General headphone discussion

Happy Cake Day @ProfFalkin.

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Happy cake emoji thing day @ProfFalkin!

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Yes, Just saw your cake slice. Happy Happy, Many happy returns for the day. Maybe enjoy a couple of Moon Pies.

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HBD, or do you only celebrate your lunar birthday given your profile pic?!

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Perhaps he goes to the light side of the moon once a year? Or should we just look for him on the dark side of the moon? The #*(!@$ alarm clock song caused me to sell that album outright.

Happy BD @ProfFalkin.

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Tough crowd. They were ahead of their time. Some consider clocks, writing on a chalkboard, or bubbles to be prime test tracks!

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Here’s one that was unexpected for me.

Since I started listening to headphones my interest in the typical “studio album” has gone down and my interest in natural environment and pure electronica has gone up.

I just find it bizarre that the vocals have reverb out of nowhere while the other instruments are in a completely different environment.

Were these people even in the same room or did they just record wherever they were and email the recording to somebody who shoved them onto one track?

I’ll probably get over it but it is surprising to discover.

Electronica might seem inconsistent but all bets are off since it doesn’t have a physical representation to begin with. Anything is viable since it just came from people fiddling with knobs anyway (ok, unfair exageration).

Well, that’s my thought for the day.

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This became common in 1998 with the rise of Auto-Tune in pop music. Probably not coincidentally, this is the same era where “same room” sound fell away in favor of very loud mixes.

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Oh right, the dreaded loudness wars.

I’ll probably wind up going back to my earliest memories and then working forward in making my “master playlist”. It will probably get harder when I reach the end of the 90’s.

Ask the people of Alderan.

Oh, wait…

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If you’re saying what I think you’re saying, I’m currently working on a new blog post related to this. I am relatively new to high end headphones and I’m discovering that live music really shines with them. I think this may be one reason why so many people involved in this hobby include jazz and classical in their primary music genres.

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I’m basically saying for me there’s not that much appeal in going after “fidelity” to a source that is arbitrary.

In terms of high end headphones in general, everyone has their own tastes and preferences.

You have to be careful about what you conclude is a cause for music preference.

There aren’t many 14 year olds buying $2,000 headphones. The demographics alone may explain a lot.

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I’m not saying that. I’m saying if your preferred music already includes a vast selection of live recordings, that may be one (of many) factors that lead you to get into hi-fidelity audio reproduction as a hobby. It’s just a theory I’m toying with.

Yes, that’s an interesting idea.

Maybe post a link to your article when it goes live.

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Not physically. Emotionally though… quite a few.

Hey all! I’m new here.

Been looking for a “daily driver” headphone primarily for watching movies but also occasional music listening.

I’ve tried the following headphones over the past 3-4 weeks through my Topping DX3 DAC/Amp:

  1. Roland AH-A7 (already owned these, technically a “live instrument” headphone)
  2. Hifiman Sundara
  3. Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro
  4. Audeze Mobius
  5. Sennheiser 660S

I’ve always considered myself a bit of a “audiophile lite,” insomuch as I understand and appreciate dynamics, detail, soundstage, and all the technical and musical details that go into the listening experience. To my chagrin, my ears enjoy the least expensive headphones (which I already owned): the Roland AH-A7. I desperately want to enjoy the more expansive soundstage, more accurate tonality, and increased detail of the more expensive sets. But after extensive A/Bing, to my ears, the Roland’s just have a “dynamic punch,” as well as more intimacy, like the instrument and vocals were recorded “closer to the mic.” They’re a bit of a sharper sounding (accentuated high mids/low treble), and the soundstage is smaller than most of the othersets (save for the closed back Mobius), but they simply seem more dynamic than all the others (maybe not the right word).

Fwiw, all of these more expensive sets sound fantastic. Amazing imaging, soundstage, etc. But most of them come across to me as very “unexciting” to me. There’s a wonderful warmth and depth to many of them, but none of them make me feel like I want to “bob my head” like the Rolands do.

Has anyone else tried these Roland headphones? They’re ~$150 and I’d love input from others as to whether these are representative of a type of tonality that I could find in more detailed sets (if so, recommendations?) I thought perhaps the 660S would be similar, based on all the talk about Sennheiser having an “intimate soundstage,” but I didn’t find them very similar at all.) Thanks!

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Welcome! I haven’t tried the Rolands. It is possible that your Rolands have the best synergy with your DX3, and that your other headphones require an alternative DAC/amp with which they have better synergy in order to be unleashed and reach their potential.

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I’d suggest adding a Schiit Loki tone control to your setup. That may let you tune your more expensive headphones to your taste for the content you enjoy. Many of us here like certain cheap headphones.
.

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Sounds to me like you need something with a more V shape frequency response. Like @pennstac said, try adding an equalizer either software on your PC, through a DSP DAC, or with the Loki.

Best t-shirt ever?

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