[chinesekiwi]

So what do you think are factors when considering headphones or listening to headphones that people neglect?
 
Mine:
 
Timbre
Soundstage depth (soundstage is more than just left to right)
Sub bass (below 60hz)
Synergy (a big one tbh)
Earpads (In in-ears, the eartips can make a huge difference on the sound, both in quality and sound signature. Same really does apply to full-size headphones)

 

[Paste]

What do people say about the performance of the M50s with regard to the factors listed? 

 

[joelpearce]

The capability to handle complex passages is a big one for me.  Some headphones can handle everything that's happening all at ones, and others just turn into a sloppy mess.

 

[oqvist]

 
Quote:

So what do you think are factors when considering headphones or listening to headphones that people neglect?
 
Mine:
 
Timbre
Soundstage depth (soundstage is more than just left to right)
Sub bass (below 60hz)
Synergy (a big one tbh)
Earpads (In in-ears, the eartips can make a huge difference on the sound, both in quality and sound signature. Same really does apply to full-size headphones)

You have thought this through.
 
Timbre: I haven´t bothered looking up exactly what it means.
Depth: In the big LCD-2 page I think I am the first complaining about depth. Either I am 100 % wrong or people don´t care about it. But the T1, DX 1000, Ultrasones all show I am right.
Sub bass I don´t know. There is quite a few that is really focused on getting their sub bass performance so would probably not make my list.
Synergy definiatly. Don´t forget to test your "worst" sorces amp you may find some killer synergy!
Ear pads does make a big difference but aren´t marketed at all by the headphone manufacturers. German Maestro offer several different ear pads but haven´t seen them pushing it either.

 

[chinesekiwi]

Timbre is tonal accuracy. Wikipedia has a good basic summary:
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timbre

 

[chinesekiwi]

Another one I forgot: Headphone positioning in relation to your head.

 

[joelpearce]

Build quality is big too.  Some pairs you pick up and they just feel like they're going to break on you if you hold them the wrong way.
 
A really solid pair of headphones feels so awesome.  Every time I pick up my DBI Pro 700 I smile, knowing that they will never break on me.  Same thing for my Beyer DT48.  The bolts look a bit stupid, but once they're set up, I know I'll never have to worry about them readjusting themselves on my head.

 

[JxK]

People often ignore practical considerations. Build quality is a big one, as mentioned above. But then so is comfort. No matter how good a headphone sounds, if it isn't comfortable you're not enjoying the music.
 
I'd also agree about sub-bass. Far too many headphones roll off right around 60-50Hz, or even higher, leaving an important part of the audio spectrum neglected.

 

[joelpearce]

That said, very few headphones seem to have much sub-bass energy.  They respond down there, but even my bassiest, deepest headphones drop pretty fast after 50hz to my ears.  It's hard to tell how much of that is the headphones and how much of that is my ears, though.

 

[krankkall]

Comfort, comfort, and.....er.....comfort!
 
If it feels like a pair of vise-grips on yer head, you ain't gonna wear it long............................................
 
Steve

 

[Roger Strummer]

Quote:

That said, very few headphones seem to have much sub-bass energy.  They respond down there, but even my bassiest, deepest headphones drop pretty fast after 50hz to my ears.  It's hard to tell how much of that is the headphones and how much of that is my ears, though.

Also there is the thing that in sub-bass, the lower you go, the more the frequencies are felt than heard. Even if a headphone was perfect at sub-bass, or even had accentuated sub-bass, it is not possible to recreate the whole body experience that happens in real life.

 

[kool bubba ice]

Yeah, the bolts..lol I love balance, timbre, mid range,  ss coherency, whivh the DT48 delivers in spades & betters any headphone I heard or owned this side of the k1000.
Quote:

Build quality is big too.  Some pairs you pick up and they just feel like they're going to break on you if you hold them the wrong way.
 
A really solid pair of headphones feels so awesome.  Every time I pick up my DBI Pro 700 I smile, knowing that they will never break on me.  Same thing for my Beyer DT48.  The bolts look a bit stupid, but once they're set up, I know I'll never have to worry about them readjusting themselves on my head.

 

[kool bubba ice]

I would love to have the HD800 to experience better sub bass..
 
Quote:

Also there is the thing that in sub-bass, the lower you go, the more the frequencies are felt than heard. Even if a headphone was perfect at sub-bass, or even had accentuated sub-bass, it is not possible to recreate the whole body experience that happens in real life.

 

[oqvist]

Quote:

People often ignore practical considerations. Build quality is a big one, as mentioned above. But then so is comfort. No matter how good a headphone sounds, if it isn't comfortable you're not enjoying the music.
 
I'd also agree about sub-bass. Far too many headphones roll off right around 60-50Hz, or even higher, leaving an important part of the audio spectrum neglected.

667! To bad I missed your 666 post you devil!
 
As for comfort some headphones sound so good you forget they are uncomfortable until you take them off.

 

[Anaxilus]

1-Sonority (Having or producing a full, deep, or rich sound)
2-Synergy
3-Sub Bass
4-Decay, Reverb, Resonance
5-Imaging