[Hawaiiancerveza]

Ya too bad they are getting sued from monster for their looks...

 

[money4me247]

just curious since I'm kinda new to the headphones hobby thing... butttttttt how is this not a worse rip-off than the beats????
 
$400 for plastic bass-heavy brand-named headphones?? There are SOOOO many alternative good v-shaped sound signatures headphones under $300, how can yamaha possibly justify its price tag?

 

[monkeyboylee]

urm....... the sound quality? 

 

[money4me247]

Quote:

urm....... the sound quality? 

Complaint against Beats = overpriced for its sound quality & build quality as there are similarly-priced & cheaper headphones that performs just as well or better.
 
Yamaha Pro 500 = $400 for better sound, a bass emphasis, & same build quality.
 
 
The prices of other good sounding closed headphones with a bass emphasis: Beyer DT900 ($320), V-Moda M100 ($300), Mad Dogs ($300), Ultrasone 900 ($300), Denon AH-D400 ($240), ATH-WS99 ($240), UE6000 ($200), beyerdynamic dt770 ($170), Audio-Technica ATH-PRO700MK2 ($178), V-Moda LP2 ($175), Ultrasone HFI 580 ($120), M-Audio Q-40 ($120), Audio-Technica ATH-M50 ($116)
 
Prices of closed headphones with an even more balanced sound: Sennheiser Momentum ($350), Sony MDR-1R ($300), AKG Q701 (open - $300), AKG K550/K551 ($223-323), Shure SRH-840 ($165), V-Moda M-80 ($140)
 
If you have compared the Yamaha Pro 500 with its competitors and can hear that $100 upgrade in sound quality in a blind test... then, congratulations, you didn't totally ripped off. However, if you did the comparisons, I doubt that Yamaha Pro 500 sounds $100 better than the Mad Dogs or M100.
 
Just remember: for $400 you can get the HiFiMAN HE-400.

 

[monkeyboylee]

 

[navii]

What does a $100 sound like?

 

[money4me247]

Quote:

What does a $100 sound like?

lol... that is exactly what I am asking. why is the yamaha pro 500 priced $100 more than similar sound signature competitors? I don't mean it as an insult or whatever. legitimately curious.
 
Even within the Yamaha Pro line. The Pro 400 (same specs w/o aluminium earcups) = $300. Addition of aluminium earcups for the Pro 500 = $400.
 
yes, I didn't get a chance to personally try them out, so that is why I am curious. I feel like when you reach the $200+ price range of headphones with different colored signatures, they simply are just different flavors. Not necessarily better or worse. So I am wondering why people are saying the $400 Yamaha are better than for example the $300 V-Moda or the $300 Sony MDR-1R or $300 Ultrasone 900? I feel like all those headphones are similarly high-quality, just slightly different sound signatures. Why is the Yamaha version of a v-shaped sound signature worth $100 more?

 

[Craigster75]

Quote:

lol... that is exactly what I am asking. why is the yamaha pro 500 priced $100 more than similar sound signature competitors? I don't mean it as an insult or whatever. legitimately curious.
 
Even within the Yamaha Pro line. The Pro 400 (same specs w/o aluminium earcups) = $300. Addition of aluminium earcups for the Pro 500 = $400.
 
yes, I didn't get a chance to personally try them out, so that is why I am curious. I feel like when you reach the $200+ price range of headphones with different colored signatures, they simply are just different flavors. Not necessarily better or worse. So I am wondering why people are saying the $400 Yamaha are better than for example the $300 V-Moda or the $300 Sony MDR-1R or $300 Ultrasone 900? I feel like all those headphones are similarly high-quality, just slightly different sound signatures. Why is the Yamaha version of a v-shaped sound signature worth $100 more.

 

[money4me247]

Quote:

example: these are all very highly reviewed closed, portable headphones... however...
 
Ultrasone Pro 900 at $300: some people dislike because treble is too much.
V-Moda M100 at $300: some people dislike because mids are too recessed.
Sennheiser Momentum at $350: some people dislike because not enough warmth.
Sony MDR-1R at $300: some people dislike because too colored.
AKG K550 at $300: some people dislike because bass is too weak.
 
