Non-audiophile reactions to high-end headphones - Page 351  

I don't mind analogue or digital. If the gear is up to it, then I believe both can be equally good. A good ≥ 180g vinyl or a good 24/192kHz digital file, I like both experiences.

Vinyl is just much higher maintenance : cartridge, stylus, weight adjustment, dust, fingerprints, demagnetizing... and cost is higher too to get an equivalent to a good digital set-up.

There are two very distinct types of vinyl lovers. They occasionally overlap, but they need to be separated.

1. Ultimate sound quality people. These are the car-priced turntables you speak of when you say that in order for vinyl to "surpass" digital, you must spend absurd amounts of money.

2. Music lovers who actually enjoy vinyl from an intimate hobby standpoint, including the maintenance, the physical collection, the warmth, and yes even the occasional snap/crackle/pop.

While it's fine to talk about it on forums, I doubt more than 1% of vinyl collectors really care about dynamic range measurements. There are people who still build birdhouses out of wood as an expression of love for woodworking/birds when they could build one out of legos instead for less money with superior structural rigidity. People who still use the stone fireplace instead of the electric heater.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZetsuBozu0012 

Aaaand we're back to Vinyl v. Digital :/

 

Anyway, I've never tried vinyl personally, but as far as I can tell, hi-fi digital music sounds exceptionally good, even more so than the few 96/24 vinyl rips I've collected so far. Yes, I realize that it's not quite the same as listening to real vinyl, but considering the fact that a good vinyl setup is somewhat cost-prohibitive, it's the best I can hope for for now. 

 

Anyway, the vinyl rips sound a bit "grainier" than pure digital, though that could simply be due to an error in the ripping process. I'll be the first to admit that there's a certain texture or flavor to vinyl rips that digital music can't quite get right, a texture that goes well with certain genres of music. That's nowhere near good enough for claiming that vinyl is a universally good format, however. 

 

Now that I've chimed in, I'm going to go look for a bomb shelter now to avoid all the rebuttals and criticisms that I'm fairly sure are going to come flying my way now. 

 

Cheers!

Deciding whether or not you like vinyls based on digital rips of vinyls is like deciding whether or not you like how caviar tastes by watching someone else eat it on TV.

And caviar is the perfect analogy because there's a solid chance you will NOT like it.

I watched the laser turntable video where they play the piece of music with the electric guitar, and that guitar just sounded wimpy. it had no body, no soul, and sounded like a dollar store PA.

     Anyway, back on subject guys,please.

Quote:

Originally Posted by PurdueAlum 

I spent some time a few years ago working at Klipsch. The one quote that stuck with me was from the President of the company, and I am paraphrasing, "Watching HDTV without a good sound system is like having a shiny sports car without the engine". So I guess you could remove HDTV and replace with iPod and the statement holds true. I'm amazed at the number of people who don't care or even question the quality of the sound. To each his own, but I always just assumed you buy good equipment. That's what you do. I guess Hi-Fi is an acquired taste.

Analogy is flawed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mbamg 

Analogy is flawed.

It was a decent argument nonetheless. Yes, the analogy isn't perfect and the extension of it doesn't help, but the spirit was there.

chinesekiwi— "Distortion", that's it. I find it annoying that I'd forgotten the proper word for it. Thanks! :))

machoboy— True enough, which is why I mentioned that my opinion ought to be taken with a grain of salt. Not that I'm ever going to start building a serious collection of vinyl albums, mind you, not unless I suddenly win the lottery or something. As you mentioned, a person would have to spend an obscene amount of time and money (incidentally, the names of two tracks from Pink Floyd's Dark Side of The Moon, haha) to make and maintain a vinyl setup that surpasses high bitrate digital music collection. I have too many hobbies at the moment (apart from hi-fi: playing video games, collecting/reading books, and collecting/using fountain pens), so I've got to manage my finances wisely, haha. But I digress. Anyway, to address your caviar-on-TV analogy, I doubt that the difference between listening to a vinyl 96/24 FLAC rip is as far removed from listening to actual vinyl as eating caviar is to merely watching someone eat caviar on TV. I see what you're trying to get to, though. Also, I've no real desire to try sturgeon eggs; it seems... gross :/

Quote:

Originally Posted by PurdueAlum 

I spent some time a few years ago working at Klipsch. The one quote that stuck with me was from the President of the company, and I am paraphrasing, "Watching HDTV without a good sound system is like having a shiny sports car without the engine". So I guess you could remove HDTV and replace with iPod and the statement holds true. I'm amazed at the number of people who don't care or even question the quality of the sound. To each his own, but I always just assumed you buy good equipment. That's what you do. I guess Hi-Fi is an acquired taste.

Um, I kinda see the direction of the analogy, but while a HDTV + low-fidelity sound system is still *somewhat* workable, a car without an engine simply won't run.

Now, if he'd mentioned a car with a weak engine, that'd be more accurate.

Hair-splitting aside, I agree that hi-fi is something of an acquired taste. As of the moment, I'm stuck with *mid*-fi gear (my AKG K242s are, at the moment, my best headphones), and happy with it. The moment I reach the pinnacle of high-fidelity audio, which I believe to be either the Sennheiser Orpheus system or the Stax SR-009 + Dark Star combo, then there'd be nowhere else to go but down. The sound I'm getting now is probably a lot inferior to what many here are used to, but I'm going to enjoy gradually upgrading my rig and allowing my ears to adjust for the next couple of decades or so. It'll keep me happy while my ears are still capable of hearing higher frequencies :))

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZetsuBozu0012 

 

Um, I kinda see the direction of the analogy, but while a HDTV + low-fidelity sound system is still *somewhat* workable, a car without an engine simply won't run.

 

Now, if he'd mentioned a car with a weak engine, that'd be more accurate.

 

Hair-splitting aside, I agree that hi-fi is something of an acquired taste. As of the moment, I'm stuck with *mid*-fi gear (my AKG K242s are, at the moment, my best headphones), and happy with it. The moment I reach the pinnacle of high-fidelity audio, which I believe to be either the Sennheiser Orpheus system or the Stax SR-009 + Dark Star combo, then there'd be nowhere else to go but down. The sound I'm getting now is probably a lot inferior to what many here are used to, but I'm going to enjoy gradually upgrading my rig and allowing my ears to adjust for the next couple of decades or so. It'll keep me happy while my ears are still capable of hearing higher frequencies :))

This combo simply won't run either as the Darkstar is for dynamic and planar magnetic cans only. For the Stax it should be something like the A10-Thunderbolt, BHSE, Woo WES or the Cavalli Liquid Lightning.

I searched this thread and found a reaction to HE-400 once :(

LOL im 13

Quote:

Originally Posted by soundhax 

LOL im 13

Anyway, yesterday I brought along my AKG K181 to a meet. A few teammates compared them to a pair of iBeats. They thought the very veiled iBeats were better, probably because the iBeats' bass is more direct due to IEM's design or something.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MorbidToaster 


The problem with listening to into rips is you get the RIAA magic from vinyl and then run it through your DAC. It does sound pretty different than straight vinyl.
Might have a hard time getting your DarkStar to power those 009s. Lol

That's like driving a HE-6 with Fiio E3