[raulromanjr]

I know that most people here talk about a neutral sounding headphone as the holy grail but most also admit to most headphones having a "brand signature".  For example, this brand tends to emphasizes the high end of the spectrum which some like and other's don't.  Or this other brand tends to have a "mid-centric signature", which again, some like and others do not.  And such are the discussions centered around some pretty expensive headphones which are also often referred to as being "one of the best" there is.  So my question again is what makes a headphone worthy of the Audiophile name?  Examples?  Are there some that are clearly in the Audiophile or the not-audiophile side while other's are disputed as being one or the other?  
 
And what about the categories used by many of the popular brand headphones?  Some of their line is categorized as being a "DJ" headphone while others are "Monitoring" headphones, and yet others classified as "Pro" headphones.  Can a DJ headphone be an "audiophile"-class headphone?
 
I'm just trying to get the communities thoughts on this to see if there is some sort of consensus.

 

[Schokolade bar]

From what I've seen headphones get the moniker of "audophile, reference etc" from the marketing department of said headphone's manufacturer.

 

[cdsa35000]

Who cares about the terminology, its about the price of the product.
IRL price/quality/material/design mostly match their value, I can't expect a $10 HP to be audiophile quality.
But for a $1000 HP I demand that it's an audiopile quality cause the higher price value in accordance to higher audiophile SQ etc.

 

[cdsa35000]

O The holy grail HP would be one that can reproduce the whole Frequency range from 20Hz to 20kHz as evenly overall same flat SPL without fluctuation/distorsion/resonance/dropouts/spikes/noise/hiss/reflection/echo/hollow and HP comfort/weight/design/portability/compatibility/price/soundstage/outside noise damping etc.

 

[Shaffer]

 Can a DJ headphone be an "audiophile"-class headphone?

As a concept, yes. Have I heard one? No.

I'm just trying to get the communities thoughts on this to see if there is some sort of consensus.

Not a great idea, given the vast gap in the scope of experience between individuals. All posts are not created equal; even though, they all look the same.

 

[Sefelt103]

Design is a big factor: it must deliver high sound quality by virtue of its driver and the acoustic geometry of the earcup and earpad. It should be balanced in its frequency response ie. no exaggerations of any part of the frequency range. Distortion of the received signal should be as little as possible ie. minimal colouration. Elements like the attack/decay of the signal should be natural and realistic. The technology of the drivers can also contribute like using planar magnetic/electrostatic rather than dynamic drivers. Constuction using high quality lightweight materials contributes also as well as modular construction enabling the life of the headphones to be extended. Audiophile headphonex should also be comfortable. A set of audiophile headphones gets out of the way allowing the listener to hear accurately what was recorded.

 

[vid]

Design is a big factor: it must deliver high sound quality by virtue of its driver and the acoustic geometry of the earcup and earpad. It should be balanced in its frequency response ie. no exaggerations of any part of the frequency range. Distortion of the received signal should be as little as possible ie. minimal colouration. Elements like the attack/decay of the signal should be natural and realistic. The technology of the drivers can also contribute like using planar magnetic/electrostatic rather than dynamic drivers. Constuction using high quality lightweight materials contributes also as well as modular construction enabling the life of the headphones to be extended. Audiophile headphonex should also be comfortable. A set of audiophile headphones gets out of the way allowing the listener to hear accurately what was recorded.

 
Left out a notable variable, the geometry of the listener's ear. A pair of phones with a perceptually flat response at the eardrum of one kind of ear won't have the flat response at the eardrum of a differently-shaped ear. Thus, headphones can't be inherently neutral or unnatural, and likewise, basing the definition of audiophile-grade on the frequency response is problematic. But since it's the frequency response on which the perception of sound quality is based, this definition makes sense even with its flaws. Which means a pair of headphones can at the same time be and not be audiophile-grade, depending on the ear variable; and further, since you can alter the frequency response almost at will (eq, and mods to a lesser degree), you are given the ability to turn non-audiophile-grade into audiophile-grade, and vice versa. In this way, whether a pair of headphones are audiophile-grade will also depend on the skills of the user, making original cost less of a factor.

 

[Sefelt103]

All headphones involve guesswork as to the size of the man or woman's head or ear shape. As you get older you hear less high frequency. EQ is a way round this but then you're introducing distortion.

 

[vid]

Eq is a way of reducing audible distortion - without eq, there's more of it, not less.
 
Though I don't recommend anyone try to work around hearing loss by boosting volume.

 

[lty239]

I think those that cost me more than the amount I could earn in 3 months are truly audiophiles..

 

[LNuneek]

What makes a true audiophile headphone? Detailed, Revealing, Bright (sometimes overly and painfully so), Bass Response isn't important, and Expensive. Must also need an expensive amp. If the headphone is exclusive to just high end shops, it's even more audiophile. hahaha J/K well sort of...not really.

 

[Pirakaphile]

If it can fairly accurately reproduce the sound of the instruments it's portraying without too much colouration, then it's probably audiophile quality. It's a subjective term, but if it's used by a headphone company, then they're obviously trying to market it to audiophiles, so it should be pretty good at reproducing sound. But if it isn't, then they're just trying to sound cool or whatever. Take a listen, does it sound like good music? 

 

[vid]

^Like I mentioned above, that definition is difficult. You'd essentially have to say that this particular combination of headphone and ear is audiophile class, then giving the phones to someone else, their combination of phone and ear no longer being audiophile class.

 

[raulromanjr]

To me an audiophile headphone delivers a level of detail and clarity that is rare with you average headphone. The better audiophile headphones also present music in an enveloping soundstage that goes beyond the LEFT-RIGHT presentation that must average headphones provide.