[LAU] headphones

[Florin Andrei]

porl sheean wrote:
> i know that all of the headphones mentioned here are great quality
> etc, but which ones do you people think are the most accurate *flat*
> response? obviously not the grados, as they apparently exaggerate the
> top end a bit, but which ones are the closest to a perfect flat
> response? ie bass levels not boosted or attenuated, not exaggerated
> mids etc?

It took me a while to accept it, but there is no such thing. Have you 
seen the response graphs, even for those phones called "accurate"? 
Judged by the graph, they are a piece of crap. And who knows, maybe in 
50 years, somebody will make phones that are truly "flat" and we will 
all go "pffft, AKG K 1000, you miserable pile of junk."

Well, I won't. By then I'll be either near-deaf or totally dead.

Oh, and the flatness is not everything. I've seen very flat IC 
amplifiers that sounded harsh and metallic, and not so flat tube amps 
that sounded nice and organic. So that's just one parameter among many.

Anyway, the acoustic systems are light-years behind all the other links 
in the audio chain. You spend thousands of $$$ on Stax Omega or 
Sennheiser Orpheus and they are about as good as the amplifier my 
neighbor's kid cobbled up in the garage. Maybe worse, actually. If 
somebody's ears don't match what those phones do, they will not sound 
very good for that person. And that's all there is to it.

So, just try out a few things and see what works for you. There's a 
reason why some people end up owning 2 or 3 very different phones.

-- 
Florin Andrei

http://florin.myip.org/