...this sounds like personal preference to a certain sound signature to me (aka different flavors)
 
it's not like any of these headphones actually suck, it's just that they have different sound signatures. the Yamaha Pro 500 also probably does not suck, but it does not seem to do anything that I would classify as being objectively better than those listed headphones. However, Yamaha feels like their particular sound signature of the Pro 500 is $100 better than everything else including the Pro 400 (that has the same drivers but no aluminium earcups).
 
I am wondering what are the characteristics described with audiophile terms that are exhibited in the Pro 500 that are not present in its competitors that can be used to justify it's higher price tag.
 
Note: This is essentially the same question I asked Craigster75 about the Ultrasone Signature DJ. Why is that pair of closed, portable headphones objectively worth so much more ($1,000)? To which you replied, it just sounds better in all aspects, which makes sense, but does not clarify things for me.

 

[monkeyboylee]

Ha ha ha, look, I think this may help.
 
http://www.eng.auburn.edu/users/crockmj/Fastl_acta_acustica.pdf
 
Just run a 'quick test' like this for each of the headphones you need clarification on and you should have your objective answer.
 
I look forward to your results and you can also determine $/SQ ratio, you seem intent on knowing, that we cant provide for you as we just use our ears!
Can't wait..... 

 
 
 
 
 
 

 

[money4me247]

Quote:

Ha ha ha, look, I think this may help.
 
http://www.eng.auburn.edu/users/crockmj/Fastl_acta_acustica.pdf
 
Just run a 'quick test' like this for each of the headphones you need clarification on and you should have your objective answer.
 
I look forward to your results and you can also determine $/SQ ratio, you seem intent on knowing, that we cant provide for you as we just use our ears!
Can't wait..... 

 

lol... love the effort, but that study is not well done as it does not describe why certain sounds are better than others. It simply observes how we can measure the differences variations of sound due to different frequency emphasis and how the different factors are interdependent. Not really ground-breaking results. It's also about trying to reduce the annoyance of industrial background noise from objects such as motorcycles, saws, and broadband tones. So basically completely unrelated.
 
To study whether people are biased by price or branding, you can do a very simple experiment where you take two identical headphones but tell one group that they are priced at differently/from different brands or tell one group they are priced the same/from the same brand, and give everyone a survey to fill out about the sound quality.
 
lol. Honestly, determining if the money spent is worth the sound quality is very easy. You simply see what else you can purchase at that price point and what are the particular headphone's main competitors. If there is a significant jump in price between headphones that are in the same class with similar sonic attributes, then that product is probably overpriced. If you can get something that is considerably more advanced at that price, then the product you are looking at is overpriced. Of course, if you find a particular sound signature extremely attractive, you probably don't care as much for the price, but that doesn't mean that it is a good value for someone else.
 
Yes, you should use your ears, but you should also realize that your brain is the thing that is judging the sound quality and the brain is very easily swayed by very silly random things. Also, I feel like it is very important to be able to translate what you are hearing into an objective description that can be duplicated by others and is reflected by objective tests such as a headphone frequency response chart. Head-fi does not really take that approach, but seems to be mostly compromised of people's opinions... so I guess you really can only go with what opinions reoccur a lot (the group consensus). Since there really is no standard of measurement for headphones, the only way to accurately describe how they sound like is through comparisons.
 
Ideally, it would be nice to see more headphone comparisons that list specific songs (bitrate) and the time in the song that you can hear the sonic differences between the two headphones. Example: V-Moda M100 vs Sony MDR-1R: test song: Hotel California 320kpbs. from 1:00-1:30, On the M100, the bassline is more forward while the vocals and guitars are a bit recessed. On the MDR-1R, the vocals are more emphasized. ...etc..
 
That is really all I am looking for. Someone to compare the Pro 500 with another one of its competitors in the $300 range and tell me specifically why it is supposed to sound better. Didn't really seem that complicated of a request for a bunch of audiophiles, but the answers I get are: stop trolling, of course they are worth it, the sound quality is better, random insult, just go listen for yourself.

 

[monkeyboylee]

Ha ha, yep 1st hit on google..... but I think you get the point!

 

[Swimsonny]

I just unboxed these:
 

 

[Owenpri]

Wow. From those angles, the headband really does look like it was taken from a pair of Beats.