[Acix]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Erik /img/forum/go_quote.gif The pro and the DIY'er take sound and electronics seriously and approach things with a critical bent. The true audiophile is a fashion plate. What is actually going on is secondary to keeping up appearances, status and playing dress-up with various tweaks like a girl puts outfits on her Barbie.

So from what you're saying, you prefer to play with Ken?

 

[Snuggles]

Quote:

Originally Posted by stang /img/forum/go_quote.gif 6) Typical teenage friends-> Why would you spend $400 on earphones!?! Anything over $20 is a rip off and a waste! There is NO difference between iPod earphones and your stupid in ear thingo's!

What do you guys think is worse, someone who is ignorant and believes that everything sounds the same or someone who knows there can be a large difference, but after listening to a good setup claims that he/she prefers bad equipment? I am talking about a pretty large difference, just as an example of the scale what I am talking about is like comparing bose triports to properly amped Sennheiser HD600 with a good source.

It is not like you can argue with what they prefer, but the level of quality is so big it is just dumbfounding how anyone could prefer the inferior setup IMO.

 

[stang]

^ That everything sounds the same. My friends think it's insane that I spend the amount of money on audio that I do, yet I used to upgrade my computer every week (literally) and they thought it was cool and didn't really say "what a waste".

 

[wavoman]

Caution on "audiophiles" -- many people in very high end audio won't touch headphones -- don't believe in them. They will tell you only speakers can image correctly. One such guy works in my office -- his rig is $250,000 not counting the addition on his home built to house it (not joking). It sounds great, I have to admit, and the 3d realism is amazing (soundstage is high and deep, not just wide, very cool).

Here's the thing -- I went to his home to listen, he won't come to mine to hear HPs! He said "Ugh, I heard Stax once, they were terrible".

 

[TheAttorney]

Quote:

Originally Posted by stang /img/forum/go_quote.gif This is how the conversation involving me and my friends would be like: "What the screw are those things!?" "Westone UM3X...IEM's...In ear Monitors..." "What?" "Errr..earphones.." "They look ugly! Gayest things I have ever seen!" "Beat the crap through your iPod earbuds" "What? Every earphone sounds the same you idiot" "Err no. Not even close, every earphones is unique, these earphones would want to be for the price I paid" "How much were they? $80?" "$380...$80 is WAY too cheap for me" "WHAT!! $380!! OMG EVERYONE ALEX BOUGHT $380 EARPHONES! WHAT AN IDIOT HAHAHAHA!!!" "Yes, I care about sound quality and can afford it, so what? I listen to music more than you, I deserve good sound " "No you don't, you're an idiot. And what the screw is that stupid thing?" "A headphone amplifier...it makes my music sound better and can go louder" "HAHA what a waste! You are really, really dumb, all speakers, earphones, headphones, whatever, sound all the same, no amplifier is going to do anything"

This is much like the current "conversations" between fellow headfiers. It's just evolved a bit: The Audiophile (Gearphile) has simply added a couple of zeros onto the cost of everything, and the Sound Scientist has produced a White Paper to conclusively prove that the Gearphile is an idiot

 

[Justice Strike]

i'm only a DYI because i think it's more engaging to make high end hardware yourself... instead of buying it.

 

[ast]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fjrabon /img/forum/go_quote.gif ...... 3) The true audiophile will suggest you A) build a vinyl rig from only the rarest elements and only buy the most high quality produced albums, regardless of what the actual music is, B) get a $5000 amp, C) buy $500 cables to connect it all D) buy a $1000+ headphone

Wrong!


3) The one and only true audiophile has an avator "Patrick82".




.

 

[Justice Strike]

3) a true audiophile thinks of his tubeamp/headphonejacks when someone is questioning their manhood.

 

[stang]

^ LOL! I have just been searching threads with him in it and watching his vids, he scares the crap outta me. So interesting though.

 

[rocaamo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wavoman /img/forum/go_quote.gif Caution on "audiophiles" -- many people in very high end audio won't touch headphones -- don't believe in them. They will tell you only speakers can image correctly. One such guy works in my office -- his rig is $250,000 not counting the addition on his home built to house it (not joking). It sounds great, I have to admit, and the 3d realism is amazing (soundstage is high and deep, not just wide, very cool). Here's the thing -- I went to his home to listen, he won't come to mine to hear HPs! He said "Ugh, I heard Stax once, they were terrible".

