath, claiming that this-or-that tweeter requires a minimum of 200 hours play time to sound right, but this is coming from the same people that will pay for speaker wire that costs thousands of dollars, hardwood volume control knobs that magically decrease vibration and increase sound quality for 500$ [I'm not shitting you on this, but I'm too lazy to find the link over at head-fi] and vairous other mumbojumbo.

Keep an open mind, and if the claims sound too good to be true, they probably are. If you can ABX a 20$ cable from a 2000$ one, I'll mail you the London bridge. Fedex Overnight.

That being said, there are certainly differences between hardware, like speakers, amps, enclosures, DACS, etc. However, be cautious when you see a claim that an interconnect can 'unveil new depths of clarity to the midrange, extend the high frequency response, and tighten bass.' Reviews from MANY publications are just this type, one starstruck person [at best, some people benefit directly from the ads of the high-end cable manufacturers, which in turn guarantees the manufacturers a superlative review packed full of imaginative descriptors] soapboxes on how great cable X is, over cable Y, while making no real attempt to scientifically determine a difference.
 
hehe, well I'll just play them and they'll get broken in naturally. If they end up breaking, I can get a replacement from klipsch.

thank you BO(V)BZ :)

Also, were do you recommend i place my subwoofer? I have wood floors and a reletively small room.
 
eli said:
hehe, well I'll just play them and they'll get broken in naturally. If they end up breaking, I can get a replacement from klipsch.

thank you BO(V)BZ :)

Also, were do you recommend i place my subwoofer? I have wood floors and a reletively small room.
Click to expand...

Best bet is to put it in a corner, it'll give you ~6dB more out of it. That's called corner loading, just so you know. Make sure you leave a few inches on each side, probably about 6" between the wall and any woofers/ports, if you can manage that.
 
http://www.polkaudio.com/home/faqad/advice.php?article=subsetup

[snip]

Positioning
Room acoustics have an enormous impact on the sound of speakers, including subwoofers. A phenomenon called "standing waves" makes bass response uneven from place to place in your room. To experience this for yourself, put on a CD with a strong, consistent bass line. Notice how the volume of the bass goes up and down as you move around the room. Stand in one place and then squat down-you will probably notice that the bass changes in the vertical plane as well!

Because the subwoofer's location affects how standing waves are created, the first step to getting accurate bass response is finding the right spots for your subwoofer and your listening position. We'll share a few guidelines that may be helpful, but in the long run nothing beats trial, error and your own two ears.

Stick It In The Corner-
This is the advice most often given and it certainly will yield loud bass. But corner mounting may make the woofer sound "one note-ey," and boomy on music. If lack of bass volume is your biggest subwoofer problem, this may be the answer for you.

Avoid Sitting Up Against the Wall-
Bass waves build up and "hang out" at room boundaries (walls). Your system will sound thick and heavy when your listening chair is up against a wall. If you must sit against the wall because of furniture layout, place your subwoofer away from walls and corners.

Avoid Symmetrical Placement-
"Avoid putting the subwoofer the same distance from two walls. For example, if you have a 20' wide room, don't put the subwoofer 10' from each wall. Similarly, don't put the subwoofer near a corner and equidistant from the side and rear walls. Instead, stagger the distances to each wall."1

Put The Subwoofer As Close To The Main Speakers As Possible-
Even though bass sounds are non-localizable, cabinet resonance and other factors conspire to make this less true in practice than in theory. It'll be much easier to get seamless blending between sub and main speakers if they are on the same side of the room. If possible, put the subwoofer behind the plane of the main speakers. At very least, keep the subwoofer in the front half of the room.

Here's An Old Trick-
Put your woofer in the same spot as your listening position. It's best to raise the subwoofer off the ground to seated ear height (use a sturdy, non-resonant platform). "Play a piece of music with an ascending and descending bass line such as a 'walking' bass in straight-ahead jazz [see recording suggestions]. Crawl around the floor on your hands and knees…until you find the spot where the bass sounds smoothest, and where each bass note has about the same volume and clarity. Avoid positions where some notes 'hang' longer and/or sound slower or thicker than others. When you've determined where the bass sounds best, put the subwoofer there."1

[/snip]
 
wow, that really helps :) I have a strong little shelf that I could use to prop the subwoofer off the ground.

