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dalethorn

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Everything posted by dalethorn

  1. For sure. We had a permanently reserved parking space just for the pizza delivery guy.
  2. Yeah, portable rig, sit outside if you can. It's not easy to do for many apartment dwellers. I had kids for 2 years, and I don't remember anything from that time except watching TV and running to our favorite hamburger stand.
  3. I tried that with Bose headphones and they broke into 3 pieces. I guess Bose didn't build them to withstand bed use.
  4. The big bass headphones are usually a lot cheaper than 400 quid. Vmoda LP for example.
  5. There's so many headphones and not enough time...
  6. Re-listening to Southern Point, taking notes. My impressions, in no particular order: It starts off like Riders On The Storm. That's pretty cool. The vocal reminds me a lot of the vocal in some of the group 'America's recordings, i.e. Horse With No Name, Ventura Highway (there's no such thing as Ventura Highway actually). Everything these guys do works extremely well. The reason I think many headphones would turn this into a mess isn't because of complexity exactly - it's because a lot of the instrumentation is very subtle, kinda like Cat Stevens' Morning Has Broken, except Southern Point is much more subtle in many places and probably is a much better test for headphone quality in deciphering low level detail. The Cat Stevens is a good test for overall balance and tone quality, so I'd recommend using both, or something very similar to these. Like I said in the Grado 500 review, I like a lot of headphones - even love a few. If I had the Stax SR-009 I would probably put that on top of my list, if my list included headphones that chained me to a desk. Next up would be the Sennheiser 800 and Beyer DT-48. Like Tyll himself said (yes, he said this...), I think the Senn 800 is probably the best when it comes to objective standards, whether measured or just listened. But like Tyll, I don't spend much time listening to the Senn 800, and I will admit I don't know exactly why, although he may "know" why he doesn't. So I would give the edge to the DT-48, since I think it sounds more like the real thing on good recordings. Following these would be the Grado 500 - less neutral, more colorful or whatever, but a great musical experience listening. In fact I would put the Grado ahead of the Senn 800 as what I would reach for for playing music, again, don't know exactly why. Maybe it's the Kodak effect with the Senn 800 - so good, so vibrant, so ...... but not quite real.
  7. Heading out to play now, back in a while. If you can think of something specific with the Grizzly Bear I would like to listen for that. Generally speaking, instrument separation is better than anything I've ever used with the possible exception of the HD-800. My test of the mass brass attack in Jimmy Smith's Basin Street Blues really demonstrated that. The long-time contention over at the Big headphone site about getting more detail by boosting treble and other tricks - does not apply here. There are no tricks, just an amazingly clear reproduction.
  8. Grizzly Bear was one of the first tracks I tried, but I mostly stuck with the same songs as I reviewed for the Grado PS-500. The reason is, you can compare my comments for those songs in each review and note the differences. Not many clues there, but a few.... The review with photos will go to Headfonics probably tonight, until Marcus posts it. They're the only one that gets photos. I was concerned that the DT-48A might be a letdown, but not only is it not a disappointment, it has amazing musical quality. Of all the songs I tested, there was only one where the bass was noticeably lacking, and that was the Cat Stevens song. The bass there is subtle on the 800 and 940, so with just slightly less from already subtle, it's noticeable. So maybe my overall score for the DT-48A will be 9.5 out of 10. BTW, am I imagining this, or did my D*ick Hyman track name get censored? I entered it without the asterisk. BTW, the person I worked with at Beyerdynamic to get the plug attached - they have been notified of the review, so it will be interesting to see what the reaction is. When the Headfonics copy is up, I will make a formal posting to Beyerdynamic and see what they do with that.
