when you’re using headphones that don’t sound like them…let alone the possibility of being less capable than the headphones being tested?
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is it about the psychological aspects of the hobby where we long to hear / enjoy something that we drink derply from the cup of placebo to make ourselves imagine how good / bad they sound when afterwards we still haven’t a damn clue?
maybe we should start having discussions of listening to a certain headphone while using different headphones to demo them? ROTFLMAO!
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I needed this quote in my life. I am fond of “Drink deeply from the cup of life”, but this is the perfect companion.
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it was a typo I spotted but decided to leave because how perfect it was for the subject matter. 
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The only sound demos I trust worth even a damn are Oluv’s since he places recording microphone earbuds into his ears and then places the headphones over them, carefully trying to get similar fit and seal on all.
Even those demos aren’t perfect, but they’re a f*ckton better than Z’s, which are about as useless as a condom in a pin factory.
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His actual best demos are when he just turns on a speaker while using the go pro during a review lol, and yeah the headphone ones are particularly useless without comparisons in the same video…
yeh…it leaves you with an inaccurate and faulty ‘idea’ is about how it sounds…nothing easily verifiable with numbers and science.
Well,
I never thought much of it.
The best thing I find is how Goldensound does it.
I don’t know how, but it sounds right.
The closest I found to Zeo’s video was the Lcd 2C and some Hifiman headphones from a He 6 series as a limited edition.
I don’t remember which one,he unfortunately deleted the videos.
In the end, it just gives me a rough idea of what it sounds like.
It’s different when you buy them and listen to them at home.
The best example was the Hifiman He4xx, which sounded great in Zeo’s video, but when I got them home they were a waste.
In the end it’s up to you to listen and judge for yourself.
If I buy something, it has to sound at least extremely good on the TV.
I don’t know why, but with headphones it will probably be able to reproduce it better than on a TV speaker without any dac or other technical aids.
If you have headphones that are above what is presented, it is likely that you will make a bad purchase.
But this thesis is only very far-fetched of me. I could also be wrong.
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it is impossible to come away with anything accurate about how they sound because you were using entirely different headphones and sound chain. you do come away with something that’s tangibly intangible though…which is frustrating because it’s nothing but a false truth.
Some people say that sound demos are only worth to compare different devices.
If you use the 6xx to listen a sound demo, everything will pass the 6xx filter in terms of tonality, timber, sound characters. I don’t think that anyone expects to perceive how really the Utopia sound if they are using the 6xx. It will sound like a 6xx playing a recording of a Utopia…
It will be like watching, on my Led TV, a recording of a 35mm film to try to prove that real film is better than digital projector… I still will be watching it with a Led TV, so, no I couldn’t see how a 35mm projector shows the film… But, maybe if you put one good recording of the 35mm and one good recording of the digital reproduction, I can see the difference, even on my Led TV. I mean, maybe I could pick some motion difference, contrast, and so on, but I cannot see how a real 35mm experience is in real life.
Dan’s Audio review channel on YouTube is doing reviews based on sound demos. One of his videos he compares different 600 series Sennheiser. You can see the tonality differences between them. I don’t think that you can detect detail retrieval, speed, slam, sound stage or imaging on sound demos.
I always thought that the Z Reviews sound demos were mostly valued by people because of the music selection, and to discover new music. I don’t think that anyone could really have a real grasp of how anything sound with them.
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Ignoring YouTube doing compression and “optimization” on the audio, Useless at best.
It is neither the same song every time, nor the same setup and the setup is also not given in the description (or video). The lack of a reference in the video kills it completely.
The way DankPod does it make it at least useful as a “how different is it from?” Example
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Yes, the equipment is also an issue.
I would have to have a reference dac and amp if I were really comparing headphones, and theoretically I would have to have a reference headphone at home to tell the difference.
The question is then again where is the bar?
Harman curve yes no maybe…
YouTube agrees, they are known for not having good sound output.
The other thing is again some do the work and cut out the passages and compare them in an A/B comparison, others don’t because it’s too much work or they don’t have the experience.
In the end it’s the same even if I buy headphone X as well as the others. everyone has a different dac amplifier, conectivity philosophy.
Others use Roon Audirvana and co, others only the streaming provider app etc. so many factors to be able to say yes fits no does not fit.
I don’t know, but roughly speaking, everyone should have some kind of reference package that includes a dac, amplifier and headphones.
But there too the question is where to start?
@Baku_Baku nice comparison with the TV is in principle nothing else.
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Sound demos on YouTube are basically useless to me. The only way to really evaluate a headphone is to put it on and try it yourself. Getting input from a reviewer whose word you think you can trust is always welcome, but for me, I gotta hear it for myself.
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on there own, they are at best , meaningless.
However, if you listen to several demos back to back, they can give relative differences as the replay kit he uses is the same in all cases.
So whilst they wont give any idea as to ultimate SQ of the individual HP, they can give some guidance as to relative SQ between models.
Same goes for all sound tests not just Z’s
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The demos are about entertainment. His reviews are about entertainment - PT Barnum style. He is the master of the ring - the consummate salesman - who has done very well for himself with this formula whilst laughing all the way to the bank. Bravo, I say.
I actually enjoy his reviews and look forward to them despite this [or maybe because of] now that I think of it. He is a kick in the pants and I like the fact that there is no pretense. I find myself counting how many times he says, “f**k”. Gotta admire the “finger” in the face of consequence in being oneself. Takes guts (or something similar)…
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z, and most everyone else, sound demo’s have their use. even on a shitty pair of headphones or speakers, i can still tell the difference between a and b whatever. know your equipment. then you know their equipment. is it perfect? of course not. but you can still easily tell if its bright for instance. or has to much bass. or is muffled. now, soundstage value is kinda moot. but the rest you can get a grasp of.
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how could you tell it’s bright, if you’re using very dark headphones to listen to said demo? or perhaps use a pair that are peaky in and of themselves?
I double down on tangibly intangible.
This is why headphone bars need to exist. Honestly I’d rather manufacturers spent money promoting their gear at music stores rather than Youtubers, but I guess those days are done.
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even on dark headphones, bright headphones will make your dark headphones sound brighter. its frequency responses. if a headphone has +6db or more at 8k for instance, your going to hear that. even on shitty headphones.
are sound demos the end all be at all? no, not at all. but you can gain some information from them.