I'll let you know how it sounds, thanks
 
If you get yourself an SPL meter, the 'put the sub in the listening position' trick is also good for finding where you'll get the best SPL's from, if you don't mind crawling around the floor taking readings =] Of course, if your sub is too big, that might be a bit of a challenge...there was no way in hell I was going to do that with my 140lb monster. If that slipped, I didn't really want a broken arm =]
 
You should have seen the size of the box it came on.. no way it would have gotten through my front door! I had to unpack it outside to get it inside, and getting it up the stairs to my room was a totally different matter too =]
 
wow!....that must have costed a lot....would it be possible for you to post a picture of your sound system? if its too much trouble...thanks totally fine...it just sounds pretty awesome...

ok, here's what I am going to do to break my speakers in...

Listen to music 3+ hours a day at moderate volume levels for 1-2 weeks. sound like a decent plan?
 
http://www.svsubwoofers.com/subs_pb2_plus.htm

nice....I'll take two!

Does this sound like a good idea for breaking in my speakers BO(V)BZ:

Listen to music 3+ hours a day at moderate volume levels for 1-2 weeks. sound like a decent plan?

I would really like to see pics of your system when you get a chance ;) By the way, how big is the room you use that thing in? can they blow a womans clothes off?

thanks for your help :)
 
Does this sound like a good idea for breaking in my speakers BO(V)BZ:

Listen to music 3+ hours a day at moderate volume levels for 1-2 weeks. sound like a decent plan?
 
I wouldn't worry about attempting to contrive a procedure for "breaking in" your gear since everyone who claims it's a great idea seems to have a different procedure for doing so.
Just listen to your gear. After a while it will be "broken in" automagically by using it.

This is multimedia gear you're buying, not a $10,000 pair of towers.
 
Yea, I wouldn't really worry about break-in. It certainly could be another audiophile myth out there. Most likely, you'll simply get used to the brand of sound your speakers produce, and once you do, they will sound 'better' even if nothing changed.

The room I'm in is fairly small, cause I'm living in a house on campus w/ 3 friends. It's about 16x9X8, roughly a 1000ft^3 due to the way the ceiling is shaped [triangular cutouts from the roof, I'm on the top floor]

I don't know about blowing women's clothes off [at least, that didn't work when I tried it with my g/f =] but when I'm listening to a movie at high volume, you can feel vibrations anywhere inside or outside the house. The scene when Frodo is about to toss the ring into Mount Doom, where all you hear is his heart beating, is crazy.

Though I've got a great sub, my speakers are lacking right now. I've just got a pair of old Acoustic research right now, cause I blew all my cash either on my sub or my headphones/amp [another thousand there], and my receiver was another 1200. Needless to say, I'm saving up over summer to get some speakers. I'm going to get either one of these two, depending on how much cash I get, and if I can get the more expensive ones on Bstock =]

http://www.av123.com/products_product.php?section=speakers&product=25.1
http://www.av123.com/products_product.php?section=speakers&product=4.1

I've listened to the second set, and those are really nice. I'm assuming the Ref ones are the same way, but better.
 
Do you have a surround sound setup BO(V)BZ, or just 2.1? I think your system is really awesome. Once I start my new job....I can save up for a good system...around $1000-$1500 or so. I am thinking I could just start out getting two bookshelf or floor standing speakers and a digital reciever, then later on, I can get a subwoofer and maybe some more speakers. I hear klipsch is good...maybe I'll go with them. Until then, I will enjoy the system thats in the mail. I think that if I get a really good sound system...you know something in the 100-1500$$ range, then I will move my room to my basement...My family would wig out if I didn't.

oh, by the way..I am thinking about investing in a klipsch SWS later on...do you think its worth the money?

good luck with you new speakers, they look awesome, and I am sure they have the performance to match :)
 
Right now, it's just 2.1 . I've been busting lots of cash these days buying all kinds of other junk, like laserdiscs and laboratory glassware, so I haven't had the funds to improve my current lack of 5.1 . Also, when I get some speakers, I want them to be damn good, and those cost some real scratch.

