- Joined
- Oct 26, 2008
- Posts
- 5,050
- Likes
- 894
Of course flaws should be pointed out, but what those guys do is beyond pointing out flaws. They consistently bashed the HD700 for its treble spikes both here on head-fi and [REMOVED BY ME] When they get criticized for relying on their frequency response charts way too much to make their points and base their reviews off of, they get mad and defensive, then go on a snobby rant. Oh, and many people don't even have problems with the treble spikes, which is their main complaint with the HD700 in the first place.
Here's a thread where purrin / marvey accuses Sennheiser of hiring people to shill for the HD700 on head-fi, just because they're new(ish) users disagreeing with his review and actually having positive things to say about the HD700:
[REMOVED BY ME]
He had to close that thread because Currawong went in there and schooled him.
Here's a recent response from purrin when someone called him out for hyping Schiit Yggdrasil before it's even released:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/667711/new-schiit-ragnarok-and-yggdrasil/4410#post_11180971
This dude is a pompous, snobby, holier-than-thou, paranoid individual. I'm not sure how anyone can deny this fact after reading some of his posts. The problem is, a lot of people take him too seriously and start to spread his biased views around on head-fi, without even testing the products themselves. Then that viewpoint becomes the standard opinion. Which was what happened with the HD700.
P.S. How exactly do you objectively disprove someone's subjective review wrong?
Interesting points all around.
1. I removed the links to a specific website. I've been asked not to link to that specific website.
2. I don't see where currawong "schooled" anyone? I'd be interested to see his comments on the HD700, as he definitely has heard enough gear to give a good impression. I could only find posts where he didn't seem super enthusiastic http://www.head-fi.org/t/667711/new-schiit-ragnarok-and-yggdrasil/4410#post_11180971
3. Purrin gets really excited about audio stuff, especially DACs. I'm not surprised to see him super excited about the Yggy. I don't know if it being "unreleased" is super relevant if he's heard it? We're all in the same local vicinity of Schiit down here, and Schiit is known to get feedback from the local users.
4. I can't really logically argue against calling him "a pompous, snobby, holier-than-thou, paranoid individual." I can only say he seemed like a pretty nice guy from the three or four times I talked to him at the SoCal meets over the years
You bring up an interesting topic of objective vs. subjective. Many people who were posting their "subjective" opinions were getting bashed. The point of his review was that it tried to say "here's what I am hearing subjectively, here's a measurement to show it objectively". Measurements give a way to show what's actually going on to help understand what you're hearing. It's a way to visually communicate what's going on. Certainly, they're not very good on their own, and their are lots of nuances.
For example the HD700's have a treble peak in the measurements. Those are just total numbers which you can interpret how you like, but your interpretation doesn't change them. You can look at the CSD and see the treble rings a bit, which makes it sound bit worse than the standard FR would show. So if you wanted to say "the HD700s don't have a treble peak" you would have to explain how the objective measurement showed such a large peak, but you don't hear it. Here's how you could do that.
1. Bad measurement - Testing equipment was malfunctioning or the procedure was flawed (Tyll has a great video showing how he takes measurements).
2. Defective unit - A few occasions defective headphones got measured. This caused some head scratching as people would say "mine don't sound like that at all, I hear it differently!"
3. Revisions - Some long running headphones (eg HD650, LCD2) have had driver revisions over time. Consequently, measurements would be different.
4. Measurements don't correlate to sound well - Sometimes measurements may "look worse than they sound". Example: "The treble peak is there, but to my ears, it's not as sharp as it looks"
With all that said. I think the price the HD700s are running about now makes them seem like a "decent" choice. For the asking price do I think there's better? Sure. Do I enjoy listening to mine sometimes? Yup! I just wish the cable wasn't so bulky and tangly!