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Post by ForRealTho on Feb 28, 2023 9:35:13 GMT -5
Been busy the last week. Like I posted before my Jabra 65s arrived DOA. I charged them all night then the next day at work. Made sure they were making good contact. The light on the case would turn on but the ear buds were dead. They charge via mini-USB anyway and are like what 5 years old at this point? I kinda regretted getting such an old product. Did the return to Amazon. I read another guide on cheap Bluetooth earbuds and saw this: www.amazon.com/dp/B09FTK5D4K?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_detailsEDIT: When I bought them they were on sale for like $55 I think Got them in and they charge USBC so yay for that lol. Super easy to setup and they fit really well and sound great, but they do not have ANC. If there is wind blowing you kinda have to adjust the volume around that just like wearing regular earbuds. One can argue if its wise/safe to use ANC around traffic to begin with. Either way those JBL Endurance Race earbuds sound great and I'm glad I picked them up. |
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Post by Cop on Feb 28, 2023 10:52:47 GMT -5
I recently bought the Sennheiser CX True Wireless Sport bluetooth earphones at basically half price because we were given an X-mas present at work through some sort of gift-service and I went for a €50 voucher for an online store that already had a sale going on those so I only paid €54 of my own money, which I figured was cheap enough to have a test run on these types of earphones.
I still prefer wired for most occasions but I can't deny there are perks to not being attached to a device on certain occasions...
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Post by ForRealTho on Feb 28, 2023 11:58:48 GMT -5
I still prefer wired for most occasions but I can't deny there are perks to not being attached to a device on certain occasions... For sure I have been going to the gym again first time since before COVID and my Galaxy Bud Pros are great not having wires around. There were times in the past where wires snagged on stuff at the gym and that could potentially be dangerous when you are handling large amounts of weight. Eventually the high end audiophile market will go bluetooth I think but right now the extreme high end is safely wired and will be till bluetooth is provably 100% transparent, like when you can pull up the waveform of a post-bluetooth transmission and its identical to the waveform in a FLAC file. |
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Post by ForRealTho on Mar 25, 2023 15:15:24 GMT -5
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Post by Coolverine on Mar 25, 2023 20:35:46 GMT -5
I looked it up and those are damn near $2000 normally. That's insane. |
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Post by ForRealTho on Mar 27, 2023 11:05:12 GMT -5
I looked it up and those are damn near $2000 normally. That's insane. There is another classic thread in the /r/headphones subreddit that thread I posted is referencing. A guy went to an estate sale and found these marked "headphones $20" he picked them up immediately.... www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-HD-800-Reference-Headphone/dp/B00PXLX2TC |
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Post by ForRealTho on Mar 28, 2023 10:20:03 GMT -5
So long story short. I sent in my LCD-2 to be repaired back in January. They took possession January 13th. They sent me a bill, I paid it within 5 minutes of getting it. Its going to be April 1st on Saturday. Still no sign of my LCD-2. I have heard every excuse in the world as to why. Someone said they might just send me a new pair. That was like what 3 weeks ago now?
Yesterday I found the CEOs email. Sent him my story. Within 15 minutes of sending that email a guy I had not talked too before emailed me and said he would look into it ASAP.
Got an automated message saying my bill from January is being refunded and I got a tracking code for my LCD-2 being shipped Overnight to me. I got them delivered to me at work today. Wearing them now. They look and sound great.
Emailing the CEO of a company = results. LOL.
