A review of the Pandora's sound and music capability.

[Poem58]

While never affording to be a true audiophile, I have come to find that Sony's in Ear buds (MDR-51LP) which are no longer made sounded absolutely fantastic as the stated range on the box appeared to be what you really got (6-23,000hz.) It was actually a bit weird to "feel" the bass when these phones pumped, unfortunately they seem to go just so long and one of the drivers will just quit. So I went on amazon and got the sister model which has annoying adapters as it also has a built on microphone, but managed to get them for about $12 on Amazon (originally 35 for the 51LP's and the 71's with the mic was about $55)


For those who want good sound but cannot afford the really fancy buds, go find the Sony ones and look for the best deal you can. Even if the driver dies on one side at the end of a year like mine, if you only paid $12-20, you may feel it the best $12-20 you ever spent. They have newer ones in the $30-$50 range but reviews say these models are way more failure prone...so as usual YMMV.


I had to find a player worthy of my headphones so I took my headphones with me and ended up choosing the Samsung T-10 over the comparable Sony model as it had a bit more range and very sweet audio customizations while matching Sony's clarity, and it was a bit less expensive. I have come to appreciate the quality level of this setup and have found all my old listening habits are no longer acceptable. I was hoping the Pandora would be a replacement due to the discussions about the Burr-Brown DAC etc from about a year and a half ago, so this thread makes me very happy, although it doesn't help with patience (the more good things I see the more impatient I feel and I didn't think being any less patient was possible!)

 

[davidgro]

I hate to be the one to ask this, but how are the built-in speakers?


Mostly I want to know if I'll be able to play YouTube clips and silly .MP3s for friends, loud enough for them to hear (my laptop barely is) and if it might work as an alarm clock when it's in a coat pocket.


(Edit: Oh hey, I hadn't posted here yet.)

 

[Elanzer]

I hate to be the one to ask this, but how are the built-in speakers?


Mostly I want to know if I'll be able to play YouTube clips and silly .MP3s for friends, loud enough for them to hear (my laptop barely is) and if it might work as an alarm clock when it's in a coat pocket.


(Edit: Oh hey, I hadn't posted here yet.)

The built in speakers are quieter than any laptops speakers I've heard. Using my N900 with a noise measurement program gives me about 38dB ambient noise on my desk, while playing music on the Pandora about a foot away it measures 60dB.


It's also much quieter than my N900, but the speakers sound much better - mostly because my N900's speakers sound terrible and distort at maximum volume, the Pandora's on the other hand play pretty clear at full volume.


I'd say it's enough, I think if it had much more gain going to the speakers it would probably sound distorted like the N900 does.

 

[fraseyboy]

Ah I was waiting for a review like this. What headphones were you using for these impressions? I wonder if it will do my HF2's justice... Also, does it have a line out for use with an external amplifier?

 

[BaDToaD]

Ah I was waiting for a review like this. What headphones were you using for these impressions? I wonder if it will do my HF2's justice... Also, does it have a line out for use with an external amplifier?

see reply 13 for the headphones i was using. No line out I am afraid but hopefully a dock will be made at some point. It has been discussed in the past.


It should be good with your HF2s

 

[ibisum]

On the recommendation of headphones subject, I've got Grado SR80's with my Pandora .. amazing sound, really good price.

 

[BaDToaD]

Actually I've just remembered some closed cans for those on a budget. Sony MDR V150. These can be had for under a tenner and are the best low price closed cans I've personally heard. I've just plugged mine into the Pandora and they produce a reasonable tone across the frequency range and they actually manage a bit of a soundstage.


Don't expect serious HiFi but they are still pretty musical and definately not LoFi For a tenner you can't go wrong. In fact I'd say these make an excellent companion for those Pandorians on a budget that still want a quality sound.


I'll try them for games during my lunch break but they should be fine.


EDIT: They are fine for games. I played some PSX at lunchtime and Rollcage sounded pretty good. Crash Bandicoot 2 sounded very good and Medi Evil Sounded Very Good/Very atmospheric. Plenty good enough to immerse yourself in your games.


Play.com have them at £9.39


Sony MDR V150

 

[Bosbeetle]

Ive been using it with my grado sr-60s and it's crazy good (sadly one of the cables on my sr-60 now has a nick in it have to get it fixed :angry: )


It also sounds great attached to my 1979 sansui stereo set

 

[fraseyboy]

Ah I was waiting for a review like this. What headphones were you using for these impressions? I wonder if it will do my HF2's justice... Also, does it have a line out for use with an external amplifier?

see reply 13 for the headphones i was using. No line out I am afraid but hopefully a dock will be made at some point. It has been discussed in the past.


