RE: another pair of headphones to consider

[john riehl]

I need another pair of headphones like a hole in the head!

-Original Message-
From: Pc-audio [mailto:pc-audio-boun...@pc-audio.org] On Behalf Of Mary
Otten
Sent: Monday, February 15, 2016 6:10 PM
To: PC Audio Discussion List
Subject: another pair of headphones to consider

Has anybody tried the AKG k712? They apparently came out around the
same time as the B P7. I only ran across them today on the amazon.com
site. Apparently, they are not unlike the q701, in that they are open
back. So you won't make friends if listening in a public place.
Comparison between these and the 701 was generally favorable, with
people prefering the k712 headband and material the ear cups are padded
with. There is a substancial price difference, $350 versus $179 if
memory serves. That's on the U.S. Amazon site. I'd love to try these,
since I have and really like the Q701 already. One commenter said he
thought the q701 sound stage was exagerated. I didsgree, but beauty is
in the ear of the beholder.

Mary

another pair of headphones to consider

[Mary Otten]

Has anybody tried the AKG k712? They apparently came out around the
same time as the B P7. I only ran across them today on the amazon.com
site. Apparently, they are not unlike the q701, in that they are open
back. So you won't make friends if listening in a public place.
Comparison between these and the 701 was generally favorable, with
people prefering the k712 headband and material the ear cups are padded
with. There is a substancial price difference, $350 versus $179 if
memory serves. That's on the U.S. Amazon site. I'd love to try these,
since I have and really like the Q701 already. One commenter said he
thought the q701 sound stage was exagerated. I didsgree, but beauty is
in the ear of the beholder.

Mary

RE: Oppo HA--2 just arrived...

[Hamit Campos]

AV forum did such a test, I forget the result though.

Re: Oppo HA--2 just arrived...

[Anders Holmberg]

Hi!
Yes thanks much for that one.
Thats what i mostly do to but ofcourse i do like good sounding devices too.
/A
> On 15 Feb 2016, at 07:45, André van Deventer  
> wrote:
> 
> One thing I have been wondering about.
> 
> If a group of audiofiles are put in a room and not told what they are 
> listening to, will they really be able to hear the difference between 
> different formats of audio reproduction.
> 
> I always use the analogy of wine tasting.  If you are not told beforehand 
> what you are drinking, will you really be able to taste the difference 
> between what would be considered a good drinking wine at a reasonable price 
> and  a so-called superior one with also a higher price tag?  I believe I once 
> read about a group of wine tasters who were given different wines to taste  
> without them knowing what they were tasting.  And it turned out that in some 
> cases  they actually enjoyed the cheaper wines more!
> 
> I like my red and dry white wine but I am in no way a expert.  I just like a 
> good drinking wine that I can enjoy with good friends.
> 
> I knew a man once who spent thousands of dollars on the best audio equipment 
> he could find at that time.  He could talk to you about the qualities of each 
> of these superb systems.  But the interesting thing is that he had a very 
> small record collection and had little knowledge of the music he listened to. 
>  So he was listening more to the audio quality than the to the music itself.
> 
> I suspect that most individuals are like me and my wine drinking habits - you 
> just need to enjoy what you are having.  In the end they want a decent 
> sounding system with a lot of music to simply enjoy.  You don't want to 
> listen to every finest nuance but want a decent sounding system for a decent  
> price.  After all, many of us listen to our favourite music when doing 
> something around the house very often.  I believe in the end the enjoyment 
> should be in the music with decent sound and not necessarily all kinds of 
> fine points.  It is often happened to me that I was looking for a specific 
> song or album and that I could only get it at a lower bitrate say 192 kbps.  
> I would then gladly take it while looking for it in another higher bitrate.  
> But in the meantime I will just enjoy  the music and be glad that I have it!
> 
> Please don't misunderstand me - I also like good sound out of my system - 
> that is why I am getting the B mm-1 desktop speakers, but my main aim in 
> listening to music is to enjoy the music!
> 
> So I lift my glaas of nice ordinary red wine  to all lovers of good music for 
> the sake of music!
> 
> Andre
> 
> 
> 
> -Original Message-
> From: Pc-audio [mailto:pc-audio-boun...@pc-audio.org] On Behalf Of John Gurd
> Sent: 14 February 2016 07:59 PM
> To: 'PC Audio Discussion List'
> Subject: RE: Oppo HA--2 just arrived...
> 
> I don't think it's the case anymore that vinyl sounds better than digital 
> music or even CD although I can remember a time when it did. I used to have a 
> fairly large LP collection in the eighties and I was so disappointed when I 
> bought my first CDs because they were so flat and lifeless with noticeably 
> less detail. Since the turn of the century digital recording and production 
> techniques have improved to the point that digital can capture the richness 
> and detail of a performance.
> 
> Usually there's one serious and unnecessary exemption. Most digital 
> recordings compress the relative loudness of instruments and vocals into one 
> narrow band so that much of the dynamics of the music are lost. This 
> technique isn't inherent to digital but is a production standard to make 
> music easier to hear at any volume; it's more convenient for radio 
> broadcasting and for compressing down into lossy formats. The exception is 
> usually in the classical or jazz genres. Vinyl tends to escape this level of 
> over production.
> 
> Having said that, digital HD recordings are some of the best recordings I've 
> ever heard. This despite the fact I know I personally don't hear higher 
> frequencies the way I used to when I was younger due to the natural roll-off 
> as you get older. By the way, before anyone gets too smug, this process 
> starts in your early twenties. Check out the Mosquito Anti-Loitering device 
> for a device that works on the principle of an annoying sound that only 
> teenagers can hear but the rest of us can't.
> 
> Just to go back to Dane's query about how to describe a high quality DAC, or 
> any Hi Fidelity audio for that matter, I think it is about presence. The more 
> an artist or piece of music sounds real, like you could almost reach out and 
> touch it, like it's a performance and not just a recording, then the closer 
> you are to pure audio quality. Sadly, at least for the wallet, this also 
> depends on the other equipment you're using but the starting point has to be 
> the source signal. There's no question 

