[ducanh712]

I don’t know what are you talking about. But at least i have the sáme Solitaire P listening impression with Fidelio review

 

[DarginMahkum]

I don’t know what are you talking about. But at least i have the sáme Solitaire P listening impression with Fidelio review

I also find his reviews quite objective and trustworthy. I don't think he tries to convince in favor of T+A. For example, about HA200:

"Hinsichtlich der Transparenz agiert der DAC/Kopfhörerverstärker gleichfalls auf höchstem Niveau, erreicht dabei aber nicht ganz die unnachahmliche Luftigkeit eines Röhrenverstärkers dieser Preisklasse."

translation

"In terms of transparency, the DAC/headphone amplifier also operates at the highest level, but does not quite achieve the inimitable airiness of a tube amplifier in this price class."

 

[brams]

My comments were not directed at @Musicalhead. I have no reason to question the objectivity of those reviews. Instead, they were in response to the comment made that the reason we rarely see negative reviews is that reviewers do not spend time reporting on items they do not like. If that is really the case it questions the purpose of reviews in general.

In my opinion it would be more beneficial to the public if reviewers reported on both the good and not so good products they receive for review. This is especially important for those reviewers who get their product for free and can sell them later for profit. In those cases an always positive review is just a way for reviewers to maximize the resale value of items they get for free.

 

[Musicalhead]

Hi Musicalhead,

Your very interesting comment (and other similar comments about your contacts with headphone manufacturing companies (e.g. like you mentioned once about Warwick audio on the Open End forum) for whose products you manage to write your long, eloquent and nicely positive impressions on your very polished website) leads me to a question for you:
I (and I assume also some other Head-Fi members) would like to know, re. the headphones (and all other gear like related amplifiers) you review, as well as those you review and own, as well as those you reviewed, owned and sold (e.g. advertised and sold off to some members of the Open End Forum, I personally PMed you there several years ago about an expensive amp I was interested in, which you had reviewed and were selling), whether you purchase them entirely with your own money earned independently from the audio companies at a normal price (e.g. like me and most of us do at our dealer or at webshops),
or, as a (I am also wondering: semi-professional or professional ?) "reviewer" do you "receive" or have you at least ever "received" some of this expensive gear at a lower price or for free (e.g. in exchange of "unbiased" reviews) (or would your reviewing activity provide another form, e.g. maybe more direct or through paying advertisements, of financial benefit)?
I would be interested if you could provide a definitely unambiguous answer.

Wishing all the best to all of you for 2021,
bidn

BTW,
I have noticed that some Head Fi members running nice reviewing websites like yours are registered here as MoT = Members of the Trade, so if you haven't done so yet, you could very carefully read the regulations re. such cases to make sure that by running your very polished audio gear reviewing website you are not committing any violation of the rules which would apply to your case, i.e. you would be required to upgrade your Head-Fi status to that of a MoT (and possibly pay a a fee?) to be allowed to post at Head-Fi without breaching the applicable regulations.

And I noticed that some people just can't imagine that there are actually people on this planet who do an activity voluntarily and without financial interests. Fortunately, my professional activity, which by the way has nothing to do with the HIFI industry, allows me to run my blog Musicalhead without any monetary constraints.

Money is therefore not an issue. Otherwise, I would probably have marketed Musicalhead professionally long ago, just as many other magazines and bloggers are already doing with advertisements, etc. And by the way, thanks for mentioning the semi-professional design of my blog, for which one of my programmers is responsible, among others.

So I run Musicalhead just because it's fun for me. And of course I only review devices that I enjoy. Why should I spend days and weeks reviewing components that I don't like at all, either sonically or visually?

Sorry, but I simply do not have this time. After all, there are other things than headphones. Which, by the way, I have to pay for just as much if I actually want to keep them after my reviews, just like everyone else.

Even if I have in the meantime at various fairs in recent years, of course, some manufacturers and distributors personally met. And sometimes these contacts prove to be helpful. For example to pass on the cable request of user @DarginMahkum to the right places - and obviously with success.

