[odarg64]

Seemingly technical jargon being used, such as "effortless transients" and "resolving treble".

Head-Fi is a case study in the use of nonsensical language to imply technical expertise.

Take a look at my favorite gem from this week:

"What immediately strikes about the Ode to Laura is its liquid note presentation and smooth yet highly articulate nature. It has an L-shaped signature with a rich yet meticulously controlled bass presentation, large, highly resolved vocals and a smooth, refined top-end. The cable strikes me as being impressively spacious and it has a good if not market-leading technical foundation despite its darker character in the treble. To me, vocals are a highlight, presented with enhanced size, great definition and slightly higher contrast with counterbalancing warmth and top-end articulation. Rather than being dense, the midrange is well-extended but emboldened by the more robust low-end. Lows similarly inspire, and the densely packed conductors provide a sense of power similar to that observed on the Socrates. The Laura provides an immediate boost to extension but does so in the cleanest manner I’ve yet seen with minimal introduction of muddiness or loss to separation. Bass upholds exemplary definition in the mid-bass and overall timbre showcases great authenticity."

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/ele...cussions-thread.919228/page-253#post-17068259

Not a single sentence conveys any meaning, technical or otherwise. Not even enough to be considered intellectually dishonest.

 

[AudioThief]

Head-Fi is a case study in the use of nonsensical language to imply technical expertise.

Take a look at my favorite gem from this week:

"What immediately strikes about the Ode to Laura is its liquid note presentation and smooth yet highly articulate nature. It has an L-shaped signature with a rich yet meticulously controlled bass presentation, large, highly resolved vocals and a smooth, refined top-end. The cable strikes me as being impressively spacious and it has a good if not market-leading technical foundation despite its darker character in the treble. To me, vocals are a highlight, presented with enhanced size, great definition and slightly higher contrast with counterbalancing warmth and top-end articulation. Rather than being dense, the midrange is well-extended but emboldened by the more robust low-end. Lows similarly inspire, and the densely packed conductors provide a sense of power similar to that observed on the Socrates. The Laura provides an immediate boost to extension but does so in the cleanest manner I’ve yet seen with minimal introduction of muddiness or loss to separation. Bass upholds exemplary definition in the mid-bass and overall timbre showcases great authenticity."

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/ele...cussions-thread.919228/page-253#post-17068259

Not a single sentence conveys any meaning, technical or otherwise. Not even enough to be considered intellectually dishonest.

Oh man lol, that thread is like satire. Further down:

"When I first received the cable, I have to admit I was having some mixed feelings. There were some nice effects like better depth of stage and some nice bass fullness, but, likely combined with my age, the top end was a bit muted and transients lacked some snap. "T"'s sounded a little closer to "D"'s than I would like. "S"'s didn't have the sharpness I like."

AudioThief proposed translation: "When I received the cable, I was tired and my wife was having some issues at works that she kept nagging me about, disturbing my listening sessions. This ruined my listening session, so the sound obviously is not good."
--

"
As I was only at about 15 hours I sat back and figured I'd give it some time. I left it running while at work and would check in in the evenings for some short listening.

Well... somewhere around 80 hours in I sat down in the evening for a listen and went back to some of the recordings from the first couple nights. Some female vocal tracks with acoustic guitar. The "T"'s were crisp, the "S"'s were beautifully enunciated with that sharpness. The guitar sounded so lifelike."

AudioThief proposed translation: "After many failed attempts at getting a good listening session in, the stars aligned one friday evening with a couple of beers after a great workout earlier in the day and a great barbecue dinner with the extended family. Wow, this is awesome - must be the new cables finally opening up xD"

--

"However, with even more time, overall throughout my listening the soundstage did something very exciting. Rather than seem like I took a step back, it opened up to a much larger space. With the stock cable, instruments were more localized to the left and right and what I had thought of as a "Planar Sound" was that the presentation was forward and lacking depth but as a trade off to the dynamic and detailed nature of planar drivers. The Inferno has changed that!! The sound has taken on a 3-D holographic sound and if there is depth in the recording I hear it. Some songs that seemed to start of quietly and crescendo now sound like they are way off in the distance and now moving closer. It's revealed some more layers sound that I hadn't noticed."

AudioThief proposed translation: "After the great listening session some time back, I made up my mind that the stock cable is simply worse - I mean this cable cost a ton, everyone is raving about it. Obviously its better. I swapped back to the stock cable just to make sure, and yeah the cable sounds like garbage, thank god"

--


Pure insanity. We essentially know that the sound that entered his ear with the stock cable vs the new cable was identical, yet he's hearing two almost completely different headphones. Absurd.

 

[odarg64]

Absurd.

Patently so. If I had the inclination I'd order a cable and have it sent directly to ASR.

Edit: Holy crap, it cost $2800! Nevermind. That's some next-level snake oil right there.

"AudioThief Proposed Translation" should be an official, regular feature on Head-Fi!

 

[bigshot]

I wonder if that person should have been a poet instead of a hifi nut.

 

[redrol]

Im over here PRATing around.

The best thing about headfi is no one is susceptible to placebo. It's truly the top 1% of humans that have ever existed!

 

[odarg64]

Im over here PRATing around.

The best thing about headfi is no one is susceptible to placebo. It's truly the top 1% of humans that have ever existed!