RE: Oppo HA--2 just arrived...

[John Gurd]

Yes, they'll hear a difference... And spend the whole time arguing about what 
it is! (smiles)

John


-Original Message-
From: Pc-audio [mailto:pc-audio-boun...@pc-audio.org] On Behalf Of André van 
Deventer
Sent: 15 February 2016 06:45
To: 'PC Audio Discussion List'
Subject: RE: Oppo HA--2 just arrived...

One thing I have been wondering about.

If a group of audiofiles are put in a room and not told what they are listening 
to, will they really be able to hear the difference between different formats 
of audio reproduction.

I always use the analogy of wine tasting.  If you are not told beforehand what 
you are drinking, will you really be able to taste the difference between what 
would be considered a good drinking wine at a reasonable price and  a so-called 
superior one with also a higher price tag?  I believe I once read about a group 
of wine tasters who were given different wines to taste  without them knowing 
what they were tasting.  And it turned out that in some cases  they actually 
enjoyed the cheaper wines more!

I like my red and dry white wine but I am in no way a expert.  I just like a 
good drinking wine that I can enjoy with good friends.

I knew a man once who spent thousands of dollars on the best audio equipment he 
could find at that time.  He could talk to you about the qualities of each of 
these superb systems.  But the interesting thing is that he had a very small 
record collection and had little knowledge of the music he listened to.  So he 
was listening more to the audio quality than the to the music itself.

I suspect that most individuals are like me and my wine drinking habits - you 
just need to enjoy what you are having.  In the end they want a decent sounding 
system with a lot of music to simply enjoy.  You don't want to listen to every 
finest nuance but want a decent sounding system for a decent  price.  After 
all, many of us listen to our favourite music when doing something around the 
house very often.  I believe in the end the enjoyment should be in the music 
with decent sound and not necessarily all kinds of fine points.  It is often 
happened to me that I was looking for a specific song or album and that I could 
only get it at a lower bitrate say 192 kbps.  I would then gladly take it while 
looking for it in another higher bitrate.  But in the meantime I will just 
enjoy  the music and be glad that I have it!

Please don't misunderstand me - I also like good sound out of my system - that 
is why I am getting the B mm-1 desktop speakers, but my main aim in listening 
to music is to enjoy the music!

So I lift my glaas of nice ordinary red wine  to all lovers of good music for 
the sake of music!

Andre



-Original Message-
From: Pc-audio [mailto:pc-audio-boun...@pc-audio.org] On Behalf Of John Gurd
Sent: 14 February 2016 07:59 PM
To: 'PC Audio Discussion List'
Subject: RE: Oppo HA--2 just arrived...

I don't think it's the case anymore that vinyl sounds better than digital music 
or even CD although I can remember a time when it did. I used to have a fairly 
large LP collection in the eighties and I was so disappointed when I bought my 
first CDs because they were so flat and lifeless with noticeably less detail. 
Since the turn of the century digital recording and production techniques have 
improved to the point that digital can capture the richness and detail of a 
performance. 

Usually there's one serious and unnecessary exemption. Most digital recordings 
compress the relative loudness of instruments and vocals into one narrow band 
so that much of the dynamics of the music are lost. This technique isn't 
inherent to digital but is a production standard to make music easier to hear 
at any volume; it's more convenient for radio broadcasting and for compressing 
down into lossy formats. The exception is usually in the classical or jazz 
genres. Vinyl tends to escape this level of over production. 

Having said that, digital HD recordings are some of the best recordings I've 
ever heard. This despite the fact I know I personally don't hear higher 
frequencies the way I used to when I was younger due to the natural roll-off as 
you get older. By the way, before anyone gets too smug, this process starts in 
your early twenties. Check out the Mosquito Anti-Loitering device for a device 
that works on the principle of an annoying sound that only teenagers can hear 
but the rest of us can't. 

Just to go back to Dane's query about how to describe a high quality DAC, or 
any Hi Fidelity audio for that matter, I think it is about presence. The more 
an artist or piece of music sounds real, like you could almost reach out and 
touch it, like it's a performance and not just a recording, then the closer you 
are to pure audio quality. Sadly, at least for the wallet, this also depends on 
the other equipment you're using but the starting point has to be the source 
signal. There's no question the simplest and cheapest way to achieve this