The reality in my view is that it is highly likely that no one is a hard objectivist and makes their decisions solely on measurements.
- Firstly many decisions require speculation as the measurements aren't available.
- When it comes to sound quality you can't really even be truly objectivist about that unless you're an ideological fanatic. Your ear drums may not perform as the theoretical norm. You may never actually place the headphones on your head in the way the test dictated. Your head and ear canals may not be shaped in the standard way. Are you really going to stick with a headphone you don't like the sound of and can't actually eq to the sound you like because the measurements say it has the least deviation from the target curve? if you do then all kudos to you for being that disciplined. For me this is a hobby and I need to enjoy the music.
- Are you really going to stick with a headphone you loathe the look and feel of and find too heavy, plasticky, too hot, plain uncomfortable with or without glasses because the measurements have the least deviation from the target curve?
- Are you really going to buy a headphone amp, which apparently sits at the top of the SINAD curve and which has lowest measured distortion, but has a record for lousy reliability and trashing headphones and speakers?
I base my shortlisting of products on a range of criteria
- The measurements come first and foremost. I agree with the basic philosophy that the principle use case of an item should command the focus of engineering excellence. Now I'm beginning to get what good sound engineering for music production is supposed to be I am not going to buy a tube amp (though they do look very very lovely) or a badly engineered DAC.
- I narrow down the list on budget
- I do a lot of research (where possible) on things such as reliability and I read a lot of objectivist and subjectivist reviews. Subjectivist reviews may be gammon but where enough people are praising a product, there may (there may not) be something in it. Often I find that the subjectivist reviews do tend t coincide with the objectivist ones in terms of products picked (though apparently not with Focal which surprises me. I heard the Elegia in richer sounds and was quite impressed - it was £499. I also heard the Sundaras at the same time and was just as impressed - it wasn't a proper audition just a five minute listen in a noisy shop). The sound signature out of the box uneq'd was very different and the Elegias had more life to them to me)
- I try to audition the items wherever possible
- Where I have easy access to returns (not always easy even with over ear headphones here in the UK) in try them out.
- If I don't like the user experience I return them.
I bought an SMSL M500 Mk1 DAC 2 years ago nearly sight unseen and it has been fantastic based on Amirs measurements.
I am using (don't laugh) a set of Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro 32 ohm headphones which I had bought long before finding Audio science review) eq'd to the Harman curve which sound very nice. I'd very much like to improve on them if possible.
I have a set of Sennheiser HD800 headphone (which I've hardly used) some years ago. Shortly after they were purchased I got a terrible ear infection in both ears (it took nearly 6 months to put it right and to this day my ears aren't what they were, though online frequency tests say I can still hear up to 16700hz (I'm 54 so I was quite surprised). I think it changed my hearing. I loved the HD800's when I first got them. I recently got them out of storage and plugged them in to the SMSL DAC, I have tried them with both eq and no eq and they just seem flat and lifeless to me (I'm gutted - they were expensive and I was expecting to enjoy them as I did before). I can hear more detail in the music and the soundstage is much bigger when compared with the Bayers but there's nothing there that gets my feet tapping. I did give them about 15 hours of listening just to make sure I hadn't just gotten so used to the Beyers than anything else would sound less than good. Also given the audition of the Elegias and the Sundaras in Richer sounds, both of which I enjoyed more than the HD800's it suggests that the HD00 may not be for me anymore.
Finally can I ask (this is a serious question and not a criticism. I really want to know). If all these measurements are truly objective, why does Oratory list the Sundaras near the top of the pack in following the Harman curve (smaller deviation from Harman whilst the Dan Clarks including the Stealth fall much lower down the list)? I realise you might get small positional differences in measurements due to differences in experimental design, but seriously I'd expect a no.1 measuring headphone like the DC Stealth to maintain a top 10 position. Why the slide so far down the list? Oratory calculates standard deviations to give an objectivist ranking. Amir gives an opinion based on sight. Does this mean that oratory is more objectivist?
This last comment is not a dig at Amir. For every 5 mins I spend gazing at Oratory's site I spend hours on ASR. I love Amirs reviews. I love the information he provides and I seriously appreciate the effort he goes to to bring measurements and understanding thereof to his audience.