It's truly a great state of transcendence, you will know and see all at once; nothing is beyond your purview.  

 

 

“If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear as it is - infinite”

 

 -William Blake

 

 

 

As a regular poster on the headphone guidance threads, I'll be the first to admit that I do recommend headphones that I've never heard.But at the same time, I try to avoid giving definitive opinions and encourage people to do some more in-depth research themselves. And while I agree that getting an opinion or recommendation from someone who owns the headphones is ideal, the issue is that that's not always possible. The recommendations thread is one of the first places many people go when they first post on Head-Fi, when they don't really know much about headphones, about the different sound signatures, soundstage, open versus closed, etc. And the problem is, there's too many people looking for advice, and not enough giving it. People post on that thread asking for advice on pretty much every kind of headphone imaginable, and there's very few people on here who will have heard all of them, and most of the people who have don't deign to spend their time in those types of threads. Now this isn't a knock against you more experienced guys, but I do think that this forum needs more people like ljokerl, who are willing to give their time and experience back to the community. 

 

I fully recognize that I'm not even the next best person to ask when it comes to many of these headphones, but I do think that by reading enough reviews and comparisons with headphones that I do own, I am qualified enough to point people in the right direction regarding general categories of headphones (i.e. open v. closed, fun v. neutral, etc.), and to give some examples of popular models that fit their criteria. As much as possible, I try to point them to individual reviews and dedicated threads that can give them more specific details. However, many of the people who need help don't necessarily have the time to do all that research on their own, and need a centralized place where they can ask for advice.

 

In addition, I don't think that owning a particular headphone makes you an expert in terms of recommending them either. Many early headfiers (myself included), have a tendency to recommend their own headphones in very strong terms to others, partly because that's what they have the most experience with, partly because they haven't heard anything else, and partly because they like to think the made the right purchase. Though I don't agree with everything mbamg has said, I do think that there is a certain degree of value in reading other people's reviews and other people's comparisons to other headphones.

 

I have more specific answers and things to say, but I lost track of my final point, so I might as well stop here before it gets any longer.

 

TL;DR: It's possible to be somewhat helpful in recommending headphones you haven't heard, and owning a specific model doesn't make you an expert automatically. Also, we need more experienced people giving advice to the newer ones.

 

P.S. And yes, I am still in school

I'll agree with this at face value. I think, perhaps, part of the issue comes from what you're describing though - those with the experience and learning know there is much more to experience and learn ("a wise man knows that he knows nothing"). 
 

 

It's so much more complicated nowadays.  When I first found out about this cash syphon there weren't nearly as many cans, iems or amps. 

 

As a matter of fact, the trifecta was the 701, 650 and 880.  Or the 600 and 990 in place of the previous two, but that was pretty much it.

 

All the cans over the $400 or so range were the discontinued models people lusted over, with the exception of the Stax and Grado (and maybe a few others).  But, I mean, that was essentially it.

 

For a thousand bucks you could have three of the top cans everyone pretty much talked about.  So a lot more head-fi'ers were able to have those in their possession, naturally resulting in more folks who actually had an experience to share or disagree with or what have you.  Now, it's just crazy the price of some cans, along with the sheer numbers of selection.  I mean, sheesh. 

 

It's great in some ways and not so in others, I guess.  One thing for sure, my wallet misses those days.

 

 

It's good to see one of these threads crop up every once in a while.

Eh. I've been a member and lurker of various hi-fi sites for years, but officially have been on Head-Fi for a couple months. Join date doesn't mean nearly as much as post quality and content, if it means anything at all. There are Headphone Supremus guys who have been around for years whom I have little trust in, based on what they've said and how they present the information.

Sorry, that wasn't directed towards you specifically. It was just a general reply to the thread as a whole. 

Now it gets interesting. On another note, I literally LOL'd IRL.

@OP, yep. If I give an opinion on a headphone it's only on one I have heard or owned. Keep in mind that "heard" is usually a prolonged listening session before 32ohm audio closed up shop D:

If people would keep to talking about what they have experienced it would help tone down the FOTM tides. Go to some meets if you want to try out more equipment.

Just say no to implementing the rep system. This place is pretty good on keeping out trolls. The big rep forum is the easiest place to troll, what with everyone trying to gain rep-peen.

As for the Headphoneus Supremus tag, it doesn't take long to find out some people have +1'ed their way to HS status.

This place better not have a rep system. I think we're a more matured community in comparison to a number of forums I frequent.

 

Apart from the small gripes we might have once in a while, there's always an objective beacon of light that appears over the horizon about 2-3 pages in LOL

rules cannot remove human nature, only suppresses it.. just saying...

 

i like this forum because of its trollessness.. 10 reviews is better than 1 reviews right? as a newbie those guys referring headphones from 10 reviews saves me the time of actually reading all of them...

IMHO,

X>Y (when it comes to owning pairs of hp, thus X spends more)

X(X<Y)=Y (X feels Y is getting more superior because Y recommends too much, when actually they' both have the right to express their opinion, so long as they 1. dont lie 2. disclose their sources...imo)

 

i might be trolling, but i think this is what is happening... from a newbie standpoint... ive been lurking for 2 months though, thanks head-fi for saving me from buying beats, but you know what, i've never heard them myself, so im gonna try my brother's out, really trying them out and form my own opinion... gosh, i might actually like them...

 

 

Edited by mrcuccuou - 2/27/12 at 6:20am