[Mercuttio]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tyll Hertsens Reviews have a lot more to do with what the writers could get their hands on than what makes sense for a high-end can review. Ask Immtbiker how hard it is to squeeze gear out of people. This hodge-podge assortment of gear is typical, and just goes to show you how important Head-Fi is to the consuming public in terms of getting an accurate picture of what's available and what's good at a given price. You are hardly aware of how commercially important you are, Head-Fi.

Yeah, last week at the NY mini-meet he was explaining EXACTLY that problem. Seems so crazy that Beyer wouldn't want the 880 or the 990 representing them in a Hi-Fi magazine! I wonder if they even asked Grado for anything?

 

[smeggy]

Bitch, bitch, bitch... Stax won and that's all that matters

 

[Patu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by smeggy Bitch, bitch, bitch... Stax won and that's all that matters

Crappy Basic System won. That tells something about the test.

 

[Masolino]

It seems that the Stax Basic is far less expensive here in Taiwan than in Finland. It's maybe only 15-20% higher than the going price for AKG K701.

 

[Masolino]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patu Crappy Basic System won. That tells something about the test.

That the other four phones they used in the test, including AKG K701, are even crappier?

 

[smeggy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Masolino That the other four phones they used in the test, including AKG K701, are even crappier?

LOL good point.

 

[Duggeh]

The only way to beat the basic system is to use a higher stax system.


...or kryptonite.

 

[fewtch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tyll Hertsens Reviews have a lot more to do with what the writers could get their hands on than what makes sense for a high-end can review. Ask Immtbiker how hard it is to squeeze gear out of people. This hodge-podge assortment of gear is typical, and just goes to show you how important Head-Fi is to the consuming public in terms of getting an accurate picture of what's available and what's good at a given price. You are hardly aware of how commercially important you are, Head-Fi.

Not sure what you're getting at, given the fact that Head-Fi users typically choose the priciest headphone from a given manufacturer's lineup for their raves. Does that really take any intelligence to do, and is there some commercial importance in that? If anyone/anywhere wants to buy the most expensive headphone from a manufacturer and call it "the best" they could do so with no Head-Fi in existence.

Not denigrating the contributions of head-fi BTW, which clearly are many. For example, who would know the Grado SR-225 is a sweet spot in the Grado lineup? Who would guess the HD580 is better than the HD590? Just saying that at Head-Fi, the priciest models are most often called the best. Not saying they *aren't* the best, but if they are then head-fi is not needed (nor magazines, for that matter)... people could just go out and buy the most expensive model, knowing they've purchased the best available.

It seems to me where Head-Fi's contribution really shines is in helping to decide which midrange headphone to choose, for those looking to save money and still get something that sounds decent. If that's what you meant, then we're in agreement.

 

[Tyll Hertsens]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fewtch Not denigrating the contributions of head-fi BTW, which clearly are many. For example, who would know the Grado SR-225 is a sweet spot in the Grado lineup? Who would guess the HD580 is better than the HD590? .... It seems to me where Head-Fi's contribution really shines is in helping to decide which midrange headphone to choose, for those looking to save money and still get something that sounds decent. If that's what you meant, then we're in agreement.

Yup. Good commerce must have a means by which consumers may fairly evaluate products. The press can't really do the job completely, there must be a consumer voice. That's just never been possible until the internet.

 

[Patu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Masolino That the other four phones they used in the test, including AKG K701, are even crappier?

Or paired up with a wrong amp? I don't know...

 

[halcyon]

Tyll is of course correct.

Magazines review what they can get their hands on. The bigger ones can afford to be picky.

Remember, Finland is a pesky little country in the middle of northern nowhere with 5 million citizens. Not actually the hottest consumer market.

Second of all, not many people can afford to buy several hundred euro headphones in Finland, so the magazine has to cater to a larger audience of readers.

Hence the kind of selection compromise (from a head-fi point of view) in this review.

But make no mistake, the review itself is da ****.

Two of the reviewers are highly experienced analytical listeners (one of them worth his weight in gold, in my book. He's the best I've ever met and I've met a few. Consistent, delicate, analytical, etc. You name it, he's got it. Constantly performs consistently even under blind listening conditions. Analytical listening is his occupation, so no wonder).

The engineer who did the electrical measurements is also highly competent, having measured headphones for at least over a decade, analyzed their impedance variances and built a few exotic headphones and amps himself. And he's a nice guy too (I'm biased, so shoot me).

The guy who did the headphone acoustical measurements. Don't even get me started. He's the most pedantic measurement guy I've met and he did his PhD on human positional hearing and headphone measurements. The measurement graphs in the review are according to the state of the art scientific methodology and leave everything I've seen (sorry Tyll) behind, most of the stuff in utter shame. Other magazines don't even come close. If you want to trust graphs, these are the ones you want to trust at the time of writing this. Of course, graphs are only a very small part of the story, as the seasoned here know.

It's a real pity this magazine is only published in Finnish. It's not always my favourite magazine overall, but some of the reviewers and articles are really among the best in their respective fields.

This article (and it's authors) are also high up there.

Now, it would have been nice if the test round up would have been SA-5000, HD650, K701, DT880, O2, ATH-W5000, etc, but we can't have it all.

And in the end, does it really matter what others say? It's our own ears that finally decide what we like

 

[Mercuttio]

Man, hearing about those guys really makes me want to read it... it probably wouldn't translate well, though, would it?