Which headphones of Drop's currently available?
I have some rewards points to burn but there's no obviously good options on Drop right now for headphones Contenders Ultrasone - maybe? I don't own any Ultrasones, so curious. Looks like garbage travel headphone which could be useful also. Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro. - Maybe? I have the DT 880 Good price point, really uncomfortable headphones but could be interesting to try the upgraded version. E-MU - strong contender but $400 is a bad price point for what it is. Which of the above would you choose and why? Nothing else on Drop is relevant to my interests, because Already own 6xx 820 800 s Ether cx Garbage / Consumer grade Meze 99 - garbage bass canons, hard pass No gaming headphones obviously Sennheiser wireless - no to wireless/bluetooth Hifiman - I have 2 of drop hifimans and they make really bad cheap shit on Drop, hard pass on HE-R7DX Aeon - I own the closed, Drop refuses to address #padgate so no reason to buy open Beyerdynamic 177x - wireless, nope Too similar 8x / 560s...
Mar 28, 2024
My genuine suggestion to you is this: get off your urbanite xl "wireless" and find a pair of real audiophile headphones and then take your 100$ iems and put it in the trash like I did with my se215 long time ago. Lastly, take your phone, delete your spotify premium
I'm sorry, but if that is true, then being an "audiophile" is nothing more than being a part of an exclusive club of people who have more money than "the rest of us", and that somehow having that money makes you more cultured and discerning. Seriously, the HD 650s are amazing. The Noble 3 IEMs are probably a little bit more amazing, in my opinion, but that would depend on the type of music you like and how important soundstage is versus frequency response.
You're welcome to your opinion, but you are squarely in the minority when it comes to the HD 600/650. To everyone else: even if the HD 600/650 turns out not to be your cup of tea, you owe it to yourself to at least demo one in a store. They may not be able to compete with a $1200 set of cans, but they are definitely one of (if not THE) best pairs of headphones able to be found for under $1k.
The thing is, you aren't ever going to duplicate a live performance in ANY pair of head-/earphones. Each pair of headphones has its pros and cons depending on genre and what kind of sonic character the music has. I have overall really enjoyed my music a thousand times more since I got my HD-650s. Maybe if I had a $60k/yr or better job I could afford to dabble above them, and I'm sure I could find something that is better, but chasing "better" is something you aren't going to force on me, and the idea that you are wasting your time if you don't spend at least a grand on your headphones (and then spend, what, $2k?...$3k? on the source and another 5 grand on an amp and then $700 on cables...oh and then buy a power cord that is made of solid 10AWG silver...) then you aren't allowed to call yourself an audiophile. That is just arrogance.
I say that anyone who is in love with music and wants to find a way to bring the visceral experiance of a live performance to their home, no matter what their means, is an audiophile. I don't even think you have to own any equipment, yet... it is a state of mind, not a dollar amount. You can recommend the headphones and sources, amps and DACs that you enjoy, but I'm not going to have you tell me that I need to dump a pair of headphones that give me the feeling I get from my HD-650s just because there might be something better out there. One day I might be able to save up for one of those sets of cans, but right now I can get pretty damn close to the band on stage or a dance floor right up next to the DJ booth (or wait, maybe I'm not listening to the right music to qualify?).
I'm done with this conversation. Peace.
It seems like everyone uses foobar2000 for PC. What would you recommend for a Windows 10 machine? I've been here: https://www.highdeftapetransfers.com/ a lot to listen to samples, haha
I had a friend talking about a vpi avenger one time, I had no idea what she was talking about! Interesting, now that I have connected the dots. Why is vinyl so, um, how do I say, always for serious harmonic escapes? I was under the impression it was dead, like Nokia. I guess it never died or is coming back to life, like Nokia :1
Edited to add that I greatly prefer JRiver Media Center to Foobar. Took 20 years to find an audio program I liked more than Winamp (that didn't crash/lag while loading my library). IMO easier than Foobar to configure and more enjoyable base UI. It's not free but if you catch them during a development period they will slash the cost by 50% or more.
not all of us audiophiles are snobs. I think the snobby ones are people who would use ANYTHING as a platform of perceived superiority from which to be snobs, even if audio gear wasn't a "thing". It's just that audio gear is really easy to use for one-upmanship. Like the guy in the Jag who sneers at my Subaru. But my Subaru handles better in the snow......
I think it's like anything else. there will be snobs and elitists no matter where you go.
There will also always be newbies. I was a newbie once... somebody helped me, now I try to help other folks with it. I try to use my audiophile-ness to the advantage of other folks, maybe help save them spending piles of cash that they might not have, or need to spend, were somebody willing to help and share experiences. The snobs are the ones who forget that they were newbie once, just like everybody else.
I like that term "Enthusiast". As much as " 'phile". ....but I really think they mean the same thing. It's just what somebody does with it.
You can be as enthusiastic at the 15 dollar level as you can at the $2000. No set entry fee, after all.
p.s. if I am coming across as a snob in any way, I'm not really trying to be that, just so's ya know. ;)
p.p.s. GUTB IS A SNOB.