Non-audiophile reactions to high-end headphones
Jan 20, 2013 at 4:10 PM Post #5,851 of 6,432
What really saddens me is that as a music producer myself I spend many late-night hours perfecting my mix and getting every sound perfect, only for then be reminded that the majority of people would listen to it through ibuds or similar sheit. 
 
Jan 20, 2013 at 5:30 PM Post #5,853 of 6,432
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What really saddens me is that as a music producer myself I spend many late-night hours perfecting my mix and getting every sound perfect, only for then be reminded that the majority of people would listen to it through ibuds or similar sheit. 

What headphones do you have? And what bands do you produce for?
 
Jan 20, 2013 at 7:19 PM Post #5,854 of 6,432
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What really saddens me is that as a music producer myself I spend many late-night hours perfecting my mix and getting every sound perfect, only for then be reminded that the majority of people would listen to it through ibuds or similar sheit. 

I have the same feeling about music on equipment that colors the music too much. The musician gets the sound he wants and we add our own brightness or darkness to it with amps and speakers etc, or in the worst case we condense it into mp3. I'm not saying that the studio monitor sound is the best sound for reproduction, but "amp warmth" is the other extreme I don't always understand.
 
Jan 21, 2013 at 3:31 PM Post #5,855 of 6,432
Haha the first time my mom listened to my HD598 amped She was sitting on my chair using my desk. I just felt the urge to put them on her head out of nowhere. She didnt resist, lol. Then I started playing some music and she said "wow...this sounds amazing. No wonder you spend so much time here" and then she just spaced out...I went to work out and after a few hours when I came back home she was still sitting listening to the music from my PC. That was funny and unexpected.
 
Jan 21, 2013 at 3:59 PM Post #5,856 of 6,432
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Haha the first time my mom listened to my HD598 amped She was sitting on my chair using my desk. I just felt the urge to put them on her head out of nowhere. She didnt resist, lol. Then I started playing some music and she said "wow...this sounds amazing. No wonder you spend so much time here" and then she just spaced out...I went to work out and after a few hours when I came back home she was still sitting listening to the music from my PC. That was funny and unexpected.

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Jan 22, 2013 at 4:44 AM Post #5,857 of 6,432
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Haha the first time my mom listened to my HD598 amped She was sitting on my chair using my desk. I just felt the urge to put them on her head out of nowhere. She didnt resist, lol. Then I started playing some music and she said "wow...this sounds amazing. No wonder you spend so much time here" and then she just spaced out...I went to work out and after a few hours when I came back home she was still sitting listening to the music from my PC. That was funny and unexpected.

+1. The 598's are really nice. Been trying to convince the wife to try them on...but she says there's only room for one headphone addict in the family. Gonna keep trying tho. 
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Jan 22, 2013 at 4:44 PM Post #5,858 of 6,432
My big brother being the audiophile and just me along for the journey (I didn't buy anything)... He and I discovered quite early on that an EQ is not a necessary device in music reproduction.  If your speakers require tonal adjustment - you need different speakers. Period.  That and the signal path is just brutalized by a cheap analog EQ.  
 
By the time you receive something for playback it should be correct. What disturbs me is the number of non-audiophiles in the field of music production. This is especially true in movie and video production. Most of them are tone def.  While I personally wouldn't claim to know how to correct and blend instruments and create a proper sounds stage, if you gave me enough time I'm sure I could figure it out.
 
Jan 22, 2013 at 4:54 PM Post #5,859 of 6,432
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My big brother being the audiophile and just me along for the journey (I didn't buy anything)... He and I discovered quite early on that an EQ is not a necessary device in music reproduction.  If your speakers require tonal adjustment - you need different speakers. Period.  That and the signal path is just brutalized by a cheap analog EQ.  
 
By the time you receive something for playback it should be correct. What disturbs me is the number of non-audiophiles in the field of music production. This is especially true in movie and video production. Most of them are tone def.  While I personally wouldn't claim to know how to correct and blend instruments and create a proper sounds stage, if you gave me enough time I'm sure I could figure it out.

Do you have engineers creating their speakers to have the perfect frequency response in the specific room that you're in?
 
You don't need to use a cheap analog EQ either... there are great, free digital one's that don't add any distortion at all.
 
Jan 22, 2013 at 5:32 PM Post #5,860 of 6,432
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Do you have engineers creating their speakers to have the perfect frequency response in the specific room that you're in?
 
You don't need to use a cheap analog EQ either... there are great, free digital one's that don't add any distortion at all.

 
That's a fair question. And I had to think it over for a few minutes but the answer actually is yes. About 10 years ago he moved into the realm of speaker design and production since the market could no longer provide what he wanted. I've really been spoiled. And thus my new foray into audio cannot hope to match those requirements. I'm not ready to dedicate a lifetime of understanding to "make it work" like he has. I have to admit that he and his business partner can pick out some things in A-B testing I just cannot for the life of me pick up.
 