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Post by ForRealTho on Mar 29, 2023 11:29:46 GMT -5
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Post by ForRealTho on Mar 30, 2023 9:14:07 GMT -5
I just checked my bank account balance on my phone like I do every single morning and saw my credit card was in the negative, I was like "dude wtf..." then I checked and my refund from Audeze finally hit my account. Not bad getting a $1,000 pair of headphones for free: www.audeze.com/products/lcd-2 |
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Post by ForRealTho on Mar 30, 2023 9:18:07 GMT -5
I looked it up and those are damn near $2000 normally. That's insane. People who have heard them consider them the best closed back headphones ever made. I've never heard them before. Supposedly you cannot even tell they are closed which is usually pretty obvious. |
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Post by ForRealTho on Apr 14, 2023 15:01:38 GMT -5
So this is neat. Electrostatic headphones have always been a niche thing. Stax is the big boy in the market and a good Stax setup can set you back $5,000+. It is a completely different technology then "normal" headphones using very high voltages, if you open up an electrostatic amp while its on and fuck with it, can kill you. The best way to get a feel for electrostats is the Massdrop/Koss 95X, that gets you the headphones and amp on sale for $350. They sound great but the sound is very light and most people find the bass lacking with modern music. I own a pair and have never got Stax. Since only this small company in Japan Stax dominates the market it is ripe for disruption, Stax has a reputation of terrible service. Like 3 years ago I emailed a place that said they serviced Stax in my state and asked the cost if I needed repairs on one.............they never emailed me back. Topping is a Chinese company that came out of nowhere right before the pandemic and has been selling very popular products, they are coming out with an amp to power Stax headphones: apos.audio/products/topping-eha5-electrostatic-amplifierGreat move there is a lot of money to be made in that space, I am shocked and American company hasn't moved in there besides Koss. Topping is making ridiculously amounts of money you would think they would hire someone to write copy who understands English lol:  |
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Post by ForRealTho on Apr 25, 2023 9:59:42 GMT -5
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Post by ForRealTho on Apr 27, 2023 9:55:31 GMT -5
My Sennheiser HD580s are long since discontinued, everything is hand replaceable tho. The grilles are the same chunky plastic style they were in 1993 when they were originally released. Some people love them, most people think they are ugly. I am ambivalent. I decided to buy some 3D printed replacements just for fun. They got in yesterday:  I snapped a quick pick I left for work hence the terrible lighting. This is what the originals look like:  |
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Post by ForRealTho on Apr 27, 2023 9:58:41 GMT -5
Audiophiles or "audiophools" make a lot of claims. One of those claims is that the grilles on the Sennheiser 580/600/650/6XX make this huge difference in how they sound. I've listened with the grille's completely removed, I've listened with grilles swapped around.
I've listened with the left side has no grille, the other side has a grille............I couldn't really hear any difference. Its mostly about fun and cosmetics.
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Post by ForRealTho on May 1, 2023 11:35:23 GMT -5
Busy weekend. So the one thing I have never done in this hobby is go for a "balanced" setup, I have always only used single ended gear. When I got into headphones back in 2003, only the crazy high end people used balanced gear. I would say 95% of people in the hobby were on single ended gear, if you used balanced anything you were seen as extreme and balanced gear cost $3,000+, totally out of the price range of the majority of people. I never had any intention of "going balanced". Balanced dacs/amps double the the circuit and usually use the bulky XLR connectors. There is nothing inherently "better" about balanced connections, though unscrupulous companies will lie and tell you balanced gear is better: addictedtoaudio.com.au/blogs/how-things-work/balanced-headphones-what-they-are-and-should-you-want-them Some high end companies such as Benchmark are honest that balanced gear isn't some kind of magic thing that makes gear sound better: benchmarkmedia.com/blogs/application_notes/audio-myth-balanced-headphone-outputs-are-betterLast December to reward myself for getting my new job I got the RME ADI-2 which is a fully balanced all in one DAC/AMP combo. Its very end game. Everything I have sounds great. The RME ADI-2 is a fully balanced DAC with XLR outs, my SMSL SP200 has XLR inputs, so I connected them. The SMSL SP200 also has an XLR output for convenience. So then if I just bought some cables I could "go balanced". I said fuck it and bought the cables last week. A downside of balanced gear is you need to buy new cables for everything and that sucks. Anyway last week I said fuck it and decided to finally go balanced just for fun. I'm aware it doesn't sound any better I just through it would be fun to do. I picked up this cheap little balanced headphone amp. Its basically a "dual mono" design, two single ended amps stuck together: www.amazon.com/MT-604-Balanced-Pre-amp-Output-Amplifier/dp/B094MXKHDBOnly cost $169, a far cry from 2003 when I got into the hobby and a balanced tube amp could easily cost $4,000 or some nonsense. It does not have a common volume control either side only controls the left or right, so I set it to 65% power and I use my RME ADI-2 to control the volume. So yeah it took me 20 years to go balanced. Good times. |
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Post by ForRealTho on May 1, 2023 11:39:01 GMT -5
The 604 looks pretty good in the dark......lol
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Post by ForRealTho on May 8, 2023 9:53:51 GMT -5
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Post by ForRealTho on May 9, 2023 9:33:57 GMT -5
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Post by ForRealTho on Jun 11, 2023 13:20:59 GMT -5
Busy weekend. About to run out the door for a group ride. Been in the headphone hobby since 2003, yesterday I went to my first headphone meetup ever. I brought my main setup. I brought so much gear that hypothetically I could have 4 people listening at once to my setup....only got up to 3 lol. I didn't think anyone would care about my gear since my most expensive headphone was $1,500. Lots of people wanted to listen to my setup or bring a different headphone to my setup to listen. A couple people spent 30+ minutes listening to my gear. My Koss/Massdrop electrostat 95X were very popular. A few people had never listened to electrostats so got to for the first time on my gear. Someone brought a modded Stax amp + the $4,000 Hifiman Shangri-La Jr., plus their Stax headphones. They sounded good I liked the Shangri-La but the Stax sounded better to me. Stax has cornered the market on electrostats for decades its ready for disruption. I got to listen out of a $20,000 DAC/amp + the $4,000 Focal Utopia. I put on a song I have heard 1,000 times, right away I knew something was off. I asked if they had some kind of 3d processing on, sure enough they did. Turned it off and it sounded great. The Utopia was nice, it didn't grab my attention tho. The Focal Clear MG did. When I found out they were $1,500 I was shocked. The Focal Clear MG sounds way more expensive then $1,500. Also got to hear the $3,000 Focal Stellia closed back, they didn't sound nearly as good as the Clear MG. Got to hear the HEDD phone One headphone. Was a ridiculous monstrosity it is. It looks so ridiculous on your head: www.amazon.com/HEDD-Hedd-phone-One-Headphone/dp/B087JW2QSKI was kinda let down, it didn't do anything bad but nothing amazing either. Tried a lot more gear but on my way out the door. |
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Post by Emig5m on Jul 3, 2023 22:50:27 GMT -5
Once you get a good set of headphones like me, you only need one set lol.
