First let me say that I strongly appreciate this discussion, and have no problems with folks voicing their opinions ... in fact I relish it. This is going to be a difficult learning process for all of us here at HeadRoom, and we want to come out the other end delivering the widest possible satisfaction.
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Originally Posted by jjsoviet
I do hope there will be some changes in the reviewing system of Headroom's site, to keep it all neutral, objective and unbiased.
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Originally Posted by baka1969
I've seen a fundamental shift in their evaluations more towards subjective marketing of a product and away from objective placement of a product. -Ross
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I'm pretty sure that evaluating headphones remains more a subjective than an objective task, though there's a good measure of each. And I guaranty you, I've been working very hard on that exact thing.
It seems to me what you're really trying to say is that we're moving away from reviewing stuff from an audiophile centric position, and that's true.
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Originally Posted by baka1969
My problem is that Headroom decided to include the Skullcandy Titan, an average product at best even within it's own price category, on their ten best headphone list. When there are other more deserving candidates. I see this as purely a marketing move and not one worthy of the status they tried hard to achieve. And, in not just my eyes, hurts their reputation as a audiophile provider. It insults my intelligence and puts the rest of their products and recommendations as suspect.
I think Headroom could have approached marketing the Skullcandy line in a different way without alienating it's core consumer base.
Nowhere in any of my posts did I suggest Headroom not sell a product that could add to it's own bottom line. Just don't try to sell me that sow's ear as a silk tie. It's insulting.
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Ah ... maybe your viewpoint would be insulting to someone with different tastes to yours.
(BTW, I'm fine with your comments, in appreciate them greatly, but I need to use them to make a point. Sorry in advance for being a little hard on you, I don't mean it personally, but I do want to answer your initial reactions even if you may have changed your view somewhat already, as many people will have similar first reactions.)
Let me quote myself from earlier in this thread:
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Originally Posted by me
I'll tell you a little story, I have a 13 year old daughter. I handed here a pair of gaudy plaid Skullcandy headphones and a pair of Denon 1001s. The 1001 is obviously far better sounding.
I asked her which one sounded better; she answered that the Skullcandy did. I acknowledged that the Skullcandy was pretty, but did it really sound better, and I made her listen again. Well, she claimed the Skullcandy did.
Obviously her perception was dramatically altered by the styling of the cans, but none the less, that was her perception. Now if she wants a pair of headphones for Christmas should I force the Denons down her throat, or should I please her with the Skullcandy's, and wait for her to outgrow the attraction and then give her better headphones when she grows up?
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So, for a 13 y/o girl, the Skullcandy would bring her more pleasure. And isn't that what someone is buying: their pleasure?
Our Top Ten list is not a list of the ten best sounding headphones, but a list of the ten headphones we think would be most satisfying to our intended audience. (Audiophiles, technophiles {people who are tech savy}, and general consumers.) The target audience and application for the Top Ten products is not explicitly stated (and we're thinking about that) but when those folks go to the top ten list they should be able to naturally find the headphones they'd be attracted to.
Given that, let me justify the Titan's position as a Top Ten headphone. If you look at the market of people who are likely to buy headphones out there, one fairly significant category is 12-18 y/o kids, and the parents of those kids. The normal usage of this group is from an iPod listening to 128kbs mp3-like rips of miserably over-compressed pop music. Doesn't much matter if their listening to stock buds on a Hello Kitty mp3 player or a Sooloos file player with HD800s, the original music file is crap --- garbage in, garbage out.
What those kids want is plenty of bass and blingy toys. The Titan is exquisite in that regard. Seriously, what middle school kid wouldn't dig this:
Great bass, decent sound, colorful, and durable enough to run over them with a skateboard. Sorry, these are
great headphones for kids, and your comments essentially are telling them that they don't matter to you. That could be taken as an insult to them.
I'll also mention here that you can't use 'under $50 as the category because a kid might go for $30, but not $50. The lower the price, them more dense is the price sensitivity.
Further, that market alone (headphones for middle and high school age kids) is at least ten times (and probably more like a hundred or a thousand times) bigger than the audio enthusiast market. I'd LOVE for HeadRoom to get a piece of that action.
Believe me, I'm not giving up on the fact that headphones exist to reproduce artwork, and that they have a sacred duty to do that well and honor the artistic intent of the musicians and recording professionals. But they're also a toy, and we need to respect the users values as well, and in the case of cans for most youngsters, the Titans are very, very cool.
And! If they buy the Titans, they will have a positive experience with IEMs, and might be willing to look at Shures and Etymotics when they head off to college.
Take care ... seriously, thanks for brining it up.
PS! At that price point, I really think the Sony MDR-EX56LP is the good sounding can.
There is just no contest.
