[gr4474]

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[Alcophone]

You might like cheapaudioman, but maybe not. Discovered the Dali Spektor 1 through him and am very grateful for it. Also gave cheap class D integrated amps a try because of him and was pleasantly surprised, the SMSL AD18 is very good with the Dali, but also with the Yamaha satellites and subwoofer from a 5.1 set. The Loxjie A30 I liked less as a speaker amp, but it surprised me with the hard to drive DCA Stealth headphones (which the AD18 didn't handle as well).

He was also super candid here:

 

[geek707]

A thing about YouTube to keep in mind. YouTube is a profession for some (many?) people creating videos. YouTube pays them. So it's in their interest to post videos that get a lot of views, and likes. The more followers the better.
Stereophile and Absolute Sound (RIP) were fun to read, and good sources for artists you might not have heard.

 

[gr4474]

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[Alcophone]

I'm still subscribed to him.

Does that mean you agree that he's an exception?

I'm not saying they are useless, but you have to cross reference and DIG DIG DIG, and still roll the dice and wonder what could be better.

Yeah, most are very polite in their feedback and you have to pick up on subtle jabs, and most don't publish super negative reviews if they want more from the same manufacturer in the future.
The three viable alternatives would be someone rich reviewing things, or viewers donating the funds to cover the costs not recoverable through resale or returns (shipping, restocking fees, used market losses), or viewers sending their own equipment in and covering the expenses.
Ideally every reviewer would get at least two samples of the same gear from different sources so that we can rule out golden samples or broken gear with more certainty as well.

My frustration is coming in a search for a fun bassy but GOOD headphones for rock like Led Zeppelin and stuff like Sade and Lauren Hill. Most of these guys are allergic to bass and eq is for losers. I promise that bass is natural but to them it's unsophisticated. Tell me a kick drum and bass guitar should sound weak and dead? The game is, they can't just be clear and lay it out with the best lists with charts rating bass, mids, treble levels, and sound signatures ect.

Well, it seems like there's some middle ground there. Growing up with my brother being obsessed with subwoofers (in Logitech active speaker sets) or seeing dudes rattle their license plates with insane car stereos I developed something of an aversion to the stereotypical bass heads. Sure, it's loud and impressive, but distorted and grainy, why would I want that. For me it's quality over quantity. But there's still a minimum amount of bass that needs to be there for me to be satisfied and too high a level makes things sound incoherent and unnatural (when trying to reproduce instruments), if fun.
Applying the Ether C Flow 1.1 mod involves adding stickers that cover the bass ports, taking some of the bass out. Updating the pads restored some of it to almost enough, but not quite. Simply removing the stickers added a lot of bass back, probably a bit more than needed, but it's very enjoyable to me that way. Still, it's clean bass.
The Audio-Technica ATH-M50x doesn't quite have enough bass for me, which inspired me to get my first DAC/amp back then (with built-in EQ). Two years later I replaced it with the Focal Listen and was much happier. No EQ needed, bassy enough for me, great imaging and clarity. Much later with more comparisons I can say that they must have some spikes in the high frequencies that can make them hard to listen to and sibilant with some recordings that other headphones leave listenable. The Meze Audio 99 Classics sounded quite similar to me at the time, minus the imaging, but bass wise they would have probably done the trick. The Phillips SHP9500S could use some more bass, and there's a Neoprene mod that helps with it to make it just good enough for most content. The Creative Aurvana Live! have very exaggerated bass to me. Not terrible sounding overall, but unnatural. Fostex is known to have a lot of bass, one I tried put a smile on my face the first second and a frown the next because while there is a lot of bass it was quite distorted. Nasty. When I auditioned the HIFIMAN Edition X v2 (I think) I was struck by the subwoofer like bass and its comfort. Comfort wise it reminded me of the Sennheiser HD800, but instead of having a wide sound stage it sounded more like the drivers were more distant, which I didn't like.
The basshead's dream is probably the Abyss AB-1266 Phi TC. The one time I heard them was on a DNA Stratus and it was very impressive, and way too much for me. It's possible I was wearing them wrong, though, unlike most headphones the earpads aren't supposed to actually seal.
And finally at home I'm very pleased with my Rythmik F12G / F12G-SE subs, they extend the lows of my speakers in the living and bed room to truly qualify as full range, and do it quite cleanly, naturally and with authority. They are sealed (not ported), and supposedly that makes them more suitable for music than movies, while still being plenty enjoyable with the latter.
And yet, despite these preferences I was surprisingly happy with the rather small Dali Spektor 1 even without a subwoofer. Certainly not full range, but lovely tonal balance and dynamics.

Most of any comment I make gets deleted if it isn't what follows their narrative.

Just in case this applies to you: Make sure you don't post links, that's almost guaranteed to result in an automatic deletion on YouTube, as I learned the hard way. Even just writing company.com will do it, so be careful with certain names as well.

 

[gr4474]

 

[Alcophone]

hey thanks for the reply. I think cheapaudioman is somewhat sincere, and take his opinions with a grain of salt. He is a sincere shill IMO.

Certainly for Emotiva, hehe.

I do post links so that is prob why i get deleted so fast!

Definitely! Recently I posted a comment after copying and pasting it into Notepad, it got deleted right away. Realized I wrote something like company.com (no http://, etc.), changed that part, reposted it, the comment stayed up. There's probably moderation software that detects links and deletes comments immediately, and I bet that catches 95% of comment spam, so your legitimate comment just becomes invisible in a see of filtered out spam.

I tried several forgetable headphones from Sennheiser, JVC and Audio Technica.
In 2013 I got into a bass head thread here and found the Audio Technica ATH-WS99. ($180) Those were amazing, and known for the bass and retain clear mids and highs. S tier for me, until I dropped them and the plastic hing shattered. That was painfull, and they are still in the attic.
I also got Audio Technica iem version of the WS99. Amazing until the thin cable sheared in half after being caught on a door latch. no removable cable, and the hair thin wires were to thin to repair.
I replaced the iem with a lower level CKS99, less bass cheaper version, but still nice bass…and those didn’t last very long. I don’t remember what happened. Then another shot with Audio Technica CKS55, didn’t last (my fault?)

My ATH-M50x's fake leather on the earpads and headband padding started flaking off severely after two years, which is really why I was looking for a replacement (and avoided Audio-Technica). My Focal Listen are older now and have some bruises, but are completely usable still.

The come the Monoprice retro with Brainwaves XL pads that fell off allot. C-, Thanks Z reviews.

Heh.

I’ve never got back the sound I lost from The WS99 full sized, and CKS99 iem…and have been trying weak bass budget recommended ”studio” type stuff since: Phillips SHP9600, AKG Pro Audio K275, and AKG K371. Prefer the K275 but need to upgrade

I have no experience with AKG, so can't contribute there at all.

 

[gr4474]

y

 

[Mhog55]

Honestly, it depends on the reviewer. Some of them pay for their own units. I have a select few I have moderate faith in.

 

[gr4474]

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[gr4474]

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[gr4474]

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[DenverW]

I was going to respond, but I’m clearly a forum marketing plant. I don’t want to put the big bucks I get paid at risk.

(Side note, I’d like some cool companies to start paying me, please!).

 

[Terriero]

That's because you didn't know this channel

 

[gr4474]

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