Be Right Back, Uninstalling

Full Version: Axiomatic Audiophile's Alter
You're currently viewing a stripped down version of our content. View the full version with proper formatting.
Pages: 1 2
Any other audiophile's besides me and Stolentoast?  I just got into it and I'm very much enjoying my midrange system.

Edit:  It would help if I posted my system.

I'm using:
Headphones - AKG K7xx
Amp - Garage1217's Ember II
DAC - Modi 2

I also have the following tubes:
JJ ECC82
Sylvania 6DJ8 "green hornet"
Conn 12au7A
Some Russian 6n6p
This is a hobby I'd enjoy getting into if I ever have enough resources to do so guilt free. At the moment though, a pair of ATH-M50s and a sound card are what keep my ears happy enough for the stuff I tend to listen to.
I don't know if it qualifies for "audiophile" but about two years ago I decided I wanted to start getting into vinyl so I built a low to mid range "hi-fi" stereo system which sounds much better than anything I've previously owned. I'm running a Yamaha R-S500 receiver with two Infinity Primus P163 bookshelf speakers, an Infinity PS38 subwoofer, and an Audio-Technica AT-PL60 turntable. The turntable is probably the weakest link right now, there is some discernible wow and flutter at times, but other purchases have been a priority and I do plan to upgrade eventually. That all being said, this system provides really a good soundstage and lets me relax and get lost in the music. I've also added a aptX Bluetooth transmitter to my PC and receiver to the stereo so I can stream "CD quality" digital music to my stereo. While I don't think I have the ear training to really tell the difference between aptX and CD quality, I do think it sounds noticeably better than SBC when compared.
I've been doing this for years now and have a healthy stable of cans:

Grado sr325i
[Image: grado-sr-325e-headphones-product-photos07.jpg]

Hifiman HE400S
[Image: image_preview]

AKG K7XX
[Image: MD-4505_20141121090403_f98ce43dc3c6dd9f.jpg]

JVC HA-SZ2000
[Image: JVC-Live-Beat-System-HA-SZ2000-hd-pictur...d-8402.jpg]

And the "Eh-m"50
[Image: Audio-Technical-ATH-M50-headphones.jpg]

I've also had extensive experience with:

Sony MDR-1A (Awesome set)
[Image: sony-mdr-1r-noir-cote-51dc26903ca3b.jpg]

The Oh-So-Standard Sony MDR-V6
[Image: sony_mdr-v6_folded.jpg?0d5344]

I had and loved and broke and they don't make them any more, Turbine Copper
[Image: 1930556953.jpg]

I've got some amps by Fiio and Aune (as well as my logitech speakers) and am planning on getting the same garage1217 amp Surf got to pair with my Aune as a DAC to power my future upgrade to the legendary HE560:
[Image: hifiman_he560.jpg]

Sometimes looks aren't everything, as I also want a pair of these:
[Image: Regular.jpg]


I've also spent hundreds of hours researching and arguing about digital audio and sound quality so that I may recognize the COPIOUS amounts of snake-oil saturating the high-end audio market right now.
Jesus, how many ears do you have?
Altar*
(11-17-2015, 12:27 PM)Didzo Wrote: [ -> ]Altar*

Tomb ,_,

As long as someone made a thread I'm gonna say my bit cuz no one can stop me.  

I think most people fundamentally misunderstand the goal of so-called "audiophiles" like me.  There is no ideal, perfect speaker, it simply doesn't exist.  I bet if you asked 100 people what the best headphones ever would sound like I'm sure at least 90 of them would mention realism or sounding "on-stage with the performers" implying it sounds exactly like it was when recorded.  Well physics makes perfectly recreating a recorded signal in air pretty much impossible, even for sennheiser's $65,000 orpheus 2

Differences in driver design, diaphragm size and composition, housing, electrical material and even earpad material can make very big differences, and that's a lot of dimensions to move in on the spectrum.  Each manufacturer has their own ideas about which tricks are the best and how a headphone should sound and what kind of hardware they are testing their headphones on and their intended market and engineering restrictions etc.  The result is that each manufacturer has their own unique "house sound".

I listen to a lot of music and my what.cd buffer is near 700GB with over a TB seeded.  I spend a lot of my time listening to new things but also all my old favorites, and there are a LOT of them.  What I love about having all these headphones is that it's a very different experience with each of them.  You get to basically re-hear all your favorite music all over again in a new light.  But really not just any old monoprice headset or even purported audiophile shit like bose will give this experience, and it's a very stark contrast between hearing your music alright and then hearing it through awesome headphones or speakers like I think Surf has realized.  I never really listened much before I got the grados but I could leave those on for hours, they're really easy on your ears.  The Hifiman set is planar-magnetically (orthogonally) driven and has a vertical sound-stage and smooth bass because of it.  On the other hand the AKGs have an aggressively wide soundstage without quite as deep lows but ridiculous transient response, as do the Grados.  Etc.  The JVCs are kind of a novelty and really only sound good on the most hardcore trap and friends, but sometimes I'm feeling it.

