[Just Josh]

I ask because I attended Macworld in SF and they had all kinds of different earphones to try out. I tried: Shure e3g, Ety ER6i, Future Sonic earphones, and earphones by a company called Razer which looked like sharp md33's.
now, I was using my panny hje50's today and I can honestly tell you that I thought they sounded better than any of the earphones I tried! I really think its weird

plus I had a proper seal on all of them cause I know how to insert canalphones, um, properly. What really surprised me was the shure e3gs. I thought they would sound awesome but I just was not impressed. So I got to thinking maybe I got used to a certain headphone( since i'm used to that one) and that impaired my judgment maybe? I know this doesn't really make sense but I was just wonderin maybe if u guys knew somthin? All of these (except the etys and Razer) were with foamies too.

 

[iSleipnir]

It is possible to get used to headphones, though I haven't really heard of getting used to iems. Especially in a setting like a store or a headphone meet, its hard to get a good idea of what a headphone really sounds like. Also if you listen to headphones for only a short amount of time that contributes to it even more to not quite seeing what the sound is. There are headphones I've heard that I didn't like until I heard them two or three times.

 

[fewtch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Just Josh What really surprised me was the shure e3gs. I thought they would sound awesome but I just was not impressed. So I got to thinking maybe I got used to a certain headphone( since i'm used to that one) and that impaired my judgment maybe?

IMO this can absolutely happen, and does all the time. One reason (among others) why head-fi meet impressions can be grossly misleading. I take them with a grain of salt, "all in good fun" attitude and rely on auditioning gear for longer periods of time to get a good idea of what it really sounds like.

 

[Isaac.]

It's called break-in!

 

[Riordan]

an important fact that is often overseen when "objectivists" and "subjectivists" quarrel about sound pertains directly to your question: while the production and reproduction of sound can be measured objectively, perception can not, because it is not objective. any human perception is subjective, not objective. ears, eyes, and noses already differ greatly from one individual to another, but the processing of data that happens in our brains is what really makes us hear, see, smell etc. those processes are astoundingly complex and not only differ from one individual to another, but yield different results depending on a plethora of circumstances.

my point: not only is it possible to get used to a phone, thereby forming your own individual point of reference (eg. what sounds "neutral" to you), but i dare say it is impossible not to. (only the extent to which this happens is debatable).

wear orange-tinted sunglasses for days and the world will seem cold and blue when you finally take them off. listen to bass-enhancing phones for a while and "objectively" neutral ones will sound thin and bass-less.
our mind constantly adapts to the information it receives from our senses - and it's not the senses that "measure", it's the mind.

physics isn't the only science when it comes to sound reproduction/perception, physiology and psychology are just as scientific, and just as important.

 

[DougGreenberg]

Another vote for "yes, you do get used to headphones." This works in the TWO ways that people have indicated. First, you get accustomed to a particular sound signature of headphones you've used a lot. I know that after years of using Etymotic IEM's, I really have grown to EXPECT that level of detail in my headphones. Even if I try other 'phones that are superior in other respects (soundstage, bass response), if they don't have the detail I'm accustomed to I don't like them.

And second, as others have indicated, at least PART of the controversial "burn-in" process involves your ears and brain, i.e., you get accustomed to the sound signature of the headphones and consequently you tune in (a bit) more on the aspects that you enjoy and perhaps you are able to tune out (a bit) the less desirable aspects.

 

[fewtch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Riordan wear orange-tinted sunglasses for days and the world will seem cold and blue when you finally take them off. listen to bass-enhancing phones for a while and "objectively" neutral ones will sound thin and bass-less. our mind constantly adapts to the information it receives from our senses - and it's not the senses that "measure", it's the mind.

This is why (IMO) it's important to have a reference in unamplified acoustic instruments, if a person cares at all about accuracy. Still subjective and dependent on familiarity with instrument sounds but at least it provides a reference of *some sort*.

Many people don't care about accuracy though (although I would argue they aren't interested in hi-fi then, but something else resembling it).

 

[Just Josh]

Thanks for your input guys. Appreciate it

 

[Edwood]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Isaac. It's called break-in!

Not if they have balanced armature drivers.

But there is another aspect called "Upgradeitis".

-Ed

 

[ferraro]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Edwood Not if they have balanced armature drivers.

He was talking about psychological break-in.

Updated to add: Or, you knew that, and I just misunderstood what you wrote.

 

[cheechoz]

Yep! This is normal behavior. But, it works on both ends of the spectrum! I bet if you probably heard one of the new E500's, or another high end IEM, you might just as easily said that your current IEM's suck!

 

[Aryolkary]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cheechoz Yep! This is normal behavior. But, it works on both ends of the spectrum! I bet if you probably heard one of the new E500's, or another high end IEM, you might just as easily said that your current IEM's suck!

What if someone who has experience with colored and very low lend headphones, listens to a high end set, and find them lifeless, or unattractive, or worse? It would be because of the flat response and more life-like sound right? I am just asking but still with no personal experience.
Another question, why is there flat response headphones like the Hd280 pro, that are boring? (all of this according to what I have read here in the forum). What is the "fun" or "alive" or "natural" factor? The Colour or timbre of a sound, not it's frequency being flat or not? Thanks

 

[m_memmory]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aryolkary What if someone who has experience with colored and very low lend headphones, listens to a high end set, and find them lifeless, or unattractive, or worse? It would be because of the flat response and more life-like sound right? I am just asking but still with no personal experience. Another question, why is there flat response headphones like the Hd280 pro, that are boring? (all of this according to what I have read here in the forum). What is the "fun" or "alive" or "natural" factor? The Colour or timbre of a sound, not it's frequency being flat or not? Thanks

Till about 4-5 months ago I always listened to my old portable Sony player with the stock buds with mega bass turned on full thumping out whatever I played through it and liked the sound....

Since then I got my X5 and was listening with the bass turned up max and with the EQ turned on as well and thought that was great. Now I've got a pair of HD555 and just got myself a pair of DT880 (which I'm breaking in on my head as I type and these are just immense.... so comfortable that I'll easily forget I'm wearing them and they sound as close to perfect as I could imagine getting)

Now I don't want to listen to music with any EQ or anything - I want to be able to listen to the music as it was recorded and if there isn't much bass in the music then that's obviously how it was meant to be heard (I've come to realise that so much of my music has bass there that my old player/ear phone combo was just unable to reproduce properly)

So I guess someone whose used to crappy earphones and really likes the sound can listen to a high-end neutral headphone and like them because they are neutral .... but I guess it could work the other way around too.

 

[fewtch]

Before I came to head-fi I was listening to decent (not iBud) headphones, but nothing spectacular... Denon AH-D550. I bought a pair of Grado SR60s, and never did feel that they were anything spectacular or better than consumer-grade sound... good, but not 'audiophile'. Really, they were no better than the Denons.

Then I got the Senn HD580 and everything changed. I had heard them at a meet first and they did sound boring, but this was a first-impression meet type thing. Thought I would just get "a pair of boring cans for classical" (my own words at the time). Well, I fell head over heels in love with their sound, and could not take them off my head for hours on end. It literally transformed my whole conception of what headphones could sound like.

I think it doesn't take long to get used to a more "neutral" headphone, if it is truly high end. Neutrality on the lower end (HD280 Pro?) can indeed be boring, but a high end neutral can should be highly musical as well as close to neutral, actually causing many people to enjoy neutrality more than they ever thought possible. It does depend on musical preferences however, as well as source/recording quality.

P.S. enjoy those DT880s, m_memmory... they are the most transparent headphones I've ever had the pleasure of putting on my head, without sacrificing any musicality.