I registered on Headfi in the summer of 2020 primarily to exchange ideas with other like-minded people about our beautiful hobby. And sometimes to help where I can. But definitely not to let people like you attack me here in a rude way for no reason at all. I have more than enough stress in my job and see the participation in the posts on Headfi as a compensatory leisure activity.

And that's exactly what I want it to remain...

Fidelio

 

[xxx1313]

@bidn
Imho, these are very valid questions raised by you. There is nothing rude about this and no personal attack imo.

I think that even if semi-professional reviewers have to pay (something) for their audio gear, in many cases it will be MUCH below average street prices, which leads to a confict of interest. So a full disclosure always should include the information, whether the reviewer did buy the product entirely with his/her own money in normal retail (form a dealer or webshop), or got it for free or with an unusually steep price discount from the manufacturer or a distributor.

This clear conflict of interest arising from paid reviews lead me to trust the reviews of very few people only, such as from our headphone guru @Nomax and also from you. I know that Nomax bought the Solitaire P in the normal retail channel and you also buy your headphones from your dealer of trust. Nomax is even so crazy that he buys headphones he does not like. Therefore he can also write his impressions independently without risking that the manufacturer would not send him further models.

You (and Nomax too of course) also have a clear understand of how a neutral headphone has to sound. For example, I remember that you realised immediately that the frequency response of the Meze Empyrean was too far off from neutral, and you were obviously right. (Btw, I still hope for Meze to release pads with a more neutral sounding signature soon, because this headphone has potential, imo).

Regarding the frequency response curve of the Solitaire P, there is either an extremely and inacceptably high serial dispersion (rather unlikely) or it is not a neutral sounding headphone, as some measurements clearly suggest (highly likely).

Musicalhead doesn't write negative reviews, since he is very picky about the items he reviews.
Only the best of the best, and if he doesn't like it he won't invest the huge amount of time that these thorough reviews require.

Please correct me if I am wrong, but I cannot remember a flagship headphone which was not reviewed by Musicalhead. So if they get overly positive reviews, they all ought to be true high fidelity headphones, right?. This term also includes - according to Wikipedia - a "flat (neutral, uncolored) frequency response within the human hearing range". So they ought to be at least more or less neutral. In reality, many of these flagship headphones (such as LCD-4, 4z and Solitaire P to name only a few) are indeed far off from a neutral and true reproduction of the sound. So I personally would either not review them at all or, if I did, my review would not be very positive.

Cheers,
Bernie

 

[ThanatosVI]

@bidn
Imho, these are very valid questions raised by you. There is nothing rude about this and no personal attack imo.

I think that even if semi-professional reviewers have to pay (something) for their audio gear, in many cases it will be MUCH below average street prices, which leads to a confict of interest. So a full disclosure always should include the information, whether the reviewer did buy the product entirely with his/her own money in normal retail (form a dealer or webshop), or got it for free or with an unusually steep price discount from the manufacturer or a distributor.

This clear conflict of interest arising from paid reviews lead me to trust the reviews of very few people only, such as from our headphone guru @Nomax and also from you. I know that Nomax bought the Solitaire P in the normal retail channel and you also buy your headphones from your dealer of trust. Nomax is even so crazy that he buys headphones he does not like. Therefore he can also write his impressions independently without risking that the manufacturer would not send him further models.

You (and Nomax too of course) also have a clear understand of how a neutral headphone has to sound. For example, I remember that you realised immediately that the frequency response of the Meze Empyrean was too far off from neutral, and you were obviously right. (Btw, I still hope for Meze to release pads with a more neutral sounding signature soon, because this headphone has potential, imo).

Regarding the frequency response curve of the Solitaire P, there is either an extremely and inacceptably high serial dispersion (rather unlikely) or it is not a neutral sounding headphone, as some measurements clearly suggest (highly likely).



Please correct me if I am wrong, but I cannot remember a flagship headphone which was not reviewed by Musicalhead. So if they get overly positive reviews, they all ought to be true high fidelity headphones, right?. This term also includes - according to Wikipedia - a "flat (neutral, uncolored) frequency response within the human hearing range". So they ought to be at least more or less neutral. In reality, many of these flagship headphones (such as LCD-4, 4z and Solitaire P to name only a few) are indeed far off from a neutral and true reproduction of the sound. So I personally would either not review them at all or, if I did, my review would not be very positive.

