[jude]

Quote:

Originally posted by Duncan Vertigo_1 - 1 Eagle_Driver - 0.5 Neruda - 0 Personal opinion of product 100!! After all, would I be insane if i DID like the V600? NO!! I wouldn't, that'd purely be my own choice!! (As a matter of sideline interest, the V600 isn't sold in the UK, just the 5 and 700... guess we're lucky )

So essentially these are either legends in the making, or a case of early enthusiasm that will wane. I'll withhold my opinion of who is "scoring" until time passes.

And yes, Duncan, I believe hearing preferences vary from person to person, which is why there are so many different makes and models of every component type. But, to answer your questions about the V600's -- yes, you'd be insane.

 

[Duncan]

What is the MSRP of the V600 as a matter of interest? what are they pitted against?

 

[jude]

Quote:

Originally posted by Duncan What is the MSRP of the V600 as a matter of interest? what are they pitted against?

US$ 129.99, and usually go for around US$ 100.00.

 

[RickG]

Quote:

Originally posted by jude So essentially these are either legends in the making, or a case of early enthusiasm that will wane. I'll withhold my opinion of who is "scoring" until time passes.

I'm with you, Jude.

 

[markl]

For now, put me in the "skeptics" column for these vertical phones.

As it happens, I had just ordered a pair of SportaPros from Headroom prior to this post. If not, I'd have scooped up a pair of these Sony's just to see.

I think Vertigo likes an extremely crisp, up front, possibly hard sound with crunchy detail. Maybe these Sony phones give him just that.

markl

 

[Vertigo-1]

Different strokes for different folks.

'nuff said I think on this issue. In light of there having been nothing new circulating on Headfi lately in the headphone world I thought this would be a nice discovery for people to try out. I'll think twice in the future and make sure what I'm about to post jars with the common attitude before I post.

 

[wab]

Vertigo, please just keep posting what you want! You're one of the very few who have tried (almost?) every headphone and amp out there and I trust your opinions a lot.
I'm now very much interested in these phones and will try to audition them soon.

 

[tracylynn]

how does the sony A34L compared to other cheapo headphone...senn mx500 or koss ksc50/35?

 

[Gluegun]

I asked Vertigo how it compared to the best of them, the KSC-35, and he seems to have said that the A44 (not 34..i dunno about what peeps have said about that) is only better if you have a lot of power....but then it's a LOT better, right?

 

[dhwilkin]

At least in terms of detail and transparency, I think that's an accurate assessment.

I don't suppose these things could be found at a Circuit City or Best Buy, could they?

 

[Neruda]

Quote:

Let's see, the other way a headphone could make the 325s sound veiled I believe is if they have a direct, closer coupling to the eardrums. Which the A44s do.

But you also say that they make the ER4S's sound like they "soften words up," and I think it's pretty obvious that they have a much better coupling with your eardrums than these headphones do. and the lousy headphones that came with my panasonic had a nice coupling with my eardrums; why didn't they sound great?
Quote:

I find this statement pretty hilarious. So what, are we back to dictating that everything runs on a price based pecking order?

Of course not. But we all know sony's reputation with cheap headphones. it's not good. (For that matter, if you were saying these things about a cheap senheiser I wouldn't believe you.) they would not have paid for a transducer capable of moderately good sound, because in order to get good sound out of a transducer you have to pay money to get research to make a good one. How much money do you think went in to making this headphone? 50 cents, maybe? Besides, what about you said here: Quote:

It helps to own a really good pair of speakers too. Then you'll never even want to go back to a >$4000 headphone.

Hmm...can we say "contradictory?"

regarding the Stax inner detail thing... Quote:

Almost a case of electrostats vs. dynamics...almost....

Quote:

Quite simply, I don't think any of my other headphones have ever showed me this degree of high quality sharpness to everything, other than the Stax 3030 system that I tried before...it's like you suddenly gain a heightened sense to the intricacies of the music.

Granted, you don't say anything about INNER detail, but you imply it.
Quote:

Once again, it's about the physical attributes of the headphone. They go into your ear canal.

Wow, so speakers must have no detail at all, huh?

Quote:

So yes, even if I had never owned the A44s, from reading this part, I would certainly think twice about the potential its design has.

But you're not talking about potential here, vert! You're talking about these headphones being "open-air etymotics."
Quote:

I'm apparently not the only one that thinks the A44s have a much further potential to be reached when given a headphone amp.