You really don't have to pay out the ass for audiophile headphones.  The gold standard is some Grado sr60i which are sub-$100 but undoubtedly a true "audiophile" pair, and you don't even have to give a shit about amps or DACs or anything.  And there's a lot of misrepresentation and stigma around the word, but really it's just about finding what sounds best to YOU since everyone has different amounts of hearing damage.  I don't talk about my hobby to most people because most of them just get a smug condescending expression and try to act frugally self-righteous about how they just use ifrogz from amazon and they sound way better than the best klipsch ever made which coincidentally sounded total shit.  I just say "Good for you" and move on because when I eventually DO reach someone and they are willing to give it a try they have consistently had no regrets so far.  It is worth enduring all the douchebaggery to see just one person get excited to tell me how much they like their new cans.  I'd like to be able to help people find headphones for cheap but cheap cans just aren't interesting.

tl;dr: Don't knock it till you've tried it.
I lucked out and get the best pair of IEMs in the MEE drop. They sound way better than the BrainWavz I got and even better than the nice Polk audio ones I got at an airport a year ago.
I tried a pair of thousand dollar Shure IEMs at the airport. Was impressed, but not thousand dollar impressed. They were maybe twice as good as my MEEs and 10% or so better than my AKG headphones, subjectively speaking. I also think there was a huge markup.
I'm just sitting here perfectly content with my $50 7.1 surround Razer Kraken Classics...
(11-25-2015, 05:05 PM)Surf314 Wrote: [ -> ]I tried a pair of thousand dollar Shure IEMs at the airport. Was impressed, but not thousand dollar impressed. They were maybe twice as good as my MEEs and 10% or so better than my AKG headphones, subjectively speaking. I also think there was a huge markup.

Were they by any chance these?
http://www.shure.com/americas/kse1500
(11-25-2015, 10:33 PM)StolenToast Wrote: [ -> ]
(11-25-2015, 05:05 PM)Surf314 Wrote: [ -> ]I tried a pair of thousand dollar Shure IEMs at the airport. Was impressed, but not thousand dollar impressed. They were maybe twice as good as my MEEs and 10% or so better than my AKG headphones, subjectively speaking. I also think there was a huge markup.

Were they by any chance these?
http://www.shure.com/americas/kse1500

No, it was some 4 driver earbuds.
(11-30-2015, 03:54 PM)Surf314 Wrote: [ -> ]
(11-25-2015, 10:33 PM)StolenToast Wrote: [ -> ]
(11-25-2015, 05:05 PM)Surf314 Wrote: [ -> ]I tried a pair of thousand dollar Shure IEMs at the airport. Was impressed, but not thousand dollar impressed. They were maybe twice as good as my MEEs and 10% or so better than my AKG headphones, subjectively speaking. I also think there was a huge markup.

Were they by any chance these?
http://www.shure.com/americas/kse1500

No, it was some 4 driver earbuds.

For IEMs it's best to go to an audiologist and get molds made for like $100 and then get them fitted with Westone drivers. Pricey but really good.
(12-01-2015, 12:03 AM)Mission Difficult Wrote: [ -> ]
(11-30-2015, 03:54 PM)Surf314 Wrote: [ -> ]
(11-25-2015, 10:33 PM)StolenToast Wrote: [ -> ]
(11-25-2015, 05:05 PM)Surf314 Wrote: [ -> ]I tried a pair of thousand dollar Shure IEMs at the airport. Was impressed, but not thousand dollar impressed. They were maybe twice as good as my MEEs and 10% or so better than my AKG headphones, subjectively speaking. I also think there was a huge markup.

Were they by any chance these?
http://www.shure.com/americas/kse1500

No, it was some 4 driver earbuds.

For IEMs it's best to go to an audiologist and get molds made for like $100 and then get them fitted with Westone drivers. Pricey but really good.
These are electrostatic noise-isolating IEMs that have a normal cable and look good, which is amazing.  And IEMs is a whole different world.

[Image: josh-green-4-1-copy.jpg]
Those are sexy. I love gears, and not because of steampunk but because clockwork is fucking genius and I can't believe the shit they figured out how to do before electronics made everything easier.
These will be arriving sometime next week


[Image: MD-9475_20151120171104_e7722094d1248da0....=761&dpr=1]
I COME BEARING A QUESTION.

A friend of mine is looking for a new pair of headphones. His requirements are <$250 price tag, open back, and a neutral sound. What headphones should he look at that fit those criteria?
(12-10-2015, 01:34 AM)Didzo Wrote: [ -> ]I COME BEARING A QUESTION.

A friend of mine is looking for a new pair of headphones. His requirements are <$250 price tag, open back, and a neutral sound. What headphones should he look at that fit those criteria?

 There are a few questions to ask first:

What kind of music do you listen to?
Do you have a headphone amp?

These will determine what brands are good.  If he listens to a lot of acoustic, rock or electronic then I would recommend trying to find the best price on a Grado sr325e he can find.  If he listens to any metal, especially gloomy dark metal then those won't work.

However, there is a LOOOOT to choose from in that price range as far as open-backs go, so the ideal thing to do is start a thread over at head-fi.  List all the requirements he may have, including price, tone, style (on-ear, over-ear), what he will be listening from and especially what kind of music he listens to.  There's probably a nice Sennheiser in that range.  Also browse through the previous requests if any look like they might be similar.
Also AKG K7xx, only problem is you have to wait for it on massdrop.
(12-10-2015, 09:18 PM)Surf314 Wrote: [ -> ]Also AKG K7xx, only problem is you have to wait for it on massdrop.

 I can second this, but you'll need an amp too, it's pretty quiet.
Pages: 1 2