Cheers,
Bernie

Well no headphone measures Flat and is therefore completely neutral, EVERY headphone has its own sound signature.

All that matters is if a headphone sounds good, and his reviews do an excellent job at describing how these headphones sound, especially compared to each other.

So yes let me correct you, if they get positive reviews it means that they sound good (depending on your sound preference)

 

[DarginMahkum]

Please correct me if I am wrong, but I cannot remember a flagship headphone which was not reviewed by Musicalhead. So if they get overly positive reviews, they all ought to be true high fidelity headphones, right?. This term also includes - according to Wikipedia - a "flat (neutral, uncolored) frequency response within the human hearing range". So they ought to be at least more or less neutral. In reality, many of these flagship headphones (such as LCD-4, 4z and Solitaire P to name only a few) are indeed far off from a neutral and true reproduction of the sound. So I personally would either not review them at all or, if I did, my review would not be very positive.

If you consider, for example, Utopia true high fidelity headphone, there has to be something terribly wrong with that term and / or the related definition - that is my view. I don't buy or like headphones based on definitions, but rather how I enjoy them. That is of course related to how I perceive the sound and the types of music I listen to. If I hear something better for my enjoyment, I take it. Just like getting rid of Stellia in favor of D9200 which costs half of its price.

It is all about how they convey the sound. I like both the D8000 and Solitaire P, and keep them both connected in front of me while working. If I hear a new Focal headphone some day and like it as much, does not necessarily mean that I won't like the D8000 and / or Solitaire P anymore. Solitaire P didn't replace my D8000 Pro. And I still would keep my right to be positive for all three - for different reasons.

Besides, it is not all about the frequency response. There is driving requirement, comfort, size of drivers and above all personal preferences. I never found a singer singing (EDIT: shouting) 5 mm away from my ear a normal / neutral thing, for example, as in the example of Utopia.

 

[Musicalhead]

@ThanatosVI
@DarginMahkum

Your comments hit the nail on the head.

Personally, I'm basically not at all interested in recommending only headphones that have the most neutral sound signature possible or that absolutely have to satisfy any frequency curves. Because that has never interested me very much.

As you can see from my signature, I enjoy a Meze Empyrean or the T+A Solitaire P just as much as a Stax SR009 or the Raal SR1a. And the corresponding measurement reports could not be more different.

It doesn't matter, because all these TOTL-headphones represent a certain sound philosophy in their own way, which I like in one way or another. Btw, this will probably also be the reason why most of us call several headphones their own...

And in my reviews on Musicalhead, I try to describe exactly these positive sonic aspects of each individual component from my point of view. Without, btw, not pointing out the respective weaknesses, too.

It goes without saying that this can only ever be a subjective evaluation, of course.

Greetings
Fidelio

 

[Nomax]

Regarding the Harman Target Curve… there are models in the premium-priced segment that do a pretty good job in their tonal performance, even they deviate from it. They should also do this in one or the other area of tonality (bass / mids / treble) to some extent
This way every manufacturer gives its flagship its house sound ... where everyone can cover his/her indivudual preferences.

But now comes the proverbial fly in the ointment ... to which extent is a deviation from neutral reproduction of sound justifiable in the premium-priced segment and what is simple too much?
How much deviation above (excess) or below (deficit) neutral is acceptable, how wideband are the deviations acceptable in the highest price segement?


NOMAX

PS.to all.....Happy new year

 

[xxx1313]

@DarginMahkum
Imo, a (mostly) true/flat frequency reproduction is not everything, but without it, all is nothing. Regarding the soundstaging of the Utopia, most headphones rather give the impression of being the microphone rather than sitting in row no. 20 of the concert hall, this is no particular shortfall of the Utopia. In the studio the singer will often be very close to the microphone, by the way. Of course the HE 1 does a much better job in showing the soundstage in its true dimensions, for example. I also agree with you on the D9200, which is a quite good closed-back.

