[PeteSTRADAMUS]

Music reproduction is so good in today's era compared to just about every other preceding point in time that it's almost not even required to get into hi-fi to enjoy music these days. Anyone with decent $20 IEMs and an iPhone can enjoy really, really good music. Spending thousands of dollars and going through hundreds of hours of critical listening just doesn't fit into the budget or the schedule of most people. This has been, and always will be, a niche industry. Very few people will ever take the time to pursue high-resolution sources and output chains to "make the most" out of their listening time. Frankly, it takes a pretty huge commitment. I enjoy the journey and discovery of new equipment and new music. Most people don't. That's okay. They can enjoy their Beats wireless headphones and leave the $10k+ audiophile systems to the rest of us. There's plenty of variety to go around.

I've had plenty of people listen to my gear and say "Wow, this sounds really good." But not one single person yet has been interested enough to pursue their own journey into the audiophile realm themselves. Different strokes for different folks. This is a very expensive hobby. Not everyone is cut out for it.

Very, very true. People always loved my stuff too. Right up until I give out some figures. Then it's a different story. Lol

 

[FullCircle]

There is some research that shows some people are simply incapable of hearing small nuances in sound.

I imagine these folks would never care to own quality audio gear regardless of price.

 

[Darkestred]

Very, very true. People always loved my stuff too. Right up until I give out some figures. Then it's a different story. Lol

I couldn't even say how I got into the hobby. One day I'm rocking whatever then suddenly I am buying 100 buck iems and soon a home rig and K701s.

I think at some point it's probably the same for everyone. That is until their one friend or father shows them a nice speaker or headphone. Of course there are a variety of other possibilities...

And then from there the journey into anyfi either ends or goes further.

Now I'm buying kilobuck units like they are nothing. Crazy but not much different than any other hobby. Always have the diehards.

 

[FullCircle]

I couldn't even say how I got into the hobby. One day I'm rocking whatever then suddenly I am buying 100 buck iems and soon a home rig and K701s.

I think at some point it's probably the same for everyone. That is until their one friend or father shows them a nice speaker or headphone. Of course there are a variety of other possibilities...

And then from there the journey into anyfi either ends or goes further.

Now I'm buying kilobuck units like they are nothing. Crazy but not much different than any other hobby. Always have the diehards.

My first was the Shure E3C

It was uncomfortable, so I decided to re-shell it into a custom housing.

I was bit, from then on.

 

[FullCircle]

I grew up with playing trumpet in my HS band and in college, took a Bach's Mass in B Minor class and another music history class. They gave me a great appreciation on how music has influenced civilized history and here I am today - lol.

But I'm not sure if music is dying per se. I've noticed that more younger people are beginning to listen to 80s music and less of the loud rap music we hear so much in the industry these days. And there is interest in better quality sound, hence why Apple is moving towards lossless. I think we'll see some progress in hi-fi. Let's see.

In my humble opinion & I do not have the stats to back up my opinion...

But I think YouTube has caused a music awakening due to the fact it has leveled the playing field as to who & who canot be a music star.

The days of "who you know" isn't as important as it was 20 years ago. What's important is, do you have talent and the skill sets to get yourself noticed on YouTube. After that, it's a matter of hard work, being prolific and changing dynamics to keep people interested.

As to how to get more people interested into hi fi equipment? I wish I had the answer to that riddle.

 

[Darkestred]

My first was the Shure E3C



It was uncomfortable, so I decided to re-shell it into a custom housing.

I was bit, from then on.

That's awesome! i'm trying to remember what my first was. I remember joker's thread played a real big part of upgrading and wondering.

 

[Mark Up]

nah, even broke people in America have cable tv and Beats (gag) headphones...

TV is an addiction that won't easily be broken. $50 a month for a basic package is more affordable than $5000 for headphones they'll use a lot less than TV or Internet. The Beats are also far less money. Believe me, I appreciate high quality / high priced headphones for what they are, but we can't expect laypeople to prioritize that. Even if they should be introduced to the benefits of hi-fi sound, and if they could afford it, music has become a secondary & background sound thing, it's no longer given any priority.

