with the sub 50pairs of headphones that i've aquired over the past year, i realised that every pair of headphones i've had have there good and bad points.
for example i love the HD25-1's (celebrating their 11th birthday this year) and the JBL refernce 410's but the clamping effect is quite servere. I love my Denon AH-D1000's but i would love 2 more helpings of bass.
I love my Metro.fi but i could do with a bit more definition at the top end.
right now i'm in the uni library with my iGrado's, and i'm thinking "the midrange n these are better than some of my top end headphones" and the midrnage is brilliant. Dead, dead, center (or as we say in the UK, centre) and very well defined.
what i've realised is that, although the (now) $19 JBL's have more bass weight than the Denon's, why aren't poeple screamign at how crap the Denon's are. If the iGrado's midrange is better focused than my Utrasone 750's, why aren'tn poeple screaming that the "750's" are a rip off?
the answer is fairly simple, and so are most Bose bashers if i'm honest!
1) evryone has different tastes. I simply don't believe in a neutral reveiwers, we are all bias to something. i'm amazed at what seems to be a matter of "what i'm hearing/focusing on, someone else doesn't hear/doesn't focus on"
2) No headphones are perfect. out of my sub 50 collection, i've yet to ahve a pair that ticks every single box 100%, 100% of the time.
3) a "try" is not the same as spending over 5 months on a daily basis, trying and testing them. against my pair of Sennheiser HD25-1's, i've noted that both headphones have an open sound stage, the lower mids and upper bass frequencies are indeed exaggerated, and that on occassion, the Bose OE's offered a bit more definition than the
Sennheiser HD25-1's.
so, after 5 months with the Bose, and 11 years with the HD25-1's that's my conclusion. This wasn't my opinion when i got them. i started to fall for the Bose bashing, thinking there was something in the bashers' opinion. on starting out, i would have agreed with some opinions, but until i spent hours and hours comparing them with the HD25-1, i realised, most Bose bashing comments were utter bilge. But hey, i've only got 40 or so headphones, and i've only tested the Bose for the last 5 months, so what would i know!
Now, for what ever reason that might be completely alien to some, I love the Bose. I KNOW..... of the sort comings, but for some reason i just click with them.
To further push the Bose cause, and by a random test, i tried the Bose OE's against the UE 5EB's (which i hated with a passion) on five of my fellow art students on a trip to leeds.
Sony MDR-XD100's in the Art Gallery, can you believe it? | HeadphoneDeals
Now, these people aren't as
'UP'on headphones as you are, and so i thought it would be an interesting test. And every single one of them chose the Bose over the 5EB's. All this was done without any input or influence from me, i just handed them the headphones and walked off for a couple of minutes, then i asked their opinion. and the result was the same, the Bose won every time.
now against such an acclaimed earphones as the UE 5EB's how can that be? Why would seven people, totally virgin to the world of headphones (unlike us) chose the Bose sound over the UE 5EB's which many people here love? why?
the only answer i can fatham, is that for some reason other than, mass marketing, stupid technology, boomy bass, crap, sound, they're ****, comments, those seven people prefered the sound of the Bose over the UE's.
are they wrong?
tell you what, why in blind taste tests does Pepsi and Royal Crown cola consistantly beat coke, yet we still buy coke?
why in a blind hearing test did those seven pick the Bose, yet we'd all go for the UE's over the Bose anyday (except me. i've owned a pair of EB's and they stink).
Why do people still buy the Koss porta pro, Sennheiser PX100/PX200 when the iGrado's are clearly (literally) better?
is it really a matter of such and such a headphone is crap, or is it, IMHO, you can buy better for the money? if it's the later, then i'm afriad it's just that, an opinion, it isn't fact!
even rating the Bass, midrange, treble on the 5 star system, it's still an opinion! i've gone against the grain on some of my headphones, adn found that against popular opinion, i've actually enjoyed them. i've had the reverse effect when it came to the UE 5EB's which are the most hated headphones, i've ever, ever, had the misfortune of having. i say having, i gave them away in the end!
the UE moetro.fi on the other had,....... they can do no wrong, in my opinion, and i'm about to go for the super.fi 4's with hope that the sound is more of the same as the metro.fi.
mention 5EB around me, and i just see red! but that's my OPINION!
Anyway, have a good day my fellow headphone enthusiasts.
