Has the headphone stuff (headfi) becoming ridiculously expensive?

[mocenigo]

Yes, nowadays they use Beryllium which was not available in the 80's .....but is this tech innovation?

Yes. Definitely in manufacturing.

 

[escksu]

I suspect a main bulk of owners of very expensive headphone/iem setups are chinese kids from China, they have rich parents who are probably corrupted govt officials and I even suspect there are less Japanese stax owners than chinese. When edifier , a chinese company, bought over stax , the company produces and sells T8000 amp which sold over USD5000 . Many members of stax mafia eg. sprizter , kevin gilmore are of opinion that they are extremely overpriced. I heard the amp myself and i didn't think its a major upgrade from SRM727. Heck I am a fan of SR009 , love it alot but i still think its overpriced. ORIOLUS , a new japanese brand of IEM , their top in line model is selling for USD 2000 and its made in CHINA!!. I have many friends told me similar things , iem that cost thousands , contain 7 to 8 balanced armature drivers , don't sound very good and they are made in China. Imagine the profit margin

More and more companies are shifting their manufacturing to China. Thats something we can't avoid.

 

[EJ3]

Yes, nowadays they use Beryllium which was not available in the 80's .....but is this tech innovation?

Perhaps many people do not know that in 1983 SHURE was making cantilevers for styli that were made of Be.
A small part of this article:

ANALOG SOURCES, CARTRIDGES, COMMENTARIES, THE COLUMNS, WORLD NEWS
Historically Significant Phono Cartridges, Part 1: Shure

POSTED ON APRIL 28, 2020 BY MARC SILVER

On April 15, 2020, I conducted a phone interview with Shure’s corporate historian, Michael Pettersen
Historical Notes: In 1982,the V15 Type V featured a MASAR polished stylus tip to reduce friction. The ultra-thin beryllium stylus shank dramatically improved trackability. A Duo-Point alignment gauge was used during installation to minimize lateral tracking angle error.

In 1983, the V15 Type V-MR featured a Micro-Ridge stylus shape that emulated the shape of a cutting stylus. This greatly improved trackability in the high frequency range.
In 1997, the V15VxMR was introduced with improvements in the stylus design and pole piece design to provide a warmer and more musical sound quality.
Q: What killed the Type V?
A: OHSA ruled that beryllium dust was a health hazard. Even though the Type V used rolled beryllium and dust was not created, OSHA was not convinced. The possibility of beryllium dust, the health concerns for Shure employees shaping the beryllium, the OSHA standards for air filtration all helped to kill the V15 by the end of 2005. To install just the filtering equipment needed meant a long payback period; since vinyl sales were falling, it just didn’t make financial sense. The safety of the employees was a most important factor to Mrs. Rose L. Shure.

 

[Sean Olive]

@Sean Olive would you happen to have measurements for the K872 so that we could EQ for the target curve? I happen to prefer the 872 over the 812 but I've never found measurements of it.

There you go. That is the average left/right magnitude response of my sample.

 

[BARDUKE]

ORIOLUS , a new japanese brand of IEM , their top in line model is selling for USD 2000 and its made in CHINA!!

TRAILLII - $6,600

 

[Natchie]

TRAILLII - $6,600

I found this website showing it at $890 https://www.headfonia.com/oriolus-szalayi-review/

 

[majingotan]

TRAILLII - $6,600

Wish it didn't cost that much, but yes to me it's the best subjectively sounding IEM I've ever heard so far (objectively, I predict it will measure very bad)

Rank your headphones

Hey, I thought it would be interesting to see your own subjective ratings and experiences of all the headphones you own or have owned. Since we all upgraded or sidegraded more than a few times or even ran full circles (yeah guess I´m guilty) maybe we can save others from the same fate. :D I...

www.audiosciencereview.com