[Speakerphile]

Quote:

Spoiler: Warning%3A%20Spoiler!

 
 
You might want to look at this.
 
From the article in Lawyers and Settlements:  "The lawsuit alleges Best Buy has established a business practice of taking, storing, using and/or sharing customers’ personal or highly restricted personal information, without consent, when customers make a normal return of Best Buy merchandise. Their receipt indicates that Best Buy “tracks exchanges and returns … and some of the information from your ID may be stored in a secure, encrypted database of customer activity that Best Buy and its affiliates use to track exchanges and returns.”
 
Though the 11th Circuit later dismissed the suit filed in November 22, 2011 (as reported elsewhere), they did so because BB's activity did not violate customers' privacy in the current legal sense, not because customers' privacy is inviolate in the practical sense.  BB is still going to glean and store information from swiping licenses which a lot of potential customers would rather they didn't possess.
 
And then of course there was that incident with the Geek Squad in which a customer's personal nude photos were posted online by BB staff members who worked on her computer.
 
From a different report in the Huffington Post:
 
"This isn't the first time a Geek Squad employee has decided to grab a customer's nude pictures from a computer. . . .  In 2007, William E. Giffels was fired after he admitted to storing a customer's nude pictures on his personal flash drive, according to The Star Tribune."
 
Personal-information-sharing is part of the discount card package that greets, and cashier who hectors, the customer at every BB cash register.  In this, BB is no different from Duane Reade or nearly any other chain that offers a discount card. 
 
Violating customers' privacy without asking for specific permissions is something that major companies have done since one of our previous presidents signed the omission into law:  BB is not being singled out here.  They are being included because (1) your company makes money selling customers' private information and (2) the person from Dallas's accusation was that to try to buy Momentums at a discount was "screwing over" a company that would make money from the purchase.  BB is not some innocent enterprise to be tainted by the evil Head-fi member who looks for a substantial discount -- which the salesperson and BB would have to approve before the discount could ever go into effect. 
 
Notice that I never mentioned privacy rights in the legal sense, as you did.  That's because calling what BB does illegal would be a ridiculous claim and one you can't possibly be serious about attributing to me.
 
 
Yes, BB does care about head-fi members' business, which was my point:  Buying headphones at a discount is still offering BB one's business.  Whether or not the discount is an acceptable one to honor is up to BB and not the customer. 
 
The same is true of customers who combine discounts and coupons.  Combinations might work in ways that seem too good to be true, but using them is not to be conflated with "screwing over" Best Buy.
 
The truth is that BB "screws over" entire neighborhoods, local communities and stores every time they move into massive stores into a new territory, just as B&N and Borders closed innumerable small bookstores decades ago.  (The irony is that Borders is now gone, B&N is losing money and, despite the growing sales of ebooks, indie book stores are making a comeback.)
 
BB is certainly leagues better than Walmart in terms of how they treat their employees, and their merchandise is far more useful to me, but that's not what you and I happen to be discussing. 
 
Also:  You seemed to miss the fact I was being sarcastic about BB not wanting head-fi's business (as was the gentleman from Dixie in addressing my post).  That makes me skeptical about your entire interpretation of my post.
 
 
You might have insight into aspects of BB's business, but you might also have a conflict of interests which I do not.  Investigating corporate abuses is something I do on my own time and not for money.
 

 

 
This is quite a lengthy response.  
 
With regard to Best Buy selling customer information.  Nothing you said backs this up.  As far as customer privacy goes, your article states that Best Buy was following the law.  I will concede that Best Buy may collect more information than some people are comfortable with, but I fail to see how that is avoidable.  Running such a large business, massive data collection is unavoidable.  There will always be someone who isn't happy.  You also fail to acknowledge that people CHOOSE to shop at Best Buy.  ID's are only scanned to track customers returning items without a receipt, to counteract fraud.  This data is protected in every conceivable way.  If you wish to avoid having your information in this system, then don't lose your receipt.  Then again, if you do lose your receipt, that is stored in another system.  I can't tell you how angry customers get when Best Buy can't find a receipt they lost.  So, clearly, not all customers are uncomfortable with Best Buy having their information.  I can speak first-hand the lengths Best Buy goes to in order to protect that data.  
 