Let me be clear that I have no problem with people liking the Solitaire P. It is a good headphone in many regards and it is fine for you, when it fits your preferences. You also do not claim that the Solitaire P is a fully neutral sounding headphone, if I understand you correctly. However, other people - including professional (paid?) reviewers - still seem to insist that it is a true high fidelity headphone also in terms of frequency response, whereas measurements show that it is not.

Cheers,
Bernie

 

[xxx1313]

deleted double post, sorry

 

[DarginMahkum]

@DarginMahkum
Imo, a (mostly) true/flat frequency reproduction is not everything, but without it, all is nothing. Regarding the soundstaging of the Utopia, most headphones rather give the impression of being the microphone rather than sitting in row no. 20 of the concert hall, this is no particular shortfall of the Utopia. In the studio the singer will often be very close to the microphone, by the way. Of course the HE 1 does a much better job in showing the soundstage in its true dimensions, for example. I also agree with you on the D9200, which is a quite good closed-back.

Let me be clear that I have no problem with people liking the Solitaire P. It is a good headphone in many regards and it is fine for you, when it fits your preferences. You also do not claim that the Solitaire P is a fully neutral sounding headphone, if I understand you correctly. However, other people - including professional (paid?) reviewers - still seem to insist that it is a true high fidelity headphone also in terms of frequency response, whereas measurements show that it is not.

Cheers,
Bernie

For me, it sounds nearly right, although I sometimes prefer a bit more airy presentation. As said, I like bass players and well textured, tight and focused bass is for me important and Solitaire P does it very well. Especially with HA200. Another important point for me is (upper-)mids should not tire me, but shouldn't lack detail. And it does that well, too. I rarely listen to vocal music.

I have been working from home quite a lot also before covid and when I sit in front of my computer, first I turn on my computer then the headphone amp. I listen to music during the day couple of hours while working etc., so this type of relaxed signature and also comfort is very suitable for listening for long periods, which is why I decided to keep the Solitaire. Also overlooked point but for me a definitive plus, that it is vegan with no real leather.

I know these points are not what people might prefer for over the "correct tonality" or anything that does not contain real leather is not seen as "high build quality", but I am myself very happy that Solitaire P exists.

Resolve mentions that there is no headphone, including the TOTL ones, that does not need EQ'ing, and I do agree. If I am listening to D8000, I sometimes need to tame the highs or thicken the mids. On Solitaire, I add a bit of air. And that is sometimes, with some music. Or even some time of the day. Sometimes I don't with the same music.

Solitaire P is for me a good platform with great technicalities, rather than a strict character, so I like it. For the Utopia, maybe it is also possible to fix it for my liking, I don't know. I wouldn't mind giving it another try some day.

I wish you all a great new year with lots of new TOTL headphones to enjoy.

 

[Deolum]

I on the opposite finds this disclaimer extremely suspicious,
because he precisely avoids to say that he bought all the expensive gear with his own, independently and hardly earned money.

I used to trust such sites in the past, until I realised I was misled about my purchases.
You might think that I have become too suspicious, and that there is no need for him to be explain how he obtained the products.
The problem is that there is actually a whole reviewing business, (originating from the USA?), the business model is that companies send the items for free to the reviewers, who then make money by selling them as used items, while they never paid for purchasing them. You even find that at amazon (Vine reviewers).

This applies to many kinds of gear-oriented, technically specific nice looking "professional" relatively smaller websites.
Usually the industry does not directly give money to such websites, but the very expensive gear for free. For example I was following headphonia in the past, they were reviewing sometimes several items costing together more than 20 000 euros in a single month, and at some points they sell a lot of that gear as second-hand stuff.

Here at Head-Fi when professional reviewers write a full-fledged review, they will avoid saying that they purchased the item, but usually have a disclaimer at the beginning such as:
"This [item-name] was received [pay attention, not purchased, just received] in exchange of my honest opinion" = i.e. they didn't purchase the item, but receive it for free in exchange of writing a long, eloquently written review with beautiful pictures and nice words, and in the case of expensive audio gear : actually never a negative conclusion.
(similar statements are often found on some websites like headphonia).
(Please note that I am not accusing anyone of being dishonest.
These reviewers may well believe what they write. The problem is that when you receive expensive stuff for free, you are happy and tend to unconsciously look at thing through glasses making things look sunnier and nicer than in reality. Someone who paid on the opposite of lot of his hardly earned money will look through different, critical glasses, remembering of all the money and hard work he sacrificed to buy the product, looking for failed aspects of the product and being less forgiving for them).

