If you're like most people, you're probably unaware of how bad your headphones are compared to others at similar prices. I was like that in the past, happily using my stock iRiver earbuds, and replacing them with Philips earbuds as soon as they broke. They broke easily, and often, and in a year's time I ended up buying 5 pairs at around P300 each. I didn't care, because I thought spending more than P300 on headphones seemed extravagant, even though I had already spent a total of P1500 on junk.
Eventually, I ended up trying (and, shortly after, buying) a Grado SR-60. The Grado SR-60 really changed the way I appreciated music. I could hear details I never noticed before. Nuances in voices were much clearer and instrument separation and positioning were actually discernible. Simply put, the SR-60 played my music properly, and it was a HUGE difference.
Later on, I found out about other headphones, headphone amplifiers, DACs, and other geeky audio gear that can improve sound quality. I paid particular attention to the budget level of headphone gear, because the quality-per-peso ratio is much higher. I have tried most of the available budget audio options available in the Philippines, and I have come to my own conclusions. The objective of this post is to share these conclusions with you in a very simple way.
1.) Headphones
This is the most important part of your setup. By spending a just little on headphones, your listening experience will improve dramatically. Headphones affect the sound quality the most, so make sure you get good headphones before the other stuff in this post.
To my knowledge, there are only a few headphones in the Philippines that sound good, cost little, and are easy to find.
JVC Flats
JVC Marshmallows
SoundMagic PL11
All of these headphones cost around P1000. They all sound much better than everything else at this price. If you've only listened to crap headphones before, these will blow you away. Most people will find these adequate for their needs, and may not want to upgrade for the rest of their lives. The Marshmallows and PL11 are both in-ear headphones, which means they sit inside your ear canal, blocking much of the sound outside. This is convenient for noisy environments, but may not be appropriate for situations when you need to hear other people. The Flats are closed headphones. They do not block much outside noise, but they will ruin your super cool hairdo. I recommend the PL11 because it comes with 5 pairs of tips. The different tips will make sure you find a comfortable fit.
The Marshmallows and Flats are available at Datablitz, while the PL11 is available at Peeps Gameshop, gogadgets.multiply.com, or fiiophils at tipidpc. Fiiophils will do meetups for listening tests and purchases. Gogadgets ships quickly and accepts different forms of payment.
2.) Amplifiers
Yes, headphone amplifiers exist. I won't pretend to know how or why they work, but they do. They can definitely improve your sound, but in most cases, they're just way too expensive for the improvement they make. If you really like your headphones, but still want better sound from them, then an amplifier is the next step. There are a few budget options available in the Philippines.
Fiio E1
Fiio E5
The E1 connects directly to any iPod's bottom connector, so it will only work with devices with those connections. The E5 connects to anything with a headphone jack, so it's much more flexible.
The E5 is easily the best choice because it sounds better than the rest, and it has an internal battery that charges through USB. The E1 and E5 both cost around P1000. They can be bought from the same places as the Soundmagic PL11.
Your mileage with these may vary. A friend of mine has reported a great improvement with a Samsung Champ + E5, while I don't get much with my iPod Video 5.5gen + E5.
3.) DACs
Digital-to-Analog Converters, or DACs, are devices that read your MP3 files and turn them into to signals that your headphones can play. These devices can only read digital files, which means they can rarely be used with anything that isn't a computer.
As far as I know, there is only one easy-to-find DAC that doesn't suck major balls, and that is the Encore USB sound box, available at your unfriendly neighborhood CDR-King. It costs P1080.
It has a ton of different features aside from simply improving sound quality. There's an optical input jack for SPDIF, two microphone inputs for recording, a Line In jack that acts as a headphone amplifier in itself, and surround output for cheap PC surround speakers. Aside from that, this DAC has better sound quality than the Fiio E7, which costs four times as much!
4.) Other stuff
Just a few more things:
- If you don't think your headphones are pulling their weight in cash, try going back to crappy stock headphones after a few weeks. Your ears will go "bleccchhhhh".
- Use good song rips. Don't go below 256kbps for MP3s.
- JVC Flats and Marshmallows can be modified very easily for free sound improvements.
- Use Line Out connections with amplifiers. When connecting them to computers, choose "speakers" instead of "headphones".
- When going for sound quality on the road, only in-ear headphones are truly viable. Headphones allow too much noise into your ears, drowning out the details.
- Contrary to popular opinion and marketing technique, Skullcandys do not sound good. Although expensive, they cannot be considered upgrades from the three headphones above. I know this because I have tried them. In fact, there is one lying around in my room. If you do not believe me, just borrow one and put it against any of the three headphones. Test, compare, and laugh.
There. That's it. That's a simple rundown of the best bang-for-the-buck headphone equipment available in the Philippines. Again, get headphones first, and everything else later. Happy listening, and I hope you don't get audiophilia after this!
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