Who else does, besides duncan? Slindeman thought that the entire sony vertical headphone line sounded lousy when paired with an amp and a source. but you'll certainly be pleased with yourself when about ten people buy a pair, won't you?

The only reason I'm posting this stuff is because I've seen what your comments do; back on Headwize, it seemed like every week you'd get a new headphone and it was the greatest thing there ever was, and people went wild over it. By the next week, you'd have sold the damn thing and were talking about how it wasn't that great. Case in point: after you had gotten your R10's, you received the CD3K's for a while. At first, you thought they were even better than your R10's (although I will admit you didn't believe that for long). You also said that Headroom or anyone would have to consider these the equal of the HD600 and RS-1. Then, only a few months later, you were referring to the CD3K's as "ghetto blasters" I believe. I'm betting that the only reason you haven't sold your R10 is because you know that if you did, you would look rediculous after how you hyped those headphones. So I'm just trying to warn people that by next week, these will be old news and you'll be off on something else.

 

[Vertigo-1]

Quote:

I'm betting that the only reason you haven't sold your R10 is because you know that if you did, you would look rediculous after how you hyped those headphones.

What the *****?!? Sorry kid, I kept my R10s because they are plain and simple, I LIKE them. I have owned the R10s for over a year now. Is that long enough for you? Maybe it should now be a mandatory rule that everybody own their headphone for at least a year before talking about them? Sorry, if there's anybody that kept talking about something without even having a wiff of it, it was you pal. Regardless of what I posted about a headphone, good or bad, I at least did it while the thing was on my ears for over a hour, not 50 miles away, and not for 5 minutes on a rack with missmatched components and unfamiliar music.

Would you have rathered I gotten those new headphones and never posted at all? Just buy and sell but never post? Maybe if I had never posted anything at all, the community would have been helped out more by being confused less?

 

[Tim D]

I don't think we need anyone to scrutinize anyone's findings or opinions...it should be left up to the reader to decide for themself who they trust. If they are unable to figure out where their own tastes lies in relation to someone elses...its their issue, their fault.

IMO Vertigo has heard a good deal of stuff, and although I'm not going to follow his every footstep and decision of buying, I take it for what its worth to me. Besides Vertigo has already said that the only rock he considered even bearable would be Creed's My Sacrifice. That alone tells me that there is just a huge discrepency in musical taste. Honestly I have no idea what type of sound Vertigo is looking for, but I don't think it would even resemble what I would look for.

Vertigo is probably the most equipment discriminating pop music listener...and that alone confuses me, but I still enjoy reading about his findings since it still offers valuable viewpoints. When I listen to pop music...I probably happen to be very non discriminating of the equipment it is played through and in fact wouldn't notice that much a varying enjoyment factor in relation to price for sure. My car stereo is good enough for me for pop stations. It is just that you need to know peoples viewpoints beforehand and I don't think it is entirely necessary to discredit someone's viewpoint. Sure you should point out that it is different...but anyone doing minimal research should have figured that out on their own.

I remember the time of early headwize days...almost EVERYONE was GO GRADO, and there was a primarily all Grado army. Things have changed. There are so many new affordable choices popping up nowadays...I do admit it can be annoying to have more choices...but IMO its better than when everyone just gave that one line "Go Grado".

 

[joelongwood]

"Go Grado"...............................................for old times sake.

 

[jude]

Quote:

Originally posted by Tim D I don't think we need anyone to scrutinize anyone's findings or opinions...it should be left up to the reader to decide for themself who they trust.

It's a public forum. I personally think it's fine to scrutinize, question, and debate findings without resorting to personal attacks (though that almost inevitably happens from time to time). To me at least, that's one of the things that makes a forum very interesting.

I'm going to post reviews in the near future of interconnects that have an average price of over $500/meter/pair -- that is just a topic waiting to burst with debate, and I'm looking forward to it. There's a debate going on right now at Audio Asylum about whether or not cables can be worth what some people charge for them, with at least one individual in that thread saying that he has never heard a difference between different cables. I think it's a worthwhile debate. There's another discussion there started by someone who thinks that Kimber is ripping off customers who bought Kimber Select series cables because Kimber has apparently made some recent improvements to the Select line and, as an early adopter of this expensive line, he feels like he should get a free upgrade to the latest version. I don't agree with this cat's opinion, but, again, another interesting discussion/debate.

I don't think every thread should be a debate, but who among us didn't see this one coming in this thread? If you ask me, it's a worthwhile, fun, and interesting discussion.