[pow3rtr1p]

I have, for the first time since I became an audiophile of sorts back in 2007, experienced true synergy in my headphone sound. I mean every component just lined up to the point I became 100% completely enveloped in the music. And I really have to say, isn't that the whole point?
 
I must start off my saying I am a musician first and foremost. As such, I have a fairly odd view and method of music, particularly on how it should be listened to. I don't try to impose those views on others, but it does effect how I listen, and thus how my views should be taken.
 
My favorite band in the world is A Wilhelm Scream, a Hardcore Punk band from New Bedford. I can't really explain quite why this band holds such a special place in my heart, but suffice it to say, they are perhaps the most passionate listening I do on a regular basis.
 
As such, I listened to their (in my opinion) best-mastered full-length album, "Career Suicide"

 
I personally prefer the music of the "Ruiner" record, but I really love the sound of this album. I listened to this through the following setup.
 
Source: PS3 80GB (one of the models that can play SACDs, though this album is standard CD format)
- Monoprice Optical Cable
DAC: Tyanyung Zero
- Monoprice RCA Interconnect
Amplifier: Darkvoice 336i
Headphones: Recabled Koa Darth Beyer w/ Leather Manufaktur Pads
 

 
 
The sound was exactly what I wanted this album to be. The bass had just enough presence to give the music real weight without ever feeling like it bogged it down. Impact was present, but not overbearing. The guitars were forward, directional, and focused. The vocals were very "inside your head" which I thought was a nice effect in this instance. Perhaps my favorite part was the directional soundstage I got from the drum kit. I literally could see the drum kit around me with the placement of the individual sounds. It was really a remarkable thing.
 
However, what I loved was the way I could just truly get lost in an album I'd heard hundreds of times already. Since I play a little guitar, and drums, I was able to pick out any given instrument whenever I wanted to, and it could become the sole focus of my listening. However, if I wanted to heard a full band sound, I could just sort of "lean back" into the music (I know, that is the most obscure metaphor this site may have ever seen) and hear it all at once.
 
If anyone owns this setup, or a similar set up, I would highly recommend giving this album a shot.
 
I guess now let's all share our stories of achieving "synergy" in our sounds and being truly happy with our set up (at least for a little while).
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

[Hi-Finthen]

Nice read ...
 
- a system that "gets outa the way" allowing for a "peak" musical experience with that being listening to, with the focus into becoming one with a particular  well known piece of art - 
 
 - syrergy of hardware
 
 - synergy of software (music as performed & recorded and transposed back and forth from analogue ) . familuar muscic we like ~
 
- experienced listener / knower .
 
 Necessarelly presupposed, is the focus and attention of the beholder required for beauty to exist ,
 
/// attention satisified with some form of beauty consumed  (and the brains "go wild" with seitonan and dopimene production even in advance of placing our H.P.'s on top (published MRI study, per MIT 2011)
 
- hear ya

 

[pow3rtr1p]

Thanks for your thoughts. I just felt like in that moment all of the little colorations of everything that went into that moment of listening complimented each other in exactly the right way for me. It was the exact, ideal sound I had been searching for all this time.

 

[Hi-Finthen]

Congrats and do so enjoy

 

[pow3rtr1p]

This thread failed pretty hard. I was really hoping to make a decent discussion thread, but sadly, I have failed you, Head-Fi.

 

[Exediron]

Aww

 
I'd give your thread a nice reply, but sadly I've never experienced any particular synergy. I know the feeling, though.

 

[aimran]

I'm a firm believer of synergy. I bought a Coby CV-185 at Marshall for $7 for fun. You should expect headphones to be quite bad for $7, right? And for the most part part, they're ok. However, when paired up with the Zune HD, these headphones somehow magically become much richer and balanced. On any other source, it sounds flat.