Quick mention of Chris's test...
Just saw this thread and read through it entirely. I was one of the people that Chris blind tested with the O2 and M-Stage. First off, I wanted to make some remarks about that test that can be summed up in the following points.
- Seeing the amps, I could tell a difference.
- Not seeing the amps, I couldn't tell a difference as far as the results went.
Background...
Solid state vs solid state is insane 99% of the time IMO. It is weird though. When I first listened to the Audio-GD Sparrow, I thought it sounded awful, plasticky. That was with Grado SR-225is I believe (Chris, correct me if I am wrong.) I could have sworn though, it still sounded plasticky with my Sennheiser HD595s. Next was the Matrix M-Stage (huge improvement in MY OPINION.) It was pretty damn hot in the treble though. I could have also sworn "microdetails" were being introduced that weren't in the original recording. (Also, IMO, Grados have no more "detail" than most other headphones, they are just brighter.) Now for my own SS amps. All the ones that I actually use (I built a TERRIBLE one with TERRIBLE components I got from an electronics store for $8 and I never actually use it) are old integrated solid state amplifiers. For most people here, I would imagine they would see them as bother powerful (electrically and authority wise) and dark. One was a Sony TA-TX44. This amp was a pretty decent integrated back in 1984 considering it was from Sony and not some boutique vendor. Anyway, I liked it better than any other amp, but to Chris, it was overly bassy. HERE is where both engineering and psychoacoustics gets REALLY ******* UP.
Engineering VS Psychoacoustics/Objective VS Subjective
This is where I think most of the hate and garbage come from honestly. Problem is, from both an objective and subjective standpoint you need a little bit of the other for anything to make sense. Now why do I say that? Objectively, you would think what we should have coming into our ears is 100% ruler flat from the source. Now, here is the problem with that approach...
While a machine might interpret a ruler flat line as a ruler flat line, your mind does not. Your mind expects other cues than just what you hear from your ears, by this I mean vibrations in your chest for the most part. (I am sure there are others, but this is by far the biggest IMO) This is where you would need a bit of a bass boost to fill in the cue that the audio needs to account for. This is a place where you need to dip from both the objective and subjective jars. All too often, I see people taking camps on one side or the other, when from a technical prospective, you really need both.
Effect on the Head-Fi community
Unfortunately, being human, we are very competitive and very opinionated. Anyway, in my opinion, people are getting shot down left and right for not being in a certain camp (which camp, I won't say, but I think most here understand.) I very much believe that there needs not only to be more objective views here to balance some of the subjective, but some more moderates. It is like Republicans and Democrats. They can't get along because they agree on nothing. For both them and us, sometimes it is just a good idea to make some concessions (if you really believe what you are saying.) Without both objectivists and subjectivists, we would have really bad audio today (not sure audiophiles would even exist.) Anyway, what I am trying to say is that hopefully some day all views (on Head-Fi at least) will be accepted with dignity and respect.