 

[cj3209]

TV is an addiction that won't easily be broken. $50 a month for a basic package is more affordable than $5000 for headphones they'll use a lot less than TV or Internet. The Beats are also far less money. Believe me, I appreciate high quality / high priced headphones for what they are, but we can't expect laypeople to prioritize that. Even if they should be introduced to the benefits of hi-fi sound, and if they could afford it, music has become a secondary & background sound thing, it's no longer given any priority.

True. Most people won't buy an $90K Tesla Model S but they might buy an Abyss Diana for $3K that sounds a lot better than those Beat things...

 

[snoopyfb]

Because among all headphone/speaker listeners, 10% of the listeners cannot distinguish good sound and bad sound. 80% of headphone/speaker listeners can notice the sound difference between $10 speakers, $100 speakers, and $1000 speakers, but they truthfully think $10 speakers do the job good enough for them, so they won't spend a lot more than $10, and the most expensive sound system they might buy would be a pair of Airpods, for gym or for Zoom. Only 10% of the listeners are picky to the sound quality and want something more realistic, more detailed, or simply more bassy.

 

[FullCircle]

TV is an addiction that won't easily be broken. $50 a month for a basic package is more affordable than $5000 for headphones they'll use a lot less than TV or Internet. The Beats are also far less money. Believe me, I appreciate high quality / high priced headphones for what they are, but we can't expect laypeople to prioritize that. Even if they should be introduced to the benefits of hi-fi sound, and if they could afford it, music has become a secondary & background sound thing, it's no longer given any priority.

That isn't true for the intire world. Some areas of the world rely heavily on public transportation, a lot of people sitting/standing in busses and trains 3 hrs a day. Portable audio offers some type of escape during that time.

 

[Abyss Headphones]

How do designers know how a headphone will sound?

 

[Unseen Aura]

In my humble opinion & I do not have the stats to back up my opinion...

But I think YouTube has caused a music awakening due to the fact it has leveled the playing field as to who & who canot be a music star.

The days of "who you know" isn't as important as it was 20 years ago. What's important is, do you have talent and the skill sets to get yourself noticed on YouTube. After that, it's a matter of hard work, being prolific and changing dynamics to keep people interested.

As to how to get more people interested into hi fi equipment? I wish I had the answer to that riddle.

I've been thinking heavily about that last question a lot, I got into HeadFi because of ear sensitivity after an accident, not a route the general public would get into. But unlike things like cars and mobile phones and such, only way to find any value or worth in the audio section would be to have them *hear* it. Otherwise it's not worth the money, why spend so much on sound when the likelihood of what one already has is good enough? Because very easy to argue against anything, many folks (from what I've observed/experienced) care about a ton of features and specs within a certain price range for cans rather than focusing solely on sound. Not to mention attachments or extras based on a stationary or transportable setting. I know for a fact I thought y'all (audiophile folks) were absolutely mental to be spending so much on just sound until I took the plunge myself. Impossible to turn back now, I've heard it and therefore can see the worth in the value.

 

[Abyss Headphones]

How engineers perceive products...

 

[Abyss Headphones]

A while back we sent Linus a world class headphone system, everything he needed to play our headphones very well. We even designed and manufactured the StackZilla rack for the electronics, and flew DMS out there to help.

Our focus on this attracted 4 million people to date, many of whom for the first time were introduced to high performance headphone systems.

 

[432789]

A while back we sent Linus a world class headphone system, everything he needed to play our headphones very well. We even designed and manufactured the StackZilla rack for the electronics, and flew DMS out there to help.

Our focus on this attracted 4 million people to date, many of whom for the first time were introduced to high performance headphone systems.

As engineers, what objective unit/units is your measure for “high performance” or “top of the line”?