Why do you think high quality audio is overlooked by the masses ?

Well to be fair, most of the popular consumer hd tvs have 'enhancements' that appeal to the masses moreso than true picture reproduction.  If everybody was so uptight about picture quality, everybody would be out to by high resolution crts.

Eh.. we live in a society (In america at least) that looks down on anyone with higher standards.

 

Want higher fps in a game? your greedy.

Want a sports car? your greedy.

Want higher quality audio? Your wasting money, and your greedy.

 

what is is perfectly alright to want?

A HUGE gas guzzling SUV or truck. 

It doesn't matter that you never haul anything and 99.9% of your driving is by yourself.. its a "just in case" purchase.

 

Oh its also ok to get ip4 for 500$ and use it as a media player paying 25$ a month for internet you don't use so you can seem "cool".

 

But, god help you if you pay over 100$ on headphones that actually sound good..

 

The problem is the masses are illogical and have low standards reinforced by other masses with equally low standards.

 

note: I don't care what you drive as long as you don't look down on me for what I want to drive..

 

My point isn't about people who can use ip4 for more than just the basic calls  or who are anyway technically inclined..

 

My only point is people are concerned with status symbols more than anything else.

It's just a hobby like any others.

If you go to candlepower forums you'll find people asking why people tend to buy cheap flashlights at walmart.
Go to watchuseek forums and you'll have people who think everybody should have a very nice watch.

To most people it's not the biggest deal when it come's to Quality, music is just that, music to them and there is no changing that. Your saying portability is a major problem with that and I disagree with You somewhat due to the fact that the majority if not all Love the high quality of thier music. You like most of Us put a lot into what were listening to higher end ear bud's or phone's, for some it's what they can afford and they make the best of it. Were not alone!

 

You won't be able to change the masses and they do not know what thier missing, thier loss!

You should have put this in the Member's Lounge (General Discussion).

 

imo the #1 reason would be price.

My friends freak out when i tell them i spent more than 30 bucks on a a set of headphones.

I think to some degree perspective is also important.

 

I'm a 22 year old guy.

 

Before I was 16 and got my first ipod I thought ALL headphones were these crappy little things that didn't work very well.

 

When I got my first set of ear buds.. that was "high quality" to me.. it was such a huge step up from anything available before then..

 

I have come to realize in the last few years earbuds aren't enough.. but, I'm not going to lie and say that its entirely easy to distinguish what all the differences are..

 

First you have to see something is better, then you have to understand why... And usually thats the point where it becomes so important you'll never go back.. I think "the masses" are sorta hung up at step one and don't really care to pay more than 9$ on "better" products.. 

The answer is, in one word, marketing.  If you saw as many headphone ads as you did TV or car ads, then better headphones might be ubiquitous.  A lot of people just don't know.

 

I do find it funny that people will spend a sizable chunk of change on an iPod or PMP of their choice, but then use the crap earbuds that come with them.  Guess that just comes back to people not knowing what's out there, though.

The target hi-fi market doesn't think its crazy to too crazy to spend on equipment that's 50-100+ times the mass consumer price for pretty much the same functionality.  There's also a small portion who crave for "bragging rights" despite true affordability or not.  Like every other market, you got the mass consumers and the audiophile equivalents and it's priced accordingly.

Edited by alphaphoenix - 4/11/11 at 5:35pm

Awareness (like myself before I wasted all this money )

Firstly, I would like to agree with the statement that this is a hobby. Some people enjoy hunting or collecting guns, others enjoy building their custom computers, while yet others drive lavish, expensive sports cars because that is their hobby. It is strictly the mindset, and on a smaller value scale is a lot like expensive cars. Why should I pay 10x the price of my car for this? It gets me from point A to point B just as well as my Toyota Camry, or it is not worth the extra money to have the leather seats or the powerful engine. You'd think that with the rise of MP3 players, people might heed more attention to the higher-end headphone/IEM marker, but that is not the case.

Also there is the other claim, marketing. Shure, Audio Technica, AKG, Grado, Denon, etc., don't market to a general consumer. You don't see a pair of Ath-M50's at the Apple store. In fact, you often see now products from the Monster line. While you can say they aren't the best headphones, or are outrageously overpriced for their quality, it was an ingenious plan on their behalf. For the most part I see mainly companies like Monster, Bose, Apple, Skullcandy, and Sony, as well as some third-party brands when I walk into a place like Best Buy. Also, as especially displayed by the company Skullcandy, consumers care about style and looks more then overall audio quality. Trust me, people find it amusing when they see my oddly shaped, oversized Shure 750dj's on my head. Not Skullcandys. Not Monster Beats. If audio companies wanted to put their products out there for the generalized consumer, they would've done it a while ago. I hope they impress me one day when I walk into Best Buy and see something like a Grado SR60i on the demo rack.

a good example of this would be Monster Beats.
 

 

 

Is it entirely a bad thing that high fi isn't more main stream?

 

being a niche market has its advantages...

Probably one of the most obvious examples, imo.

 

And Bose.....lol