So the title pretty much explains it all, but I just started wondering whether there are dogs and gems in headphones as there are when it comes to choosing a guitar, for instance.
Is it possible that two brand new pairs of, say, Triple.Fi 10s sound different than each other? Is it highly unlikely? I started wondering because if that is a possibility, even though it's low, it would explain, for instance, some people with knowledge bashing acclaimed headphones.
Well there's the possibility of a defective driver but I think thats highly unlikely.
Theres also the chance of drivers being swapped out for other drivers which is highly unlikely.
Well there's the possibility of a defective driver but I think thats highly unlikely.
Theres also the chance of drivers being swapped out for other drivers which is highly unlikely.
In case the driver is working fine, it is not fake neither has been swapped by another one, just differences in quality control. Is it highly unlikely? I suppose it is, I just wanted to make sure.
Last year I returned the left earpiece of my SE535 and received a replacement that didn't sound the same. It was not-up-to-par to the right earpiece until 300 to 500 hours of use. I'm not declaring BA burn-in is a real thing but something happened. I swapped cables sources and adapters many times in the process but only time in use made the difference.
I have two T'Mo Galaxy S2s and they don't sound alike. They have different versions of Android on them (which may explain it).
The second paragraph in the OP points out the most likely culprit explaining why people may disagree about the same headphone. The reason is--- they are different people. People with two eyes don't all see the same. Some have perfect vision while others are nearsighted, farsighted, or colorblind. There's no reason to think we all hear alike.
Edited to add: Oh yeah, there's the days when the "bat cave" has earwax in a different spot and you yourself might think a headphone sounds a little different.
Originally Posted by truckdriver /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Edited to add: Oh yeah, there's the days when the "bat cave" has earwax in a different spot and you yourself might think a headphone sounds a little different.
For years I use to produce both mucus and earwax at an alarming rate although it never made it all the way down that long triple-flange tube to the earphone itself. I can tell you there were time when earwax lined the walls of my ear canals like dynamat and the earphone bass was great but the treble suffered.
Then after some Debrox and warm water, the treble returned. I was often cleaning my earphone tips mid-day and night.
Then about 4 years ago, I gave up dairy product consumption completely. I still clean my eartips daily but now nothing visible comes off (even after 10 straight hours in my ears). I've long since thrown away all of my allergy medicines. There are no more hay-fever-like seasons for me. I'm reluctant to even use the Debrox anymore because I want to keep the little earwax my ears do produce.
It happens a lot with products from Brainwavz. I have tried several M1, M2 and M3 pairs that sound totally different from each other (I really mean totally different, I could differentiate them doing A/B blind-testing 100% of the times).
There will always be minor variation between headphones in the same line. Our manufacturing methods are far from perfect.
The variation, while probably noticeable if you had them side by side isn't really that major though.
As for bashing acclaimed headphones, its all down to preference. People don't have the same taste in sound, as we don't have the same taste in color, music, food, etc. Also, you can use different words to describe the same sound depending on whether you like it or not.
At least in the case of Brainwavz dynamic driver-based IEMs, the variation isn't just 'minor'. For instance, I have a pair of M2 that sounds almost analytical compared to other ultra-boomy, bazooka-like M2 that I've tried.
I have two pairs of AKG k701s and even though they were made at very different times do to a spread in serial numbers, they sound exactly the same. I live in a country where there are a ton of fake products, even fake I-phones. Some headphones look original from the packaging but differ greatly when listening. I believe some have fake drivers. The cases are real and the package is real but the drivers have been changed out at some point. This is the only explanation for how bad they sound. One pair sounded like originals until you turned up the volume then the sound went completely to pieces. I have seen fake Apple ear buds, fake Sony headphones. Fake everything. One way to tell is just to look really close at the name printed on the package. Today I was looking at some Sony headphones that I was 90% sure were fakes, the Sony name was not straight! Loll
When you read reviews here though there are so many variables for listeners. Even if everyone was testing original models, the music they listen to is different, everyone has a different sound preference. Sources and amp matching can make every set of headphones sound different. This is one reason for conflicting reviews here.
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