The Headphone Debate: What "Good Sound" Really Mean?
Wednesday, May 9, 2012 at 9:02AM
Headphones are like toothbrushes: they're a very personal thing. As someone who has used headphones for work and for play daily for decades, I've come to know what I like and what I don't. In case you're wondering, the cans I use in my home studio are Sony MDR-7506s. For on-air work, my favourites have been Sony MDRV-500s. You probably disagree--which proves my point.
But ask yourself this: why do you like a certain brand/model of headphones? What is it about the sound that you find pleasing?
My answer is "They sound natural and neutral, something I believe to be important." To me, purity is everything.
But given the rise of Beats by Dr. Dre and other bass-boosting models, some of we purists are wondering if the era of the neutral-sounding headphone is over. Check out this comment from Audiophile Review:
After listening to the most popular headphones on the planet, which have enough extra bass response to turn any frequency below 200 Hz into a sonic sledgehammer, I can't help but wonder whether transducers with a neutral harmonic frequency presentation are a thing of the past.
Voicing, or varying from trying to achieve ruler-flat frequency response, has been around for many years, but only lately have earphones become so obviously and intentionally skewed. It's as if the folks in control have decided that just as there's no such thing as too loud, there's no such thing as too much bass.
Again, I get it. Some people want lots of bass. My fear is that the marketplace for bass-heavy 'phones will become so huge that purists will be largely left out of the game. More worrisome is the fact that people will never get a chance to hear the music as it was intended. Thoughts?
Reader Comments (8)
The more worrisome thing is that the popularity of these headphones will cause engineers to start to mix for them. Like the loudness/compression mess we see today, if the source material gets ruined, no amount of audiophile equipment will bring the music back.
Remember when equalizers were used to compensate for room acoustics, speakers, etc. to get a flat response? I know I'm sounding like an old fart, but where has the quest for good sound gone? When I was 16, I could quote off the top of my head the Total Harmonic Distortion specs of the most popular receivers. Now my 16 year old listens to music using the speakers built into his iPhone.
I also walked to school 5 miles uphill through the snow. Get off my lawn!
The Linx Audio Able Planet headphones my wife picked up from Costco for about $70 sound terrible. Seriously bad. The bass overwhelms everything else. It sounds like I'm listening to music underwater. I didn't realize this reflects a larger trend in consumer audio. Any suggestions where I can find clean, balanced sound reproduction for under $150?
Stephen, if leakage is not a concern, try the Grado SR80i's. They sound wonderful for $100 on Amazon.
Or Samson SR850's for under $100.00...
Except for the coiled cable I otherwise love my Sennheiser HD380's. A solid choice for noisy areas,and an iPod can drive them, otherwise I enjoy listening to my Grado SR80i's.
Most headphones for portable devices sound like crap, including some I've tried from Sennheiser. Let your ears decide.
I'll second the recommendation for grado's given that their driven by the source.... like the echo digital audio Indigo.
I'm a fan of Grado as well. A very smooth sound and no distortion when the volume is cranked.
Hopefully engineers won't mix to accommodate the new style of headphones like mentioned above...
I love my AKG 701s. I run them in balanced drive from a Headroom balanced amp. Amazing. Highly recommended.