[shiorisekine]

I made an Audiophile club at school and our first meeting is one Wednesday. I was wondering what i should teach the people that show up. Any ideas?

 

[SixthFall]

Listen to the music, not the gear.

 

[liamstrain]

Maybe try to set up a demonstration to talk about soundstage and imaging. And that "moar bass" =/= high fidelity.
 
Floyd Toole has some great books, but also some free white papers out there. 
 
This one:
http://www.harmanaudio.com/all_about_audio/audio_art_science.pdf
 
Is lengthy, but covers a lot of great stuff. Maybe provide a copy or two for people who are interested to read further and discuss. (It also has one of my favorite wrap ups of all time)
 
 
 
 
Quote:

In this lengthy summary we have covered a lot of topics. Much of it was matter-of-factly technical, driven by data and the need to measure, and much of it was subjective, driven by the desire to understand what we can hear. All of it was oriented towards creating loudspeakers that sound better.
 
The literature of audio continues to be sprinkled with letters and articles debating the merits of science in audio. The subjectivist stance is that “to hear is to believe”, and that is all that matters. Some of the arguments conjure images of white-coated engineers with putty in their ears, designing audio equipment, and not caring how it sounds, only how it measures. I have never met such a person in my 30 years in audio science and engineering.
 
The simple fact is that, without science, there would be no audio as we know it. Without extensive and meticulous subjective evaluation, there would be no audio science as we know it. Without audio science, audio engineering reverts to trial and error. So, where does this leave us? Clearly, to be successful in this business, one must be actively involved with both of the objective and subjective sides.
 
A faith in the scientific method is not a blind faith. It is a faith built on a growing trust that measurements can guide us to produce better sounding products at every price level, for every application. The proof, as always, is in the listening, and one MUST listen.

 
 
 
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You could also set up some demo rigs with various headphones/amps/dacs and talk about smart eq (always eq down), and crossfeed, etc. 

 

[shiorisekine]

Quote:

Listen to the music, not the gear.

Just listening to music wont change the fact that everyone only uses Beats here in Long Beach. I wanna be able to explain to them why beats suck but also more things.

 

[SixthFall]

Quote:

Just listening to music wont change the fact that everyone only uses Beats here in Long Beach. I wanna be able to explain to them why beats suck but also more things.

well don't outright bash them. dont scare them off. Instead just let them listen to some nice cans.

 

[SixthFall]

and even if they don't know it yet, EVERYONE loves tubes.....

 

[liamstrain]

 
Quote:

well don't outright bash them. dont scare them off. Instead just let them listen to some nice cans.

Agreed. Be prepared for "this has way less bass" comments. I suggest pointing out the other things they should be hearing. Instrument detail and separation, clarity (no muddy booming) tight, but still deep bass that doesn't overwhelm the other parts of the music. 
 
Showing them what to listen for (details in their own favorite music that they may not have heard) will be much more productive, than just telling them something they like sucks. 
 
Your job is to educate and keep them enthusiastic. Conversion will happen on its own time frame.

 

[shiorisekine]

Quote:

well don't outright bash them. dont scare them off. Instead just let them listen to some nice cans.

 


Quote:

Maybe try to set up a demonstration to talk about soundstage and imaging. And that "moar bass" =/= high fidelity.
 
Floyd Toole has some great books, but also some free white papers out there. 
 
This one:
http://www.harmanaudio.com/all_about_audio/audio_art_science.pdf
 
Is lengthy, but covers a lot of great stuff. Maybe provide a copy or two for people who are interested to read further and discuss. (It also has one of my favorite wrap ups of all time)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
-
 
You could also set up some demo rigs with various headphones/amps/dacs and talk about smart eq (always eq down), and crossfeed, etc. 

I didnt plan on doing it like that. But if all we do is come here and listen to music they will most likely only listen to beats. What i am planning on doing with the demo setups. I have DT 990 Pros, My friends have K701,702,550's and one of my converted friends has Beats. And for Amps we have the Schiit Asgard, Pa2v2 and a FiiO E11.
 
So ill set it all up and let them chose their poison.

 

[bellsprout]

teach them how they work

 

[taylorswift13]

Give them a DBT test between cables. Two identical cables, with different colored sheaths, and a switch box that switches between cable A, Cable B, and A (third position back to A) Then you ask them for impressions. Be prepared to learn a lot of things. About the students and audiophiles that is.

Young students have excellent ears. Old audiophiles have excellent imaginations.

 

[clarknova]

Quote:

Listen to the music, not the gear.

Probably the single best piece of advice you can give anyone. From the beginner to the [size=small]dyed-[/size][size=small]in-the-wool audiophile.[/size]