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Yes the noise surrounding headphones is incredible (pun not intended), even stranger I find the denigration of 'studio monitor' quality very odd. Recently I bou

Yes the noise surrounding headphones is incredible (pun not intended), even stranger I find the denigration of 'studio monitor' quality very odd. Recently I bought a nice pair of headphones, naturally enough I wanted the ones that colour the music the least, went looking in the headphone section at the nearest consumer electronic shop for the ones that were on their web site and couldn't find them. There were stands of beats, and Sony etc at crazy prices. I asked the guy where they were and they were poked away in the corner in a different section. I laughed - the best headphones that were cheap were hidden away and all the overpriced plastic nonsense were displayed prominently.

seanp2k2 8y ago
Right; and there are real studio monitors, like https://meyersound.com/product/hd-1/ https://meyersound.com/product/hd-1/ (popular for film) and the Yamaha NS10 https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/yamaha-ns10-story https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/yamaha-ns10-story , popular because it's so bad that if it sounds right on the NS10s, it'll sound right on anything. You don't always want a near-field critical listening device, and most studio headphones must be durable first, leak as little sound as possible second, be cheap third, and sound amazing fourth. Watch some videos of {your favorite artist} recording and look at what they use: it's probably something like a Beyerdynamic DT880 Pro (~$200), Sennheiser HD 280 ($100), or Sony MDR7506 (~$75). Professional musicians on-stage will use something like a Sennheiser ew 300 personal monitor system with custom in-ear monitors (JH, Westone, Sensaphonics, or something cheaper and universal-fit like Senn IE 40 Pro or Shure SE series). Aside from DJs getting paid to wear them at shows, most professional musicians aren't using gear from big-box retailers...they're using stuff from Guitar Center / Sweetwater / zZounds / Musicians Friend / that little music shop around the corner, who sell actual professional equipment.
toomanybeersies 8y ago
Well of course, you went to a consumer electronic store. The kit they sell there isn't really meant to be for "professionals". It's the same for everything they sell at those shops. They are there to upsell shiny shit to people who don't know what they want. Try finding a decent laptop for a decent price at one of those stores.
- chadcmulligan 8y ago
  It wasn't so much that, sure, a consumer electronics shop wouldn't have professional equipment, it was the disconnect between reality and what was being presented as the best. I've been a bit of an audio enthusiast for about 30 years and back then the expensive stuff was definitely better (mostly). Now its the opposite, the more expensive the stuff is, the worse it is and the dialog surrounding it has become cargo cult mumbo jumbo. I find it disturbing. In general for laptops performance/cost is still vaguely linear, even in consumer shops, with audio its just a lot of noise even from supposedly professional shops.

seanp2k2 8y ago

Right; and there are real studio monitors, like https://meyersound.com/product/hd-1/ https://meyersound.com/product/hd-1/ (popular for film) and the Yamaha NS10 https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/yamaha-ns10-story https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/yamaha-ns10-story , popular because it's so bad that if it sounds right on the NS10s, it'll sound right on anything. You don't always want a near-field critical listening device, and most studio headphones must be durable first, leak as little sound as possible second, be cheap third, and sound amazing fourth. Watch some videos of {your favorite artist} recording and look at what they use: it's probably something like a Beyerdynamic DT880 Pro (~$200), Sennheiser HD 280 ($100), or Sony MDR7506 (~$75). Professional musicians on-stage will use something like a Sennheiser ew 300 personal monitor system with custom in-ear monitors (JH, Westone, Sensaphonics, or something cheaper and universal-fit like Senn IE 40 Pro or Shure SE series). Aside from DJs getting paid to wear them at shows, most professional musicians aren't using gear from big-box retailers...they're using stuff from Guitar Center / Sweetwater / zZounds / Musicians Friend / that little music shop around the corner, who sell actual professional equipment.

toomanybeersies 8y ago

Well of course, you went to a consumer electronic store. The kit they sell there isn't really meant to be for "professionals". It's the same for everything they sell at those shops. They are there to upsell shiny shit to people who don't know what they want. Try finding a decent laptop for a decent price at one of those stores.

chadcmulligan 8y ago
It wasn't so much that, sure, a consumer electronics shop wouldn't have professional equipment, it was the disconnect between reality and what was being presented as the best. I've been a bit of an audio enthusiast for about 30 years and back then the expensive stuff was definitely better (mostly). Now its the opposite, the more expensive the stuff is, the worse it is and the dialog surrounding it has become cargo cult mumbo jumbo. I find it disturbing. In general for laptops performance/cost is still vaguely linear, even in consumer shops, with audio its just a lot of noise even from supposedly professional shops.