How does one acquire the ability to analyze sound?

Listen to a lot of headphones and speakers.

You don't have to posses a musical background. As long as you hear many different headphones with different signatures you'll be able tell between signatures. Although neutrality is the hardest part since neutrality is rarely achieved in a headphone.

Ya, listen to lots of different headphones/speakers, but best of all, listen to real instruments. When people talk about something sounding warm, it's usually in comparison to:

a) the sound of the actual instrument (only applicable if the music is played on actual instruments, and not synthetic ones), or

b) other headphones/speakers

Thus if I say the Sennheiser IE8 is warm, that's partially because the majority of other earphones will sound less warm. 

That can get relativistic quite quickly though, and comparing the sound from a headphone to that of the actual instrument (heard in person) is still much more reliable.

I have always wondered that too. We have a list of terms and what they express. Most great write-ups which are descriptive in nature do so in ways which both the just starting and experienced Head-Fi member can understand. What ends up in time is the terms start to express understood qualities which many have come to understand. 

All this then has to be put into prospective of personal signature taste. What could be forward to some may not be too forward to others. Thus a forward description could for some, only be a matter of opinion.

Graphs on the other hand are more basic and could show a sound signature. Terms like smooth, buttery, sublime, cold, treble, boomy, big, thin, all just come from time being around a group of audiophiles. Plus it has to be in reference too, so if you have not heard a lot, you have no reference. The great part is some new folks use words to explain a set of headphones and even though no one ever used those words before, if they do it right it is a great write-up.    

Become an audio engineer or learn related skills (mastering, mixing, setting up microphones, etc.), build speakers, measure stuff, build amps, read a lot of books about audio engineering, etc. Establish references to equipment. Acknowledge personal preferences. Avoid Stereophile, TAS, etc.

Many people here have listened to a lot of stuff; however, the majority of those still have no idea what they are talking about. The ones who know, but still lack the full vocabulary, are smart enough to keep quiet and stick with talking about what they know.

Experience. This applies to everything.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eric_C 

Ya, listen to lots of different headphones/speakers, but best of all, listen to real instruments. When people talk about something sounding warm, it's usually in comparison to:

a) the sound of the actual instrument (only applicable if the music is played on actual instruments, and not synthetic ones),

agree nothing beats real sound.

also understanding the recording process helps general awareness. the audio chain is long and its hard to control/standardize everything along it.

life time experience.

Quote:

Originally Posted by GigaFi 

How does one get to the point where they can listen to a pair of headphones and go "oh, these are warm/cold/hot/spicy/muddy/clean/etc"?

 

Does it come with exposure to many pair of headphones or do most reviewers possess a musical background? 

 

I just started getting into the whole Head-Fi thing and hope to one day gain this skill. Where do I start? 

Stand behind a mixing desk and start listening to different headphones.

Quote:

Originally Posted by GigaFi 

How does one get to the point where they can listen to a pair of headphones and go "oh, these are warm/cold/hot/spicy/muddy/clean/etc"?

The first step is to avoid Head-Fi.

Here's a start: http://www.independentrecording.net/irn/resources/freqchart/main_display.htm

Quote:

Originally Posted by GigaFi 

How does one get to the point where they can listen to a pair of headphones and go "oh, these are warm/cold/hot/spicy/muddy/clean/etc"?

 

Does it come with exposure to many pair of headphones or do most reviewers possess a musical background? 

 

I just started getting into the whole Head-Fi thing and hope to one day gain this skill. Where do I start? 

Some people on head-fi will tell you that it can't be done, they claim everyone's hearing is flawed and biased, if this is the case, how come an audio engineer can make consistent mixes over and over again?

How come an experienced carpenter can make accurate eye + thumb measurements?

How come a sharp shooter can hit bulls eye while exhausted and out of breath in strong side wind?

How come a food critic can taste the tiniest nuances of the food he eats?

How come a blind person can see with his/her hands and hear the shape of their surroundings?

Because training and experience makes all the difference, you have to learn how to use your senses before you can trust them, a new born baby can't even focus their eyes.

You have to learn what to listen for to hear the difference, so listen to music, listen to different kinds of gear.

Better yet, get a DAW and explore your sound systems capabilities, make something you think sounds good on your system and listen to it on other sound systems, you'll get many surprises by doing this.

I recall being in this position not too long ago. In fact, I still am. Even though I don't think I'll ever own the headphones he reviews, I think Darth nut's essay on the Omega ll was perhaps the most helpful thing I read around here to get me started. He is rather precise with regards to the terminologies he utilizes, relatively speaking, that is. My viewpoint for what it's worth is that sure it might be ideal to have a set of 'agreed upon definitions' as quixotic as that may seem, but I personally find it more refreshing to read reviews that aren't rife with the hackneyed expressions in these circles. I'd say don't worry too much about these trite terminologies. Most of them are often vague and subjective and you'll only be left befuddled when one headfier utilizes a term in a manner diametrically opposed to another! 

Nevertheless, I have learned quite a bit from perusing the forums here. I found it helpful listening to the same music and same gear that a reviewer used in his/her review, and observe the way he/she explained what they heard. I did this to see if I could hear and learn what they were talking about and to see whether those impressions squared with my own.

The pdf file to darth nut's review is linked here: http://home.comcast.net/~drnath/random/darthnut.pdf

I am not sure why it is considered a desireable skill for anyone other than a professional reviewer. After all, it seems likely that the main consequence will be dissatisfaction, since even the very best headphones are not perfect.

I use a thesaurus and dartboard.