  9. Listening to the Beyerdynamic DT-48A today, I was reminded of a loudspeaker review I read recently in Stereophile magazine. The review of the Audience 2+2 speaker contained these phrases: "They sounded fundamentally different from most speakers I've heard in my system, in a way that was, well, weird." "The conclusion I eventually reached was that the tension I felt with speakers other than the 2+2 arose from subtle distortions caused by the crossovers and dissimilar drivers." The DT-48A is the 'Audiometric' version of the DT-48 series, the other half of that series being the DT-48E which I reviewed previously. Based on having owned three DT-48's in the late 1970's and the two models of DT-48 sold today, the only differences are the cable configurations, the earpads, and the impedances. Using the same earpads and plugged into the same source, the DT-48E and DT-48A sound about the same, despite impedance differences. The DT-48A at 5 ohms impedance plugged into an iPod Touch sounds the same to me as the DT-48E at 25 ohms, and when each are connected to a desktop computer's soundcard or a decent headphone amp, the sound is more "airy" and feels more spacious, as though they opened up and became less congested (for lack of a better term). But regardless of which of these sources I use, the two headphones sound the same using the same source, even though the impedances are very different. There is nothing I've heard that sounds like a Beyerdynamic DT-48A, which is why I quoted those phrases from the Stereophile review in the first paragraph. The sound is clear, clean, and free of distortions and colorations across the spectrum, and the only complaints users are likely to have besides comfort issues are in the bass area, which is lower in volume than top-tier 'neutral' headphones like the Sennheiser HD-800, and even lower in volume than other popular headphones such as the Grado PS-500 or the various 'orthodynamic' planar-magnetic models. The DT-48A is sold with an unterminated (no stereo plug) straight cable in a 'Y' configuration, where the left and right channels of the cable split at chest level and go to each earcup directly. The DT-48E uses a single-sided coiled cable. If the DT-48A is intended to plug into common stereo systems and music players, the cable must have a stereo plug added by a competent technician. The DT-48A is sold with semi-stiff round rubber pads that sit on the ears, for audiometry use. In my experience, the DT-48A has essentially no bass with these pads, even if I press them into my ears with about ten pounds of force on each side. Fortunately I anticipated that and ordered the DT-48E oval earpads, which arrived the same day as the headphone. The round pads were easy to pull off and the oval pads a simple matter to put on. Although the DT-48A as I've configured it sounds superb, people who are used to most other headphones may not appreciate the clamping force of the DT-48A, which at best is something that takes getting used to. This is basically a 74 year old design, originating in 1937 and converting to stereo in the late 1950's. In spite of the age of the design, the appearance with the black and silver trim with red and blue earcups is simply beautiful, with a touch of Darth Vader thrown in. There is some controversy on the Internet concerning the original DT-48 design. I've seen quite a few comments that suggest audiometry, however, the DT-48 was designed for detailed monitoring of electronic signals and communications in 1937, a critical period leading up to World War II. My guess is that when the German technical people came over to the Allied side as the war was ending, they probably described the DT-48 as an 'audiometric' headphone to lessen the chance of having all of them seized. The actual audiometric application was a natural for the DT-48 though, since it was designed for maximum detail and wide frequency response, where resonances and other aberrations would hamper its ability to perform the critical monitoring it was designed for. I've described the DT-48A's bass response using the oval earpads, and my comments about the "clean, clear, distortion-free and coloration-free" sound are indicative of the ultra-smooth midrange that the DT-48 series are famous for. Describing the highs is more difficult, since my high frequency hearing is down about eight db at 17 khz and "flat" to only 10-11 khz. Still, the higher frequencies add only "air" to the sound, and the nuisance sounds such as strong sibilants occur mostly below 10 khz. The DT-48A's sibilants reproduction is approximately the same as the Sennheiser HD-800, but may sound worse in extreme cases since the DT-48A does not have angled drivers or very large earcups in which to soften those kinds of sounds. Some notes about other unusual aspects of the DT-48A: Although the current DT-48 series look more or less identical to the DT-48's produced since the 1970's, the current models have genuine high fidelity sound as I've described above whereas the 1970's models did not. Earlier this year (2011) I sent my personal DT-48E to Innerfidelity for measurement testing, and the results are published at that site. I noted in my review followups that my own tests had very different results, and other users have made similar observations. There apparently is something in the DT-48's 74 year old design that doesn't lend itself to the kind of machine testing specified by the test equipment design. Not to worry though, the DT-48A with