6 ms·

I hope they make it through to the other side. When I was looking for headphones a couple of years ago, Guitar Center was the only place I could find where I c

by mark-r 6y ago

I hope they make it through to the other side. When I was looking for headphones a couple of years ago, Guitar Center was the only place I could find where I could physically compare them side by side. Online will never replace that.

wolco2 6y ago
That's a future VR feature. Online will provide that and offer you a germfree experience.
- robomc 6y ago
  lol what
- war1025 6y ago
  > That's a future VR feature. I doubt comparing the sound quality of multiple pairs of headphones is going to be something VR can simulate.
  - AdamJacobMuller 6y ago
    I'm not sure how "real" it is, but, as the commentator above mentioned (though I've also used it before), this already exists: https://www.crutchfield.com/S-X7TESAG94kk/speakercompare/default.aspx https://www.crutchfield.com/S-X7TESAG94kk/speakercompare/def...
    - war1025 6y ago
      That technology is using good headphones to simulate the acoustic properties of large speakers. For a more obviously untenable example: Imagine using an old VR headset to test out newer, more capable VR headsets.
      - wolco2 6y ago
        Like many people now we would buy the newest popular model and read reviews. How can you try out a new computer when buying online through your old computer? You don't. You rely on Specs.. reviews.. brands.
        war1025 6y ago
        I agree, but this all started with "I liked that I could go to Guitar Center and try the headphones in person" followed by "In the future you will just do that with VR" All I was pointing out is that VR would most likely not provide the sort of feedback the OP was talking about.
  - pfranz 6y ago
    I'm skeptical what the parent said will come to fruition, but when I was doing some advertising work in VR I was surprised how great it was at conveying things like scale and reach when messing with cars. Things you would have to go to a dealership to do and hope they have the correct trim and colors you want.
deeblering4 6y ago
Online retailers are getting closer though with things like virtual auditions. For instance Crutchfield now has “SpeakerCompare” “To try out SpeakerCompare, select two or more pairs of home or car speakers to audition, then select your model of headphones from our menu. (We currently have more than 100 to choose from, with more on the way.) Pick a genre of music to cue up a song sample, and hit play. You can then toggle between each speaker in real-time using two listening modes: equal power mode lets you hear differences in loudness as they naturally occur, while equal volume mode gives you a more direct comparison of tonal differences between your selected speakers.” https://www.crutchfield.com/S-MgU7GRLTDvu/speakercompare/default.aspx https://www.crutchfield.com/S-MgU7GRLTDvu/speakercompare/def...
- grawprog 6y ago
  That sounds like it would work well if you owned a set of studio monitors or headphones with a flat response. Otherwise, it's still not really going to be the same as listening to the speakers or headphones themselves. Whatever headphones or speakers you use to listen to the samples will add their own dynamics to the sounds. It still won't really give an accurate representation.
  - pedrocr 6y ago
    If they have the headphones you're using correctly modeled they could in theory pre-process the audio to get close to the output of whatever it is you're testing. The PC/phone DAC may introduce quite a bit of inconsistency though.
  - colechristensen 6y ago
    The key benefit to buying expensive audio gear is hearing things you couldn’t hear before, no amount of computational magic is going to add dynamic range or lower distortion on cheap speakers.
    - Raidion 6y ago
      But you don't go from iPod earbuds to high end audio speakers in a jump (usually). I'd say most people buying high end stuff already have a solid pair of headphones at the very least, and monitor speakers are, by definition, fairly flat in response. If you know what you want, you know why you want it, and you know what brands/models will give you the sound you want. If you don't know what you want, a fairly standard pair of monitor speakers will sound terrific. Like I have a hard time believing someone who picks up set of HS series Yamaha monitor is going to be like "Oh wow, these sound too forward for me". That being said, I do think speakers can make a big different. I have a buddy who has a set of Ohms speakers from 72, and listening to music from that era (like Led Zepplin) does sound better than listening to it on something more modern, because it was mixed with similar speakers. It's cork sniffing at a certain point to me, but people who are really into it can really hear it.