Re: the SWS: First, try your system out for a month at least. If you really think that bass is missing, then think about getting an SWS. Just so you know, after I roughly calibrated my system to actually output a correct level of bass, it really isn't what you would think. Bass, on anything but EBM and dance type music is pretty laid back, not really all that crazy at all. However, the second you throw a DVD in, it gets really wild. I watched revolutions last night, and that had some killer bass. Still, that didn't beat ROTK, that movie takes the cake. When I get home, I'm thinking I'll watch some Fight Club and try that out.

I think that the strategy you outlined is a good one... it's the same I'm doing =] First, got my receiver:
http://www.ac4l.com/Amazing/itemdesc.asp?CartId=1312846-EVEREST-1NXHMY36&ic=MAR+SR8200&tpc=
and a cheap pair of bookshelves to go with it. Course, I ruined my upgrade path by dumping a grand into some headphone equipment, but what can you do =]
After that, I got the SVS PB2+ for my sub, and coming soon will be a much nicer soundcard:
http://www.zzounds.com/item--EMU1212M
At the end of summer, it'll be speakers from Onix [the brand that makes the ones I posted above]

This way, I can add components as I get the money, but still have a very enjoyable setup either way.
 
My 12" Velodyne weighs 60 pounds and I don't really want to move that either. Best I can afford at the moment though as a college student.

Hmm, seeing the polk link, I've often wondered what the opinion is on polk speakers here. I've heard a number of the R series (R50, R20 etc) and for the money they are not bad. I think you could get a surround setup with those for about $1000.
 
I also need to purchase a good set of headphones for late night, or when people don't want to hear my music. I don't want to spend much, and the HD497's look like the best choice at only $50. do you recommend these or perhaps something else? Also, if I hook headphones up to the amp on one of my new speakers, will it use my soundcards capability?....I don't want to buy an amp...


thanks
 
also, do the HD497 sound good without an amp? I might purchase one later, but till then, I will be using it with my computer, and my mp3 player.


thanks
 
I haven't heard the HD497's, but I know that a lot of people like them. The Grado SR60's I have heard, and those are pretty nice also, but with a different sound than Sennheiser phones. Grado's are definitely brighter, aka they have a lot more high-frequency emphasis, which some people like better, while Sennheiser are 'laid-back.' I haven't spent a lot of time with the SR60's/80's [my friend owns both] but I can't say that I immediately formed a preference. I'd say between the Grado's do a better job with the treble, while Sennheiser does a better job with the midrange.
 
I actually think I might go with the Sennheiser HD555...sure, they are $120, but I can manage...do you think I need an amp with these? if so, I can get one of those mint tin amps...

Aperently, my speakers didn't ship when I ordered them, my parents didn't have enough room on their credit card or something....but they shipped today...my sound card should be here today. I will let you know how it goes...

thanks
 
Sounds good Eli,

The 555's are supposed to be pretty good. My philosophy is to spend as much money as you can afford at any given time on audio equipment, that way you won't be tempted nearly as much to upgrade =]
 
good point...I can get the HD 555 for $l20. Do you know if the HD555's run good without an amp? I have $160 left, and I want the speaker cable which will run me $30...which leaves 10 for the amp....I have to choose between speaker cable, or a mint tin amp...that is if I really need one..

thanks BO(V)BZ :)

Edit:
My philosophy is to spend as much money as you can afford at any given time on audio equipment, that way you won't be tempted nearly as much to upgrade =]
Click to expand...

lol, not for you...
 
eli said:
also, do the HD497 sound good without an amp? I might purchase one later, but till then, I will be using it with my computer, and my mp3 player.


thanks
Click to expand...

yes they do
 
They should work just fine without an amp. Leave the amp as an upgrade sometime later, it'll let you increase the quality of your system by just dropping one small part sometime in the future.

Shit, I can power HD570's and HD650's off my Game Theater XP, or my friend's Audigy2ZS, or off my portable CD player, they all work fairly well. The amp is for that last 10-20%, if you really want perfection.
 
They should work just fine without an amp. Leave the amp as an upgrade sometime later, it'll let you increase the quality of your system by just dropping one small part sometime in the future.
Click to expand...

are you refering to the HD555's? I can actually afford to get one of those $30~ mint tin amps....I just got $20 for mowing the lawn+alowance..

Well, I got my new audigy 2 ZS installed, I can even tell the difference from my soundstorm with my two-peice junky speakers. Can't wait till my other ones come.

thanks for all your help BOV)BZ...you always seem to be there to help people
 
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