oval earpads sounds as good as the best headphones well beyond its own price range from the upper bass on up, with the only caveat being the lower bass as described above. Bassheads need not apply. Now that I've covered the basics of the headphone, it's time to describe how the DT-48A sounds with a variety of music that's available on CD's or as high-quality downloads from Internet music stores. The following are a few examples from my collection: 10000 Maniacs - Peace Train (late 80's); pleasant sound, great details and good soundstage depth. Andrea True Connection - More More More (late 70's): Classic disco, very smooth. Bauhaus - Bela Lugosi's Dead (~1980): Strong midrange sound effects - this is a good worst-case test for resonant-type sounds in the most sensitive midrange area. Handled well by the DT-48A. Beatles - And I Love Her, Things We Said Today, I'll Be Back, I'll Follow The Sun (~1964, in stereo): Amazing sound quality and decent soundstage, with excellent voice and instrument detail. These four tracks are a perfect example of how good high fidelity recordings could be as far back as the 1960's. Beethoven Symphony 9, Solti/CSO (1972): Excellent overall sound and particularly striking how the DT-48A reproduces the triangles, bells and other background instruments that are often obscured with other headphones that have limited high frequency response. Bill Evans Trio - Nardis (early 60's): Fairly close-up recording, and despite soft highs, excellent instrumental detail, particularly the upright bass. Billy Eckstine - Imagination (date??): Sounds like a recent high-quality stereo recording. Excellent from top to bottom and a great vocal demo. Blood Sweat & Tears - And When I Die, God Bless The Child, Spinning Wheel (late 60's): Excellent sound quality, and fortunately (I think) given the strength of the brass instruments, the highs are slightly soft. Blues Project - Caress Me Baby (1966): Rarely mentioned, but one of the greatest white blues recordings ever. The loud piercing guitar sound at 0:41 into the track is a good test for distortion or other problems. Handled well here. Boz Scaggs - Lowdown (1976): Good sound quality - this is a great test for any nasality in the midrange. Handled well by the DT-48A. Buffalo Springfield - Kind Woman (~1968): A Richie Furay song entirely, rarely mentioned, but one of the best sounding rock ballads ever. This will sound good on most headphones, but it's a special treat with the DT-48A. Cat Stevens - Morning Has Broken (early 70's): A near-perfect test for overall sound - this track will separate the best sounding headphones from the lesser quality types. Nothing specific, except that almost any deviation from perfect reproduction will stand out with this track. Catherine Wheel - Black Metallic (~1991): Goth with industrial overtones - I like this since it's a great music composition and the sound effects are smoothly integrated into the mix. This may sound distorted or mushy with some headphones, but the DT-48A renders the deliberate instrumental distortions clearly. Cocteau Twins - Carolyn's Fingers (1988): Unusual ambient pop with excellent guitar details. Commodores - Night Shift (~1985): Good spacious sound with very detailed bass guitar lines. Cranes - Adoration (~1991): Excellent piano sound leading into a goth-flavored song with very unusual vocals. Creedence Clearwater Revival - The Midnight Special (1969??): Classic CCR featured in Twilight Zone, this track has great guitar sounds and a really good ambience despite a mediocre soundstage. Dave Brubeck Quartet - Take Five (1959): Paul Desmond piece - good test of saxophone sound and cymbals, less so the other instruments. Dead Can Dance - Ariadne (1993??): Atmospheric goth music - good ambience in spite of mediocre soundstage. Def Leppard - Bringin' On The Heartbreak (1981): MTV goth/pop/metal at its best - good ambience and high energy - the better headphones will separate the details and make for a good experience. Lesser quality and the details tend to mush together. Del Reeves - Girl On The Billboard (early-mid 70's): Classic truck-drivin' country tune with a Thelma & Louise theme, this song's overall recorded quality (almost typical of Nashville in the 70's) is a superb demo if you can get past the peculiar lyrics. d*ck Hyman - Dooji Wooji (1990??): Swing-era composition played with perfect technique by all band members, with excellent recorded sound. Frank Sinatra - Theme From New York, New York (1980): Ultimate Sinatra with big band production and well-balanced sound. J.S. Bach - E. Power Biggs Plays Bach in the Thomaskirche (~1970): Recorded on a tracker organ in East Germany, the tracks on this recording have the authentic baroque sound that Bach composed for, albeit the bellows are operated by motor today. The DT-48A plays the tones seamlessly through the upper limits of the organ, which are near the upper limits of hearing. Jamming With Edward - It Hurts Me Too (1969): Intended originally as a test to fill studio down time and set recording levels etc., this was released a few years later for hardcore Rolling Stones fans. Although not as good technically in every aspect as the Chess studio recordings of 1964, and in spite of the non-serious vocals by Mick Jagger, this rates very high on my list of white blues recordings, and sounds absolutely delicious with the DT-48A. Jim Ruiz Group - Katerine (1998?): Unusually spacious and ambient indie-pop recording with a samba flavor. Every pop song