Why headphones are not going to save Hi-Fi

[blessingx]

Fun, short read- http://parttimeaudiophile.com/2013/12/29/head-fi-versus-hi-fi-beats-by-dre-and-the-future-of-the-high-end/ "Beats – by itself – is outselling the entire hi-fi industry combined, by a factor of two."

[DefQon]

I really get frustrated when reviewers state the latest headphone as the greatest because it's the most expensive.

Can JPS just fuck off now? Kay.

Edited December 29, 2013 by DefQon

[HiWire]

You know what they say about suckers – there's a new one born every minute.

[tin ear]

i mentioned to a co-worker recently that i had to replace my faithful old CD player to which she replied "do they still make those?"

[dhp]

I disagree with the idea that hi-fi and personal audio are two distinct realms.  The overlap is reflective of the fact that it's a continuum of taste and sensibilities.  The real issue is which demographics those manufacturers cater to.  Beats by Dr. Dre almost by definition caters to the rap/hip-hop market that dominates popular music culture today.  If Hi-Fi manufacturers could market around those tastes, I think things could be a lot different.

[complin]

Not in Europe it doesn't!!

 

caters to the rap/hip-hop market that dominates popular music culture today.

[Claritas]

If Hi-Fi manufacturers could market around those tastes, I think things could be a lot different.

High fidelity rap / hip hop? Maybe the less it sounds like the original, the better?

[guzziguy]

I think that Headphones will replace speaker-based Hi-Fi, not save it.  I recently received a copy of Audio Advisor.  The cover and first 14 pages are dedicated to headphones and headphone products.   Not very long ago, the only mention of headphones in AA was a couple of Grados and Sennheisers for sale.

[GrindingThud]

Indeed that makes me sad (and feel old). I commented on a co-workers really cool ZZ Top earrings and got "who's that" as a response....

i mentioned to a co-worker recently that i had to replace my faithful old CD player to which she replied "do they still make those?"

[edstrelow]

Compared to what was available back 30-40 years ago,  most portable phones, buds and the like are of quite high quality.   I still remember hearing my first Sony Walkman cassette.  I was travelling across the Pacific in 1980 and heard these in a duty-free store in Tahiti. The little open-air design was quite good.  It still took about another 1-2 years before they were sold in the US however.   They came out and the rest is history.  Sure there is better stuff out there but your average personal music user still has better phones than their parents did.  Now if they would only get rid of mp3's.

[grawk]

Almost exactly a year later

[wink]

Deja Nu

[tracystrauss]

A friend of mine has the Beats and while they just may sound pretty good with hip hop or rap, I find any other genre of music to sound a bit whacky. Im still a fan of my M50x's =)

[randerson3024]

Jesus Christ, what a bunch of shit. Music is what you make of it. I have been poor and heard music through shit components, and I have had money and had less enjoyment at times, whether it be spending too much or trying to keep up with trendy technology. Nor do I need to be driven to one format  because of my surroundings. All you need is a pair of ears and open mind. Losing high end will not come from the advent of certain products, but it just may happen if people buy into shitty  articles like that.

Edited July 27, 2015 by randerson3024

[labrat]

Compared to what was available back 30-40 years ago,  most portable phones, buds and the like are of quite high quality.   I still remember hearing my first Sony Walkman cassette.  I was travelling across the Pacific in 1980 and heard these in a duty-free store in Tahiti. The little open-air design was quite good.  It still took about another 1-2 years before they were sold in the US however.   They came out and the rest is history.  Sure there is better stuff out there but your average personal music user still has better phones than their parents did.  Now if they would only get rid of mp3's.

I remember my first headphone, a Lenco, brought over from the US, around 1970.

It was white plastic, hard pleather cushions ("skai" was the term here of the plasticky leather replacement material), quite a "high end" headphone I think at the time.

Cushions were the size of Beyerdynamic DT880/990 cushions.

I do remember the sound was "so so".

Comfort was not there at all!

Also had the Sony Walkman and the small foam over the ear headphones 10 years later.

None of these were comparable to a cheap Koss of today!

[wink]

This could be the game-changer...

 

http://www.connectedhome.com.au/audio-pixels-looks-to-reinvent-audio/

[Sherwood]

I'm doing away with pre-recorded music entirely.  Just sheet music for me, and I'll read it in bed.

Edited October 29, 2015 by Sherwood

[Kerry]

I was just listening to someone play an acoustic guitar on a subway platform in New York.

Sound production was spot on and beautiful. I just need to get more of my favorite artists down here.

[wink]

I'm doing away with pre-recorded music entirely.  Just sheet music for me, and I'll read it in bed.

Do you read it to the tune of a metronome...?

I was just listening to someone play an acoustic guitar on a subway platform in New York.

Sound production was spot on and beautiful. I just need to get more of my favorite artists down here.

I get mine to play in a park where the echoing is far less obtrusive and the "air" is cleaner.....  

[Dusty Chalk]

Do you read it to the tune of a metronome...?

Once you get good enough, you don't need a metronome.

[Sherwood]

Yeah!  Tempo marks are just, like, your opinion, man.  I know my largo.

[Kerry]

I spent ten years learning the drums. The first eight were about precision the next two were about forgetting about being precise. My last teacher used the word cats in every sentence and always wore dark glasses.

kind of like math when they teach you numbers don't exist. It's the next level and so much better.

[Craig Sawyers]

On 2/11/2015 at 10:10 PM, edstrelow said:

Compared to what was available back 30-40 years ago,  most portable phones, buds and the like are of quite high quality.   I still remember hearing my first Sony Walkman cassette.  I was travelling across the Pacific in 1980 and heard these in a duty-free store in Tahiti. The little open-air design was quite good.  It still took about another 1-2 years before they were sold in the US however.   They came out and the rest is history.  Sure there is better stuff out there but your average personal music user still has better phones than their parents did.  Now if they would only get rid of mp3's.

Weirdly late to this thread.  I just put together a retro system - simply because I had the stuff kicking around collecting dust for an eternity since I am incapable of throwing stuff out or selling it, and I wanted to remind myself of what this kind of gear actually sounded like.

Thorens TD150/M75ED with original signal cable, Quad 33, Quad 405 into Koss ESP-9.  I even had to fix the 33 (one channel dead; edge connector) and 405 (power transistors blown on one channel and terminally noisy 071 op amp on the other) before I could listen!

It is frankly amazing how far we have come in music reproduction - that set up sounded at best a resounding "OK-ish".  Fatigue set in within one disc.

But it left me reaching for my primary headphone systems (T2 clone/Stax, or Dyna-something and selection of dynamics) or main loudspeaker system (Transporter streamer, Tortuga LDR passive, and Linkwitz LX521) with massive relief.

[wink]

On 30/10/2015 at 10:23 AM, Kerry said:

I(Snip)

kind of like math when they teach you numbers don't exist. It's the next level and so much better.

WOT, there's an infinite number of 'em.

Cardinals, ordinals, transfinite, etc, etc,  Infinitudes to the power of infinity, and more. Infinity factorial, even doesn't start to cover it.

Georg Cantor says so...... 

[Craig Sawyers]

1 hour ago, wink said:

WOT, there's an infinite number of 'em.

Cardinals, ordinals, transfinite, etc, etc,  Infinitudes to the power of infinity, and more. Infinity factorial, even doesn't start to cover it.

Georg Cantor says so...... 

And Cantor spent years in a sanitorium, such were the rigors of contemplating infinities.