I have to check to be sure, but I believe placebo resistance is a requirement for Head-Fi membership.

 

[bobeau]

Just out of curiosity, do most of you good folk hang out over at ASR now? I dipped my toes in this subforum's water about 10 years back but was a bit turned off due to one particularly acerbic prominent member here, have been mostly at ASR since 2018 or so.

 

[craiglester]

I went there once, found people discussing how different DACs sound based on measurements that were *way* below the threshold of human audibility. Not been back since, at least to the forums. I've found that practically any forum on any subject has it's fair share of "characters" but that's people for you - can't always get along with everyone.

Edited for typo

 

[Steve999]

Just out of curiosity, do most of you good folk hang out over at ASR now? I dipped my toes in this subforum's water about 10 years back but was a bit turned off due to one particularly acerbic prominent member here, have been mostly at ASR since 2018 or so.

ASR is cool, this place is cool. I think there’s a lot of valuable stuff in both places. There’s a lot more stuff at ASR, things are by comparison paint-driyngly grass-growingly slow at Sound Science. But you get some really good content here now & then and the editorial bent here is a nice counterweight to ASR, IMHO & etc. You do get some high-amplitude empty calorie drama here, best to just stay out of the crossfire with that stuff. Once you get bent out of shape and your lizard brain takes over you might get some scars. Good popcorn and beer reading, but I feel bad when it gets too harsh.

I read both pretty regularly. Between the two you will keep your own butt out of thought jail. : )

To me “thought jail” is more like the rest of head-fi. Though I was here when the sound science sub forum was created and it was definitely an outpost for people who saw through the persistent and serious flaws of head-fi generally, and therefore were perceived as not playing nice with others. : )

 

[bigshot]

I find that there are factions in both the audiophile community and the sound science community who focus on tiny numbers and sound that can't really be heard. They both focus on the bleeding edge of audibility, and they both double down on adding a little bit to the threshold "just to account for particularly sensitive ears". Eventually, they follow the "just to be safe" buffer right down the rabbit hole. They are more similar to each other than either would like to admit. Most ordinary people are practical minded. They want affordable equipment that makes sense scientifically and fits their personal purpose. I like those kinds of practical souls.

 

[castleofargh]

Just out of curiosity, do most of you good folk hang out over at ASR now? I dipped my toes in this subforum's water about 10 years back but was a bit turned off due to one particularly acerbic prominent member here, have been mostly at ASR since 2018 or so.

I’m very happy to see one more source for measurements. For that reason alone, I’m a fan and would be even if they claimed to adore Celine Dion and sacrificed puppies before making every new measurement.
But I didn’t register an account and I go to ASR only when my frantic google search for specs leads me to it.
With that said, I’m kind of nowhere else anyway. I’m on hydrogenaudio but post like once every other year and go to read it maybe 5 times a year. Innerfideility died, I got fed up with the overwhelming inertia of the French forum I was in many years ago(admittedly I wasn’t nearly as lethargic and fatalistic as I am now about this hobby and the people in it. Things would probably be different now). Purrin and friends made me feel right at home after 3 posts, if home is a place full of angry antifas and I just shaved my tall skinny blue eyed head then raised my hand to high five someone. BTW, I ’m also a fan of them for the same reason as ASR. They measured stuff and shared the results. Objective data providers are my friends, at least in principle when not in facts.

 

[Sonic Defender]

Just out of curiosity, do most of you good folk hang out over at ASR now? I dipped my toes in this subforum's water about 10 years back but was a bit turned off due to one particularly acerbic prominent member here, have been mostly at ASR since 2018 or so.

I'm on ASR probably more than head-fi for sure.

 

[bigshot]

We’re probably more cranky here because we’re all bottled up in a banishment group.

 

[PointyFox]

Oh, another thing too.
Negative views are frowned upon.

"If you didn't like it why are you even posting here? Just move on already."

 

[AudioThief]

Just out of curiosity, do most of you good folk hang out over at ASR now? I dipped my toes in this subforum's water about 10 years back but was a bit turned off due to one particularly acerbic prominent member here, have been mostly at ASR since 2018 or so.

I just use head-fi because it got both over the top subjectivist ramblings (which I can find it fun to engage in), and the sound science forum where objectivists and subjectivists are most likely to clash - which honestly is the only reason I even care about any of this any more (it is VERY entertaining to read those discussions). The "audiophile hobby" died for me after some good discussions with bigshot, gregorio and castelofargh a couple of years ago. It just isn't interesting for me to compare headphones because I'm just comparing a bunch of moods and biases. The actual differences between gear, even headphones, is so small that it kinda doesn't matter to me. The hobby was interesting when I still was intoxicated by the kool-aid. Once the last drops left my system and I quit cold turkey, I just stopped caring. I got a pair of estats and a pair of closed headphones, both of "audiophile" quality. I put the estats on if I'm home alone and want to listen to classic/acoustic music etc, then I got the closed cans on for general purpose use and music listening. I have no interest "upgrading" anything, because there is no upgrades to be had. Sure it might sound different, but any perceived preference either way is probably me just rationalizing my purchase. The only actual preference I have is for the sound to be "clear" "balanced", have somewhat convicing stereo effect and no harsh treble. Even just typing that out is borderline autophool mumbo jumbo, lol.

/end rant