should sound this good, in my opinion. Jimmy Smith - Basin Street Blues (early 60's): This track has some loud crescendos of brass and other instruments that don't sound clean and musical on some headphones. The DT-48A provides excellent reproduction. Kim Carnes - Bette Davis Eyes (Acoustic version, 2006?): Stripped-down ("acoustic") version of the big hit - good voice and very good guitar sounds. Ladytron - Destroy Everything You Touch (~2009): Featured in The September Issue, this song has heavy overdub and will sound a bit muddy on some headphones. Merle Haggard - Okie From Muskogee (1969): Another good-quality country recording with almost-acoustic guitar accompaniment. Lovely guitar sounds. Milt Jackson/Wes Montgomery - Delilah (Take 3) (1962): The vibraphone is heavily dependent on harmonics to sound right, and the DT-48A plays it superbly. Nylons - The Lion Sleeps Tonight (A Capella version, 1980's): High-energy vocals sans instrumental accompaniment - an excellent test of vocal reproduction. Pink Floyd/Dark Side of the Moon - Speak To Me (1973): Deep bass impacts will be heard and felt here. Rolling Stones - Stray Cat Blues (1968): Dirty, gritty blues that very few white artists could match. On some headphones the vocals and guitar lack the edge and fall more-or-less flat. If you're a really good person, playing this song will probably make you feel nervous and uneasy. Tony Bennett - I Left My Heart In San Francisco (1962): Frank Sinatra's favorite singer. Highest recommendation. With some of the best headphones, the sibilants on this recording are very strong, but they're not too bad with the DT-48A.
  10. 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.
  11. 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.
  12. Dale Thorn (that's me) was banned from head-fi because I posted in the Sound Science section that double-blind tests are not necessarily valid, because of the subliminal "off-center" hearing effect. The term "off-center" is something I made up based on something we learned in the U.S. Army, i.e. "off-center" vision. That's a real science, not a theory BTW. It's well known that at night when there's no moon or artificial light source, you can still see faint outlines of things and movements, if you don't look directly at things and stare. You learn to look off-center. Hearing, hi-fi hearing works similarly. If you listen to specific sounds in a double-blind test, you will only be able to report what you hear consciously and directly. But when you're on your own and relaxed, and listening to music, you will often hear things that you hadn't noticed before, and when you try to compare those things with different gear, often times you won't be able to hear any differences. I think there are some people in the hi-fi business who have developed the ability to hear some of those things consciously that I hear only subliminally, or "off-center" so to speak, but how they develop that skill I don't know. So far it hasn't been important for me to try to get that ability. What I heard comparing the HD-800 and the SRH-940 wasn't intended to convince anyone to toss their HD-800's or sell them, since I didn't dump mine. I was just reporting the similarities. The major differences were noted right away, and other small differences were reported when people requested specific comparisons. But the bad guys saw an excuse to post a lot of animosity, so one of the ways they justified that was using the amped-vs-nonamped excuse.
  13. Here's the jerk's response to, er, 'badbob' who I don't know personally, but we share a common philosophy. I remember it clearly, and their main intent was to sell gear, particularly amplifiers. Maybe they don't get enough kickback from Sennheiser, so they push the other stuff more. This was not one of the big moderators either, just some irritant. BTW, trolling or attacking vinyl users is laughable. Still, they banned 'badbob' immediately. ----------------------------------------------- Alright 'badbob' who joined 10 days ago. Since you have failed to engage any one of my arguments in the last few pages, won't take the silliness to PM, have been trolling the thread all day and are now making random OT attacks about vinyl users. Reported.
  14. When we did this one at head-fi (and that one got me the second boot), the OP asked if he should just go ahead and buy the HD-800 and worry about the amp later. So I thought about that for, oh, about 1/30 second, and said "Yes" - if you have the money, get the HD-800 now if you have to play it off of a $5 PMP. You'll get an amp soon enough and you won't have to worry about your headphone for a long, long time. But the guys there, they had a toe-hold on something they could start a war with. And so it was "No" - don't get the HD-800, get something cheap and work your way up. Now one thing is true - you buy a Porsche, a Rolex, a Leica M-camera, you're looking at some maintenance time and dollars for those items, not so long after the sale. But with the Sennheiser HD-800, there's no maintenance. Buy once and you're done. So I figured my advice was reasonable. And what do I know anyway? I just buy the stuff and do the best I can with it. Am I supposed to believe everything the manufacturer says? Or what head-fi says (gasp)? No, some lessons you have to learn the hard way. But that OP guy, he might have a rich uncle who will buy him the Stax SR-009 when he gets tired of the HD-800. It could happen. Hasn't happened to me, though.
