headphones
"Arny Krueger" wrote in message
...
"William Sommerwerck" wrote in
message
"ChrisCoaster" wrote in message
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I just want the set that f$%ks with the sound the very
least.
Which sound? The sound that comes up the cable or the sound in the room
you're in? If you are recording while sitting in the same room as the
music
is playing, both are very important. Read Scott's recent post -- the sound
of headphones has a lot to do with the actual details of the construction
of
the listener's ears. Even if the brain weren't part of the equation, no
two
people hear headphones or earphones the same.
This is certainly common sense, because most headphones don't interact
strongly with the pinnae, and therefore the pinnae's "coloration" would be
reduced or removed. But this doesn't seem to be true in practice. If you ask
listeners which headphones they consider the most-accurate, there is a broad
consensus. (For example, you and I would agree that the 580 is a relatively
neutral reproducer.) In other words, most listeners "hear" headphones much
as they hear sounds in the space surrounding them. *
In reviewing headphones, I discovered there are more-significant effects
from other sources. Try putting on any pair of un-driven headphones and
listening to your speakers. You'll discover that the colorations you hear
strongly correlate with the colorations heard when playing music through the
headphones. The reason for this should be obvious.
* This is not exactly true, but that has no direct bearing on this
discussion.
That means either electrostatics, or pricey dynamics. I
doubt such phones will reveal want you want or need to
know about your recordings.
The type of drivers has almost nothing to do with it.
You're arguing against well-understood laws of physics. And anyhow, that
wasn't my point.
By most informed accounts, Sennheiser and others do about as well
with a very old basic technology: dynamics, as others do with exotics.
I haven't auditioned dynamics better than the 580s, but I assume they've
improved. However, I've yet to hear a dynamic match an electrostatic.
As for "exoticism"... electrostatic speakers predate the Rice-Kellogg
dynamic speaker by more than 20 years. Full-range electrostatic speakers
have been around for 55 years. When you can buy electrostatic speakers at
Fry's, they can hardly be considered "exotic". Your use of "exotic" is a
conscious and uncalled-for slap at people you consider "audiophools".
At the high end, price seems to be set by how gutsy the marketing
department
is. Look at the migration of the top end of Sennheiser's line. AFAIK the
difference between 650s and the old, dropped-from-the line 580s is not
that
much. My suspicion is that the 580s sounded way to good for their price
point. Some $#!! stole mine, and I still haven't been able to pony up
that
sort of money for that sort of thing. Then Sennheiser moved the goal
posts.
I'd gladly sell you mine, but the headband is broken and I haven't fixed it.
It's hard to find adhesives that reliably bond polypropylene.
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