[Tim D]

Truly an insidious question. Typically it is thought that it is our taste that dictates the cans and music we like. But I would be lying if I haven't noticed a slight shift in my musical taste with different headphones.

With Grados, it was rock and metal all the way. Ety's, still the same but I started grabbing CD's here and there from ANY genre and enjoying them.

Anyhow with BeyerDT931...I find I have a stronger appreciation for classical music on the radio when I normally just don't listen to it much on my tuner. Now the thing is, distortion guitars just sound like distortion with these phones and a great variety of Rock/metal can IMO be extremely unfulfilling to listen to with these cans. Course swapping phones again will somewhat temporarily shift my taste. Overall I can enjoy any music however, I'm just wondering about the possibility that if I only had one pair of cans...I would only enjoy a limited variety of music! And it would not necessarily be confined by my musical taste...but in part because of the cans limiting me! I also appreciate my Ety's because I think they give me a fair shot of enjoying any genre of music I might not have cared for. Can people with a more refined audio setup honestly say they don't care for less refined music, or does their audio setup never caters towards the genre to enable them to enjoy it. I guess it could be like a chicken-egg thing.

Anyhow the MUSIC is the same...but it is like the way it is performed that can differ so strongly between different cans to make or break your interest in certain songs. I'm starting to wonder if I have any strong musical taste...it just seems like I can like any music when presented/performed well. Hell I've caught myself listening to mainstream pop on the radio with some of my phones...

In the end however I am pretty content that I have a selection of phones to truly enjoy such a wide variety of music. My MS-1 does rock/metal nicely. My Ety's do everything well, but having variety and covenience is nice. And my DT931 lets me look into more refined music more than I ever would before it makes refined music more fun to listen to (and unrefined music not fun to listen to).

So the question of course is...has any different audio equipment ever opened up your musical selection any. If so...does that not imply that some equipment can also limit you from enjoying certain genres. Everyone still has their own musical taste...but really if you are a music lover, I wonder how much of your taste may be confined by the equipment.

 

[JMT]

I think that our (my) musical tastes are what they are, I don't believe different sounding headphones will alter that. I cannot stand rap music and no set of headphones will make me. Same with opera and country (no offense to rap, opera or country music fans).

That said, I have found that with the different headphones that I have, I appreciate different genres of music more. I have always liked soundtracks, but since getting the HD600s and the MG Head DT, I find myself truly appreciating the experience of well written soundtracks...especially as they relate to the movie. I have always liked classical music, but now almost get cought up in the "emotion" of the piece, at least more than before. Since getting the Grados (80s, 225s, 325s) I appreciate acoustic music and vocals more than I used to. I have always loved jazz, that has been and will continue to be my music of choice. But the different headphones and amps have definitely opened my ears.

 

[chych]

Well, I myself have started to listen to far more classical music since the aquisition of my Etys... So yes, I suppose, for me...

 

[Onix]

I started listening more to jazz and classical while using the Grado's. And yes, sometimes rock can be very unsatisfaying with cans, unless you get a really well produced album or a song you really like no matter what.

 

[coolvij]

I find any sort of DARK rock unsatisfying on my 495s - my KSC-35s are much better for head-banging and the like

 

[dngl]

I've always been a cross genre listener, but I became a lot less focused on rock once I got my sennheisers a few years back. Classical and jazz are more dependent on the equipment than other types of music. Even unamped out of a CD player, the sennheisers are miles better than the crapophones packed with it.

 

[MacDEF]

Jon took the words right out of my mouth... er, keyboard. I've always like many different genres, but once I started to get better gear, I began to appreciate classical and jazz a lot more (that and working at the Hollywood Bowl for a summer

).

 

[dhwilkin]

Agreed w/ Jon as well. Though I'm not necessarily listening to that much more classical, I am appreciating it much more w/ better gear.

 

[dngl]

Quote:

Originally posted by MacDEF I began to appreciate classical and jazz a lot more (that and working at the Hollywood Bowl for a summer ).

wow! that must have been a hell of a summer! I loooove the hollywood bowl. talk about eclectic music...

 

[bpm2000]

yup, although not neccessarily change, appreciation is definitely there now, and I seek out more genres and artists of higher-quality recordings.

 

[Tim D]

heh...well I consider a change of appreciation basically a "change" of taste. I'm not talking about turning hate into love, or love into hate. I'm talking about change even on a slighter scale.

If you appreciate something more...you probably may explore the genre more...and hence there is a "change" somewhere or other brought upon by different audio hardware. And as such I would consider that still a change or shift in taste.

 

[MacDEF]

Quote:

ow! that must have been a hell of a summer! I loooove the hollywood bowl. talk about eclectic music...

Yeah, my first year of college I was an usher -- my friend worked there for a couple years before me, so he got me a position in the box seats. Which means that during the performances, I had the best seat in the house. It was a great summer job!

 

[CRESCENDOPOWER]

I don't think a piece of equipment would change the type of music I love. But, in my case the electronics, or Wheatfield HA-2 makes me a lot more interested in female vocals than before hand.

 

[redshifter]

since i got my cd1700 i have been buying more cds than ever, especially acoustic music. whereas the sony v6 are amazing from a good analog source, the cd1700 are tailor made for digital sources, especially acoustic music. honestly analog sounds a little ragged through the cd1700. stuff i normally would have waited to get the vinyl i have been getting the cd instead, and i blame the cd1700.