[EYEdROP]

I think manufacturers and Head-fiers should recognize that the ever popular trend of trying to make headphones sound like speakers in a room is an exercise in futility and waste of your time.

A lot of it comes down to the diffuse field vs. free field argument.

To the unfamiliar audiophile, a diffuse headphone will sound more natural and emotionally engaging. Comparing a "reference" diffuse headphone, such as the HD280 or MDR 7506 to something like a "reference" Etymotic or DT48 will make the Ety's sound tiny, lifeless, and thin.

But I think people are missing the point of the free field response.

Don't get me wrong, I love a nice tasteful sounding diffuse headphone for things like working out, or casually listening, where the mind is only half focused and I want to tap my toes to every single song, no matter how emotionally or sonically void.

Its like listening to music when your intoxicated vs. sober.

When it comes down to business and your actually trying to interpret the artists and producers intention, free field wins IMO. I find diffuse headphones to simply add their own emotion to the music, providing you with a pleasantly skewed sense of the actual signal coming through the electronics.

Sure, It can be Hi-Fi and it certainly sounds "better" than a boring old Ety. But the reality is headphones are not speakers in a room. And once your brain gets accustomed to any piece of gear, its all relative anyways.

A truly neutral free field based headphone with deep bass extension, zero bloat, and no resonances will give you the reality of the situation. None of this fluff or trickery. No distractions from the actual music.

Isn't that what high fidelity sound is all about?

And I'm not saying people are wrong for liking colored audio gear, as I do enjoy tastefully "enhanced" stuff from time to time.

But at the end of the day, headphones should sound like headphones, which provide their own distinct advantages and listening experience over speakers. Trying to make them something their not often just ruins the music for me.

After all these years, Ill stick with my Ety's, ODAC, bit perfect playback and lossless files and call it a day. Thanks...

 

[kman1211]

Having heard the DT 48 at length and owning a DT 480 I definitely understand where you’re coming from, it's quite obvious in comparison diffuse field headphones sound well a bit fluffed up and well diffuse. I personally like both diffuse field and free field(sadly rarer than they should be) headphones for different reasons and get a lot of enjoyment out of both.

 

[Sefelt103]

It's hard to eliminate some form of distortion from the chain. Colouration distortion, balance distortion or soundstage distortion, attack/decay distortion, thick/thin distortion, these elements always seem to feature somewhere in any system you buy. Giving headphones a speaker-like presentation is just another form of distortion. I used to have a Colorfly C4 and it had a speaker like presentation which made my HD595 headphones sound much less intimate. I never tried the C4 with a set of headphones that also tried to give a speaker-like presentation. Unfortunately you have to pay more for all these contortions and the purist is never well served. So it's almost certain a high cost dac/amp/headphone will incorporate some 'extras'. Making headphones sound not like headphones is just something else that gets in the way.

 

[Audioholic123]

IMO not all manufacturers are good at designing headphones that sound like speakers. However, Some of the best headphones in the world where designed in this way.

 

[SHAMuuu]

I think manufacturers and Head-fiers should recognize that the ever popular trend of trying to make headphones sound like speakers in a room is an exercise in futility and waste of your time.

A lot of it comes down to the diffuse field vs. free field argument.

To the unfamiliar audiophile, a diffuse headphone will sound more natural and emotionally engaging. Comparing a "reference" diffuse headphone, such as the HD280 or MDR 7506 to something like a "reference" Etymotic or DT48 will make the Ety's sound tiny, lifeless, and thin.

But I think people are missing the point of the free field response.

Don't get me wrong, I love a nice tasteful sounding diffuse headphone for things like working out, or casually listening, where the mind is only half focused and I want to tap my toes to every single song, no matter how emotionally or sonically void.

Its like listening to music when your intoxicated vs. sober.

When it comes down to business and your actually trying to interpret the artists and producers intention, free field wins IMO. I find diffuse headphones to simply add their own emotion to the music, providing you with a pleasantly skewed sense of the actual signal coming through the electronics.

Sure, It can be Hi-Fi and it certainly sounds "better" than a boring old Ety. But the reality is headphones are not speakers in a room. And once your brain gets accustomed to any piece of gear, its all relative anyways.

A truly neutral free field based headphone with deep bass extension, zero bloat, and no resonances will give you the reality of the situation. None of this fluff or trickery. No distractions from the actual music.

Isn't that what high fidelity sound is all about?

And I'm not saying people are wrong for liking colored audio gear, as I do enjoy tastefully "enhanced" stuff from time to time.

But at the end of the day, headphones should sound like headphones, which provide their own distinct advantages and listening experience over speakers. Trying to make them something their not often just ruins the music for me.

After all these years, Ill stick with my Ety's, ODAC, bit perfect playback and lossless files and call it a day. Thanks...

Fair enough you will stick to etys. I have not heard them yet but intrigued. Now, i know they won't sound exactly the same as other headphones, but have you heard other headphones that come close to that ety sound? That colorless sound. And i can understand what you're saying to a degree, though i always keep in mind where i want to be with the can. Movie theatre simulation, Club, Car, Studio, Listener, Close to Musician. One cannot do all that. ANy input helpful thx.

 

[EYEdROP]

With my Etymotics, everything sounds like it’s coming out of thin air and presenting the music in a hologram, or USB port plugged into your brain

Most headphones I’ve tried sound like music is coming through a tube to try and make it seem like your hearing it live.

That’s the best way I can describe it.

Now I can say the very high end full sized open headphones are always pretty impressive, like the HD800s, stax, T1’s, etc... none of them are bad at all.

The thing is, the Etys are always more technically accurate sounding and isolate like nothing else, lowering the noise level so low in a quiet environment that the music is just there and plain to see.

Best headphones out there IMO.

 

[SHAMuuu]

With my Etymotics, everything sounds like it’s coming out of thin air and presenting the music in a hologram, or USB port plugged into your brain

Most headphones I’ve tried sound like music is coming through a tube to try and make it seem like your hearing it live.

That’s the best way I can describe it.

Now I can say the very high end full sized open headphones are always pretty impressive, like the HD800s, stax, T1’s, etc... none of them are bad at all.

The thing is, the Etys are always more technically accurate sounding and isolate like nothing else, lowering the noise level so low in a quiet environment that the music is just there and plain to see.

Best headphones out there IMO.

Very interesting and thank you for your input. I have read a lot about them. Sounds like a great IEM for working with music, and listenable for music (but not as engaging). But i am also appreciating the flatness types time to time aka neutral ones. Low volume, relaxed listening on colorless signatures is quite pleasant at times. I like the massive bass, but it can cause headaches after 10-15 minutes of basstest songs. Maybe i'm getting old I will defo consider these. Have you compared to any other iems in the 1-3Benjamin range with these etys? thx

 

[EYEdROP]

Yeah, I’ve tried some Shure SE215, vmodas (cant remember which), Beats, Bose, and a few other sort of expensive ones.

Honestly, the $10 Monoprice 9927 is amazing for what it is, presenting a fairly uncolored and open sound sort of like the Etys, but a bit rolled off in the treble and sounding slightly honky in the mids at times. The isolation is non existent, and you usually need to try several different tips to get fit comfortable. Of course, they are a few notches down in sound quality vs. the ETYs. But I would easily pay $30-$40 for them SQ wise... They are the perfect burner headphones if your going for that kind of sound...