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Neutral Full Range Headphones - Suggestions please

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So it''s been said that any audio tests have been far from successful, being that all were either guessing the difference and luckily got it right or truly could hear and differentiate them.

A forum is supposed to be open to ideas and not a win lose situation, it's suppose to share experiences and knowledge, of course the reader should not believe everything written to be the end all.

Tests should be made with your personal music source, a piece that you know inside out, being able to use that to judge for yourself what differences there are and come to a conclusion, but in the real world situation, blind tests etc, you can't do that and to make note while you go along is difficult.

Testing is the trick, eh? Next time I write anything maybe I should say "I listened to xyz", not "I tested xyz". But euphemisms aside, I think listening really is the only thing. You might get one impression today, and a different impression next week. I hate to admit it, but I've gone back and read some of what I wrote, and said to myself "Self, you shoulda said that differently." So maybe the ultimate trick is just try things once, then again later, and again later than that. But it's hard to do if something is on loan, or you're listening at the store.

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blind test is too difficult, how can us normal human memorize the harmonic tones in a period of time?

 

in digital realm thats an awful lot of data in hi-res

 

is not like comparing LCD tvs, we can pause a scene on both LCD to compare. or place side by side for motion comparing, we could compare at the same time...

 

sadly we cant play the same music at the same time with 2 pair of headphones/speakers

 

usually I just ABAB 30 second track, well enough

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blind test is too difficult, how can us normal human memorize the harmonic tones in a period of time?

 

in digital realm thats an awful lot of data in hi-res

 

is not like comparing LCD tvs, we can pause a scene on both LCD to compare. or place side by side for motion comparing, we could compare at the same time...

 

sadly we cant play the same music at the same time with 2 pair of headphones/speakers

 

usually I just ABAB 30 second track, well enough

Well at least we try to do the AB, and 30 secs? I find a part of the song (highlights maybe 10 secs) and play it over and over again, yeah look like a nut changing headphones in continuously quick successions, lol. I have certain test tracks for each frequency or where I found that some headphones can't particularly do well at, like example bass response if they have textured tones.

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Well at least we try to do the AB, and 30 secs? I find a part of the song (highlights maybe 10 secs) and play it over and over again, yeah look like a nut changing headphones in continuously quick successions, lol. I have certain test tracks for each frequency or where I found that some headphones can't particularly do well at, like example bass response if they have textured tones.

 

actually signatures like warm and bright, bass, treble, still are able to identify

 

is the micro details that are extremely hard to identify, especially for hi-end models the performance exponential curve is too close...

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actually signatures like warm and bright, bass, treble, still are able to identify

is the micro details that are extremely hard to identify, especially for hi-end models the performance exponential curve is too close...

Maybe not. There was extreme meanness and hostility at headfi over the 940 to HD800 comparison, and while the senior members contributed nothing except hostility and anger, two junior members made actual suggestions with actual songs to compare, and the results of those comparisons showed a difference that anyone could identify. It's those really esoteric differences, like the differences in two class A power amps, costing 50,000 USD for one and 75,000 USD for the other, that expert reviewers at Stereophile and TAS can hear, that I am doubtful of. Maybe there is a SQ difference, but how significant that is besides changing some cables maybe, is still not clear.

 

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Testing is the trick, eh? Next time I write anything maybe I should say "I listened to xyz", not "I tested xyz". But euphemisms aside, I think listening really is the only thing. You might get one impression today, and a different impression next week. I hate to admit it, but I've gone back and read some of what I wrote, and said to myself "Self, you shoulda said that differently." So maybe the ultimate trick is just try things once, then again later, and again later than that. But it's hard to do if something is on loan, or you're listening at the store.

This is very correct with really good equipment and even with equipment that does not quite approach high end. I think the human is the biggest variable.....it is with me depending on how I feel I hear things differently at times and it makes it hard to know whether one is better than another. Bottom line find something you enjoy and live with it...until you find something else later that you enjoy better while it may not be better you may have changed over a period of time to enjoy something else. New is not always better but the newness may present itself as better after living with one type of sound for a while.

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This is very correct with really good equipment and even with equipment that does not quite approach high end. I think the human is the biggest variable.....it is with me depending on how I feel I hear things differently at times and it makes it hard to know whether one is better than another. Bottom line find something you enjoy and live with it...until you find something else later that you enjoy better while it may not be better you may have changed over a period of time to enjoy something else. New is not always better but the newness may present itself as better after living with one type of sound for a while.

Very true, this. I'd like to add one tip, something I kind of discovered just recently. If you're able to listen really late at night, like 2 or 3 in the morning, sometimes that can be the quietest time of the 24-hour day, and also might be when you are most relaxed and able to tune in on detail in the music. And I'm finding I really enjoy that time a lot, when I can do it (work does not usually permit).

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