[Chris J]

Well I haven't heard any well-recorded rap. I didn't look too far much, I admit, and I don't doubt it exists. But we can at least agree that a lot of rap is badly recorded and more than on most other genres.
However I feel like Jazz is also usually badly recorded. I know it was recorded in the 20's and 30's and it's expected, and again I assume there are some audiophile recording out there which I haven't been able to get, but it just seems like Jazz 'only' has the culture and sound to back it up and not so much the quality of the recording.

 
 


A lot of the Jazz recorded in the late 50's and beyond sounds phenonemal, for example:

John Coltrane: Blue Trane
Dave Brubeck: Time Out
Kenny Burrell: Midnight Blue
Sonny Rollins: Way Out West
Miles Davis: Kind Of Blue
Jimmy Smith: Movin' On
Cannonball Adderley: Somethin' Else

 

[LizardKing1]

I'll check out "Jazz at the pawnshop", I really want to know what well-recorded jazz sounds like.
 
Quote:

A lot of the Jazz recorded in the late 50's and beyond sounds phenonemal, for example:
John Coltrane: Blue Trane
Dave Brubeck: Time Out
Kenny Burrell: Midnight Blue
Sonny Rollins: Way Out West
Miles Davis: Kind Of Blue
Jimmy Smith: Movin' On
Cannonball Adderley: Somethin' Else

You know what's funny, Coltrane's Blue Train is probably his most famous album, and I assume was recorded with very good gear. However it sounds a bit veiled to me, and the highs don't seem to extend that much. It's not bad, I just expected better. Maybe it's just me, and jazz is just supposed to sound that way. Kind of Blue to me seems much better.
 
Anyway, back on topic, yes? My jazz experiences aren't exactly thread-worthy

 

[jgray91]

I thought it is highly obvious that thedjswn applied heavy hyperbole on his post.
Quote:

I'm sitting on the fence with this one (no.7). I used to think quite poorly of people who insist that you haven't heard of "x" headphone at their "true potential" unless you spend some big money. In the sense that they were adding nothing constructive to the member asking for advice.
 
That said however, I have what I consider (and a general consensus on Headfi) as a good price/performance amp and dac combo and recently had the opportunity to listen to a setup (same headphone) many times the cost and it completely blew my setup away... Got to a point where I would listen to my own setup and cringe... Now i don't really know anymore..
 
Quote:

The problem is that no matter how well you understand the technical aspects of a headphone and general sound, when you tell someone about a set of cans, you are giving your opinion. Whether your opinion is based on actually hearing the 'phones, or reading about them, it is still your opinion.  "Objective" data cannot give a realistic understanding of how something actually sounds.
For example: the infamous ath-m50 
according to it's frequency response graph (taken from both innerfidelity and headroom)  it should be a fairly mid centric headphone.
 However, anyone that has heard one could tell you that it's not.
 
Oh, and on a bit of a side note:
Here is a list of "facts" that I have garnered from several years of lurking around headfi.
 
1. Beats brand headphones are the worst thing ever made, anyone that says otherwise is an idiot and should probably be shot.
2. Bose headphones sound terrible. the only reason anyone buys them is because they have tricked into giving their money away based solely on name brand recognition. Bose is a    
    conspiracy crafted by the same guys that killed J.F.K.
3. On the eighth day, God made the ath-m50.
4. Bass is bad, you don't want it. If your head phones have any bass in them, you're probably just a "basshead" and don't have any appreciation for real music.
    Unless you listen to dubstep,
    then it's okay.
5. Skullcandy headphones are for children. Partially deaf children with no fashion sense.
6. If you own headphones manufactured by either Sennheiser, Grado or Audeze and you spent more than $600 on them, Guess what? You're better than everyone else!
 
7. If you haven't yet spent at least $20,000 on your set up,
    (dac, tube amp, mahogany headphone stand, acoustically tiled listening room, and of course handmade planar magnetic headphones crafted out of agarwood cups with amur leopard skin  
    pads recabled with platinum coated oxygen free silver cables.)
    Then you should consider upgrading immediately.

 
 

 

 

[thedjswn]

Quote:

I thought it is highly obvious that thedjswn applied heavy hyperbole on his post.


 

um, ya think?
 
