[PassionForMusic]

This thread is 3 years old this month. When it first started one of the aims was actually to create a space more focused on the mid-fi tier that I tend to operate on as a compliment to the Flink thread, which was at the time the dominant hub of TOTL discussion, and the myriad other places which were focused on more budget oriented sets. It just sort of naturally evolved to be fixated mostly on higher priced gear because the need was there and there really, to this day even, isn't anywhere else in the English speaking world that is so focused and properly curated. However as the title and opening post indicate the aim has always been for this to be a place of banter and fellowship with nothing off the table so long as people are sincere and stick to the norms of healthy polite discourse. 8 million views and nearly 6 thousand pages later I think it's been quite a ride and has flourished in ways I could never have imagined 3 years ago. I think the thread title and description is apt-- all are welcome here and there have only been a couple times where people have complained about the focus of the conversation and in those instances I would argue it was more the mindset of the people in question than anything coming from the community itself.

Watercooler thread is something special. It creates a space to discuss things that are not normally discussed. It helped me to form a lot of my opinions on things audio related. Deeply grateful.

I would always defer to you, but I don't like hearing anyone in this group described as rich "boys" because not only is it untrue, it's also downright offensive.

The "boys" you demean are some of the most accomplished, smartest MEN you could meet. Please do not speak of that which you do not know.

Please be kind to the original members. Head-fi would not be the same without them. It is because of them that this thread is one of the most informative on Head-fi. Please treat other members with respect. Everyone has an opinion. However, please share your opinion concisely and respectfully. This is a busy thread and the moderators do the best they can. Let us respect and give thanks for the time and attention they give to the thread.

 

[nikbr]

And while I was going down that road, I decided to satisfy another itch by picking up a handful of very budget minded "giant killers" to try out:

• 7Hz Salnotes Zero
• CCA CRA
• Kiwi Ears Cadenza
• KZ EDX PRO
• Moondrop CHU II
• TANGZU Wan’er

Wan'er! my first set that I love for its sound, but hate for what it's done to my wallet in the past year and a half ...

 

[PassionForMusic]

Good question I wish I knew, I never heard the dark star unfortunately

One day if the opportunity arrises will make sure you get to listen to one provided I have the means.

I consider Titan and Singularity in a similar category, sans Anni. I auditioned Duality but I didn’t seem to come round to it, I wasn’t feeling tired that day, so my head space wasn’t there. At this moment, I like Titan over Singularity

@metaljem77 It could just be the day that you listened to it. Thank you for your opinion. Will look into the Titan going forward.

Trifecta lovers unite

@emdeevee Lovely photo. Are the color differences in Trifecta purely aesthetic? In your opinion, what is the best cable pairing and/or DAP pairing for Trifecta?

 

[warrenpchi]

Wan'er! my first set that I love for its sound, but hate for what it's done to my wallet in the past year and a half ...

Your gateway ! Yeah, there were enough positive impressions of it that I didn't want to leave it out. I got the green of course.

 

[Scubadevils]

In my experience the hobby is immensely enjoyable at any end of the price spectrum, and I’m often amazed at what is achievable at comparatively low cost. The NiceHCK ‘Himalaya’ is a perfect example at $300… beautifully tuned single DD that I’d have guessed at least 2x the price in a blindfold test! Working on my review and expect gushing praise

 

[MatW]

When I listened to Anni it felt like: “DETAILS HERE WITNESS ME” tbh. I like a more subtle approach to things

It is all relative. That is what I felt like with the Fei Wan vs the Annihilator, with the latter being the "more subtle approach" in this comparison. I do think I would appreciate the Fei Wan as part of the collection, but it would be more of a specialist than the Annihilator for me.

 

[BS5711]

…… this to be a place of banter and fellowship with nothing off the table so long as people are sincere and stick to the norms of healthy polite discourse ……

Except when one happens to quite politely critique what seems to be the main focus of the Water Cooler versus the apparent intent as given in the title. Nothing more if you cared to read my handful of previous comments.

Even if I had missed something and my critique was misguided, it was polite. I also indicated that the function as a forum where TOTL gear was discussed made perfect sense because those guys needed a place to banter like anyone else.

The others that commented on my critique were polite and offered a counterpoint or perhaps a different perspective.

Despite your lovely words you feel that using derogatory language to personally criticise me is appropriate on a public forum. I don’t think you would call me that in person, why is the internet any different in that regard ? Don’t good manners and a bit of etiquette actually matter like you said they do ? I guess you wanted to be the cool guy with your mate. I get that but how about a bit of decency ? I didn’t come in here being rude and swearing as much as the controls would allow.

To the others that might have objected to my critique, my apologies.

 

[hAbIrAbI]

I mean the thread reflects the interests of the people participating. If many/most of them are interested in TOTL gear then that will be reflected.

Doesn't mean you cannot talk about other things.

Where I'm having a niggle with the complaint is that discussion or questions regarding low end geaer might not receive feedback. I mean obviously this might be the case. Any piece of gear might not resonate with other people. I don't think anybody is entitled to engagement with their post. I've had this happen in the past where I posted something and nobody engaged. That's just how forums work and you just have to accept that.

 

[BS5711]

Where I'm having a niggle with the complaint is that discussion or questions regarding low end geaer might not receive feedback. I mean obviously this might be the case. Any piece of gear might not resonate with other people. I don't think anybody is entitled to engagement with their post. I've had this happen in the past where I posted something and nobody engaged. That's just how forums work and you just have to accept that.

Of course, I totally understand that but that was a long way from the essence of my comment.

And it was a comment not a complaint, I simply and politely suggested that the majority conversation here doesn’t match the apparent intent and that seemed to be evident from day 1.