Regarding the Geek Squad example you gave.  The actions of rogue employees are not necessarily indicative of a company, or a companies' stance on customer data protection.  It's unfortunate that it has happened, but I don't think you can say Best Buy has acted irresponsibly in that regard.  Nearly any organization that holds data has experienced a similar breach.  This includes the government, ALL retailers, Google etc...  
 
You assert that Best Buy violates customers' privacy for profit.  This is simply not true, and nothing you have said back's that up.    

 

[dannyking]

Hi guys,
 
I downloaded this accudio app on my iphone (An app that let's you get the best sound out of your headphones or at least that's what they say.) I used the settings for the sennheiser momentum (with bass 3, and subBass 3) and the momentums sounded better than just with the iphone. I selected other headphones like the HD650, 800, Sony MDR and beats pro (was the worst of all of them) but I still preferred the momentum's sound. However, things got rather interesting when I selected the athm50 settings with bass and subbass increased to 4. This sounded better than the momentum's settings. Everything was crisp, clear and more engaging. I can't really say much about highs, mids and lows but every song on my iphone sounded better with that setting. The app is called accudio and you can get the free version and pay if you like it. I really want you guys to try it and tell me what you think, maybe it's just me who thinks that sound is better, I really want to know  
I mainly listen to hiphop and Instrumentals(anime instrumentals) . but I also listen to other genres from time to time and as I said they all sounded better to me with athm50s setting.

 

[supersoulfly]

Ordered the black Momentum today.  I've been salivating since I first saw them many months ago.  
Birthday gift to myself.
Very excited.  

 

[scrypt]

Still in the process of moving from my place in NYC to White Plains and only have my phone with me and limited AC access until Tuesday. I'm reserving this spot for a response which I hope won't continue to derail the thread.

For the vinyl, my original post was about the buying a pair of momentums and not documented privacy issues at Best Buy, but sobeit -- some of us apparently root for corporations as if they were football teams, which is a bit like fighting over which car-jacker has the sunniest disposition.

There's also the possibility of continuing this OT brand tussle via PM so that others can continue discussing Sennheiser headphones.

This is quite a lengthy response.  

With regard to Best Buy selling customer information.  Nothing you said backs this up.  As far as customer privacy goes, your article states that Best Buy was following the law.  I will concede that Best Buy may collect more information than some people are comfortable with, but I fail to see how that is avoidable.  Running such a large business, massive data collection is unavoidable.  There will always be someone who isn't happy.  You also fail to acknowledge that people CHOOSE to shop at Best Buy.  ID's are only scanned to track customers returning items without a receipt, to counteract fraud.  This data is protected in every conceivable way.  If you wish to avoid having your information in this system, then don't lose your receipt.  Then again, if you do lose your receipt, that is stored in another system.  I can't tell you how angry customers get when Best Buy can't find a receipt they lost.  So, clearly, not all customers are uncomfortable with Best Buy having their information.  I can speak first-hand the lengths Best Buy goes to in order to protect that data.  

Regarding the Geek Squad example you gave.  The actions of rogue employees are not necessarily indicative of a company, or a companies' stance on customer data protection.  It's unfortunate that it has happened, but I don't think you can say Best Buy has acted irresponsibly in that regard.  Nearly any organization that holds data has experienced a similar breach.  This includes the government, ALL retailers, Google etc...  

You assert that Best Buy violates customers' privacy for profit.  This is simply not true, and nothing you have said back's that up.    

 

[PolkManiac]

Look, all I did was question the open discussion of trying to use deception in order to screw over a company trying to sell a product.  Regardless of who the company is, I tend not to try and justify my using deception to save a few bucks by taking issue with some of their practices.  If I truly have issues with a company then I won't shop there, I'm not going to use that as an excuse to 'trick' them into giving me a better price.  I have issues with Walmart and as a result haven't set foot in one of their stores in over 3 years, even though they're convenient and typically inexpensive..

