[Raymond Kim]

There are many terms and phrases used in reviews for audiophile-equipment that are used and beaten to death.

Let me provide you with a couple of phrases that really tick me off...

"The bass is very tight and deep..."

Come on now... Is that all you can say about the bass?

"It is very musical..."

What is that supposed to mean?

I do not intend to offend any reviewers out there who may have used these terms in the past.

Are there any other terms/phrases that you just
cannot stand?

 

[Hirsch]

Describing subjective experience is rather difficult, particularly when you are trying to do it in very few words. The phrases which may annoy nonetheless may, if only through repeated use, come to convey a common meaning that is easy to understand. If you're not sure what the phrases mean, then keep reading: you will. Some phrases are indeed vague, but that may be necessary when we don't have a better wording.

FWIW, if I use the term "musical", it most likely means that the sound tends to the warm and euphonic, rather than the cold and analytical. It may also mean that something is simply fun to listen to music with, as opposed to a technological wonder that gets the sound wrong.

 

[RickG]

You nailed it, Hirsch.

 

[Cousin Eddie]

Here are the words on my list:

1. audiophile. In real life, do you actually here people use this word? No. Audiophile actually sounds kind of dirty. It also sounds kind of sissy. I wouldn't use that word in public. I would be afraid someone would punch me in the nose. If someone were to come up to me and say that they were an "audiophile", I would just kind of slowly back away. "Let me get away from this nut", I'd be saying to myself.

2. sibilance. I had no idea what it meant for a long time. Again, this is a word that you're never going to hear in public. People will look at you funny if you mention "sibilance". They won't know what you're talking about.


Here are some audiophile headphone discussion phrases and their translated true meanings:


1. "The bass is not overdone, but it's definitely there. It's just more accurate."

translates to:

1. "There's not much bass, but I'm proud that I'm able to hear what little there is."


2. "These headphones are not good for all types of music, but that's the beauty of them. You really have to get to know them."

translates to:

2. "These headphones cost me more than a car, and it looks like I got duped because they don't sound as good as the headphones I have that only cost as much as a tank of gas."

 

[cajunchrist]

Very funny, Cousin Eddie!

Head-fi.org...the only place on the net you can get away with saying flabby, tubby, honky, and dark, and no one takes personal offense.

cajunchrist

 

[fiddler]

I also find the term "musical" very annoying... Whether something sounds musical or not is up to the MUSICIAN, not the equipment! No matter how great your headphones are, if you're listening to a bad musician, it's NOT GOING TO SOUND MUSICAL!
What I mean by a "musical" musician is somebody who has the ability to move their audience to tears through the emotions they transmit through their music. No headphone in the world is going to convey emotion if there wasn't any emotion to begin with in the music!
On the other hand, a recording of an incredibly gifted musician played through a pair of crappy headphones is STILL going to have the ability to move people, and therefore it is "musical"!

 

[Audio-Me]

Describing sound is really hard, much harder than describing what you see. You need a general understanding of sound characteristics to really get what most of the people are talking about. I'm still working on figuring out what the hell people are talking about in headphone reviews, lol.

I find the term musical kind of dumb too. But my understanding of it is that it means the detail in the high frequencies come alive (including upper midrange) as in they spark with crisp distinct sound characteristics without harsh distortions (bright and warm).

 

[TerriblySorry]

Who was it said: writing about music is like dancing about architecture?!? Wasn't Prince Charles was it?

 

[Braver]

"musical" is a stupid term. if you got no way of describing what it is that makes it sound like it does, just call it "musical" and be done with it

I believe I've used it a few times as well, but hey, sometimes it's the only thing that makes sense, even if it doesn't

what's also weird is, I'm not english, but if I have to describe sound, I stuck with all these english term I picked up here. so when I go out to audition stuff, and the guy asks me what I think of something, I can think up a way to describe it in english, but just translating it to dutch doesn't work (bright? veiled? dark? muddy? odn't know if we got even words for that1?)! and those dutch terms I do know are just really weird and silly sounding. but I guess terms like murky, flabby etc etc sound weird to you english guys as well....

and who comes up with these term anyway?

 

[Audio-Me]

Quote:

Originally posted by Braver and who comes up with these term anyway?

Keen dur gardonurz do!

 

[redshifter]

words themselves can't annoy. words used incorrectly can.

"tight and deep bass" tells me something; "flaccid yet pungent bass" doesn't.

"musical" to me means a warm and realistic midrange. the midrange is where the highest percentage of musical information comes from. "warm and detailed mids" would also do just fine for me.

"audiophile" to me is someone who buys boutique hi-fi equipment and has long passed the point of diminishing returns (this is by not meant as an insult to anyone here). i would consider myself an "audio enthusiast" because although i know 90% more than the average joe about audio, i've never spent more than $1000 on a single component.

 

[morphsci]

What the heck is "palpable presence"? Does that mean there is "unpalpable or inpalpable presence"? What's up with that?

 

[HeadWired]

We start sounding like wine tasters after a while. "Ah, absurd yet flacid." (Steve Martin)

 

[Xander]

Quote:

Originally posted by HeadWired We start sounding like wine tasters after a while. "Ah, absurd yet flacid." (Steve Martin)

haha! For some reason, that just really hit the spot... Really equates well to the Sony V6's, too!

Braver, I know what you mean. There is no possible way to describe the way a speaker sounds in dutch using those terms without it sounding completely crazy.

 

[gloco]

LOL, this is a pretty amusing thread. I think many folks try to use these terms to convey what they are hearing as easily as possible, although these terms do confuse the hell out of a lot of us, including me. Since people use them incorrectly or have a personal definition of what that term defines for a headphone, reviews often tend to be very subjective (well, ok...too subjective!).

George