If you read audio magazines, have you ever noticed a clearly negative review? (even when they show awful measurements, they impressively still manage to remain positive)? (for magazines and very large websites, the business model is different as free items are not so essential, most of their income being instead generated by the advertisements. Following a clearly negative review, a company will "cancel" its ads at a magazin, i.e. decreasing its income). I speak many modern languages (e.g. French, Dutch, English, German, etc.) and in all these languages these magazines do the same thing...

"Reviewers" (in the sense of those having systematic, intensive reviewing activity going at length beyond it being a mere hobby) daring to write negative reviews are exceptional, I only know three cases: Tyll Hertsens (but once he issued a negative review about an item of a given company, in some cases the given company would not send him further models; and he honestly would send the items back to the companies, not selling them second hand), Crinacle (he borrows items from shops and people) and Amir (ASR, he reviews items belonging to people, who usually ship them to him, and he back to them). The point is not to discuss these later person's reviews, but only the principle with which they obtain most of the products they review.

In the present case, given the contrast between :
- on one hand the measurements of the Solitaire clearly not matching the headphone frequency response target curves, i.e. being factually proven as not being neutral
- on the other hand Musicalhead's claims that this headphone is "neutral",
I hope that we can at least agree that my questioning about this issue is understandable and that it is relevant re. the discussion in this thread about the Solitaire fulfilling the fundamental requirement defining high fidelity (neutrality) or not fulfilling it.

Thanks for this very important question. When i started this hobby i also thought audio magazines can be trusted. Luckily because of the 14 days return policy in Germany this was worse for the shops than for me because i didn't hesitate to use it. I actually got banned from a big shop here because i purchased headphones and DAPs for high amounts that i just returned because they just were not worth the price. Only later i've found trustworthy people like crinacle who have the courage to rank a HD820 in E tier.

I also find it quite disappointing that musicalhead feels offended by your very neutral and justified question and doesn't even answer it. I never heard of him before but i skipped his T+A Review because it looked like a semi-professional or professional review for exactly the reasons you stated and after his answer i won't look into it.

 

[DarginMahkum]

Thanks for this very important question. When i started this hobby i also thought audio magazines can be trusted. Luckily because of the 14 days return policy in Germany this was worse for the shops than for me because i didn't hesitate to use it. I actually got banned from a big shop here because i purchased headphones and DAPs for high amounts that i just returned because they just were not worth the price. Only later i've found trustworthy people like crinacle who have the courage to rank a HD820 in E tier.

I also find it quite disappointing that musicalhead feels offended by your very neutral and justified question and doesn't even answer it. I never heard of him before but i skipped his T+A Review because it looked like a semi-professional or professional review for exactly the reasons you stated and after his answer i won't look into it.

Oh yeah, the crinacle that has a better rating for AirPod Max than D9200. I am sure he is a trustworthy person and sincere about this writings, but not for all his audio perception. Seems to have tuned in for a specific “right” tonality at some specific points in the spectrum. Not that I love anything about HD820 (I am even surprised that it exists), the perceptions and expectations for what’s better might vary widely from person to person.

 

[Deolum]

Oh yeah, the crinacle that has a better rating for AirPod Max than D9200. I am sure he is a trustworthy person and sincere about this writings, but not for all his audio perception. Seems to have tuned in for a specific “right” tonality at some specific points in the spectrum. Not that I love anything about HD820 (I am even surprised that it exists), the perceptions and expectations for what’s better might vary widely from person to person.

Yes but if you know he's your taste you can really good use that for orientation. I also have the 9200 and they are by far the best closed back i've ever had but i can understand why he ranks them there as for example the HD600 are just a tick better.

It's not about what he actually ranks that low and if you agree with it or not but it's the fact that he actually ranks something that low. That's the difference. Professional reviewers never rank anything below "very good" and they don't focus on the obvious flaws some products have.