CanadianMaestro
Headphoneus Supremus
If I don't like a HP because it's too "bright", I sell it.
Manufacturers "tune" their HPs to have different sound profiles, imo. I don't believe the HD800's perceived "brightness" is a flaw or weakness. It is what it is. imo.
As for EQ-ing, I stay away from it. It just defeats my enjoyment of musical performance diversity. That's why I have 21 versions of Beethoven's 7th symphony -- I like to hear the brightness of the brass with some orchs/conductors who emphasize the brass section, and also the lushness of the basses in recs where the conductor chooses to emphasize that part of the symphony (not to mention the recording engineers' prefs). I also enjoy my humble collection of HPs which really have different sound profiles relative to each other. Eq-ing just doesn't satisfy my need for hearing recordings the way they were done, and for experiencing HPs the way they were designed. No HP is "perfect" for everyone, that's obvious. But I think EQ-ing and filtering, for me, defeat the definition and main goal of high performance audio. They just compromise, almost always, one part of the freq balance while boosting another.
Just my 2 cents' worth.
Manufacturers "tune" their HPs to have different sound profiles, imo. I don't believe the HD800's perceived "brightness" is a flaw or weakness. It is what it is. imo.
As for EQ-ing, I stay away from it. It just defeats my enjoyment of musical performance diversity. That's why I have 21 versions of Beethoven's 7th symphony -- I like to hear the brightness of the brass with some orchs/conductors who emphasize the brass section, and also the lushness of the basses in recs where the conductor chooses to emphasize that part of the symphony (not to mention the recording engineers' prefs). I also enjoy my humble collection of HPs which really have different sound profiles relative to each other. Eq-ing just doesn't satisfy my need for hearing recordings the way they were done, and for experiencing HPs the way they were designed. No HP is "perfect" for everyone, that's obvious. But I think EQ-ing and filtering, for me, defeat the definition and main goal of high performance audio. They just compromise, almost always, one part of the freq balance while boosting another.
Just my 2 cents' worth.