[DblTap]

Hello everyone, first post in your rather informative forums, and as such i don't think there could be a better place to ask my question!
 
If I did somehow miss a thread containing my question during my search, please point me in that direction, if not then this thread should be of some educational value to future searches.
 
My current setup:
Sennheiser HD 558's (purchased after reading many reviews and crawling this forum, best bang in my price range)
FiiO E06 (most portable, bang to buck ratio)
Zune HD 16 GB (... somewhat disgruntled with this little thing)
 
So, I'm looking to buy a new source... after doing some research I have come to an standstill. During the research I have found that there appear to be no sources with an output frequency range greater than 20-20k. The Senn 558's handle 15-28k... a mere 5 on the low end but a decent 8k on the high.
 
My question then is this: Are there any portable sources that have a wider range than the standard 20-20k? I realize that 1. they are portables and 2. that the standard range for the headphones people typically use is to that standard, but I would like to avoid that bottleneck and not clip the high end off my sound spectrum if at all possible. Just seems like a waste to use FLAC with something that would potentially hard-cap sound quality.
 
Thanks, and regards for now!

 

[headfinoob]

I feel like your priorities are out of order. Forget about frequency response numbers, it literally doesn't matter.
One manufacturer can significantly vary compared to another in how they rate their products. The discussions found on headfi comparing high end sources are going to be more fruitful than comparing specs.
Sent from my ADR6425LVW using Tapatalk 2

 

[NZtechfreak]

Agree, don't worry about the misleading frequency reproduction ranges you're being quoted there.
 
The full range of human hearing is basically considered to be 20-20K, so whatever the headphone manufacturer tells you about sounds up to 28K/40K/whateverK is utterly irrelevant. The semi-mythical "golden-eared" individual might hear a little more, but they are vanishingly rare, and you're unlikely to be one.

 

[DblTap]

I'll start browsing the threads in that section then, any suggestions or threads you've found particularly informative?
 
>>NZtechfreak: I take a hearing test once a year and have above average hearing... by no means super human but still, no need to snub.

 

[NZtechfreak]

Quote:

I'll start browsing the threads in that section then, any suggestions or threads you've found particularly informative?
 
>>NZtechfreak: I take a hearing test once a year and have above average hearing... by no means super human but still, no need to snub.

 
Not intended as a snub at all, just a reality check since you're barking up the wrong tree.
 
You may have above average hearing, but that would still likely place you within the stated normal hearing range, which encompasses people with above average hearing also. I don't even think golden-eared individuals are capable of hearing to 28KHz, and certainly most hearing tests don't go above 20KHz (or at least in New Zealand, where I work as a doctor I don't see any above that range). Many in fact don't really extend beyond 8-10KHz, because in terms of hearing function as it relates to spoken communications, there isn't anything particularly relevant above that.

 

[JK1]

" During the research I have found that there appear to be no sources with an output frequency range greater than 20-20k."
 
Saying that human hearing is from 20 hz to 20K hz is itself a great exaggeration.
 
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/sound/eqloud.html#c1

 

[DblTap]

Regardless of humans hearing ranges or my hearing range, I didn't post this thread intending an argument on the subject...
Has anyone ever seen a portable source with a range outside of the standard 20Hz-20KHz?

 

[NZtechfreak]

There seems to be no helping some people...
 
I've not heard of any I'm afraid. If I do see any I will let you know.

 

[skamp]

DAPs that can natively play high res audio (like the iBasso DX100) might be able to go a little over 20 kHz (probably not all the way to 48 or 96 kHz though). A simple RMAA test at 96 kHz would show that.

 

[DblTap]

Thanks for the response skamp, i took a look at the DX100... an impressive peace of hardware, a bit pricey but impressive all the same.