  15. The main thing is, if you have good neutral gear, there is a better chance of any song you have of sounding better with that gear than with gear that has major colorations. For instance, if most or all of your songs are one genre like Rock Steady, then your gear could sound good with that, if you find something that fits. But if you have many genres, then you would probably need multiple headphones and maybe amps, so you can match all of your music to the colorations of your gear. Or you could get hifi gear that adapts to most of your music and you don't have to switch gear or maintain multiples. I have several headphones, and try new ones sometimes, but not because I'm trying lofi stuff on purpose. I want to try different flavors, minor colorations OK, but I stay way away from the stuff that's not trying to have good sound. When I see something described as "fun" sound, that's usually a signal that the colorations are strong.
  16. Here's a good reference on sound that people like, or find that the sound is "fun". Google "Console stereo" - the big furniture stereos of the 1950's and 60's. These were designed to play the new stereo LP records, and they were designed to appeal to non-hifi purists, i.e. people like my parents and millions of others who wanted a "fun" sound, not a purist hifi sound. And these consoles were great fun, but they were blasted by the hifi press for what were obvious reasons then, but now, the animal flesh is creeping back, to use an expression from the classic movie Island of Lost Souls. And while you're at it, look up "semi-classical" music too - Mantovani and others - also designed with console stereos and LP (vinyl) records in mind. Much "fun" that music was, but ultimately left you with a hunger for the real thing.
  17. I have a real problem with "To each his own sound sig". Here are some issues: Where do I get "my" sound sig? Do I create it? (no). Do I buy tons of gear until I find something close? (no). Do I look for something neutral and uncolored that will play well with all of my music, some better than others maybe, but on average play better with most? (this seems like the most logical idea.) I want to spend my valuable time searching for better, less colored equipment that I can afford. Spending my time researching and testing more colored gear doesn't make sense, and in fact it aggravates me to no end. This is 2011, the 21st century. We should have this stuff figured out by now. I agree that nothing is perfect in the actual equipment, but there is something perfect here that's not always agreed on. That perfect thing is the perfect idea: To pick my sound based on the recordings, not the gear. Let the gear be neutral and play the recordings without adding unnecessary "equipment sound". That's what high fidelity means. If you don't want that, just say "I prefer low fidelity."
  18. The irony then is that the price is lower, so the purchase is easier. But the colorations make the evaluation more complex, so the purchase is more difficult.
  19. What I described above is synergy. But taste isn't a factor. What possible taste would you want in an amp except to cleanly and clearly amplify the sound? An amp is not a headphone - it should be a "straight wire with gain."
  20. You really need to try one or more, because the results will not be consistent. Most amps will make a slight improvement, some will make a big improvement, and some will not improve things at all. In the last case it's not because the amp isn't good, it's just that sometimes the electronics don't match up ideally, and you can't be sure from the specs. If you search a lot of forums for your particular headphones, you may get additional info. If you find an amp that improves things with your current headphone, it may not help much with a different headphone.
  21. Thank you Brian. The photos look so real I could almost reach out and touch them.
  22. Several people have asked that and the consensus seems to be no - there is no similarity (although no direct compare has been made). But some people do think it could be very similar in sound to the RS1. I wish I had access to those, and to the PS-1000, but that probably won't happen.
  23. I was having a conversation earlier today, not so much about which specific headphone is best, but which design approach is best, and which headphones are the ultimate realization of those designs. Mostly the conversation came down to which is best: The most accurate or the most musical. I will have to leave that to other people to explain, since I've heard some examples of both approaches, and I don't have a firm opinion myself.
  24. I play that stuff off the Vmoda channel app I got from the app store, using the Vmoda V80, which is absolutely perfect for that kind of music. But it's $200 - well worth saving for.
  25. Since the HE-90 isn't made anymore by Sennheiser, I suppose the Stax SR-009 can claim to be best. But if best means buying a 120-lb dual monoblock headphone amp, I'll pass on that.
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