Hey, Feifan,
Sorry about the belated response.
Quote:
Originally Posted by feifan /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Hi, Soundinista. In #261, you're simply quoting the excerpts I pulled from Uncle Erik's review. And as I said earlier, I don't see any attacks or caricatures in his review.
The quote that you've included from my #337 is taken out of context. It was a reply to a question posted by Beagle: "Question for the HD800 listeners/owners, do you still get the bass at low volume levels." My full answer was: "Beagle, yes, definitely. Deep, punchy, defined, accurate -- but not in your face or up front unless the arrangement calls for the emphasis. Uncle Erik explains this beautifully in his post. We have 'The Great HD800 Divide' because some (majority?) prefer their bass consistently up front and others (minority?) prefer a wider dynamic range with bass moving back and forth, soft and loud, without losing its integrity."
Again, I see no attacks or caricatures. We're simply underscoring the fact that there seems to be two different populations: Those who prefer a stronger bass sound and those who prefer a relative bass sound. The point is that this goes a long way toward explaining, at least to some people, the difference between those who do and those who don't find fault with the HD800.
Yes, your application of the strawman is accurate, but I'm afraid it doesn't fit Uncle Erik (or me). I don't see him putting an unfair spin on oppositional views or opponents in order to leave them more open for attack. There's not a shred of evidence of this. He's clearly trying to present a plausible explanation for the strong differences in opinion re the HD800. That's it.
And when I quote him, this is the point that I'm referring to.
Personally, I like a strong bass for rock. And this is one of the reasons for keeping the HD650 and especially the GS1K, which has a warm, deep, punchy, musical bass. But I also like "relative" (for want of a better term) 'phones that are neutral, accurate, revealing for a wide range of music that emphasizes the artistry of voices and instruments. For this, I have the K701 and HD800.
I think this is a case of miscommunication, and I'm glad we're clearing it up.
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Just a couple of quick points on the highlighted remarks above:
1. No, I don't think you were unfairly edited in my posts. We'll have to agree to disagree on that.
2. Yes, there may have been miscommunication, but maybe not exactly as you see it. For me, neutrality does involve flat-sounding bass output at 30Hz. So, I totally agree with you in your preference for "relative" bass (as described above). As far as bass, that is
all I care about. And there are phones that give you that. The DX1000 and the D7000 are two of those phones. But there was this suggestion -- both in Skylab's review and in a remark made by IPodPJ somewhere in this thread -- that the HD800 doesn't quite reach that deeply, not flatly anyway. That's my basis for suspecting that you're using the term "neutral" with a different meaning than it has for me. Again, I do understand how deep-bass-challenged phones may properly be called "neutral" for the part of the spectrum that they cover. But I tend to think of neutrality as
top-to-bottom neutrality. IME, the term "top-to-bottom neutrality" perfectly describes the D7000. (The DX1000 is the
prettiest version of neutrality that I've known and my #1 fave, but not exactly a case of
lab-grade neutrality.
) It's an essential part of what I expect from state-of-the-art headphones.
Thanks for the discussion!
