5 ms·

I know plenty of people who pay that much, and more for headphones. These are people who get into discussions about the loudness war [1] and the pros/cons of va

by hartror 16y ago

I know plenty of people who pay that much, and more for headphones. These are people who get into discussions about the loudness war [1] and the pros/cons of various audio formats for different musical genres. They're not stupid, just enthusiasts, and as such enjoy using high quality equipment, just like any enthusiast. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudness_war http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudness_war

Semiapies 16y ago
The loudness war is one the very reasons expensive headphones are a complete waste of time.
- wmf 16y ago
  What if you're listening to jazz on vinyl with a tube amp? :-)
- JonnieCache 16y ago
  What if you're writing your own music?
_delirium 16y ago
True, and I'm something of a headphone enthusiast as well, but there is a lot of snake oil. Even among stuff that isn't outright snake oil, it's very hard to actually spot differences above a certain level, and I'm not convinced everyone who claims they can is actually doing so. Sometimes I'm not that sure for my own listening. I do try to do blind tests sometimes, but they're hard to really keep blind (different feel of headphones, recognize the sound of a headphone I've already heard before, etc.). And beyond that, what exactly constitutes "quality" is a whole other story! The easiest way to tell differences among high-end headphones is to train yourself on certain test samples that are notoriously hard to reproduce properly, and then listen for differences, but it's not at all clear that doing that is a meaningful predictor of subjective enjoyability when using the headphone to listen to normal music. Overall I've settled on open-back headphones in the ~$70-150 range as the sweet spot for me personally (I mostly use Grado SR-80s).
- hartror 16y ago
  True, often high end hardware can be snake oil. It is like using gold in HDMI cables, a basic copper cable does just as well but companies still tout their stupidly expensive cabling.
- stan_rogers 16y ago
  And there's the rule proven right there -- I couldn't hear enough of a difference between the SR60s and SR80s to justify the price difference. The 120s were audibly better, and the RS1s better still (and at that price, they ought to be). My only use for 'phones, though, is in places I can't control (their complete lack of soundstage drains the enjoyment out of a good recording for me when actively listening) and there is no substitute for in-ear monitors for killing interference. At home, it's speakers (I don't need loud, just a sufficiently low noise floor).
  - _delirium 16y ago
    Hah, fair enough. I'm actually not sure I can tell the difference between the SR60s and 80s, but the price difference was small enough (US$20) that I didn't spend a lot of effort trying to tell. The SR-125s were another $50 above that, which was worth some effort, and at least in my listening I wasn't sure I could tell the difference, so I stuck with the 80s. Possibly I could've just stuck with the 60s!

by hartror 16y ago

Semiapies 16y ago

The loudness war is one the very reasons expensive headphones are a complete waste of time.

wmf 16y ago
What if you're listening to jazz on vinyl with a tube amp? :-)
JonnieCache 16y ago
What if you're writing your own music?

_delirium 16y ago

True, and I'm something of a headphone enthusiast as well, but there is a lot of snake oil. Even among stuff that isn't outright snake oil, it's very hard to actually spot differences above a certain level, and I'm not convinced everyone who claims they can is actually doing so. Sometimes I'm not that sure for my own listening. I do try to do blind tests sometimes, but they're hard to really keep blind (different feel of headphones, recognize the sound of a headphone I've already heard before, etc.). And beyond that, what exactly constitutes "quality" is a whole other story! The easiest way to tell differences among high-end headphones is to train yourself on certain test samples that are notoriously hard to reproduce properly, and then listen for differences, but it's not at all clear that doing that is a meaningful predictor of subjective enjoyability when using the headphone to listen to normal music. Overall I've settled on open-back headphones in the ~$70-150 range as the sweet spot for me personally (I mostly use Grado SR-80s).

hartror 16y ago
True, often high end hardware can be snake oil. It is like using gold in HDMI cables, a basic copper cable does just as well but companies still tout their stupidly expensive cabling.
stan_rogers 16y ago
And there's the rule proven right there -- I couldn't hear enough of a difference between the SR60s and SR80s to justify the price difference. The 120s were audibly better, and the RS1s better still (and at that price, they ought to be). My only use for 'phones, though, is in places I can't control (their complete lack of soundstage drains the enjoyment out of a good recording for me when actively listening) and there is no substitute for in-ear monitors for killing interference. At home, it's speakers (I don't need loud, just a sufficiently low noise floor).
- _delirium 16y ago
  Hah, fair enough. I'm actually not sure I can tell the difference between the SR60s and 80s, but the price difference was small enough (US$20) that I didn't spend a lot of effort trying to tell. The SR-125s were another $50 above that, which was worth some effort, and at least in my listening I wasn't sure I could tell the difference, so I stuck with the 80s. Possibly I could've just stuck with the 60s!