[nylan8301]

Quote:

This is the second time I've tried to ask a question and, I guess not been very clear.
My question is literally, who's opinion do YOU(you, the reader) frequently trust?
Is it just Skylab and Iff? Skylab was my first pick. Anyone else have a favored
voice of reason?

If you are asking who I find to be a good judge of opinion, it's usually members who have actually moved to either another site or stopped/slowed posting. AKA Kramer5150, billinkansas, jgonino, Fitz, boomana, Duggeh, Spritzer, Kool Bubba Ice, smeggy, and nickchen.
 
There are a few who I still see post regularly like Uncle Eric and Currawong...but sadly the giants whom I have been riding the shoulders of have left or vanished (at least to me).
 
Hope that gives you a few names to research. Keep in mind, I don't even agree with all of them all the time, but I find them to incredible resources.
 
-Nylan

 

[stevenswall]

I find Shigzeo and ClieOS to be reputable bloggers.

 

[mckinetic]

 
What I have noticed repeatedly is that most who are continually on this site are answerers and fixers,
irrespective sometimes of the question posed. Thank you all for your honest helpfulness. I love this
forum, it is the only one I come to every day. Most of you are mostly motivated to be all right, and many
are very knowledgeable about some level of gear. Thanks again.

 

[toughnut]

Nobody mentioned dfkt? He's one of my fav.
 
And Nylan, i do agree with those names you listed.

 

[leeperry]

 

Originally Posted by mckinetic /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
I was just following a thread, different people had popped in,
proclaiming this and that, some 100 headfiers, others 500,
a few Headphonus Supremus, and then at the very end, a
final post also from a Headphonus Supremus basically
denying the entire threads validity.
 

Post counts mean nothing, we all hear differently...and some ppl have such a high post count because they like to repeat themselves in every thread, they feel like they have a mission from God to tell everyone that "all the cables sound the same", "jitter isn't audible", "powercables are french fries oil",  "grado are teh coolest". A rule of thumb would be that the higher the post count the less they'll be willing to make compromises and being open minded, because they have their own truth and are not willing to discount it.
 
I personally don't pay any attention to reviews anymore, because we all hear differently and have different expectations...I wanna know what's in the box, why it's here and what it's gonna do for me. The usual audiophool talk is next to pointless: http://www.tech-diy.com/audio_bs.htm

 

[LFF]

When I first arrived on the shores of Head-Fi I had the same problem. I didn't know what to believe. Navigating the oceans of opinions here and elsewhere on the internet is tough and the only way to get to your destination is to jump ship and swim for yourself. That's what I did. I got $700 and just bought a high-end pair of headphones. If I liked them then great - if not....then I could return them or resell them. Others do the same by going to meets and they try to listen and test before buying what they are interested in. 
 
What I have also found to be relatively true around here is that where an opinion is held in general by established members, then it is usually correct/true.
 
Ultimately, making a purchase, especially an expensive one, is never easy but when it comes to audio and sound signature preferences, only your ears can make the correct decision for you. What you read on here, all the reviews, opinions, "truths", etc is merely a roadmap to help guide you to what you ultimately want. I love a natural and dynamic sound signature but you might like a more fun, bass heavy sound signature and as long as you're happy with what you own then it shouldn't matter what I like or what anyone else likes. Follow your ears - they are the best judge.

 
 
EDIT: FWIW, I can vouch (not that they need it) for these people as well:
 

 
Quote:

If you are asking who I find to be a good judge of opinion, it's usually members who have actually moved to either another site or stopped/slowed posting. AKA Kramer5150, billinkansas, jgonino, Fitz, boomana, Duggeh, Spritzer, Kool Bubba Ice, smeggy, and nickchen.  
There are a few who I still see post regularly like Uncle Eric and Currawong...but sadly the giants whom I have been riding the shoulders of have left or vanished (at least to me).

 

 

[momomo6789]

humm i pretty much keep it to dont read anything one who thinks cables make a difference , k702 people , and anyone who thinks that any form of anything made by headaphile.com is worth more then $50. if you keep by these standards they should steer you clear of danger. AND then theirs those people who post religiously as if they are being paid to post on a certain headphone or amp.
 
EDIT LETS ADD PORTABLE AUDIO TO THE LIST

 

[krmathis]

The "problem" is that most things related to audio reproduction is highly subjective. Meaning that what one person think sound natural, excellent, or whatever may not be so to someone else. That alone may lead to a person writing a lot of positive or negative impressions about a product, and then a while later someone else chime in with a totally different impression.
 
