Problem with new headphones - Any ideas?

[mousouchop]

Sorry, I hope this isn't in the wrong thread...

I recently bought a pair of Skullcandy TiTans, they are chromed and very nice looking, love the weight of them and the overall build quality seems great. Previously I had Skullcandy Ink'd headphones, the difference between the two is very noticable. The TiTans have great bass in comparison, however I am having an issue with the overall sound quality with some of my tracks.

While listening to one of my favorite albums (The All-American Rejects' debut album), I heard a lot of crackling in the more complex/climactic points in the songs. I assumed that this was due to the bitrate of the songs, so I have just ripped in all 3 AAR albums into my iTunes at Apple Lossless to alleviate this issue, but am facing the same results. Playing the lossless versions from my iTunes and iPod give the same crackled effect in the more complex points in the song, crackling that I never heard before with my $15 earphones and 128kbps-320kbps files.

I realize that these are only $50 that I got for $35 from Amazon, but I don't think this is what I should be experiencing.

Do I have defective earphones? Or would burning them in get rid of this (leave them running for a few days from a looped playlist).

Any input would be great. :)

[ViciousShadow21]

you could have defective headphones or some headphones are not meant to be used plugged straight into a source. they work better when you have a headphone amplifier. that being said tho you said they were at best $50 headphones and since headphone amplifiers are usually around that price i dont think that yours are that kind but you never know. i would go back to Amazon and tell them the situation. most likely they are defective.

[mousouchop]

you could have defective headphones or some headphones are not meant to be used plugged straight into a source. they work better when you have a headphone amplifier. that being said tho you said they were at best $50 headphones and since headphone amplifiers are usually around that price i dont think that yours are that kind but you never know. i would go back to Amazon and tell them the situation. most likely they are defective.

Thanks for the response!

I am going crazy over this. I just listened to 3 tracks by three different artists in Lossless and Lossy on my old and new earphones and they all crackle... I don't understand why the Lossless is doing it! I used iTunes to rip them is at Apple Lossess. They are retail CDs bought from the store, so I should be getting the best rip possible....

I don't think the sound card on my Macbook and the chip in my iPod both decided to break at the same instant... haha, so I guess I am just cursed? I guess I could have 2 ****** headphones, they are both the same company... but I don't think I ever noticed crackling before, I have had the Ink'd ones for over a year.

I only ever listen to my music at 1-20% volume (I work in an quiet office where having the iPod volume completely down produces enough sound to hear 60% of the time), so I can't just been listening too loudy. haha.

I am kinda out of ideas. haha.

[Galley]

Are you doing anything else processor-intensive while ripping CDs?

[mousouchop]

Are you doing anything else processor-intensive while ripping CDs?

Hmm, I can't be sure... but I just did it over the past 3 days, and I don't think I have only run iChat, Firefox, Mail, iTunes and Transmission over the past 3 days. So, chances are, not.

[ViciousShadow21]

cpu intensive processes would not cause static they would cause pauses.

and you said that you didnt have this problem until after you bought the new headphones? then both your computer and iPod sound static even with your old headphones? if we follow Occam's Razor then my guess would be that the new headphones damaged the audio out port on both your computer and iPod.

[mousouchop]

cpu intensive processes would not cause static they would cause pauses.

and you said that you didn't have this problem until after you bought the new headphones? then both your computer and iPod sound static even with your old headphones? if we follow Occam's Razor then my guess would be that the new headphones damaged the audio out port on both your computer and iPod.

Hmm, that would be a logical conclusion, however--
I just fooled around with my EQ settings. It was set to "Spoken Word" on both devices, not sure why-- I have never played with EQ in my life. In anycase, I switched it to one matching my general genre of favorite music, and listened to the same CD again, and it sounds great.
I haven't heard a single crack... at this point I have no idea what is going on-- which is where I started now that I think of it. haha.

I am a very tech savvy person, so I feel a little dumb that these stupid buds have caused me so much anguish. I have never given a speck of attention to audio before. I avidly proclaimed my lack of audiophile tendencies... but I am now starting to tread this slippery slope, more expensive buds are to ensue, I can feel it.

Would the EQ settings really affect that? Or was I just having a bad day?

Maybe my house was momentarily haunted and I was hearing white noise. >< That is the only LOGICAL explanation at this point. :p

[coday182]

I'm positive, from what I've read, that you have a defective pair. I've never owned those ones but my brother has ink'd ear buds and they don't have that problem. As stated above, it should matter what kind of CPU usage was going on when you were ripping the cd's. And as far as not having a good soundcard to go with them, or needing a headphone amplifier... SkullCandy is a consumer brand, so they are specifically made to work out of the box on laptops and ipods. And how many people have those anyways, but none of them have amplifiers or anything. And just in general, considering they are a name brand consumer headphone brand, they wouldn't sell anything that sounds like you've explained above. Of course I don't think they sound good in the first place, but that's opinion orientated :D You should return them and get a new pair, or even beter get some RP-HTX7 if you want something stylish and durable.