Headsets sound great on any other output, awful on Sanza Clip+

MP3 players Sansa Clip | Clip+
1

Howdy,

I have a problem and this is driving me mad. I’ve bought my first decent quality set of headphones today. I have a Sanza Clip+ for about two months now.

I’ve used it mostly for audiobooks and some easy music and it’s great for that. However, it’s awful with this set of headphones. They may not seem much (only $30, discount sale) but they should be highly superior to the ones that came from Sandisk. 

To get to the problem, the sound quality is awful. I mean AWFUL. It’s muddy and it’s virtually driving me insane. On another source (a Nokia phone) it sounds great. Rich bass, natural sounds, etc. I’ve even done a side by side comparasion of a song by Adele on YouTube and the Mp3 and YouTube wins big time (through my laptop’s headphone jack).

I don’t know why. The headphones are called MDR-XB300 by Sony.

Once again, they sound AWESOME on the Nokia’s output and from my computer. When I listen to my MP3 player it’s like all the frequencies jam one into another and I can’t listen this way. The stock, $5 headphones from Sanza sound a lot better than this.

I’ve tried to play a bit with the EQ but the improvement is very marginal. I can’t rockbox it since it’s bought primarly for Audible. 

Here’s the link of the headphones:

http://reviews.cnet.com/headphones/sony-mdr-xb300-black/4505-7877_7-33578646.html

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-MDR-XB300-Extra-Bass-Headphones/dp/B001RB24R8

I know they are not amazing but it does not make any sense. Right now, a 360p video on YouTube sounds great while several FLAC albums on the Sanza sound awful.

Suggestions please? I’m frustrated because of this … 

2

Sounds like they are not plugged in all the way.

3

This is the first thing I’ve checked, as the simplest solution is usually the best one. They are plugged. Plugging them more than this would ruin the jack. 

4

Sounds like the ground pin isn’t connected right. Probably a bad mp3 player or a less then precisely made connector on the headphones.

5

Got it to work somehow … as long as I keep the volume low and I play a bit more with the EQ, it sounds very decent. The sound is 1000x stronger on a PC (5% in VLC means 100% in Clip+) but it works :slight_smile:

My guess is that these are not headsets made for Mp3 in generals and require a bigger power source. Btw, all other headsets work perfectly, as long as they are small, in-hear headsets so I doubt it’s a connection problem.

Someone suggested to use an battery powered amplificator but that costs an extra $30 … so it can wait :slight_smile:

7

@razvan123 wrote:

Got it to work somehow … as long as I keep the volume low and I play a bit more with the EQ, it sounds very decent. The sound is 1000x stronger on a PC (5% in VLC means 100% in Clip+) but it works :slight_smile:

 

My guess is that these are not headsets made for Mp3 in generals and require a bigger power source. Btw, all other headsets work perfectly, as long as they are small, in-hear headsets so I doubt it’s a connection problem.

 

Someone suggested to use an battery powered amplificator but that costs an extra $30 … so it can wait :slight_smile:

 

 

Are you in the EU using a volume capped firmware?  Output power from the clip is actually similiar or a bit higher then most PCs.