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Post by ForRealTho on Jul 5, 2023 13:45:02 GMT -5
Once you get a good set of headphones like me, you only need one set lol. There is no fun in that  |
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Post by Emig5m on Jul 7, 2023 20:21:25 GMT -5
Once you get a good set of headphones like me, you only need one set lol. There is no fun in that That only applies to call girls....ask me how I know...  |
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Post by ForRealTho on Aug 28, 2023 7:58:45 GMT -5
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Post by ForRealTho on Dec 13, 2023 11:39:10 GMT -5
I've been on the fence buying Stax headphones for 20 years. I actually thought about buying a pair as a graduation present to myself for graduating college back in the day.
Finally picked up a pair. The one thing people complain about is bass, if you do a mod that uses sealant and lets no air escape it greatly increases the bass, I have a pre-modded pair coming in the mail from a very reputable member of the community in Iceland.
Stax headphones require a special amp since they are electrostatic. I got to hear a $7,000 one at a meetup. I am not comfortable spending that kind of money. I have any entry level one coming that has a good reputation. If I don't like it I will just upgrade and sell it.
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Post by ForRealTho on Dec 27, 2023 14:14:37 GMT -5
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Post by Coolverine on Dec 27, 2023 16:49:47 GMT -5
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Post by sj on Dec 27, 2023 18:59:28 GMT -5
Is the human hearing range & sensitivity good enough to tell the difference between $200 headphones and $16,000+ headphones?
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Post by ForRealTho on Dec 27, 2023 21:03:36 GMT -5
Is the human hearing range & sensitivity good enough to tell the difference between $200 headphones and $16,000+ headphones? Yes, the law of diminishing returns kicks in hard tho. Once you are in the $1,000 - $2,000 range you have pretty much heard most of what headphones are capable of. I've heard more expensive stuff but its like spending thousands of dollars for a 20% improvement. A guy on a forum I read bought an $18,000 pair of Shangri-La Sr, once of the mythical crazy end game headphones and they sounded great but he felt guilty spending that much so he sold them for a $4,000 pair and a bunch of $$$. |
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Post by sj on Dec 27, 2023 22:32:51 GMT -5
Is the human hearing range & sensitivity good enough to tell the difference between $200 headphones and $16,000+ headphones? Yes, the law of diminishing returns kicks in hard tho. Once you are in the $1,000 - $2,000 range you have pretty much heard most of what headphones are capable of. I've heard more expensive stuff but its like spending thousands of dollars for a 20% improvement. A guy on a forum I read bought an $18,000 pair of Shangri-La Sr, once of the mythical crazy end game headphones and they sounded great but he felt guilty spending that much so he sold them for a $4,000 pair and a bunch of $$$. Big luxury purchases are almost always subjective and depend on the individual. Maybe there's a real difference for some ppl and not for others. If you've got money to burn and you think it's worth it (whether the difference is real or percieved), then maybe go for it. Some young people with the right genes for excellent hearing could probably notice the difference. As we age, especially if we're exposed high decibels repeatedly over many years, our hearing sensitivity fades. I wonder if anybody does hearing tests for audiophiles to help them determine how much to spend on audio equipment. lol |
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Post by Coolverine on Dec 28, 2023 6:17:03 GMT -5
I think I've spent well over $10,000 on biking over the years.
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