[lejaz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by endlezz518 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Do you add sugar/salt/pepper/sauce on your food?

The thing with colored headphones it that you may be adding 'seasoning' before even tasting the food! I prefer to hear the music how the artist/producer intended it to sound....at least at the first listen.

 

[mrmarano]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lejaz /img/forum/go_quote.gif I don't understand the whole 'color' thing with music. No one would walk into the Louvre in Paris to look at the art masterpieces wearing colored glasses(at least I hope not), yet for some reason people want to add color to their music. Maybe it's just me, but the only color I will intentionally add is some extra bass...but not that often.

Just for the sake of a good debate:

I think comparing the way we perceive auditory information versus visual is a bit misleading. Visual stimuli contain about 1k more information than auditory. The act of looking at a piece of static art or watching a movie is almost always a more passive act than listening to music, which generally requires a bit more attention. At least from me. So drawing a direct parallel between these senses seems rather like comparing aspirin to elephants.

Also, colored glasses don't add information so much as filter it out. Red glasses block all bands of the color spectrum save for red. It would be like listening to a music recording only from 20-100Hz for example, and dumping all midrange and treble. So, if by musical color we mean subtly boosting some frequencies and slightly altering others to create the illusion of greater presence, I can live with that. It's much more subtle and easily digested than, say, amping the color intensity in the Mona Lisa to acid dayglo poster levels, or giving her skin tones a deep purple glow.

And I'd say going to the Louvre to see original artworks is more closely compared to attending a live musical event. Both present originals, and not reproductions. And original artworks are their own legacy copies, preserved in time, whereas musical performances are gone away as soon the atmospheric vibrations die.

Just some things to consider.

 

[plonter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lejaz /img/forum/go_quote.gif Nothing wrong...agreed. Just different preferences.

that's right. lejaz,it seems you are deep in the neutral camp. you like the to keep the chef's own colouration and not adding anymore of your own, just like listening to a certain recording like it was made...getting the artist's prespective. that's also cool, and even sound like the right way to go.
BUT...as much as i tried to walk in this way, I can never get rid of the eager to a rumbling bass and tipped up treble. from the beggining, that's what I considered as high end sound.

I just want to mention that i even tried to use EQ with my HD650 for some time, and although it did gave them that little more bass I wanted,i finally preferred them to sound as they are.
it sounded so unreal with EQ. I prefer to have a neutral and accurate system (dac and amp) and let only the headphones to do their own thing. that's the most "natural" way of colouring the sound.

 

[pyramid6]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AtomikPi /img/forum/go_quote.gif ... However, listeners who listen at low volumes (let's say <75-80 dB) tend to prefer bassier headphones to get more impact at their preferred volumes, while those who listen at, say 90 dB, find bassy headphones to be overwhelming in bass quantity, as the bass overpowers the rest of the FR. ...

I listen at 45-50 dB. That's normal conversation level. 90 dB will damage your ears.

Edit: On topic, both, depends, yes.

 

[mrmarano]

Another thought:

It seems we treat the concept of "coloring" vs. "linear" as an inflexible, rigid standard applicable to all hearers. Given that what one hears is a product of many variables, for example:

1) the physical architecture of the ear,

2) the wear and tear of the organ,

3) one's listening environment,

4) the sonic environment in which one was raised

It may not be quite so simple to compare the two characteristics without reference to individual context.

One listener's linear is another's flat and lifeless, another's colored may be still another's linear, and so on.

And damn, I've stumbled into audition theory. Whoops.