I've no equipment, just a broken pair of Shure 530 IEMs which had allowed me to limp along and ignore the audio world at large. I had access to pair of AKG's when I was knee high to a grasshopper. I really loved them. Once exposed to them it was out with the smurfs and in with supertramp, deaf leopard, etc. I really enjoyed the soundscapes that headphones provided.
 
So now, I'm starting a new journey with the HD800's.  
 
Just deciding on an amp. The Woo Audio looks intriguing. I've always had a thing for tubes since I tried a set of Stax hung off the back end of an amp. They weren't even proper electrostatics... but I was sold on the mids.
 
Should be fun to see what the wife thinks of all this... and my 4yr old is just ripe to impress. :)  My son should take to I think, but I'm not certain about my wife. Can't wait to share.
 
Jan 22, 2013 at 5:40 PM Post #5,861 of 6,432
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My big brother being the audiophile and just me along for the journey (I didn't buy anything)... He and I discovered quite early on that an EQ is not a necessary device in music reproduction.  If your speakers require tonal adjustment - you need different speakers. Period.  That and the signal path is just brutalized by a cheap analog EQ.  
 
By the time you receive something for playback it should be correct. What disturbs me is the number of non-audiophiles in the field of music production. This is especially true in movie and video production. Most of them are tone def.  While I personally wouldn't claim to know how to correct and blend instruments and create a proper sounds stage, if you gave me enough time I'm sure I could figure it out.

And some people believe you can make a crappy pair of speakers sound as good as expensive ones by using an EQ. I am kinda in the middle on the argument, EQing a little sometimes and direct at others. My amp has a bass and treble setting that I use. My friend comes over uses the direct setting. I hear a difference, but not a loss in quality either way. I usually just end up adjusting the volume so the neighbors don't complain.
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Jan 22, 2013 at 6:27 PM Post #5,862 of 6,432
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I think my dad is convinced, after hearing my HE-500 he said to me that I should give one of my headphones to him.
I think I'll give my DT880 Pro. Perfect for him, he listens to a lot of classical music.

 
Hey, I'll have to save that for my kid.
 
"Hey man, I really like those! Gimmie one."
 
If he's anything like me, he'll tell me to get my own.
 
Jan 22, 2013 at 6:33 PM Post #5,863 of 6,432
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Anyone that says they don't care about looks is full of crap. It's the level that it matters to people that makes the difference.

 
I like chrome, lights and led's in the night. I like tubes and the sounds they can be driven to make. 
But maybe I'm just old fashioned now. Plastic is in?  Isn't it just recycled Art Deco? 
 
I had to look into these Beats I hear so much of on this forum.
 
... google... "Beats"
 
I recognize them now from future shop! Never got the urge to try them... I'd like to now I think, just for the sake of saying I've heard them. :)
Word to the wise: Anything that requires celebrity endorsement to sell - likely isn't worth buying.
 
Jan 22, 2013 at 6:45 PM Post #5,864 of 6,432
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I like chrome, lights and led's in the night. I like tubes and the sounds they can be driven to make. 
But maybe I'm just old fashioned now. Plastic is in?  Isn't it just recycled Art Deco? 
 
I had to look into these Beats I hear so much of on this forum.
 
... google... "Beats"
 
I recognize them now from future shop! Never got the urge to try them... I'd like to now I think, just for the sake of saying I've heard them. :)
Word to the wise: Anything that requires celebrity endorsement to sell - likely isn't worth buying.

 
 
Here, I'll save you the trouble.  un-EQ'd the bass sounds like mud and that's all you hear.  EQ'd the sub-bass rolls off, the midbass is "impactful", and still sounds like mud when it comes to highs and treble.  AND my Ultrasone DJ1 block out more sound than the "noise-canceling", aka "I make white noise for no reason!!!!! :D" Beats Studio.
 
Jan 22, 2013 at 8:07 PM Post #5,865 of 6,432
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Here, I'll save you the trouble.  un-EQ'd the bass sounds like mud and that's all you hear.  EQ'd the sub-bass rolls off, the midbass is "impactful", and still sounds like mud when it comes to highs and treble.  AND my Ultrasone DJ1 block out more sound than the "noise-canceling", aka "I make white noise for no reason!!!!! :D" Beats Studio.

So true. I didn't even know that the beats had noise cancelling. I listened to one in a store and the music was so loud that I couldn't hear anything else, and there was even a boost button to make it louder 
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. ps. the one in the store had lights and arrows and colours and everything!
I said to my mum (I was 14 at the time) that they sounded like farting subwoofers on your head and then there were some low to medium end sennheisers (things like 201s to 555s) tucked away in the corner of the store on a little sennheiser stand (and even though you weren't meant to, I just asked if I could try them out and the guy at the store said yes). First thing that came to my head:   "I can hear clearly the bass is down"
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