2. headphones
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So how much do you think the placebo effect impacts our listening preferences?

My hypothesis is that for ~%97 of us, the more a headphone costs the more we will enjoy the headphone.

My secondary hypothesis is that the more I told consumers a headset cost, the more they would enjoy the phones. i.e. a $30 headphone < $300 headphone < $3,000 headphones <<< $30,000 headphones.

I’m willing to bet that if I put the kph 30i drivers in the focal utopia’s chassis and told participants in this fake study that the phones cost $4k.... Everyone except for the 3%ers would never guess something was up. The remaining 97% would have no clue and report that it was the best set they ever heard.

Then if I gave them the kph30i and explained it was $30. 97% of people would crap on them after hearing the same driver in a different chassis.

My ultimate hypothesis is that build quality and price are the two most important factors in determining if people will enjoy a set of headphones. This how I rationalize the HD8XX getting crap on when only 3 people have heard it and publicly provided their opinion lol. "It’s a cheaper 800s, of course it’s going to sound worse!"

mikedangelo
mahgister's avatar
mahgister
12,889 posts
 
Headphones = less headache. I understand that you can doctor and Taylor the sound to your liking when you deal with a loudspeaker system with room acoustics and speaker placement and swapping cables, etc.
However, the money required to get it right is vastly greater than the money spent on a good headphone system.
You are wrong...

Acoustic is a science   and it is not NECESSARY to buy costly acoustical product AT ALL....My own acoustical treatment and devices for acoustical controls cost me long time experiments but no money...

You are right about one thing it is simpler to use headphone than upgrading toward costly gear each year hoping to replace acoustical control, mechanical control and electrical noise floor control with new gear and always ending inevitably in  frustration because we dont know that no system can be good in a bad room in an uncontrolled vibrating location and in a noisy electrical grid...


But if you had read me my 500 bucks audio system beat my 7 various headphones... the reason is embeddings controls of my system at NO COST....

Then if people chase their tail it is because most people are conditioned by the marketing ploy to upgrade and not informed on acoustic nor on simple science...


 I apologize if my post seems rude...

My best to you....


jjss49's avatar
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jjss49
6,612 posts
 
true story:

when i got my new-to-me well tempered labs turntable a few years ago, i pinged mike pranka at toffco (wtl usa importer) to send me a fresh platter mat as the old one got damping fluid spilt on it during shipment

mike said yes, he found one in his possession -- i then said, cool mike, so how much should i pay you

being the total prince he is, he said, nah, this is an extra i have here, you got it man, no charge, gimme your address again

i said, hey mike you are great, but you gotta let me pay you a couple hundred for it, cuz it’ll sound alot better to me when i use it!!!

he says, well, hell if we are going down that road, send me a grand!!! 😂😂😂😂😂
devilboy
1,172 posts
 
@mahgister loudspeaker systems give a different presentation than headphone systems. I don’t believe that one, regardless of equipment used or set up, is it necessarily better or worse than the other. Like I said, they are different presentations altogether.
It all depends what you’re into.
There are people who simply don’t enjoy listening to loudspeaker systems because their headphones give them more of a certain experience they’re looking for, and vice versa.

In the end, it’s horses for courses, so to speak.
My opinions on headphones were precisely that, my opinions. Your opinion may vary.
devilboy
1,172 posts
 
@mahgister  also, when you say your $500 system beat your 7 headphones, please tell me in terms of what? Are you saying a $500 complete system beat all of your headphones systems? If so,  in what capacity? How exactly?
I think you're trying to compare apples and oranges.

mastering92
870 posts
 
Headphones and speakers are just different. In terms of raw performance (value for the money) headphones are going to outclass speakers. Building an accurate headphone is easier for a manufacturer to get right - Since headphones have miniature driver units. On the same token, many unique materials can be used in headphone driver units and this will influence how they sound.

Some really good headphones
- Sony M1ST
- Focal Utopia
- Focal Clear Professional MG
- STAX 009/009S
- Sennheiser HD800S (and closed iteration)

With these headphones or comparable flagships, it is possible to reach incredible heights in terms of accuracy. However, the 6db rule applies whereby headphones cannot perfectly recreate bass frequencies due to the limited size and mass of their respective transducers. However, textural resolve, attack, decay, and the overall styling of the bass is far more important (and they can do each of these things well). Where speakers win is with visceral bass that we can feel within a room.

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