After a while you make notice of members standing out to have somewhat similar taste as yourself. Their words may then be taken as guidelines, but in the end all that matters is your own impression.
 
Go out there, listen to lots of gear and make up your own mind.

 

[MrFisherman]

I just look for for the users that have hot women as their avatars.  Since it is a well-known fact that there are no women on the Internet, these are obviously fat, lonely men with too much time and money that can immerse themselves in the arcana of this topic.
 
I have yet to come up with a theory about users with anime characters, ther cartoons or animals as their avatars.  I'll let you all know when I do.

 

[krmathis]

 
Quote:

I just look for for the users that have hot women as their avatars.  Since it is a well-known fact that there are no women on the Internet, these are obviously fat, lonely men with too much time and money that can immerse themselves in the arcana of this topic.

I guess that mean you are not one of them? As the woman you have as your avatar is not hot.

 
Welcome to Head-Fi!

 

[MrFisherman]

Quote:

 
I guess that mean you are not one of them? As the woman you have as your avatar is not hot.

 
Welcome to Head-Fi!

 

  Adrienne Shelly was too hot.  She's just a little grimy in that picture.
 
But, no, I'm not one of them.  I'm fat and all, but I don't know much about this stuff.
 
Thanks for the welcome.
 

 

[Beagle]

Quote:

A rule of thumb would be that the higher the post count the less they'll be willing to make compromises and being open minded, because they have their own truth and are not willing to discount it.

So you would consider yourself in this group then?

 

[Mad Max]

 
Quote:

...  "grado are teh coolest"...

Hey, man, would it hurt to actually listen to a pair yourself?  SR325is/MS2i for you, you detail freak.

 

Spoiler

And tell me what color their sound is!

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

First you should examine yourself. What kind of sound do YOU prefer? We all have our different preferences and taste, what sounds good to one person might not have to sound great to another. For some a less expensive headphone can sound better than an expensive one due to it having a sound signature that is more towards the preferences of that person. If we all had same taste, we would all use the same headphones!
 
- Aggressive/laid back?
- Soundstage important?
- Bright/dark sound signature?
- Sharp/smooth highs?
- Soft&deep/punchy bass?
etc.
 
With that figured out you're already on a good way finding the optimal headphone for you, now you just have to be able to dig the information you need out of the reviews & feedback of the other headphones. It doesn't really matter who says what, it's how he/she and what is written. Generally reviews that compares several headphones are more useful because you tend to get more objective description and comparisions (headphone X has a darker sound signature than headphone Y that is more aggressive and bright etc.) and you might have even tried some of them so you have something you can compare with. A review that's like very positive and abstract in the wording won't perhaps have to mean it's supermega awesomebbqOMG sounding to you. Often these reviews leave out objective analysis and tend to become more personal, the user is so excited he just speaks all kind of mumbo jumbo and forgets to mention the headphone is super dark & laid-back sounding for example which could be the opposite that you prefer, aggressive/bright for example. So yea this is a highly subjective thing, which is the best headphone, cuz there's is no such thing as best headhpone for every1, that's why there's such a diversity in sound between different products, even in the highend stuff that are all supposed to sound great.
 
I'm often suprised how quite seldom ppl around here questions what kinda sound the person likes before giving a suggestion. Isn't that what it's all about?

 

[leeperry]

 

So you would consider yourself in this group then?

 
Not really, "the best technique is to have no technique"....and what didn't appear to be true yesterday might very well be today. The only way to learn is to always doubt and try stuff....you can't judge how you'll like a unit based on other ppl opinions, this just does not work.
 
I kept reading ppl raving about tubes, so I tried hah...major fail, tubes were superseded by opamps for a very good reason IMO.
 
Another rule of thumb for me is that whatever Dan Lavry says is true...you were asking about people other members trust, you can put him on the very top of your list. He calls bs on NOS DAC's, long S/PDIF cables etc etc...I never believed in those two, and his technical background makes ppl listen to him.
 

Hey, man, would it hurt to actually listen to a pair yourself?  SR325is/MS2i for you, you detail freak.

 

Spoiler

And tell me what color their sound is!

hehehe, I'm teh colorblind...and I've got no idea(unlike you and Andrea) how to match sound w/ colors. I can barely say that LT1677 sounds monochrome..really don't like it.
 
I'm only interested in closed headphones w/ angled drivers and uber-comfy pleather earpads...nothing annoys me more than that nasty beyer foam touching my ears(in the DT770 Pro/Premium), so the idea of having foam earpads is giving me suicidial tendencies