[bdh]

Maybe this has been discussed recently, but I couldn't find any thread about it after a few searches.

I'm amazed at how many new threads are started daily. There are so many that the few threads I may be interested in are quickly moved to page 6 and beyond, and they're fairly easy to miss in all the noise.

The two possible groups I thought of are Full-sized vs. Mobile, and Headphone reviews vs. Headphone Q&A.

I think a seperate group for full-sized vs mobile would be better because there are many people who don't care about one class of headphones or the other, and so could filter out half the thread topics. While I think there are many people that would be interested in both headphone reviews and general headphone discussions, and so would end up frequenting both groups anyway if it was split that way.

BTW, I don't know who it would be that would actually split the group or would listen to this poll.

 

[Gamemako]

IEMs are big enough now to have their own section, especially given their overlap with portable audio.

 

[The_Duke_Of_Eli]

That's an interesting distinction, but alot of members here have conflicting views of "portable". To some of us that's a set of IEMs and an ipot. To others it's a red-wagon-rig, a couple thousasnd feet of extension cord and K1000s. Don't think you'll get anything changed here.

 

[jilgiljongiljing]

Instead of splitting the group, which would make monitoring threads and posting quite a pain, maybe we can standardize some sort of tag system for all the threads. Start the thread with tags like

Q&A: (Questions and Answers)
FSH: (Full Size Headphone)
IEM: (In Ear Monitor)
MOBH: (Mobile Headphones)
REV: (Review)
POLL:
COMP: (Comparison)
GEN: (General)

Just to give an idea. You can also combine two and say (MOB|COMP) or (FSH|POLL).

Neednt have so many, but it would really help IMO.
It mite be tough to start with, but once it becomes consistent, it will be much easier to use and follow.

 

[NightWoundsTime]

Don't define it as portable, just IEM's and lightweight. I'm pretty set on headphone choices so I barely notice this section, but sometimes I'm looking for impressions of a new product and they're very hard to find in here.

This should be a reasonable request to the mod-team and admins, since the range of headphones has taken off in such a huge way since the birth of this forum.

The above suggestion would never work here. You'd have a set of elitists who would use it consistently and a bunch of people who would face ridicule and constant linking of "formatting rules" over a "which headphone shall I buy" question.

 

[Meyvn]

I've often wondered if we shouldn't have separate forums for dynamic and electrostatic. Portable and full-sized is another interesting distinction to make. However, as was said, those lines can definitely be blurred. A few users use IEMs at home, and even more use full-sized headphones abroad. This particular forum is very overcrowded with threads, though. If any changes were made, one problem would be that it woudl take WAY too much labor to move existing threads to the new forums.

 

[NightWoundsTime]

Dynamic and electrostat wouldn't really work anymore. Like I said, IEM and Lightweights (clip-on, street-style, and buds) would be a great split.

Quote:

If any changes were made, one problem would be that it woudl take WAY too much labor to move existing threads to the new forums.

No such move was made when the computer-as-source forum opened (as far as I know anyway). I believe it started from scratch. Perhaps a few noteworthy threads could be transferred though.

 

[wower]

Quote:

Originally Posted by The_Duke_Of_Eli That's an interesting distinction, but alot of members here have conflicting views of "portable". To some of us that's a set of IEMs and an ipot. To others it's a red-wagon-rig, a couple thousasnd feet of extension cord and K1000s. Don't think you'll get anything changed here.

I completely agree. This is exactly what I picked up on when I read OP. It is an issue of semantics. I voted to leave it. In a best case scenario people would be using the search anyway; It's like an all-knowing Oracle.

 

[GlendaleViper]

I use the subscription service to keep on top of threads I know I'll want to get back to, but I think your idea is a good one - just needs to be fleshed out for many of the reasons listed above.

 

[bdh]

I know people would split hairs about wording, but regardless how they are actually used, most people could figure out which cans were meant as portable and which were not.

The Full-sized vs. IEM\lightweight description might cause less bickering.

If a particular headphone could be put in either group, then put the thread in one group or the other and don't worry about it.

 

[Lad27]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bdh I know people would split hairs about wording, but regardless how they are actually used, most people could figure out which cans were meant as portable and which were not. The Full-sized vs. IEM\lightweight description might cause less bickering. If a particular headphone could be put in either group, then put the thread in one group or the other and don't worry about it.

Totaly agree. Voted for split.

 

[regal]

what about a seperate forum for sealed phones including iem's. When I first came here to learn about phones I didn't pick up on the closed vs open thing. Closed phones are so different and frankly cost so much more to get good sound that I think they should be in their own forum.

 

[feh1325]

i think the current set up is fine

so people, like me, who are procrastinating, can find things to read

plus, its more friendly to the new guy, and the rare occasion, girl

 

[spinali]

Some points well taken.

Okay, suppose it's of these perennial "I'm new here and want a headphone recommendation" posts. Many won't bother to see whether there's a forum for portable gear - and others may prefer to post in the main section since it gets more traffic.

Conversely, subdividing is more of a chore for the forum administrators. But if you could define "portables" in a way that would be immediately clear and attractive to prospective posters ("Portables: iPods, IEMs, earbuds, clip-on earphnes, ultra-portable headphones, and all portable accessories"), it sounds very attractive.

 

[oicdn]

How about you make it noob proof, and make a noob section, IEM and just leave "headphones" for everything else as the niche of people that have each of the respective of what's left over isn't big enough to warrant it's own forum.

Even though there are different kinds of headphones, I think to most, IEMS and buds can fall into thier own forum, while the definition of lightweight can vary.

Takes all the controversy out, it's either in your ear, or not. Leave it at that and you're good to go....