 

 

[jgray91]

Quote:

Quote:

I thought it is highly obvious that thedjswn applied heavy hyperbole on his post.


 

um, ya think?
 
 

I was pointing it out to some other person. Personally I try to inject hyperbole in anything.
 

 

[thedjswn]

Quote:

I was pointing it out to some other person. Personally I try to inject hyperbole in anything.
 

I know.  I was agreeing with you.
 

 

[logwed]

Quote:

I know.  I was agreeing with you.
 

No I AGREE with you.

 

[liamstrain]

Hey hey now... can't we all just disagree to agree on this one? 
 
 
 
..
 
 
wait... 

 

[thedjswn]

Quote:

No I AGREE with you.

I will not be out-agreed with! I agree with your agreement!  You agreeing agree-er!              (I may have just made up a couple of words there....)

 

[Chris J]

OK,
 
I fully, completely disagree in the most strongest possible terms!!!
 
You only need to spend $8,000.00!
 
Plus taxes, shipping, etc.

 

[rainblack]

IDK about you guys, but I did seem to notice that in many threads, posts written in the last few days contains more of :
 
"I don't personnaly own the... but..."
 
"I only heard these for a few hours..."
 
"According to this user / review / thread "source"..."
 
"IMO, this is what I think but please listen / borrow them and read more reviews..."
 
I'm guessing this thread did influence things a bit... anyways, still a great post.

 

[dagothur]

I didn't see the hyperbole thedjswn's post.  I was always of the persuasion that my LCD-2s did make me better than everyone else.

 

[barleyguy]

Quote:

You have to admit that rap is the largest offender when it comes to recording quality. The 'songs' with a bass line and someone rapping a mono-tone rhythm gets old pretty fast too. Old school rap was at least musical.
There is some bias against non acoustic stuff, but you'll find the people who listen to a lot of classical still listen to rock or some other genre that isn't status quo. Metal is fast becoming on par with rock, and electronic isn't too far behind that. Those biases are getting smaller as the percentage of younger members grows. There are some things in electronic and metal music in particular that can really put a headphone through a torture chamber and expose weaknesses just as easily as acoustic stuff.
And yeah bass. Odd one, since the speaker world is obsessed with having 10 15" subs in a 20 foot room and the like. I guess since headphones have traditionally been very weak in bass, the latest advances have upset the norm and as all changes go, it's hard to adapt. Having a headphone that makes my brain think I left my subwoofer turned on is really a treat. Having that bass cover up the midrange and cause loss of detail across the board is indeed bad. A well amped HE-6, LCD2/3 SR-007, SR-009, HE Jades, HE-60/90, among others, and a large variety of in ear monitors have bass that is full, rich, and detailed without covering up anything else. The days of most headphones having zero sub-bass are ending and I'm glad for it.

I generally agree with everything you said about genres, though there are exceptions to every rule.  There is even still some very well recorded and musical rap, Gym Class Heroes being an example I personally like.
 
One of the difficult things for a headphone to accomplish is to do organic genres and rock/electronic genres equally well.  That is why many of us end up with multiple headphones.  I like my orthos for acoustic and electronic genres, but really prefer Grados for rock.  I think it's because orthos separate things so much.  That's a wonderful thing for orchestral music or electronic music, but for metal, it can make something that was intended to sound like quiche sound like ham and eggs.  Great rock headphones "gel" everything instead of separating it into distinct pieces, IMO.
 
 

 

[Taowolf51]

Quote:

I like my orthos for acoustic and electronic genres, but really prefer Grados for rock.  I think it's because orthos separate things so much.  That's a wonderful thing for orchestral music or electronic music, but for metal, it can make something that was intended to sound like quiche sound like ham and eggs.  Great rock headphones "gel" everything instead of separating it into distinct pieces, IMO.

That's really interesting, because for me, it's the opposite. I love separation in rock and metal, I've been looking everywhere for a headphone that can separate the instruments from each other so I can hear each distinctly. If they're not separated, everything is one big mush of noise (more specifically metal). And my favorite metal headphones at the moment are my only orthos.

 

[dagothur]

Quote:

  That's a wonderful thing for orchestral music or electronic music, but for metal, it can make something that was intended to sound like quiche sound like ham and eggs.

I prefer headphones that make rock sound like trout over a bed of sauteed onions, personally.