Not in pursuit of exaggerated Punch

[Ducatista47]

From a thread on another forum here, by jpw. http://www.audioheritage.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?30209-Tempted-to-go-back-from-JBL-L300-to-La-Scala-what-you-think&p=303434&viewfull=1#post303434


You may be confusing frequency response peaks with "better dynamics". I've EQ'd many systems flat, where upon hearing the result, people used to 10db peaks somewhere wondered "what had happened to all of the punch"!This is so common among younger, less experienced listeners. It is beginning to bug the hell out of me over at Head-Fi, the ginormous mostly headphone site. Wave after wave of dynamic headphone fans disparage the super accurate Stax flagship over this very issue. They say electrostatics stink because punch, esp bass slam, is lacking in stats but easy to get in dynamics. And easier yet to achieve with speakers. Ignorant again I say, as most of them have never heard big JBLs.

I have heard the headphones they like and they are anything but even in frequency band delivery. They also cant hold a candle to good stat headphones in detail, separation of instruments, etc., and they admit that, but these guys don't care as long as it gives them "punch."

What is obviously going on is a strong like of bad frequency response if it gives the beloved "bass slam." :mad: How in the world can multitasking impatient listeners ever discover the joys of decent, realistic frequency response?

I have given up and have moved over to a much smaller headphone site where the best people from Head-Fi post reasoned, knowledgeable discourse. LH is for the most part such a reasonable place. While its small footprint seems a disadvantage, I think it at least helps avoid what ruins most audio websites. Go LH!

Clark

[Titanium Dome]

This is so common among younger, less experienced listeners. It is beginning to bug the hell out of me

...these guys don't care as long as it gives them "punch."

What is obviously going on is a strong like of bad frequency response if it gives the beloved "bass slam." :mad: How in the world can multitasking impatient listeners ever discover the joys of decent, realistic frequency response?

LH is for the most part such a reasonable place. While its small footprint seems a disadvantage, I think it at least helps avoid what ruins most audio websites. Go LH!

Clark

You mean like this guy?

http://www.audioheritage.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?24033-New-K2-S9900&p=303428&viewfull=1#post303428

Sorry, couldn't help it. :)

I've got three sets of headphones, not counting all the earbuds and cheapies that came with Walkmen, portable CD players, iPods, etc

The three 'phones are used sparingly inasmuch as I have hearing loss in my right ear due to childhood mischief by my brother and his idiot friend. The imaging is awkward and always seems pulled hard to the left. I constantly feel like I'm unbalanced and about to fall over.

While I experience this same thing to a lesser degree in regular loudspeaker listening, I don't get the vertigo effect.

Shifting the balance or turning up just the right channel gain on headphones doesn't help much, but it does fatigue my right ear quickly, and I'm in constant dread of further hearing loss, so 'phones for the most part are out for balanced listening.

Oddly, I can push earbuds into my ears and walk around with my iPod/iPhone/iPad with no problems, but if I sit down and/or close my eyes, then the vertigo sneaks back in. In the same way, I have a pair of JBL ROXY headphones that I bought specifically for exercising on treadmills and ellipticals, and daily use is fine, plus I don't care if I get them all sweaty.

Headphone use was a daily escape for me as an adolescent, and it brought a feeling of seclusion and peace. The ability to sit or lie down, relax, close my eyes, and move into the music was an important, daily ritual. That is until the cherry bomb incident took that away from me. I still have my old Koss 727B cans--the best I could afford in the late 60s and some pricey Sennheisers that I picked up many, many years later hoping to get back into 'phones. Didn't happen.

Funny, I know exactly where the Koss 'phones are, but can't say for sure about the Senns except they're around here somewhere. :dont-know:

[Ducatista47]

Dome, you are not that guy! You don't think great speakers and headphones stink because they don't sound like one of your favorite toys. The guys I am talking about would think Everest IIs suck because they don't have the same bass as their Cerwin-Vega sub one note wonders.

Under the right circumstances I could be a bass whore...part time! RE: phones, a friend of mine knows and loves the good stuff, but enjoys his Grados. Inaccurate but a very fun sound to listen to. Think L100s.

And here I thought Cherry Bomb was an old John Mellencamp tune.

Clark