[Lowfront]

I hear many different words on this forum that I still don't understand. The way you guys compare headphones and describe sound is just beyond me. I thought maybe this would help me out.

Could you explain to me what difference I should hear between the px 100, koss ksc75, and the grado sr-60, superfi 3, pxc 250 using headfi terms?

I own all of these and would love to have someone put words to the difference I hear. To help me better understand the vocab.

 

[MaloS]

sr-60 sounds thicker than ksc75, fuller in a way, and rougher. the bass of the ksc75 while not any more powerful, is more audible, tactful. ksc75 sounds crisper, more refined when listening to acoustic music.

 

[mminutel]

Well, TBH, we cannot really tell you what you should hear. IMO the ksc75s sound more bass heavy than the sr-60 and a lot darker. it is really in the way you percieve the music yourself. it took me about 2 weeks to start noticing differences in headphones. I still cannot tell subtle differences but you will get there.

 

[MaloS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mminutel /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well, TBH, we cannot really tell you what you should hear. IMO the ksc75s sound more bass heavy than the sr-60 and a lot darker. it is really in the way you percieve the music yourself. it took me about 2 weeks to start noticing differences in headphones. I still cannot tell subtle differences but you will get there.

Subtle differences are most easily picked up when you have a real-world point of reference, somehow having heard the instrument from close up. I usually apply that type of comparison to acoustic instruments as I am vastly familiar with the tone of many of them. You also have to pay attention to less obvious things, like really mild vibrations in the sound of a guitar string, the most high frequency ones, or the lowest growl the bass can achieve, if its coming up from deep in your throat or attacking your lower jaw.
You can also compare evenness of the sound of high and low notes when listening to piano recordings - theoretically sound between 2 different notes should only be separated by its pitch, otherwise harmonics present should be the same relative to the base note.

 

[SiBurning]

Stereophile audio glossary

 

[watch]

Or, if you prefer a shorter, Head-fi'er produced, glossary:

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=223116

 

[Uncle Erik]

Spend more time going to hear live music than listening to recorded music. Your ears will pick up the nuances of live music and then you'll be able to compare that against your headphones.

 

[BushGuy]

Yup.......go to live, preferably unamped/unmiked performances again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again - the goal should be to achieve the best replication of those performances with your headphone (or speaker setup) gear. All else is just pointless.

 

[lackofcheese]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BushGuy /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yup.......go to live, preferably unamped/unmiked performances again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again - the goal should be to achieve the best replication of those performances with your headphone (or speaker setup) gear. All else is just pointless.

It all seems obvious... And yet I'm brought to ask - Why? Why not just go for whatever you enjoy the most?

 

[BushGuy]

" Why? Why not just go for whatever you enjoy the most?" WHY?.....you ask? That reminds me of another poster who responded simularly that he had heard tons of live music - basically being in a highschool band and he was 17 y.o.. That simply does not cut it at all when you are directing such juvenile responses at people who have spent decades as musicians, with degrees in music, who have been training their ears all that time.
The O.P. question was about acquiring a good ear..........only from that point can you begin to move forward.

 

[lackofcheese]

I'm not saying that training one's ears isn't a good thing, but surely you can't say that headphones should be judged only on accuracy?

 

[sleepkyng]

just listen to music - spend time with a few favorite cds and decide what it is about those sounds that makes you enjoy them.

then try listening to the same cds through a different pair of headphones.
(DO NOT LISTEN TO ONE PAIR OF HEADPHONES AND THEN SWITCH TO THE SECOND PAIR RIGHT AWAY)

then start thinking about the differences - formulate your own language to describe sound, then turn to glossaries to see if certain descriptions match sound qualities you've heard.

As to this:
Quote:

Originally Posted by BushGuy /img/forum/go_quote.gif " Why? Why not just go for whatever you enjoy the most?" WHY?.....you ask? That reminds me of another poster who responded simularly that he had heard tons of live music - basically being in a highschool band and he was 17 y.o.. That simply does not cut it at all when you are directing such juvenile responses at people who have spent decades as musicians, with degrees in music, who have been training their ears all that time. The O.P. question was about acquiring a good ear..........only from that point can you begin to move forward.

you've got to be kidding. I hope you are. People like this are totally unhappy listening to music -live concerts are just that - don't try to reproduce them, i don't buy high quality dvds showing other countries to see if i can truly BE there on my tv.

hopefully you got into headphones because you like good sound with the music you love.

All this "too tinny" "not enough soundstage" stuff is totally relative - your ear will develop over time, if you really want to be an audio snob, my suggestion is to invest in speakers.

don't listen to headfi, listen to your music.

 

[lackofcheese]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sleepkyng /img/forum/go_quote.gif you've got to be kidding. I hope you are. People like this are totally unhappy listening to music -live concerts are just that - don't try to reproduce them, i don't buy high quality dvds showing other countries to see if i can truly BE there on my tv.

Whew, and I thought it was just me being a newb. It's good to have your opinions confirmed by people who know what they're talking about - and bad to have them utterly destroyed.

 

[uraflit]

my thing is: i think you SHOULD NOT purposefully train your ears; it's like forcing yourself to like something you don't really know (and shouldn't worry about too much). just enjoy your music as is, and that is all that is necessary.

but to the OP, look at the head-fi glossary link provided, that's all you'll need to "explain" sound if ever need be

 

[Mrvile]

I fully agree with those who say to just enjoy the music as you want to. Your mind, not Head-Fi or even live shows, will tell you what you like to hear. If you hear something out of a certain rig and for some reason you don't like how it sounds, it's probably not the rig for you. I personally think the best way to learn the nuances within different headphones is just to get as much listening time as possible with different headphones. Live shows won't help, there will always be other factors that will change how live shows sound, and in the end it may turn out that you don't even like the sound of concerts. And to be realistic, there really isn't such thing as "sound accuracy." It just doesn't exist.