Hearing new details in new headphones is a myth

So according to you, one can use a pair of $3 Chinese headphones, listen to a rush concert or fleetwood mac then listen to the same on a Shure srh940 and not hear things they didn't previously hear? Astonishing, I could have saved boatloads of money. I just needed to train my brain to hear the sounds.

lolol wat

Thanks for sharing your comprehensive experience

I know what you mean , however some sounds can mask others if the balance is incorrect (boosted upper mids masking low treble etc), kind of how psychoacoustics in lossy encoding works.

 

 

Just depends on your definition of detail I guess.

 

For me, more detail means a better ability to lock onto different aspects of the music with ease, especially the vocals. For others, better detail could mean a more realistic tonality or perhaps a more realistic sounding soundstage/headstage.

 

Detail is all about the small particulars of sound (hence the word detail), I don't think anyone really means that they heard entire new instruments that weren't there before with their lower end headphones =P.

o_O?

I can't believe I responded to this thread. You win!

 

-Daniel

Its true that a even a cheap bad sounding headphone still gets most of the critical musical information to the listener, most of the details will be there if you listen closely to a bad headphone. The question is whether the brain or ears can interpret the details easily. Assuming the source and amp are the same, a cheap headphone and a high end phone will still receive the same signal and both will atleast attempt to reproduce the sound. The driver moves regardless. The difference is a high end headphone will make the details more accessible to the listener. You wont have to strain as much to hear the details. Cheap headphones tend to mask and blur the details because of bad frequency response, distortion, slow impulse response, etc... But yes, the details are still there. But are the details easy for your brain to process?  

 

Do some research about psychoacoustics. IMO, Bose is very well known to have "bad" sounding speakers on paper and to audiophiles ears, yet they still manage to make the music very easy to understand and thats why average idiots like Bose. You dont have to be a trained listener to hear nuances with Bose. Amar Bose is one of the smartest people in the realm of psychoacoustics.

 

 

Edited by EYEdROP - 7/8/11 at 12:56am

Sure anyone can hear a whisper in a mob but can you isolate it?

Extreme case: If a pair of headphones is crappy enough, its own noise and distortion will be higher than certain parts of the music it is playing. Those details will be lost. This still applies to better headphones, but to a lesser extent.

 

More commonly: Any pair of good headphones capable of 20Hz-20kHz should reproduce basically the same audible details. However, each can have a slightly different presentation of those details (i.e. frequency response in headphones is never flat). And this leads to you noticing details you did not notice before.

 

I know what you're trying to convey - but what you've stated above does not make sense.  I highlighted the main bits that you might want to rethink again .....

 

If it's still audible to the individual with the old cans, they would hear it, and then obviously not exclaim that with the new cans they are hearing new things.

 

HOWEVER

 

If it's not audible to the individual - and remember I'm not saying the detail isn't in the recording - with the old equipment, but suddenly becomes audible with the new equipment (via better frequency response, clarity etc) - then they are hearing new detail (ie something they haven't heard before).  So your statement is incorrect.

 

And I'll freely admit with my old cans (Senn eh250s) I missed a lot of detail that became noticeable with my newer gear (artists breathing, the slide of fingers on a fret board, even the whisper of backing singers) that became very apparent with my Shures.  I'm only at the mid-fi level as well - so I expect to notice even finer detail as/when I get more detailed cans.  Before, even though the detail was in the recording, it was not audible to me.  With new gear, it became audible - hence why some people then have a revelation.

 

I'm also guessing (you don't list a great deal in your sig) that you possible haven't had a chance to listen to many detailed cans?  (I'm not taking a swipe at you - far from it - just making an observation).  Although I've listened to music all my life (40+ years), it's only been the last couple of years that I've really ventured into mid-fi.  You may be surprised how much detail you discover as you get more refined gear, and also as your music tastes change as well.  The new discovery (those oh-m'god moments) are part of what makes the journey so enjoyable .  Even if you don't get those moments - don't simply discount/deny that others will.

Edited by Brooko - 7/8/11 at 1:23am

Nothing's black or white, I can hear the details more clearly when i listen to it early in the morning at about 6-7 a.m rather than if i listen to it at night.

" but yes you would hear every detail that the song has, whether distorted, bassy, piercing, etc. it WILL be there. As long as the headphone can recreate the FREQUENCY"

 

It's official.

A troll has been born in head-fi.
TrantaLocked is it's name

Let's not feed it please, or take any of it's words to have any worth.

 

Obvious fact is obvious. This guy treats general knowledge like some kind of epiphany.

Either he JUST had this one. Or he's looking for a reaction.

Edited by LegendaryLvl1 - 7/8/11 at 1:44am