I think the majority conversation being high end gear with a small group of guys that can fund a collection of multi Kilobuck IEM and cables etc is pretty well understood outside of the Water Cooler, I hardly thought my observation was anything new to anyone.

I have lurked here a bit and seen folks pop in and ask about stuff that fits within the apparent parameters of the thread to only be ignored. Why make it out to be something it really doesn’t seem to be and potentially misguide some folks ?

My point seems to be missed, I don’t care who talks about what here, it was just an observation but it seems a couple of folks can’t deal with someone outside the group querying an aspect of their favourite thread.

My only actual beef is being called a Tony With A T by the gentleman that also states that all healthy polite discourse is welcome and an A hole by his buddy.

They highly likely wouldn’t speak to me like that in person so why here ? I guess they wanted to be the “cool guys” here.

Perhaps a bit of perspective is in order, this is just a hobby and this is just the internet.

 

[Deezel177]

Where I'm having a niggle with the complaint is that discussion or questions regarding low end geaer might not receive feedback. I mean obviously this might be the case. Any piece of gear might not resonate with other people. I don't think anybody is entitled to engagement with their post. I've had this happen in the past where I posted something and nobody engaged. That's just how forums work and you just have to accept that.

I sometimes feel guilty when someone poses questions like these and I’m not able to help; probably an effect of my reviewing days. The fact of the matter is, a lot of the budget in-ears mentioned here are unfortunately not the easiest to demo. This thread is often the first time I’ve heard of these models.

The only time I get to try them is maybe CanJam SG, and even then, I can only ever attend the first day, and I’m already up to my eyeballs with people asking for impressions of the latest and greatest. So, you can’t please everyone. That said, I also have impressions of the Pilgrim and Pilgrim Noir in my notes, so I’m eager to cover those. I think those very much punch above their weight.

 

[justanut]

As i progress deeper into this rabbit hole, sometimes I wonder if I'm going in the right direction, chasing after the next best thing, trying to hear music "as the artist intended", when in reality, most of the music is mixed by an engineer wearing a Sony MDR 7506.. With all these high fidelity revealing headphones, IEMs and DAPs we have today, I suspect we might just be hearing things unintended by artist / engineer... Just some after dinner musings

 

[Sifo]

I sometimes feel guilty when someone poses questions like these and I’m not able to help; probably an effect of my reviewing days. The fact of the matter is, a lot of the budget in-ears mentioned here are unfortunately not the easiest to demo. This thread is often the first time I’ve heard of these models.

The only time I get to try them is maybe CanJam SG, and even then, I can only ever attend the first day, and I’m already up to my eyeballs with people asking for impressions of the latest and greatest. So, you can’t please everyone. That said, I also have impressions of the Pilgrim and Pilgrim Noir in my notes, so I’m eager to cover those. I think those very much punch above their weight.

same happens to me when even friends ask me about iem advice, I simply don't have the opportunity or even the time to try out entry level offerings and thus can't offer an opinion. Even Pilgrim is considered expensive for an iem to normal people so it's tough, we just aren't in a position to be talking about those gear.

 

[bukumurah]

As i progress deeper into this rabbit hole, sometimes I wonder if I'm going in the right direction, chasing after the next best thing, trying to hear music "as the artist intended", when in reality, most of the music is mixed by an engineer wearing a Sony MDR 7506.. With all these high fidelity revealing headphones, IEMs and DAPs we have today, I suspect we might just be hearing things unintended by artist / engineer... Just some after dinner musings

In my experience, it is often those who have run of resources to endlessly try new things after another, and is therefore forced to get creative and to experiment and maximize every last drop of what they already have, who ultimately end up with amazing discoveries (system synergy for instance) and a lot of learnings in the process

So why not take a break for 6-12 months and just experiment to the max with what you already have.. you can still buy and try new eartips of course.. LOL

 

[Deezel177]

As i progress deeper into this rabbit hole, sometimes I wonder if I'm going in the right direction, chasing after the next best thing, trying to hear music "as the artist intended", when in reality, most of the music is mixed by an engineer wearing a Sony MDR 7506.. With all these high fidelity revealing headphones, IEMs and DAPs we have today, I suspect we might just be hearing things unintended by artist / engineer... Just some after dinner musings

I've said this in the past, but as the artist intended is like the paramount of marketing BS in audio. The reality is, most music is recorded, edited, mixed and mastered in an extremely well-treated studio with speakers from Adam Audio, or Focal, or Genelec, etc. So, the only way to truly experience what the artist intended is to listen to those tracks in those very rooms with those very systems. At best, headphones and IEMs are just a second opinion they consult after doing 99% of the work on their speakers. That's not even mentioning the amount of producers who make changes based on how the mix sounds through a car stereo or radio, for example. So, there's really no headphone or IEM out there that can universally replicate what the artist intended. For me, the far less arduous path is to pick a transducer through which music sounds best to you.

 

[maegnificant]

I've said this in the past, but as the artist intended is like the paramount of marketing BS in audio. The reality is, most music is recorded, edited, mixed and mastered in an extremely well-treated studio with speakers from Adam Audio, or Focal, or Genelec, etc. So, the only way to truly experience what the artist intended is to listen to those tracks in those very rooms with those very systems. At best, headphones and IEMs are just a second opinion they consult after doing 99% of the work on their speakers. That's not even mentioning the amount of producers who make changes based on how the mix sounds through a car stereo or radio, for example. So, there's really no headphone or IEM out there that can universally replicate what the artist intended. For me, the far less arduous path is to pick a transducer through which music sounds best to you.

I would argue most music is made in some dudes home studio or on their laptop.