[neilvg]

Hey guys, I'm curious-

We at Headfi are lovers of high fidelity sound darting into our ears at close proximity. That is undebateable

(well I bet it is). The question, what are you guys generally looking for?

Euphony - Agreeable sound, especially in the phonetic quality of words; any agreeable (pleasing and harmonious) sounds - taken from dictionary.com

Accuracy - Conformity to fact. Precision; exactness; The ability of a measurement to match the actual value of the quantity being measured.
- taken from dictionary.com

So in terms of music, I've seen many people climb the ladder to higher and higher end equipment, and in the process, seemingly trade euphony for accuracy.

Now does this seem right? Does accuracy necessarily impart musical enjoyment? Here is an example: The HE90/HEV90 system tends to come across to my mind as rather accurate. It is also euphonic to a degree considering the sheer amount of detail present in its reproduction. However, there are areas, such as the upper treble which creates quite a bit of Sibilance/Sheen/Smearing it seems, to a lot of recorded material (but generally not to the best recorded material).

The question is, what are we really looking for? Accuracy? Or Euphony? A marriage? Because to me, the obvious bull in the China shop is that some recordings are less than perfect, and I am NOT about to stop listening to them based on the fact that they are less than the benchmark for quality. However, this may be ruthelessly revealed.

Now, if I were a euphony only junkee-I'd employ an EQ circuit and 'tame' whatever response was bothering me; and not feel guilty. But to do this to an Orpheus system?

So, this being the case, I think it would be interesting to build a high quality amp with a high quality EQ circuit that could be completely bypassed as desired. I think this could be a good compromise. I have been unable to locate a high quality EQ;

Whaddya'll think? (if you can decipher the above ramblings...).

Neil

PS: Also, is it possible to have accuracy and euphony? It seems that they are at odds with each other at times- an overly euphonic reproduction.. it cannot be accurate! Or can it?

 

[fewtch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by neilvg Hey guys, I'm curious- We at Headfi are lovers of high fidelity sound darting into our ears at close proximity. That is undebateable (well I bet it is). The question, what are you guys generally looking for? Euphony - Agreeable sound, especially in the phonetic quality of words; any agreeable (pleasing and harmonious) sounds - taken from dictionary.com Accuracy - Conformity to fact. Precision; exactness; The ability of a measurement to match the actual value of the quantity being measured. - taken from dictionary.com

I will accept no less than both of the above.

 

[Duggeh]

A good high end headphone should provide excellent accuracy without sacrificing the fun aspects of the delivery. If you want pure accurate reproduction then you want it in a studio environment, not a casual listening (however expensive that casual is) one. There are people, I realise, who do prefer that sort of sound, I personally am not one though.

 

[fewtch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by neilvg PS: Also, is it possible to have accuracy and euphony? It seems that they are at odds with each other at times- an overly euphonic reproduction.. it cannot be accurate! Or can it?

I've heard accurate cans that are euphonic, and accurate cans that aren't. Same from the other direction... some euphonic sounding cans are accurate, some aren't.

I think maybe you're confusing euphony with inaccuracy -- accuracy/euphony are not opposites as you seem to believe.

P.S. when I say accuracy, I'm not talking about perfect accuracy (which doesn't exist in transducers anyway).

 

[Lostlamb]

Nice tight, solid bass and a warm midrange. Mmm good. Though not accurate but full on euphoria.

For me it's more about how much detail can the souce and output can provide when playing a disc (CD or vinyl). If I can hear the nuiances on one system and I can't hear it on my home system...then something is amiss. Time to spank the wallet for more money.

 

[Snake]

Matter of taste, I guess. Accuracy should be enjoyable under almost all circumstances - if it truly is "accurate" and not an interpretation of same (BION that is more common that we should openly admit here). Accuracy should be "euphonic" in that it represents the original, no more but no less, and therefore if "euphonic"="musical" that should come as a constant because, after all, you are reproducing a musical performance.