 

[GREQ]

Quote:

Look, all I did was question the open discussion of trying to use deception in order to screw over a company trying to sell a product.  Regardless of who the company is, I tend not to try and justify my using deception to save a few bucks by taking issue with some of their practices.  If I truly have issues with a company then I won't shop there, I'm not going to use that as an excuse to 'trick' them into giving me a better price.  I have issues with Walmart and as a result haven't set foot in one of their stores in over 3 years, even though they're convenient and typically inexpensive..

Simplicity itself. 

 

[bobusn]

Saw these at $299 for black & brown today on Amazon & JR...
 
r/Bob

 

[kyuuketsuki]

Quote:

Saw these at $299 for black & brown today on Amazon & JR...
 
r/Bob

 
This is due to a Sennheiser promotion, that involves a $50 instant rebate on them. 

 

[supersoulfly]

Got my black pair delivered today for $300 (great, considering I usually can't find a good deal on headphones where I live). Sexy as hell.  Earpads are cozy for sure, but I don't think it will be an issue.   I'm still adjusting to the signature, but they're already impressive.  
 
Do these need any burn time?
Any changes I can expect from the fit/comfort over time?

 

[sientobente]

I'm using a musiland 01 usd DAC with my momentums and I'm loving the combination.

 

[musiclife]

Quote:

Ordered the black Momentum today.  I've been salivating since I first saw them many months ago.  
Birthday gift to myself.
Very excited.  

Pls post your first impression when you get them! Or at least when you open your own gift

 

[supersoulfly]

Quote:

Pls post your first impression when you get them! Or at least when you open your own gift

 
I've been listening to them for a couple days now.  To put it simple, they're great.  Not the perfect headphone that will save us all, but it's the best closed portable I've heard.  The fit isn't quite right.  The size issue effects my left ear a bit.  But it's usually comfortable.  I just find myself getting OCD about it and adjusting it frequently.  I suspect that will dissipate over time as I stop obsessing over my new toy.  Build quality is superb.  High grade production that you can see and feel.  The sound is excellent.  A bit warm like many have said, and easily suits most genres of music.  The clarity is outstanding.  In those silent dark moments I'm able to enjoy some rather analytical listening.  Based on what I heard, I thought my phone would be able to push these a bit easier, but I do often find myself cranking it up to the highest volume marks.  In part that has to do with how much I'm enjoying the sound quality.  Overall I'm very pleased.  It's a lot of money to spend on a closed portable, but they do deliver.

 

[sientobente]

I'll share my impressions on the Momentum against the akg k550. Using the same source and unamped, the 550 sounded anemic and thin compared to the Momentums. The bass too sounded artificial on the 550 while he Momentum provides that much slam you're looking for in that area. What I like though is the airy and crisp sound the 550 offered. Using a Fiio E17, the K550 came to life. It added more presence in the bass area. While using the same portable amp on the Momentum somewhat made it sound a bit recessed. For comfort and fit, Momentum wins hands down. The leathery pads were somewhat the most comfortable pads I have ever tried on a headphone while the K550, comfortable as they are were just too loose and you need both hands to provide a good seal.

I'd still get the k550 though, because there are music that sounded great on the AKGs like Jazz, Vocal-rich songs or any relaxed music while contemporary tracks like New Wave, Rock, Pop and RnB were just awesome in the Momentums.

 

[crhughesin]

Quote:

I just bought some DT880s yesterday while waiting for these to come out. I think I prefer the clarity and signature of the Beyers, but it's too early to tell. Compared to my HD280s though, they sound fantastic. Maybe I'll pick up a pair of these in a month and see which one I prefer. I certainly like the looks of the MOMENTUM more.

 
Hey yokken... Did you end up buying a pair of the Momentum's in the end? How do they compare to the DT880s?

 

[iSennheiser]

After listening to Momentum for 4months, I can conclude that this headphone give you the feeling of performing together on-stage with the singer or orchestra(as a conductor). The imaging is very accurate and realistic tough you might get a congested sounding(not an issue to me) but don't get me wrong this headphone sounds BIG. You will only understand the beauty of this headphone if you take this out on-the-go such as on the commute or walking at the seaside, you will feel like you're listening to an open-backed headphone (similar to HD600&650) on-the-go, you just feel like not wearing anything but a Concert Hall on your head. That's my impression of Sennheiser Momentum, my only complain is their small earcups and that's very annoying!