Non-audiophile reactions to high-end headphones - Page 280

Back in high school I used to have a small group friends that came over to my house to play poker and hang out on the weekends. In those days, my setup was a MHDT Paradisea/Gilmore Lite/HD650. Over time, I noticed that one the guys took to wandering around the house instead of just hanging with the group in the basement/backyard/whatever. He was a bit quirky and a good friend, so it didn't really phase me. 

As it turned out, every single week, after spending some time hanging out, he would make a b-line straight to my bedroom to listen to my setup for an hour or two. It put a smile on my face when I caught him completely zoned out, feeling the music.

I just got my Ultrasone Ed. 8 LEs in. Typical response from coworkers, family, and friends has been along the lines of, "Oh wow, these sound great." They run off to get whatever headphones they're typically using and do a comparison. They look a little dejected when they realize how huge the difference is. Then they ask how much it cost. Most balk at the price, but I remind them that they're spending upwards of 2 grand on computers that they use primarily for sending email, looking at facebook, and chatting with friends. Even those who are particularly incredulous about the price seem to concede that point.

 

After getting these, I turned my DT-770s over to a friend / colleague who was previously listening through some really cheap Sennheiser cans. The sort that I might even trade for some Skull Candy phones -- I'm not recalling the model number offhand; perhaps they were the HD-201s. In any event, he'd heard the DT-770s a time or two before, and when he saw me walking over with them, he got this huge grin on his face, and he's been noticeably happier the past few days.

 

Looking forward to showing off the portable rig a bit more when I get the HP-P1 in. :)

My girlfriend now refuses to listen to my Grado SR60's because she's afraid they'll completely ruin music as she knows it through her little earbuds (I've already ruined it enough for her by letting her demo my other cans). She doesn't want to be a headphone freak like me.

1. After listening to Paul McCartney with HD650, friend said "I did not understand what he was singing, now I get it." He got an Ultrasone HFI-780 and Beyer DTX80 afterwards.

 

2. While listening with HD650, a friend opened his mouth with a shocking face like he's hearing horrible voices. "I never heard those hidden things before."

 

3. "You pr!ck." A friend commented after hearing T1 for 3 secs. And joyfully shake his head with facepalm and all sorts of crazy moves.

 

4. Another friend just don't wanna go home without the T1, after listening it for 30 mins in a lil' cafe. He got the Beyer DTX100.

Not high-end, but I got LOADS of positive feedback on my new headphones. They are a rebrand of the FA-004

Or just respond with psychotic laughter, turn around and walk away...

So I gave to my girlfriend a pair of V-Moda V-80 for valentines day. Immediately, she tried them on and I saw a huge grin on her face while she was listening to music through her Sony Xperia Arc followed by wows and hugs and kisses next. Afterwards, when she returned home, she texted me that she can now hear the difference with low and high quality songs and that she can't put them off.

I can't wait what will the reaction be when she'll bring it to school.

 

I also brought my cheap portable rig (DT-880 Pro, iTouch -> Fiio E11 + L9 LOD) to school. Reactions were very positive, as always they're grinning and smiling, everybody wanted to try them and their eyes opened very wide. Except for three people. One (a Beats owner) said it had very good SQ but no isolation. I can understand that and I respect his opinion but yeah... I wish he could have a relisten but in a more quiet room. The other, I think he was faking it but I have doubts, he listened for some time but I think in a very low volume. I saw him nodding and his foot tapping on the floor. When he took it off, he only said he can't distinguish the difference between his Sennheiser HD238. I've listened the HD238 a while ago and all I can remember was that it sounded very veiled and dark with the lows just covering everything on the range. The last one, well he said that he only hears music and that it's just music.

I wonder how will they react if I bring a more expensive one such as the Fostex HP-P1 paired with my DT-880 Pro.

Nice.  Good job with the V-day gift for your girlfriend.  I think you've infected her with the audio bug now.  Nice portable rig you've got there, by the way.

"They sound nice...but who would pay a few hundred for headphones"

 

 .....

 

well. im back on this thread again. good to be back guys /:D

Haha, I remember that in some classroom they were selling beats like bread, let's say 3 people wanted them.
The first one said "I'll get the solos" then another one said "they're too expensive for me" and left off; but then the third guy said he'd get the pros and said the solos sound awful, and the first one said "it's not the SQ that matters the most". Even if you're not into audio that much it is lame to get phones just for the looks, at the low end it's not that much of a rip-off, but you know fashion.

"Sh#t thats gonna cost like, a thousand dollars" Friend one's comment on the SRH750DJs.  "These are great !" Friend two's comment on the DT250 and 242HD.

I hooked my mums ipod touch up to my E7 when i was home and let everybody listen, think it finally made them realise why it's my hobby. Not really high end gear but some decent byers. My sister got all excited about what was going on and after finally getting her to find a song to listen to she was pretty amazed... but then she went on to ask why there were foam pads on them. yep.

foam pads on what??

 

really? the amp of teh E7 isn't very high quality. and your moms ipod probably didn't have quality tracks.....wait till you get their favorite songs  and cd rip them and then use the E7 as a DAC and amp...and try that :D haha

Just the foam pads on the headphones. I was going to try that but my ipod was dead. and i wasnt bothered charging it

 

 

My friend claimed that more expensive headphones were simply placebo effect, and don't actually sound good, rather, the more you pay the better you expect them to sound. After he said that, I passed him my TF10's. His expression was priceless.