 

[MaZa]

Both. I want my headphones to be as accurate as possible without cracking the wall-of-sound-and-harmonies of music for the sake of picking up that possible farting dude in the crowd the record might contain or something...

 

[Asr]

I prefer accuracy. Accuracy pwns euphony!

Besides, my ears will acclimate to a more-accurate sound over time.

Although a little euphony wouldn't hurt....

 

[neilvg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fewtch I think maybe you're confusing euphony with inaccuracy -- accuracy/euphony are not opposites as you seem to believe. P.S. when I say accuracy, I'm not talking about perfect accuracy (which doesn't exist in transducers anyway).

I personally don't believe anything. Just raising questions. They can be interpreted anyway you like. Look - if there was one barometer for accuracy, then everything that didn't hit that target would not be accurate. If you could have different levels of euphony, how can it also have the same measure of accuracy? Accuracy implies something exact. So there should only be one bulleye with accuracy... it seems to me. Whereas with Euphony, it is more of an user-specific kind of tailoring of the sound.

Also, coming from a recording perspective - Not all recordings are made with the hgihest fidelity systems in mind. These recordings sometimes can suffer from a 'too accurate system'. I don't think playing a 'musical event accurately' implies euphony. It needs to be pleasing to be euphonic, and I find little pleasing about the sharpness that a very 'accurate' system can emphasize on poor recordings.

I'm not saying that can or cannot exist together. I'm looking for opinions.

Neil

 

[PaulRivers]

I'm TOTALLY know what you're saying. This is exactly the problem I'm facing right now - for example, my Koss 75's have a lot of accuracy, but another no-name headphone from Best Buy has a lot more euphony - it just sounds smoother and more pleasant, and I'm torn about which to use.

*sigh* I want both, darnnit! I would definitely give up some detail for an overall nicer sound.

 

[Vul Kuolun]

Euphony for me, please. Yes, plenty.

If i don´t like a certain soundsignature or something, i don´t give a s*** about if it is accurate or not. Doesn´t make a difference. Why listen to somethimg that does not relax or please me?

 

[fewtch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by neilvg I personally don't believe anything. Just raising questions. They can be interpreted anyway you like. Look - if there was one barometer for accuracy, then everything that didn't hit that target would not be accurate. If you could have different levels of euphony, how can it also have the same measure of accuracy? Accuracy implies something exact. So there should only be one bulleye with accuracy... it seems to me.

Depends what you mean by accuracy. Are you talking about tonal balance, or do you mean other attributes of the headphones as well... i.e. soundstage, detail level, smoothness, etc?

I tend to define accuracy as relating primarily to tonal balance, because there are too many other factors and no headphone is accurate if you factor them all in. With that said, the other attributes of a headphone will contribute greatly to whether the headphones are euphonic to me or not. To my ears, Senn HD280s have an accurate tonal balance but tend to sound harsh, overly detailed and have a poor soundstage, so to me they are not euphonic. Beyer DT880s or Senn HD600s are also more or less tonally accurate, but they're much more euphonic to my ears.

 

[F107plus5]

I want to start with an accurate playback system, but then modify it as required to accomdate my less than accurate hearing system.

 

[mulveling]

Well designed systems do both.
The best systems I've heard are much more musical and enjoyable to listen to than lesser setups. They also sound more accurate. Instruments & vocals sound more real in terms of transient response, resolution, tonality, and dynamics. Vocals have a live presence. Bass response is both more powerful and controlled. These systems also lack any artifical grain/hash/fuzziness/crud added to the signal. Very liquid and natural sounding.

If it gets to a point where I have to trade off musicality for accuracy, I won't do it. However, I don't think well designed systems need make such compromises - an incredibly accurate but fairly unmusical system (if even possible) is suboptimal.

Accuracy without musicality is not true musical accuracy. Such a system might measure far better than a truly wonderful setup, but measurements do not yet (and probably never will) scratch the surface of what constitutes the soul of music.

 

[kramer5150]

Both!! cant have all of one without any of the other.. IMHO