Earbuds Round-Up
Oct 23, 2021 at 10:11 AM Post #58,246 of 74,619
Curious to see what earbuds everyone currently has in their stables now and the roles... here is mine:

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What does critical signature mean?
 
Oct 23, 2021 at 10:25 AM Post #58,247 of 74,619
What does critical signature mean?
Probably brighter and a more detail focused tonality. (as you can see by the shorter session note)
 
Oct 23, 2021 at 10:32 AM Post #58,248 of 74,619
Oct 23, 2021 at 10:39 AM Post #58,249 of 74,619
Oct 23, 2021 at 10:49 AM Post #58,250 of 74,619
What does critical signature mean?
I would call this "studio reference" for audio engineers who require analytical detail levels to hear "everything" in the mix. Think Yamaha NS10 Studio monitors.
 
Oct 23, 2021 at 11:53 AM Post #58,251 of 74,619
What does critical signature mean?
A mix of all below... LOL! :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:
Probably brighter and a more detail focused tonality. (as you can see by the shorter session note)
Yes the mid-forward and detailed nature of the STE wears on me quickly. It comes across a tad aggressive and bright for me. For others though the forward nature of the STE is pleasing.
Does that mean fatiguing?
More fatiguing than a warmer tonality. (and why his listening session is shorter.)
Yes, exactly thus why I only can use it for short sessions as @RikudouGoku said.
I would call this "studio reference" for audio engineers who require analytical detail levels to hear "everything" in the mix. Think Yamaha NS10 Studio monitors.
Yes. It has an analytical capability to pick out nuances of recordings that one would miss with warmer signatures. It also can be very unforgiving of poor recordings and mastering. I am hoping that my new Blur 266R MX400 Reference LE will replace it in fact as I am finding this 400Ω driver is very analytical as well without being overly clinical, forward, nor sibilant. Fingers crossed.
 
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Oct 23, 2021 at 12:06 PM Post #58,253 of 74,619
What are the definitions of these different “signatures”?
This is a highly personal list based on my preferences and strong dislike for sibilant/bright/aggressive signatures... so most definitely not the "classic" definitions as used by recording professionals & audio engineers. The signatures represent how I use each earbud. I hope that makes sense.

Critical... please see my reply post above.

Fun in this case is exciting lively signature with plenty of BASS!!!

Smooth Timbre in this case is satisfying my timbrehead leanings and preferences while not being overly forward, aggressive, or clinically detailed.

Reference in this case means that it is close to neutral/flat and offers a natural authentic reproduction of the music.

Warm in this case is smooth and gooey in a relaxing unfatiguing laid-back sort of way (can listen all day long).
 
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Oct 23, 2021 at 12:47 PM Post #58,255 of 74,619
This is a highly personal list based on my preferences and strong dislike for sibilant/bright/aggressive signatures... so most definitely not the "classic" definitions as used by recording professionals & audio engineers. The signatures represent how I use each earbud. I hope that makes sense.

Critical... please see my reply post above.

Fun in this case is exciting lively signature with plenty of BASS!!!

Smooth Timbre in this case is satisfying my timbrehead leanings and preferences while not being overly forward, aggressive, or clinically detailed.

Reference in this case means that it is close to neutral/flat and offers a natural authentic reproduction of the music.

Warm in this case is smooth and gooey in a relaxing unfatiguing laid-back sort of way (can listen all day long).

Critical description sounds like Bright.

Fun description sounds like whatever + extra bass

Smooth Timbre and Reference difference needs more explanation for me. Appear to mean the same. I am not pro so please have mercy.

Warm seems obvious to me. I like warm.
 
Oct 23, 2021 at 1:22 PM Post #58,257 of 74,619
Oct 23, 2021 at 1:33 PM Post #58,258 of 74,619
Oct 23, 2021 at 1:40 PM Post #58,259 of 74,619
I think it'd be hard to find something cheaper pricewise but I have heard cheaper sounding buds.
its nice to try some cheaper buds. i still listen to monk plus and vido, theyre still awesome for the price.
 
Oct 23, 2021 at 1:50 PM Post #58,260 of 74,619
Critical description sounds like Bright.

Fun description sounds like whatever + extra bass

Smooth Timbre and Reference difference needs more explanation for me. Appear to mean the same. I am not pro so please have mercy.

Warm seems obvious to me. I like warm.

For Critical it is not so much it being "Bright" in the truest sense but rather because of the hyper-detailing and mid-forwardness it comes comes across as being bright & sibilant-like, sounding too aggressive, to my ears (brain) which wears me out with certain recordings and genres. Smooth Timbre would primarily fall into the area between "Veiled" and "Neutral-Flat" plus slightly down some towards "Mid-Forward" while Reference in this regards would be the area between "Smooth" & "Sharp" and "Balanced" & "Mid-Centric" but in this specific case more so falling just underneath the area "Neutral-Flat" as the Blur House Sound is heavily mid-centric.

But you now probably can understand and see what I mean that my listed signature designations in the table are very personal in nature. It is the very reason why I stayed away from using on my sound signature chart such highly ambiguous audiophile terms such as "sound/head-stage", "reference", "timbre", "imaging", "fun", "vocals", etc. as they are all highly subjective (heavily argued and disagreed upon) and vary widely between music genres, listening tastes, recording styles & set-ups, transducer types, volume levels, etc.

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