[EYEdROP]

What is it called when a headphone makes it easy to identify the actual pitch of each detail, as opposed to something with a million details with nothing in-between the start and stop of each one.  
 
Am I making sense? Is there a term for this? As a musician, its important for me to hear the notes being played. Some headphones are better than others at this...

 

[Hifianddrumming]

From what I can understand, accuracy, or separation? No offense meant at all, but the description you've provided is a little bit strange

 

[rroseperry]

Detail? Clarity? Soundstage? It's not clear whether you're talking about being able to distinguish among notes or accuracy among notes.

 

[obobskivich]

Yeah, that's about where I'm at too...roughly what you want is a headphone that can let you hear "everything" or is otherwise known as analytical, dry, accurate, fast, etc. Essentially something that has fast attack and decay, and doesn't "smooth" or "gloss" over anything (and I'd assume you'd prefer it not to be harsh in the process). Right? 
 
Anyways, if you're just tracking, get studio monitors, they don't cost a fortune that doesn't matter - you want to use real speakers for actual mixing.
Quote:

 No offense meant at all, but the description you've provided is a little bit strange

 

 

[nikp]

Quote:

What is it called when a headphone makes it easy to identify the actual pitch of each detail, as opposed to something with a million details with nothing in-between the start and stop of each one.  
 
Am I making sense? Is there a term for this? As a musician, its important for me to hear the notes being played. Some headphones are better than others at this...

 
Mate, you need a specific talent called perfect/absolute pitch (or at least relative pitch) to identify the actual pitch/notes. 

 

[EYEdROP]

Etymotic ER4 is cosidered detailed, accurate, and neutral. But it sounds too digital as if the notes have no weight to them. But they are still accurate in the sense of being transparent tonally. Others can be less detailed and accurate while still sounding analog and organic... Hard to explain. Sorry for the bad explanation... 
 
Having good listening skills and understanding perfect pitch helps. But some headphones just make it easier on my brain to hear layered harmonies and such....

 

[EYEdROP]

Taken from a HD800 vs DT48 comparison:  
 
"the HD800 sound dry because decay of notes are simply not reproduced. You get fundamentals without harmonic richness. Very weird. A bit like if music was played in the deepest space and lowest harmonic were not travelling through the air... You only get the first bits and then it suddenly stops. That makes for a totally uninvolving experience, unrealistic. You perceive each instrument as completely separated and not even performing the same recording, because there is no air or reverb interacting between them. Like having a multitrack mix, in which each instrument would have been recorded on a different track and different location, and everything mixed together in the final production stage." 
  
-KBI
 
 
I guess the closest thing would be the word "dry", but this word can be used to mean many different things... There should be a specific term for what is described here...

 

[MalVeauX]

Heya,
 
Accuracy in conjunction with tonal balance.
 
Very best,

 

[obobskivich]

And this is why audiophile terms are meaningless in most situations - just like describing something as sounding "digital" or "analog" - it doesn't explain anything because everyone has their own thoughts on what that can mean. "Dry" is a term I've always heard associated with fast attack/decay and a lack of reverb/ringing/resonation/stored energy - see "dead." 
 
You want something with fast attack and decay, that's accurate - adding a lot of reverb does not reflect the material (unless it's part of the material). What your quote seems to describe is the difference between "smeared" (or inarticulate, muddy, and distorted) and "clear" (or accurate) sound - personally I prefer "clear." The HD 800 (from measurements) very much is into the realm of "dry" or "clear" - there isn't a lot of stored energy or resonance. It is not the only headphone in the world that can accomplish this feat, but it is one of the most popular; see the Koss ESP/950, most STAX, the ATH-AD2000 (and reportedly 1000 as well), and perhaps the Sony SA5000 as other examples (and if you'll notice, most of them are usually described as being "bright" but hardly ever as "harsh"). 
 
Most studio monitors (like the MDR-CD900ST and SRH-940) are fairly dead (based on measurement), and get fairly close to an ideal FR, at a substantially lower cost than any of the other cans I've mentioned - they're designed for what you want, more or less. 
Quote:

I guess the closest thing would be the word "dry", but this word can be used to mean many different things... There should be a specific term for what is described here...