[Ub3rMario]

Ok, so i just moved into my college dorm (Univ. of Washington) two days ago. Exciting times, yes. After unpacking all things i'm excited to show my friend from Virginia all my new gear i got over the summer, so i bring it all over to his room.

Once there i take a listen to his cheap radioshack brand cans out of his computer (winamp) and it sounds horrible in comparison to mine. Quickly i plug my denon d1001k into his computer, tell him to listen, and he says it's worse sounding!

Shocked, i take a listen and immediately i say "What?". It sounded horribly muddy and disgusting (like his ratshacks sounded). Apparently his sound card sucks or something because i tried them on his roommate's computer and the problem was remedied.

HOWEVER, when we compared the two sources with each of our headphones, he still thinks his sound better AND his comp sounds better. We quickly got into a shouting match, and his roommate deemed him deaf haha.

Anyway, i was just wondering if you've ever been surprised by how unobservant to audio differences people you know are. Share your stories of non-headfier (or just...non audio geeks) shocking you with failure to notice differences in SQ, be it large or small.

 

[Rednamalas1]

to most people -> SQ = more volume/more bass.

I don't argue with them anymore, just enjoy your headphones

 

[Ub3rMario]

Haha yeah i think that could be true. I was just so taken off guard when I found out he was listening to that mess of a soundcard. It honestly sounded like a someone singing with a mouth full of peanut butter. And he looks at me like "What? It sounds fine."

 

[Rednamalas1]

if someone's listening to something ripped from youtube stream - we know it's not going to work

no matter how good your headphone are

 

[apatN]

Just don't try to justify it. The look on my mate's face when I told him I'm willing to pay 450$ for an amp. FOR AN AMP!!! YOU GET ME!!1 AN AMP!!111!!ONE!!!11! Then I replied I'm also getting a DAC for similar money. Lol, that made my day (and probably his too..

)

Oh yeah, this was after he said his new 15€ JVC buds sounded great..

 

[jonathanjong]

This probably isn't the case here, since you ended up disagreeing on SQ, but people often first try out good headphones via crappy sources, playing crappy files. And good headphones often make crappy sources/files sound worse. This was certainly the case with some of my friends (and Part 1 of your story too, it seems).

 

[aaron313]

You see, there's this thing called IQ. Usually people who start random shouting matches, disagreeing about how their ratshack headphones are better than expensive headphones are... dumb. Some people are just dumb. Let it go. He'll flunk out of college soon enough and be serving you McDonalds double cheeseburgers for 99c. You can PM me after this comes true.

 

[Rednamalas1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aaron313 /img/forum/go_quote.gif You see, there's this thing called IQ. Usually people who start random shouting matches, disagreeing about how their ratshack headphones are better than expensive headphones are... dumb. Some people are just dumb. Let it go. He'll flunk out of college soon enough and be serving you McDonalds double cheeseburgers for 99c. You can PM me after this comes true.

YGPM.

 

[Contrastique]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ub3rMario /img/forum/go_quote.gif Anyway, i was just wondering if you've ever been surprised by how unobservant people are.

Fixed it, at least in my opinion. It's not just audio. I work in a photography store and am/try to be a photographer and I get scared by how few people care about quality. Hardly any. And when cost and/or effort come into play even less than hardly any. You can see the same thing occur when talking food (real food I mean), wine, other equipment etc.

Luckily I don't have that many friends (that I "have" to batte with) and most of them do care about quality. I picked wisely I guess.
With most other people I don't even bother letting them hear that stuff or letting them see what I made or such. They only say yeah, that sounds or looks good but they actually don't have any reference or just don't know what they are talking about and thus their opinions on the matter become rather obsolete.

 

[xiaoipower]

I had my UE super.fis evaluated at around £30/$60 by a work colleague. Who then proceeded to use his stock sony buds.

 

[Suntory_Times]

I think more or less some people take stating that something that they own as a personal attack. So no matter what they trully hear, there mind will tell them otherwise. Some people are also just unwilling to thing that you have to pay more then $20 for good headphones unless you're getting bose. Which, well, I just don't know where to start on that comment, it's just all wrong.

 

[TheMarchingMule]

Yeah, elitism, quick frustration, and ignorance are not meant to be put together in the same room.

 

[Ub3rMario]

Whoa lots of responses all seem to have spawned on my bus ride home from work lol. ANYWAY, i wanna say a few things:

1. Now we don't need to bash my buddy. He's actually pretty smart, but perhaps he just doesn't have a musical ear...like at all. haha.

2. I'm not an elitist, I just wanted to share the great sound I recently obtained, but when he didn't recognize a difference it was a shock.

3. I agree with you Suntory. Most people don't want to admit their stuff isn't better/equal to other people's things.

4. Contrastique, i see what you're saying definitely. I also know a bit of photography, i've done it as a lil side hobby for a few years now. It definitely bugs me when someone sees a poster or some random pic and calls it good photography when it has obvious flaws like poor composition. But that's one reason i love being in college. Everyone is learning more and if I find myself in the ignorant position, there's someone to teach me so I don't look like a fool next time.

 

[Currawong]

Most music nowadays is designed to sound good all mashed together by cheap radios and the like. For a non-audiophile, playing their favourite music through a system where they can hear every nuance and every bit of detail sounds awful to them.

 

[Nocturnal310]

Okay i am spreading the news to all my Metalhead fans ...

they are not actually understanding what it means..but i posted that 'comparison' video too.

actually most people dont even know what Mastering means.