Let's face it, headphones are great for many things, but a good set of speakers with proper amplification gives another impact.
You don't have to spend anything close to that amount of money to have a great sounding system.
It is great to hear a tight bass in a good headphones, but if you can hear and feel, that's even better.

 

[Empire]

Quote:

Originally Posted by stang /img/forum/go_quote.gif This is how the conversation involving me and my friends would be like: "What the screw are those things!?" "Westone UM3X...IEM's...In ear Monitors..." "What?" "Errr..earphones.." "They look ugly! Gayest things I have ever seen!" "Beat the crap through your iPod earbuds" "What? Every earphone sounds the same you idiot" "Err no. Not even close, every earphones is unique, these earphones would want to be for the price I paid" "How much were they? $80?" "$380...$80 is WAY too cheap for me" "WHAT!! $380!! OMG EVERYONE ALEX BOUGHT $380 EARPHONES! WHAT AN IDIOT HAHAHAHA!!!" "Yes, I care about sound quality and can afford it, so what? I listen to music more than you, I deserve good sound " "No you don't, you're an idiot. And what the screw is that stupid thing?" "A headphone amplifier...it makes my music sound better and can go louder" "HAHA what a waste! You are really, really dumb, all speakers, earphones, headphones, whatever, sound all the same, no amplifier is going to do anything"

Well that's weird...Up here in the french part of Kanadia (

) my friends are a lot more open to the concept of better sound equipment..It all depends really on how you introduce it to them..if you can induce interest nonchalantly it opens their minds a bit more.

Confuse them..make them do seemingly unnecessary A/B headphone tests..yours against there's..that's what I do..and I got more fascination than abuse..hell I don't think I've ever gotten abuse..if anything I've been complimented for the knowledge.

 

[SP Wild]

I never indulge the true price of my components to friends - I'll state that a 3000 dollar dac only cost me 300 dollars and explain that its "like the best CD player you can buy and I can connect it to a computer! sick"

"My K701 only cost me fifty bucks - they sound sick huh?"

The power variac, car batteries, inverters - "in case of blackout - I can still check the stockmarket"

Anything that can't be explained must be tucked away from view.

Now I feel like some kinda weird closet crossdresser.

 

[fjrabon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rocaamo /img/forum/go_quote.gif Let's face it, headphones are great for many things, but a good set of speakers with proper amplification gives another impact. You don't have to spend anything close to that amount of money to have a great sounding system. It is great to hear a tight bass in a good headphones, but if you can hear and feel, that's even better.

Yeah, I personally think of headphones as more of a tool for certain scenarios where full volume speakers aren't practical. A truly great speaker rig will absolutely destroy any headphone rig. After that, when you're comparing "merely" very good speaker rigs to the top headphone rigs, it starts to be more like apples to oranges.

 

[momomo6789]

Quote:

Originally Posted by stang /img/forum/go_quote.gif ^ That everything sounds the same. My friends think it's insane that I spend the amount of money on audio that I do, yet I used to upgrade my computer every week (literally) and they thought it was cool and didn't really say "what a waste".

same for me lol

 

[Junliang]

Great thread
Hilarious posts haha.

Personally, I would invest more into headphone for critical audio listening..
If I really do want to use speakers for "real" audio listening, so much more have to be put into consideration.
Room acoustic- floor material, wall material, shape of the wall. If room isn't rectangular, how ?
Positioning of speakers- length from rent to back of wall, space between each speakers, whether they form an equilateral triangle with you. Is the tweeter at your eye level ?
Positioning of yourself- which position best for you, got to stick to the same place all the time ? Otherwise, may not get the 3d effect.
Sub-woofer positioning- is it at the correct position ?
Floorstand or monitor + sub or 5.1 surround ?- or Floorstand(2.0) + satellite(2.0) + Subwoofer(0.1) + Center(1.0) ??? Do they synergy well ?
And for speakers, idk about you guys, but my cdp will be far away from me, troublesome to always go and change cd if wish to change to another song the next second.
Much preparation needed.

For headphone ?
I believe you guys know or more less that the preparation needed is significantly lesser than speakers..

Oh well, a home theater system and a lappy dac, headphone, balanced desktop rig, thats for me.