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I wonder, "Are my ears good enough for..."

post #1 of 14
11/30/09 at 3:44pm
Thread Starter 
As I gradually climb the Head-Fi ladder I wonder if the law of diminishing returns will rear its ugly head at some point.

For as long as I can remember I have always had a slight case of tinnitus (most likely due to frequent adolescent inner ear infections). I notice it in a quiet room, sleeping and music at a very low volume. But the ringing is drowned out when listening to music at a normal volume, or so I think.

It's very difficult to know how my ears compare to others, but I wonder if my ears are good enough to tell the difference between an Ultrasone Pro 650 and a Pro 900, or a pair of Sennheiser HD600s vs HD800s.

But I guess that's what CanJam is for.
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post #2 of 14
11/30/09 at 3:49pm
Even if you are half-deaf you can probably tell the difference. If you have bad hearing, you should be used to the way it sounds. I'm pretty sure that my hearing isn't the best, but it doesn't keep me from being an audiophile and experience difference between headphones.
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post #3 of 14
11/30/09 at 4:00pm
Tinnitus is annoying...I hear a sharp high pitched noise whenever things are quiet, meaning I never really get any quiet.
If I can listen carefully enough to differentiate FLAC and 320kbps on iBuds, I'm sure you'll appreciate better headphones.
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post #4 of 14
11/30/09 at 4:04pm
If you listen to a 12 khz tone (or whatever your highest pitch is) you can appreciate how little presence that actually has in music. Details in high treble are extremely subtle and add practically nothing compared to better mids, lower treble and textured bass.

Provided you can hear the essential, you can be an audiophile.

Its not what you've got, its how you use it.
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post #5 of 14
11/30/09 at 4:08pm
Unless the differences between two phones are solely within the frequencies that a person can't hear, the person should be able to tell the difference.

Besides, the law of diminishing returns kicks in regardless. Perfect or poor hearing won't matter.
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post #6 of 14
11/30/09 at 4:12pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by P4Z View Post
If I can listen carefully enough to differentiate FLAC and 320kbps on iBuds, I'm sure you'll appreciate better headphones.
You can do that? Damn you're good.
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post #7 of 14
11/30/09 at 4:13pm
Yep.
To use an analogy:
$75 is always going to be 10% of $750 regardless of the exchange rate.
$ being sound quality, and the exchange rate being your hearing.
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post #8 of 14
11/30/09 at 4:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by P4Z View Post
Yep.
To use an analogy:
$75 is always going to be 10% of $750 regardless of the exchange rate.
$ being sound quality, and the exchange rate being your hearing.
75 CAD isnt 10% of 750 USD at all
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post #9 of 14
11/30/09 at 5:07pm
You know exactly what I mean. CBA explaining if you don't.
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post #10 of 14
11/30/09 at 7:19pm
you'll be fine...your ears are plenty good enough to hear the differeneces.
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post #11 of 14
11/30/09 at 10:09pm
especially if you stick with sighted comparisons (unavoidable with headphones) and read a few reviews 1st

between expectation effects and lack of level matching you will always perceive differences
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post #12 of 14
12/1/09 at 2:28am
I have no idea how good your ears are.

However, I strongly recommend going to CanJam. Even if you find that you cannot tell the difference between headphones, you will still have a hell of a good time.
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post #13 of 14
12/1/09 at 2:40pm
I do not know exactly how damaged your hearing are.
But they have taken some serious damage if they do not allow you to hear a difference between headphones.
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post #14 of 14
12/1/09 at 2:44pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by krmathis View Post
I do know know exactly how damaged your hearing are.
But they have taken some serious damage if they do not allow you to hear a difference between headphones.
So far, so good. It takes moderate volume to drown out the ringing, but that being said I can still tell the difference between mid-level headphones. I've owned the K 240s, HD 25SP, Pro 650s, various on ear and various IEM/earbuds. All of which I can hear very distinct tonal differences.

I only wonder at what point I will cease being able to do so. Only time and lots of $$$ will tell!
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