It should be good with your HF2s

A 'hi-fi' dock with line out/in and optical out would be awesome. Hopefully it'll happen.

 

[r00tw00t]

I suspected it was great sound when I watched this video:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/QDbLQI91510?feature=oembed a looooong time ago

 

[Wild_Duck]

I was surprised at the audio quality from the Pandora, I use Flac and it really was detailed and even had enough power to drive my old Audio Technica ATH-911 although not at ear-wax melting volumes.

 

[Polossatik]

First of all, I beg your pardon if I'm being an "heretic"


I'm more fond of "in ear" headphones (are they called earphones?) because I use my gaming gear mostly while travelling - I have no room for big headphones


Maybe you can hint some brand or model that can use the pandora's sound capabilities better than the 3€ earphones found everywhere around eBay!


That would be great!

they are not "plug ins" but personally I really really like my Koss PortaPro..


they look like straight out of Miami vice but sounds very nice.


the KossPorta Pro can be folded up - does not take much place

 

[ZXDunny]

Anyone any experience with these:


Sennheiser MX 760?


They look pretty cheap, but the reviews appear quite good.


D.

 

[Prometheus]

Ah I was waiting for a review like this. What headphones were you using for these impressions? I wonder if it will do my HF2's justice... Also, does it have a line out for use with an external amplifier?

see reply 13 for the headphones i was using. No line out I am afraid but hopefully a dock will be made at some point. It has been discussed in the past.

If my memory serves me correctly, the TV-out cables are meant to feature line-out (and line-in), unless something has changed.

 

[Wootson]

I'm a long time Sennheiser headphones user and can say that the Pandora has some really powerful sound coming from such a tiny device. In fact, the sound is much harder and clearer than via my Asus P6T motherboard which also has very good onboard audio. Currently I have a Sennheiser HD595 full size headphone. If I play music via the Pandora this thing really is too much for my ears and I need to turn down the volume with certain tracks. In the past I also had a pretty expensive separate audio card from Asus (Xonar D2) and I can say that Pandora's sound is just as good, if not better (leaning towards better).


The sound chip of the Pandora really kicks some serious ass!


What I'm also interested in is if the sound chip has specific sound features like the old SID chip for example. That way people can eventually make a specific "Pandora sound" when making music.

 

[BaDToaD]

they are not "plug ins" but personally I really really like my Koss PortaPro..


they look like straight out of Miami vice but sounds very nice.


the KossPorta Pro can be folded up - does not take much place

If you like open headphones IMHO the Koss Porta Pro represent the best bang for the buck / Sound per pound of any headphone on the planet.

 

[Link]

I knew there was a Brown Burr DAC but I had no idea so much effort went into making this thing sound so much better than good. Thanks MWeston for your input and diligence to real sound.

 

[fraseyboy]

they are not "plug ins" but personally I really really like my Koss PortaPro..


they look like straight out of Miami vice but sounds very nice.


the KossPorta Pro can be folded up - does not take much place

If you like open headphones IMHO the Koss Porta Pro represent the best bang for the buck / Sound per pound of any headphone on the planet.

KSC-75 ftw. Best $20 I've ever spent.

 

[BaDToaD]

they are not "plug ins" but personally I really really like my Koss PortaPro..


they look like straight out of Miami vice but sounds very nice.


the KossPorta Pro can be folded up - does not take much place

If you like open headphones IMHO the Koss Porta Pro represent the best bang for the buck / Sound per pound of any headphone on the planet.

KSC-75 ftw. Best $20 I've ever spent.

Same drivers as the Porta Pro I believe. I'm not a fan of over the ear headphones though but for people that like them the KSC-75 are excellent.

 

[Esn]

I hate to be the one to ask this, but how are the built-in speakers?


Mostly I want to know if I'll be able to play YouTube clips and silly .MP3s for friends, loud enough for them to hear (my laptop barely is) and if it might work as an alarm clock when it's in a coat pocket.


(Edit: Oh hey, I hadn't posted here yet.)

While the headphone output quality is indeed very nice, and the inbuilt speakers can go fairly loud (well, enough to be heard clearly in a hallway), I've found the sound quality that comes without headphones on lower volumes to be noticeably worse than on the GP32. I think this is primarily because on the GP32 the speakers were set some way back into the case and the sound had some room to resonate, whereas on the Pandora they're placed right up against the case.


As for headphones, Grado headphones are some of the best. They don't look very good, but the sound quality is great.