 

[lejaz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrmarano /img/forum/go_quote.gif Just for the sake of a good debate: I think comparing the way we perceive auditory information versus visual is a bit misleading. Visual stimuli contain about 1k more information than auditory. The act of looking at a piece of static art or watching a movie is almost always a more passive act than listening to music, which generally requires a bit more attention. At least from me. So drawing a direct parallel between these senses seems rather like comparing aspirin to elephants. Also, colored glasses don't add information so much as filter it out. Red glasses block all bands of the color spectrum save for red. It would be like listening to a music recording only from 20-100Hz for example, and dumping all midrange and treble. So, if by musical color we mean subtly boosting some frequencies and slightly altering others to create the illusion of greater presence, I can live with that. It's much more subtle and easily digested than, say, amping the color intensity in the Mona Lisa to acid dayglo poster levels, or giving her skin tones a deep purple glow. And I'd say going to the Louvre to see original artworks is more closely compared to attending a live musical event. Both present originals, and not reproductions. And original artworks are their own legacy copies, preserved in time, whereas musical performances are gone away as soon the atmospheric vibrations die. Just some things to consider.

The thing with colored headphones it that they color every piece you listen to. It's like adding salt to every dish you eat...or sugar. Some may need salt and others will taste horrible with more added....like ice cream.

 

[mrmarano]

Enough blather. Despite my earlier message, I'd have to admit I'm a color guy. I've listened to jazz and classical for nearly a year through a pair of phones mostly considered linear in their presentation, save for heavier bass (HD650s) and I just couldn't get involved. Now I've what most consider a colored pair (D7000s) and I love them like crazy like nuts.

 

[plonter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lejaz /img/forum/go_quote.gif The thing with colored headphones it that they color every piece you listen to. It's like adding salt to every dish you eat...or sugar. Some may need salt and others will taste horrible with more added....like ice cream.

agreed. like the D5000 bass is not going well with all recordings and same thing about the grados. the positive thing about neutral cans, is that you can own one headphones only and listen to all genres, while with a coloured soudnding headphones you will probably need a few sets for specific music genres.

 

[xnor]

I prefer a balanced sound signature since it's the least fatiguing for me.

 

[kool bubba ice]

Shouldn't the music itself get you involved?

 

[plonter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrmarano /img/forum/go_quote.gif Enough blather. Despite my earlier message, I'd have to admit I'm a color guy. I've listened to jazz and classical for nearly a year through a pair of phones mostly considered linear in their presentation, save for heavier bass (HD650s) and I just couldn't get involved. Now I've what most consider a colored pair (D7000s) and I love them like crazy like nuts.

the HD650's bass always sounded right on the spot (as goes for neutrality) for me...never thought it as heavy,even lacking. my ears will physically hurt if i try to listen to a headphones with less bass than the HD650.

 

[MrGreen]

I prefer my headphones to be neutral and my recordings to be coloured however they like. I don't mind how they are coloured, as each recording is unique and therefore my collection is diverse.

Heavily coloured headphones tend to homogenise the collection IMO.

Normal conversation level is 60dB. 45 dB is is somewhere between a quiet room and moderate rainfall.

Regarding AtomikPi, I prefer to listen quietly with relatively neutral equipment (ER4P/S is current HP of choice)

 

[mrmarano]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kool bubba ice /img/forum/go_quote.gif Shouldn't the music itself get you involved?

Oh yeah, or else I wouldn't be listening for starters. I suppose my poorly stated point is that the phones seemed to get in the way, as if I'd been permitted only so far as the lobby rather than two-thirds the way toward center stage. I loved what music was playing, just not the way it was put through to my ears.

 

[plonter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kool bubba ice /img/forum/go_quote.gif Shouldn't the music itself get you involved?

you mean also the SOUND as a part of the music? i mean, the sound is 50% of the music, unless you only cares about the music and not the sound.
I was like that until I discovered I am audiophile, and the sound became an unseperatable part of the music.

I think that I even have a few albums that I bought only because I liked their sound,not necesseraly the music.

 

[MrGreen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by plonter /img/forum/go_quote.gif you mean also the SOUND as a part of the music? i mean, the sound is 50% of the music, unless you only cares about the music and not the sound. I was like that until I discovered I am audiophile, and the sound became an unseperatable part of the music. I think that I even have a few albums that I bought only because I liked their sound,not necesseraly the music.

Music is the fusion of sound, creativity and math so you are not wrong.