[akgfan]

I think that distributors should allow you to borrow headphones. You'd pay for postage and some money for headphones as an insurance. After you send them back, you get back your money. It could work because I don't suppose that lot of people from my 5,5 milion country want to try K701 for example. In my country is goods returning somewhat complicated and usualy unrealistic.

 

[rhythmdevils]

If you're paying for postage, you could do the same thing by just buying a used pair of K701's and selling them when you're done.  That's better actually because you could have them for however long you want. 

 

[lltfdaniel]

Well if you think this high end stuff is a con prehaps you dislike dynamic headphones.
 
Give the fostex t50rp a go before you give up.

 

[pp312]

Quote:

Quote:

Not to nice that they don't correct other posters. It's "pastime".

Wrong homophone wise-guy 

Homophobe! I'm no homophobe!  

 
Would you believe me if I claimed it was a typo? (It was supposed to be "Not so nice", not "Not too nice..") 
 
Oh, the pain.....

 

[dalethorn]

Well if you think this high end stuff is a con prehaps you dislike dynamic headphones.


 


Give the fostex t50rp a go before you give up.

 
Yeah, that might work. I wouldn't invest in a Beyer DT-48, though. At least not right away (heh).

 

[twylight]

The good thing about my journey into headphones is I learned alot more about sources and DACs...bad things is I sold all my headphone stuff but some denons for work and some IEMs for travel.  Dedicated theater and study for me.  totally unimpressed with headphones compared to room based audio at the same price points.  You can buy some amazing speakers and subs for the same price as headphones go for and I highly recommend it - low volumes arent that offensive for personal listening and if your wife/room mates dont like it - dump em.

 

[redrich2000]

Quote:

I've always thought that depending on what genre you listen to, recordings can be the weakest link in any system.  And I'm generally talking about recording technique and quality, as opposed to the quality of the final format.  Good headphones or IEMs are generally more revealing of this.

This point is bang on IMO. A good system not only reveals that the majority of recordings are not great, but having spent all that money you start listening really closely and noticing flaws that you would otherwise overlook because your attention is focused on the music. But having said that, with the right recordings a high system can be amazing.

 

[akgfan]

Quote:

The good thing about my journey into headphones is I learned alot more about sources and DACs...bad things is I sold all my headphone stuff but some denons for work and some IEMs for travel.  Dedicated theater and study for me.  totally unimpressed with headphones compared to room based audio at the same price points.  You can buy some amazing speakers and subs for the same price as headphones go for and I highly recommend it - low volumes arent that offensive for personal listening and if your wife/room mates dont like it - dump em.

I had speakers and sold them because I like the headphones the best. That intimacy with headphones is just great. I hate noise comming from neighbours and when I put on my headphones, I hear nothing. So it's not just about how you disturb others. Even low listening levels aren't acceptable for night listening, movie watching, gaming or guitar playing. And I like when sound is close to my head. Personaly, I don't like headphones with big headstage. But to choose right headphones for you is much harder than speakers.

 

[Krav]

I echo that experience. Headphones are inherently peaky and dippy. And so is the individual hearing system frequency response curves, which are very genetics/age/history/loudness-dependent.
 
Personalized EQ using studio-grade hardware and/or software makes huge difference! Once you do the EQ properly, you realize that headphones are divided onto two general groups - those that can be equalized to your satisfaction and those that can't. Just take several higher-end headphones with wide dynamic range and low distortion and try to equalize them to your liking. All of those that can handle the EQ will sound very similar and very very good to you.
 
Our best investment in this hobby may well be Toole's "Sound Reproduction" or a similar book. Really. It scientifically disproves dozens of myths circulating on this board and explains very well why a "cheap" system can sound so much better than an "expensive" one - to a certain individual of course. There is no longer any mystery or controversy after one reads (and understands!) that book.
 
Quote:

I have a pair of cheap (~$250) studio monitors that produce a very flat frequency response when playing a sine sweep. (Not perfect, of course, they're simply in my bedroom and not a studio) Naturally they produce a very balanced, life like sound.
 
Every pair of headphones I have or have had is very peaky to my ears. Lots of peaks, lots of dips, lots of resonances. I always thought, based on what I've read, that it should be the opposite and headphones should sound better than speakers at the same or lower price point. This is not the case for me, but when I apply EQ to fix all these problems to flatten out the response, my Beyer DT880s sound phenomenal. As soon as I disable my EQ chain (which is pretty extensive...) it sounds like I'm listening out of a tin can.
 
Moral of the story... who knows