I dont think the 4 linked threads are particularly valuable. Sorry. I appreciate that the effort was made to put them together, but they dont really tell you much beyond some very basic things about the headphone. There is no common frame of reference, which is more valuable than a 5 star rating on 40 headphones you are not interested in.
There are plenty of older reviews of full sized headphones that compare a few giants in a more meaningful way with regards to sound quality, frequency response, etc In addition to what was posted above. If you read a good review and you buy 1 of the 3 headphones in it you should be able to get a solid guess of what the other 2 will sound like based on that. You go out and listen to the other 2, and (assuming it was actually a good review) they generally sound very close to how they were described relative to what you have.
Trend of head-fi reviews.
HD800 gets 5 stars across the board.
Q(from interested head-fier): "what does it sound like compared to the darthbeyer"
A: "barfbeyers are 3 star headphones after I've had 4 drinks."
Q: "could you explain that assesment of their SQ"
A: "Id need 4 tall drinks before I can be convinced to try them again. 3 stars is 2 less than 5, but there is a de-rating factor for my being drunk. If you threatened to control my head I would try them sober and give them 1/2 star. I gave the HD800 5 stars, you should like them a lot!"
Q: "Yea, that really didnt help much, is there a comparason you could draw"
A: "aah, I gotcha, frame of reference! R10 are 5 stars across the board except for price where they are 4.5stars."
How do you know what ANYTHING there sounds like? You go out an buy it and get a surprise.
If your interested in trying it, get a few headphones at a similar price point and compare them detail for detail. listen to each one very carefully for a song (or part of a song) and then the others. try them out on a variety of music. Listen for bass, mid-bass, mids, upper mids, and highs. compare the overall "tone" of the headphones. are there any details in a specfic part of the music that you hear standing out (the "knurl" in a distorted bass guitar, or the complex tones of a cello for example) on any of the headphones but not the others? Try to avoid getting "latched" onto one specific part of the music (I find I latch on bass, Im a basshead, what can I say) it makes your reviews borrrrring and you may miss something that was hiding elsewhere. Also avoid simply stating "I like this more" without justification. Even with your justification try to avoid doing it too much.
A solid review (by my elitist
definition) is a royal pain in the bumm to put together even with 2 or 3 headphones. Even if you dont post it listening this critically to a few things may improve the way you listen & hear things in the future. Its a very good exercise.