by mark-r 6y ago

wolco2 6y ago

That's a future VR feature. Online will provide that and offer you a germfree experience.

robomc 6y ago
lol what
war1025 6y ago
> That's a future VR feature. I doubt comparing the sound quality of multiple pairs of headphones is going to be something VR can simulate.
- AdamJacobMuller 6y ago
  I'm not sure how "real" it is, but, as the commentator above mentioned (though I've also used it before), this already exists: https://www.crutchfield.com/S-X7TESAG94kk/speakercompare/default.aspx https://www.crutchfield.com/S-X7TESAG94kk/speakercompare/def...
  - war1025 6y ago
    That technology is using good headphones to simulate the acoustic properties of large speakers. For a more obviously untenable example: Imagine using an old VR headset to test out newer, more capable VR headsets.
    - wolco2 6y ago
      Like many people now we would buy the newest popular model and read reviews. How can you try out a new computer when buying online through your old computer? You don't. You rely on Specs.. reviews.. brands.
      - war1025 6y ago
        I agree, but this all started with "I liked that I could go to Guitar Center and try the headphones in person" followed by "In the future you will just do that with VR" All I was pointing out is that VR would most likely not provide the sort of feedback the OP was talking about.
- pfranz 6y ago
  I'm skeptical what the parent said will come to fruition, but when I was doing some advertising work in VR I was surprised how great it was at conveying things like scale and reach when messing with cars. Things you would have to go to a dealership to do and hope they have the correct trim and colors you want.

deeblering4 6y ago

Online retailers are getting closer though with things like virtual auditions. For instance Crutchfield now has “SpeakerCompare” “To try out SpeakerCompare, select two or more pairs of home or car speakers to audition, then select your model of headphones from our menu. (We currently have more than 100 to choose from, with more on the way.) Pick a genre of music to cue up a song sample, and hit play. You can then toggle between each speaker in real-time using two listening modes: equal power mode lets you hear differences in loudness as they naturally occur, while equal volume mode gives you a more direct comparison of tonal differences between your selected speakers.” https://www.crutchfield.com/S-MgU7GRLTDvu/speakercompare/default.aspx https://www.crutchfield.com/S-MgU7GRLTDvu/speakercompare/def...

grawprog 6y ago
That sounds like it would work well if you owned a set of studio monitors or headphones with a flat response. Otherwise, it's still not really going to be the same as listening to the speakers or headphones themselves. Whatever headphones or speakers you use to listen to the samples will add their own dynamics to the sounds. It still won't really give an accurate representation.
- pedrocr 6y ago
  If they have the headphones you're using correctly modeled they could in theory pre-process the audio to get close to the output of whatever it is you're testing. The PC/phone DAC may introduce quite a bit of inconsistency though.
- colechristensen 6y ago
  The key benefit to buying expensive audio gear is hearing things you couldn’t hear before, no amount of computational magic is going to add dynamic range or lower distortion on cheap speakers.
  - Raidion 6y ago
    But you don't go from iPod earbuds to high end audio speakers in a jump (usually). I'd say most people buying high end stuff already have a solid pair of headphones at the very least, and monitor speakers are, by definition, fairly flat in response. If you know what you want, you know why you want it, and you know what brands/models will give you the sound you want. If you don't know what you want, a fairly standard pair of monitor speakers will sound terrific. Like I have a hard time believing someone who picks up set of HS series Yamaha monitor is going to be like "Oh wow, these sound too forward for me". That being said, I do think speakers can make a big different. I have a buddy who has a set of Ohms speakers from 72, and listening to music from that era (like Led Zepplin) does sound better than listening to it on something more modern, because it was mixed with similar speakers. It's cork sniffing at a certain point to me, but people who are really into it can really hear it.