[ac500]

I don't care if you prefer the beats ... but saying "Beats are better for some people because they prefer the way it sounds." is not an argument for sound quality, but rather a simple observation that some people prefer different sound signatures.
 
Warning: I am going to continue repeating this until people stop saying the obvious "but Beats are better for SOME people who prefer the sound signature" as though it were an argument towards their quality.

 

[wind016]

 
Quote:

I don't care if you prefer the beats ... but saying "Beats are better for some people because they prefer the way it sounds." is not an argument for sound quality, but rather a simple observation that some people prefer different sound signatures.
 
Warning: I am going to continue repeating this until people stop saying the obvious "but Beats are better for SOME people who prefer the sound signature" as though it were an argument towards their quality.

If you say that then why not just bash Grados also? Grados are quite frankly the equivalent to Beats except Grado has a cult following that think they have good sound quality for the price.

 

[ac500]

What...?

 

[wind016]

 
Quote:

What...?

You wanted to call Beats out on sound quality yet we are not comparing them to Head-fi headphones that are accepted.
 

 

[maverickronin]

Quote:

If you say that then why not just bash Grados also? Grados are quite frankly the equivalent to Beats except Grado has a cult following that think they have good sound quality for the price.

Quote:

What...?

I'm trying to construct some sort of logical rebuttal but I can't really, so it looks like wind is right to me.  They're both colored as hell, seem to be designed to present certain genres of music in a specific way, and have plenty of fanboys.

 

[Head Injury]

Quote:

What...?

It's...it's beautiful. And $695.
 
I especially like the bass distortion. No wonder they're designed to roll off so fast.
 
You could argue that it's worse than the Beats Pro.
 
Not that I regret the two Grados I've owned. I'm just not going to use them anymore.

 

[ac500]

My whole point was, coloration aside, we should judge based on the resolution/quality of the sound. Sound signature is about the relative volumes across the spectrum, and says nothing of the resolution and detail heard.
 
For example, I can buy $5 headphones that are incredibly bright sounding, yet the quality of the sound itself would pail in comparison to a Grado. Put aside your consideration of coloration, and just listen to the sound itself. Hear the quality and resolution at which it's reproduced. This is what I'm talking about.
 
I was under the impression that Grado has very high-resolution sound. I heard the Beats personally, and they most certainly do not have a high-resolution sound. Both are highly colored, yes, but that's not a factor that should even be discussed.

 

[Questhate]

Quote:

I'm trying to construct some sort of logical rebuttal but I can't really, so it looks like wind is right to me.  They're both colored as hell, seem to be designed to present certain genres of music in a specific way, and have plenty of fanboys.
 

 
But liking Beats isn't simply a choice in sound preference. There are certain technical abilities of headphones -- resolution, clarity, speed, distortion -- that transcend mere "preferences". Case in point, the Pro 900 is squarely in the Beats Studio/Pro attempt sound signature, but are superior in every way. 

 

[Head Injury]

Quote:

My whole point was, coloration aside, we should judge based on the resolution/quality of the sound. Sound signature is about the relative volumes across the spectrum, and says nothing of the resolution and detail heard in that sound.
 
I was under the impression that Grado has very high-resolution sound. I heard the Beats personally, and they most certainly do not have a high-resolution sound. Both are highly colored, yes, but that's not a factor that should even be discussed.

They only have a "high resolution" because they have boosted treble. Their square wave and impulse response are both terrible. Check out purrin's waterfall graph of the HF-2. Compared to the HD800 (not exactly fair) it's positively sluggish.

 

[ac500]

> Case in point, the Pro 900 is squarely in the Beats Studio/Pro attempt sound signature, but are superior in every way. 
 
This is exactly the point I'm trying to make. There are headphones of relatively the same sound signature, yet the sound quality can vary drastically. It still sounds virtually identical in signature, yet the resolution and quality of the sound signal itself can be far superior / inferior based on the headphone.
 
I'm simply saying that the fact that different people prefer different sound signatures has nothing to do with headphone's sound quality. Why are people having a hard time understanding this concept?
 
> They only have a "high resolution" because they have boosted treble. 
 
You can't get "high resolution" due to boosting anything. If you think that, then your definition of "high resolution" is incorrect. Boosting treble (or bass) changes the sound signature, it does nothing with the sound quality / resolution.
 
> Their square wave and impulse response are both terrible.
 
If this is true, then you have a fair point. I have not personally heard Grados, so I can't really speak on this topic. That said, synthetic benchmarks are not the ultimate test of resolution, however it's not completely meaningless either.
 

 

[wind016]

 
Quote:

My whole point was, coloration aside, we should judge based on the resolution/quality of the sound. Sound signature is about the relative volumes across the spectrum, and says nothing of the resolution and detail heard in that sound.
 
I was under the impression that Grado has very high-resolution sound. I heard the Beats personally, and they most certainly do not have a high-resolution sound. Both are highly colored, yes, but that's not a factor that should even be discussed.

The GS1000i is extremely colored but it's VERY resolving. However, it costs $1000.
 
So talking about some Grados that fall near the Beats pricing, we have the SR325i. It has an extremely congested sound and complete lack of sub-bass, more so than the Beats. Sub-bass is anything below 90 hz and the Beats are definitely more audible there. Grados are completely lacking in bass and sub-bass resolution. (I'm not talking about bass guitar. Bass guitar involves a higher range of frequencies usually.) Beats are completely lacking in treble.
 
For hiphop where you mainly just hear lyrics and electronic noises, the Beats are actually quite competent. The Grados just work better from completely different genres. Sound quality-wise for the money, I don't think they are that far apart.
 

 

[wind016]

Quote:

> Case in point, the Pro 900 is squarely in the Beats Studio/Pro attempt sound signature, but are superior in every way. 
 
This is exactly the point I'm trying to make. There are headphones of relatively the same sound signature, yet the sound quality can vary drastically. It still sounds virtually identical in signature, yet the resolution and quality of the sound signal itself can be far superior / inferior based on the headphone.
 
I'm simply saying that the fact that different people prefer different sound signatures has nothing to do with headphone's sound quality. Why are people having a hard time understanding this concept?
 
> They only have a "high resolution" because they have boosted treble. 
 
You can't get "high resolution" due to boosting anything. If you think that, then your definition of "high resolution" is incorrect. Boosting treble (or bass) changes the sound signature, it does nothing with the sound quality / resolution.
 
> Their square wave and impulse response are both terrible.
 
If this is true, then you have a fair point. I have not personally heard Grados, so I can't really speak on this topic. That said, synthetic benchmarks are not the ultimate test of resolution, however it's not completely meaningless either.
 

Yes there are products that are good value for the money and products that aren't. Yet some products that are totally overpriced are accepted as "good' here and others are called garbage.
 

 

[ac500]

[Oops I edited this a lot because nobody replied I thought, but it overflowed into the next page.]

 

[TruBrew]

There are a number of Grado haters around that I have seen. I think they just don't say much because there are so many fanboys that every time Grados get knocked a huge brawl ensues.
 
Edit: I have never heard them so I am not taking sides on that debate. I have been curious due to their popularity, and have considered buying a used pair of SR-60's to find out, but I have not.

 

[NotJeffBuckley]

My headphone preferences are better than yours. Why? Well, because my headphones fit the standards by which headphones are judged better. Who made those standards? Well... Me, sort of, I mean, me and people like me, but, listen, that's not really the point, what I'm telling you is that my headphone preferences are better than yours. Why? Well, because my headphones fit the standards by which headphones are judged better...
 
etc.