Recent comments in /f/headphones

5uperman8atman t1_je2ptdx wrote

Reply to I just had my first 'eargasm' in a very long time and it was while wearing...... Crushers? by mans_not_hot

The bass sound being boomy is not really the point of Crushers. It's the rumbling. It's a fun toy! Gun shots and explosions literally rattle your skull. So you want them to go boom! I got some for my son and I borrow them every now and then for games and movies. I still giggle! They actually do sound pretty decent too. He has the Evos. The mids and treble are actually pretty good. They are decent enough that I often wish I could turn the rumble off completely and just enjoy the music, but if you do you won't get any bass at all. So I don't really use them for music very often.

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Curious_Swordfish_36 t1_je2omnb wrote

Reply to comment by Sink_In_ in This was at the bin store the other day but it was a bit overpriced at $20 so I didn't buy it. by speenbean

I am sure I will get crap for having any opinion at all, considering that this is a meme and your question belongs in a serious thread, but yes, it is considered by some to be one of the best sounding headphones that they have ever heard, save for the Abyss Phi TC, which is arguably better. Lots of people diss this brand and the costs, and the cables and whatever they like to pontificate about, but I have owned both the Phi and the Diana and if you drive it with the right headphone amp (again, lots of extra money for this), you will touch your soul with how good it sounds. I would argue that those who hate this headphone have never heard it (very expensive and hard to audition), or have not used a high quality amp to drive it (it is notoriously hard to drive). There is tons of bad press on this headphone, mostly because of the cost, but I currently have 6xxs, with a fostex dac/amp, Focal Stellia with a custom Tube amp, Focal Utopia with the Focal Arche Dac/amp and the Abyss Phi with Formula XI audio amp (recommended to drive the Phi, but not the only one that will do it well) and a primaluna tube dac or a chord quest DAC. The Abyss look stupid and can be heavy on my head, but they are incredible and blow everything I have ever heard away. The bass is otherworldly…period. I have let about 50 people test all of these setups side by side using a Manley Skipjack (look it up) and not a single one has ever disagreed. In long, yes they are so much better you should never listen to them, because then you will always know what it is that you could be listening to. You are also correct, they are not 2x better. There is no scale for how much better they are. I don’t know how to quantify a comparison, as my life of listening is so much better having the Abyss in it. Now back to our regularly scheduled program…

Holy crap, 20 buck for those in a bin store is robbery! I would not pay that much unless they throw in a free puppy and 100 dollars in Canadian loonies.

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SpiritualFact5593 t1_je2mv9k wrote

Reply to What music service do you guys use? by dpalma9

I’ve tried Apple, tidal and Qobuz. I think Qobuz is the best bang for the buck. Offers tons of hi-res music for streaming. Even their cd quality music sounds amazing. Very large Catalog of music. The price is fair compared to tidals Mqa service and only a couple bucks more than Apple (btw just realized Apple was charging me 4$ more for subscribing through Apple Store at $17 where as from Qobuz website it’s only 13$.) And you can also purchase the hi res music from them. You can also purchase single tracks which I don’t believe other sites offer like hdtracks. And if you think you will be purchasing a lot of music they have a great Sublime plan for the year and you get even bigger discounts on purchased music that regular subscribers don’t get. I am a regular subscriber and I buy some music here n there from them.

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bbuky01 t1_je2lu0i wrote

Reply to What are some of your favorite reference tracks? by Key_Reflection2625

“In The Ghetto” Elvis Presley
“Pusherman” Curtis Mayfield.
“Bubbles” Yosi Horikawa.
“Aji” Steely Dan.
Plenty more but a few to add to the list. “Bubbles” is just fun a definite headphone test track.
Picked a pretty good pair to start your journey.

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GamePro201X t1_je2l71t wrote

Reply to What music service do you guys use? by dpalma9

I use Spotify currently. I cannot tell a difference between the “very high quality” audio setting and a service that offers lossless audio. However, some people swear by it. it can’t hurt for you to try a free trial or something and just cancel it if you end up not hearing that difference

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bbuky01 t1_je2k41o wrote

Reply to comment by givemeyournews in I never thought amps made much of a difference...until I got a Liquid Spark by givemeyournews

I agree with you the Spark does have a bit of warmth to it so might seem to bring out the bass a bit more maybe not for sure. I have a couple of other amps comparable in power and price ( JDS Labs Atom and Schiit Magni 3 ) and while I think they both sound pretty similar the Spark definitely sounds warmer. I’ve always liked the Spark as I was on the pre sale list for the original which was to be a portable amp .

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ultra_prescriptivist t1_je2i7kq wrote

Reply to What music service do you guys use? by dpalma9

I've done a lot of comparing different streaming platforms and I've come to the conclusion that none of them are enough to completely replace my local FLAC library.

A quick summary, from my personal experience:

Apple Music - good quality master recordings (for the most part), and affordable. Let down by the fact that Apple are Apple and purposefully make things difficult if you are not already inside their little walled garden.

Amazon - terrible apps and search functionality

Spotify - good cross platform support, great music discovery, but little attention given to master recording quality. Their new TikTok style UI has me worried, as well.

Tidal - MQA, overpriced for what it is

Deezer - basically Spotify but with less functionality and same lack of attention to master recording quality

Qobuz - Nice apps, good attention to master recording quality but terrible search functionality and music discovery

YouTube Music - huge library, nice clean apps, but music quality is a mixed bag

As far as sound quality goes, the differences between different services are often grossly exaggerated. Essentially, if they use the same master recordings, and they generally do, then they will all sound the same (all other things, like volume, being equal).

Ultimately, the fact that you don't have any control over what master recordings are being used (in some cases, only crappy, dynamically compressed remasters are available instead of the original CD) is a big problem for me, and the other is that you are basically just renting the music you listen to.

So for now I use Spotify for music discovery and mobile/social listening but still continue to buy and download local files through Qobuz and Bandcamp.

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GarlicBiscuits t1_je2gcct wrote

Reply to What are some of your favorite reference tracks? by Key_Reflection2625

Here's just a few that particularly stand out to me when comparing between pairs. None of it is mainstream, but it is a good peer into my music taste. ;)

  1. Busted Bayou from DKC Tropical Freeze: amazing song in its own right, but also great for testing out imaging, instrument separation, and soundstage with everything going on.
  2. Camellia's GHOST: the beginning part is perfect for testing out bass and treble in EDM. The former can be quite punchy and visceral on certain headphones and the latter somewhat brighter.
  3. Teminite and PsoGnar's Lion's Den: perfect for testing male vocals, which can sound especially full and detailed here. Another awesome choice for EDM, in this case dubstep.
  4. Mirror of the World: aka Baiken's theme from Guilty Gear Strive, the guitars here sound simply immaculate and heavy as hell on higher end gear.
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