[ZenErik]

Quote:

if you have a 2500 dollar Stax rig and your not listening to j-pop, j-core, or j-rock, then you guys are doing it all wrong. everyone knows all the world best speakers and headphones are design around those 3 genres.

Your odd form of trolling is baffling. 

 

[RexAeterna]

Your odd form of trolling is baffling. :evil:

what can i say? i'm a pretty odd guy.

 

[Kossinater101]

Quote:

if you have a 2500 dollar Stax rig and your not listening to j-pop, j-core, or j-rock, then you guys are doing it all wrong. everyone knows all the world best speakers and headphones are design around those 3 genres.

Why those three? The only thing japanese I listen to is Hiroshima's "One Wish" and the AKIRA sound track.

 

[spierce]

Classical, trance, house, electronica, jazz, then rock, etc. 

 

[Arbite]

Post rock, punk, progressive.


Oh and EDM. So, so much EDM.

 

[catscratch]

Anime soundtracks do sound pretty good on Stax, I have to say. As does technical death metal. It's always nice to hear what exactly goes into blastbeats, and what a guitar amp sounds like seconds before exploding.

In all seriousness though... high-end headphones are generally designed to have a flat frequency response, and consumer headphones are not. Consumer stuff is largely oriented towards younger buyers, and is meant for music genres that are usually mixed to be played back in a club, or a car stereo, or ipod earbuds. Most consumer electronics will try to replicate that sort of sound since that's what buyers expect. Usually this means massively overblown bass and emphasized highs.

Just watch people as they audition equipment in music stores, or what car salespeople will do when showing off a car system, or what people do when listening in general. Most people will simply crank up the bass and highs as far as they'll go the very first thing, before doing any listening. So it's not surprising that you have companies that pander to that, and music that's generally mixed for that sort of listening in the first place.

Many high-end headphones don't do that. They're designed to be relatively flat, and are designed for well-recorded music that's mixed for systems that are relatively flat. This doesn't mean that you can't listen to popular and more clubby genres on high-end headphones, it just means that what you're listening with is not really what the music was made for. Now, I don't think doing so is a waste - you're getting a much more clear picture of exactly what's on the recording, and if you're a detail freak, then it's pretty satisfying to have what's essentially a sonic microscope that breaks everything down into its component sounds. And of course music that's well-recorded and made for somewhat better systems sounds absolutely wonderful.

Of course some high-end headphones are pretty far from flat. Many dynamics will overemphasize the highs in order to give a heightened perception of detail - doing that very often can make popular music genres unlistenable. In general anything that's advertised as being "tuned for classical music" is an automatic red flag in my book.

 

[rhythmdevils]

Justin Bieber

 

[Gwarmi]

Quote:

Justin Bieber

 He also has great taste in headphones too - he's the complete package.
 
 

 

[rhythmdevils]

Quote:

Anime soundtracks do sound pretty good on Stax, I have to say. As does technical death metal. It's always nice to hear what exactly goes into blastbeats, and what a guitar amp sounds like seconds before exploding.

In all seriousness though... high-end headphones are generally designed to have a flat frequency response, and consumer headphones are not. Consumer stuff is largely oriented towards younger buyers, and is meant for music genres that are usually mixed to be played back in a club, or a car stereo, or ipod earbuds. Most consumer electronics will try to replicate that sort of sound since that's what buyers expect. Usually this means massively overblown bass and emphasized highs.
Just watch people as they audition equipment in music stores, or what car salespeople will do when showing off a car system, or what people do when listening in general. Most people will simply crank up the bass and highs as far as they'll go the very first thing, before doing any listening. So it's not surprising that you have companies that pander to that, and music that's generally mixed for that sort of listening in the first place.
Many high-end headphones don't do that. They're designed to be relatively flat, and are designed for well-recorded music that's mixed for systems that are relatively flat. This doesn't mean that you can't listen to popular and more clubby genres on high-end headphones, it just means that what you're listening with is not really what the music was made for. Now, I don't think doing so is a waste - you're getting a much more clear picture of exactly what's on the recording, and if you're a detail freak, then it's pretty satisfying to have what's essentially a sonic microscope that breaks everything down into its component sounds. And of course music that's well-recorded and made for somewhat better systems sounds absolutely wonderful.
Of course some high-end headphones are pretty far from flat. Many dynamics will overemphasize the highs in order to give a heightened perception of detail - doing that very often can make popular music genres unlistenable. In general anything that's advertised as being "tuned for classical music" is an automatic red flag in my book.

A well written post, but high end headphones are still incredibly colored.  I agree with your last paragraph, but I would say almost all, rather than "some".  Which high end headphones don't boost the higher frequencies?  I can't think of any except the Audeze and a few Stax models, and the Audeze is in the opposite direction. 
 
As for the OP, what a ridiculous question.  Listen to music that you like.  Period. 

 

[KG Jag]

First--a quality recording, mix, etc. (preferably done for stereo) is required--
 
Beyond that the great the frequency response on the recording and the more voices (instruments, vocals, percussion, etc.)--at least to a point--the better.
 
Music you personally enjoy is a big, big plus.
 
No 78's or early Herb Alpert type stereo releases allowed.

 

[rhythmdevils]

Quote:

First--a quality recording, mix, etc. (preferably done for stereo) is required--
 
Beyond that the great the frequency response on the recording and the more voices (instruments, vocals, percussion, etc.)--at least to a point--the better.
 
Music you personally enjoy is a big, big plus.
 
No 78's or early Herb Alpert type stereo releases allowed.

Music you enjoy is a big plus? 

  I'm going to make you a remix of justin bieber and Yanni singing different songs at the same time combined with a whole Yanni orchestra and Justin Bieber's back up band.  All recorded by Steve Albini in stereo. 

 

[RexAeterna]

Why those three? The only thing japanese I listen to is Hiroshima's "One Wish" and the AKIRA sound track.

then your doing it all wrong man. j-stuff is the way to go for ultimate fidelity. if not you can always fellow the suggestion above about Justin Bieber. his stuff top notch. people just jelly cause they don't have good enough sources to experience how he's meant to be heard.

 

[extrabigmehdi]

Quote:

then your doing it all wrong man. j-stuff is the way to go for ultimate fidelity. if not you can always fellow the suggestion above about Justin Bieber. his stuff top notch. people just jelly cause they don't have good enough sources to experience how he's meant to be heard.

And don't forget to use the Lilith Audio Player, to play your music ! It's made by a  japanese , it must be good !
http://www.head-fi.org/t/340451/lilith-audio-player
 

 

[RexAeterna]

And don't forget to use the Lilith Audio Player, to play your music ! It's made by a  japanese , it must be good !
http://www.head-fi.org/t/340451/lilith-audio-player

dammit, only if i could read the text on the player! i have failed as a weebo.

 

[KG Jag]

Quote:

Music you enjoy is a big plus? 

  I'm going to make you a remix of justin bieber and Yanni singing different songs at the same time combined with a whole Yanni orchestra and Justin Bieber's back up band.  All recorded by Steve Albini in stereo. 

Yes it is cowboy.  On the other hand, I do not count classical music among my favorite genres, but listening to well recorded classical or pipe organ music is still a great treat--and often far better at pushing quality headphones to their limits than most of my favorites.
 
As for Shania Bieber Whitman--there is no need for an audiophile headphone.  A good one from the $75 to $100 range will do fine--double that sentiment if the source is compressed.