It could be a headphone that every soul describes the same way and only to YOU sounds the polar opposite to where you wonder if you got bad ears, the golden headphone?
This question was inspired by a few different experiences that I have had. The most recent is that I’ve been listening to my elegias (with just some slight EQ) and they literally sound like my focal alpha 80 speakers so damn much that I wonder if I’ve gone crazy. The highs and high mids are still more energetic than the alphas and difference in bass rumble but everything else seems virtually identical where I think I’m just crazy.
Also the foam tips on the Tia trio. Mon and Veritas both like them so much, I wonder if my ears are broken or some mailman opened the package up and switched foam tips. Because to me they sound like utter TRASH. Makes them lose everything I like about the Tia trio and is frankly so bad I would rather any iem sub 200 at that point. With just the change in tips
I felt that way about the HiFiMan HE-4xx. They were so damn thin and lifeless. Occasionally there would be some detail that stood out but that was it. No low end, either. I really didn’t get how they became so widely praised.
i would say with the foam tips you might not be getting a real proper seal. i feel like most people are oversizing their tips and i dont even have that small of ears and i have only ever been able to get a really good seal on most iems with extra small tips. not small, extra small. and i could definitely see someone recommending a tip they love and having it not fit you quite right so that makes sense.
I was just listening to a pair today thinking about how thick and full they sounded on low end. LOL! This sound thing, I tell ya. For me it might be Monoprice M560, which weren’t lauded, but nobody seemed to have the problem of thinness that I have.
What it really makes me think when these isolated issues pop-up with specific gear that makes us crazy — how many of us have listened to MULTIPLE models, rather than basing our opinion on our one pair? I think that’s what I’m guilty of.
Sometimes its our ears/brains, sometimes its a troubled unit.
It’s technically possible but I doubt it tbh. I’ve used plenty of tips and foam tips too and getting a seal for me isn’t hard. I tend to find the right in between and these were not cutting it
I only have like 6 hours on arya, and its being run on a way worse chain (micro BL, so it has enough power at least), but imo, mests (both out of a honey H1 and my P6 Pro) just shit all over arya in basicaky every single way for me so far. I’m not understanding the hype so far other than the comfort (which is real nice tbf).
I talk to friends in some of the chats im in and they all say arya are better than mests at layering and stage placement, but injust flat out dont see it. Thinking maybe its a chain quality issue, but I honestly wouldn’t think the honey is that much better than micro BL SQ wise. Also, I can’t just test directly since the mests are way too loud on the micro BL at minimum volume
Mine is the kph30i. Everyone seems to think they are at least good, if not the bee’s knees, but I think they are just crap. Boomy bass with poor extension, muffled but still somehow sibilant highs, and the mids are just bleh. The really weird thing is I love the porta pros.
Mine will be a controversial one. I bought the Tin T2 after all the praises online. I thought they sound super bright to the point of sibilance and thin. I even tried to listen to the “right” kind of music on them but to me they were lifeless. I gave them to a friend.
it takes training to know what to listen for. When was the last time you spent a few hours listening to a Bouzouki? I would assume never, how the hell are you supposed to know what it sounds like? Hmmm, and then on top of that what is your own personal ability to recollect sound? I bet at best a few days, others can’t do minutes, let alone indefinitely or in long term bursts. Can you identify each keystroke of a piano and its timbre, are you familiar with all the ranges Vocals are capable of? When was the last time you compared 42hz to 50hz?
Yeah, I guarantee you and I hear some things differently and so do allot of others around us and MOST IMPORTANTLY we INTERPRET what we hear differently. We may both be in the same room listening to the same exact instruments but I bet money both of use describe what we hear differently. Unless we are both training our ears and have a clue… Try being an actual food taster or wine taster without training and see how well you do. Why would it be different for sound?
That’s my uneducated opinion. I can speak to professional wine and food tasting and assume audio needs training too just like both those sensory skill-sets.
My main one is the Fiio FH3, I just don’t find them very interesting at all, I’m someone who loves bass and wants it large quantities (like with my Lawton’s) but I just can’t get that much bass out of them unless listening to the exact right songs out of my library for them. Sure they are definitely better in technicalities than my other IEMs, but I honestly find my SSRs to be better, even if they definitely lack in the bass department (they make up for it in the highs IMO).
My other one is the Modhouse Argons. Sure they can sound good with really bassy stuff, and they are definitely super comfy. But when I waited 20 weeks for them (and as a result ended up with better headphones in the meantime) I just felt that they were alright for bassy stuff, and just downright boring for songs that didn’t take advantage of them like when I would listen to David Bowie on them, everything just went way too laid back and just sounded dull and lifeless.
I definitely understand the FH3 bass thing. I really enjoy that set, but the bass only really kicks in some specific songs. The FD5 has a lot more evenness to the bass, but it doesn’t kick quite as hard on the same songs (at least, not yet: my set is pretty new)
Right there with you, I dislike the KPH30i a lot but I very much like the Porta Pro.
Funny, I absolutely adore both of these and I listen to half my library on one and the other half on the other. The one I found to really not suit me is the Moondrop Starfield, because it doesn’t do anything great but seems like a half-assed compromise between the T2 and the FH3 to me.
Yes to that! When reviewers say that Bach played by the philarmonic was not “accurate”, I’m just wondering how they can say that for sure. Have they been to so many live orchestras that they know how it should sound?? Maybe I’m ignorant.
I think I am one of the guys when he hears a headphone in terms of sounds, I am one of those who is easily impressed, as long as I know that it really does cater to my preference of sounds and signatures. Also yeah I can be easily impressed, but I can also be easily disappointed when I will be hearing sounds that I feel that just sounds wrong and I would be contemplating to myself and say on why these headphones are being freaking made?
There were times when I don’t have access to these things, when I put earphones or headphones from well-known brands but cheap ass fuck? I consider them like mind-blowing, even they are not high-fidelity levels. But now, that I am able to get the great stuff for the same price today, it just makes me appreciate the old things that I had with the sounds that I was able to hear with all of the good songs that I just love listening.
We just overall love music and sometimes, that’s all that matters and we just let our thoughts fly without painstakingly knowing every minut detail and specifications of a headphone or IEM. That state, is we are in zen, like our souls resonating to it regardless of sounds sometimes.
Totally understand this! I had PortaPros and they were good… tonality wise, but otherwise the sound matched their price. And this was back when they were like half the price of now.
Koss is pretty much the king brand of audiophiles going, “I don’t have to spend $20,000 on headphones to hear sound? OMG, I could wipe my butt with these and buy ten more pairs for the price of my morning coffee.”
TBH, I love this effect of them. I listen to a wide variety of music, but mainly hip-hop and electronic music, and they shine with that. Deep bass when needed, but mid-bass is just as it should be IMO. Other songs, the bass just sneaks in every-so-often to be present.
and then on top of that what is your own personal ability to recollect sound? I bet at best a few days, others can’t do minutes, let alone indefinitely or in long term bursts. Can you identify each keystroke of a piano and its timbre, are you familiar with all the ranges Vocals are capable of? When was the last time you compared 42hz to 50hz?