[Currawong]

I posted this in the Zero thread, but felt to repost it here. It was written in response to someone who felt they couldn't hear any major improvement after buying a Zero (in comparison to their sound card).

The whole "what sounds better" issue is a funny one. If you put the average joe in front of a hi-fi system, he might get a shock hearing music he knows well so clearly. It's rather like this Stax rig I just got -- it's so clear and detailed, yet that kind of delivery just doesn't suit a lot of music, such as rock. For the average joe, more bass might sound better, so between a cheap and expensive system, he'd pick the cheap one, because it was more what he is used to. I can say in my case the only reason I changed DACs was because of choral and orchestral music, which simply sounds awesome through expensive gear. Some of the pop music I like in comparison is so awfully recorded that it only gets played through the car radio, where I don't have to be frustrated at how the recording engineers mixed in some poorly recorded instruments or samples. I've always maintained that if I'd bought the Zero before everything else, I'd probably still be happy with the headphones I've had for 15+ years (MB Quart QP55X) and I wouldn't have bothered with the rest.

 

[Nocturnal310]

gotta agree..i tried listening to stuff like Kanye west on HD600..and no big difference..because its mainly electronic beats..and there's no presence of real instruments.

 

[Ypoknons]

To dig an old skeleton out of the closet, I remember iLounge back in 2002 slammed the Airhead and Ety ER-6, noting that

Quote:

The ER-6 earphones are no match for the full range of the Sony EX-70. In comparison, the ER-6 are sharp, shrill, too ‘bright’, and over-emphasis all medium to high sounds, like a razor slicing through your ears. On the Etymotic specification sheet their bass response is shown as 20Hz, whereas the EX70LP go down to an incredibly low 6Hz bass.

Though to be fair, I remember the same reviewer liking the ER-4. Still, perhaps I am biased, but for all the flaws of crossfeed, the Airhead and the ER-6, my opinion of better would still not be the boomy base Sony EX-70.