What is the point of buying expensive headphones if you can just use an equalizer to get the same frequency response on cheap ones?

[AdamG]

Not everyone is using them in a situation where EQ is practical. If you aren't dealing with a digital source, "just using EQ" isn't quite so trivial.

As an Apple phone and iPad user I was in this very situation. No easy way to apply PEQ in this delivery chain. Very frustrating. Then Amir did the Qudelix 5k review and all of a sudden it presented a reasonably priced Eq solution. Just mentioning this in case you missed the review.
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...qudelix-5k-bluetooth-dac-headphone-amp.17386/

 

[Jimbob54]

Personally, I have experimented extensively with headphone EQ, and different headphones still sound totally different to me post EQ. Of course, ymmv

Yup. Or at least the overall perception to me is different. My working theory backed by nothing at all is that changing headphones is a bit like swapping rooms as much as it is swapping speakers.

 

[Sgt. Ear Ache]

Yup. Or at least the overall perception to me is different. My working theory backed by nothing at all is that changing headphones is a bit like swapping rooms as much as it is swapping speakers.

Sure, there's truth to that. I think the primary point though is that none of that is really tied to the price of the headphones. You can find comfortable expensive headphones. You can find comfortable cheap headphones. You can find expensive headphones that are close to Harman out of the box, You can find less-expensive phones that are close ootb. You can find well-built expensive...or well-built inexpensive. Or poorly built expensive/inexpensive. The nature of "the room" isn't really strictly tied to the cost of the headphones. I have the HE-400i's and find them really comfortable and having replaced the faulty yolks they are holding up fine...and EQ'd to Harman with a little less bass they sound absolutely glorious.

Sounding "different" isn't really the same as sounding better and I tend to think with headphones - as with other gear - if there was an easy way to blind compare them, and we EQ'd a bunch of different sets of different price points to a similar curve...what we'd choose as sounding "best" would vary by what music we listened to. Some would sound best with certain tracks while others would be better with other tracks.

 

[Jimbob54]

Sure, there's truth to that. I think the primary point though is that none of that is really tied to the price of the headphones. You can find comfortable expensive headphones. You can find comfortable cheap headphones. You can find expensive headphones that are close to Harman out of the box, You can find less-expensive phones that are close ootb. You can find well-built expensive...or well-built inexpensive. Or poorly built expensive/inexpensive. The nature of "the room" isn't really strictly tied to the cost of the headphones. I have the HE-400i's and find them really comfortable and having replaced the faulty yolks they are holding up fine...and EQ'd to Harman with a little less bass they sound absolutely glorious.

Sounding "different" isn't really the same as sounding better and I tend to think with headphones - as with other gear - if there was an easy way to blind compare them, and we EQ'd a bunch of different sets of different price points to a similar curve...what we'd choose as sounding "best" would vary by what music we listened to. Some would sound best with certain tracks while others would be better with other tracks.

In many ways, yes. But you would never get an HD800/S (faults and all) in a $100 headphone. At least not when they were released. Price is no guarantee of sound quality, build quality etc but some aspects require a certain price for design, research, materials and the like.

 

[Sgt. Ear Ache]

In many ways, yes. But you would never get an HD800/S (faults and all) in a $100 headphone. At least not when they were released. Price is no guarantee of sound quality, build quality etc but some aspects require a certain price for design, research, materials and the like.

Maybe so, but I'd wonder if the aspects that require that price point don't end up making a real difference in sound do they matter?

(I'd also note I'm not really using $100 as the line in the sand. For me it's more in the $200-400 range where you really hit the diminishing returns wall)

 

[Jimbob54]

Maybe so, but I'd wonder if the aspects that require that price point don't end up making a real difference in sound do they matter?

(I'd also note I'm not really using $100 as the line in the sand. For me it's more in the $200-400 range where you really hit the diminishing returns wall)

Don't disagree except feel (far more than look) matter a great deal to me. But then nothing should "feel" bad in a $400 pair.

 

[LightninBoy]

where? lmao.

Some examples from the ASR review database alone.

3 if non EQ performance is critical (stricter interpretation of "Basically follows the Harman curve").

12 if non EQ'd performance isn't critical (looser interpretation of "Basically following the Harman curve")

 

[ihavenoidea]

Thanks everyone for the replies

Some examples from the ASR review database alone.

3 if non EQ performance is critical (stricter interpretation of "Basically follows the Harman curve").

View attachment 129233

12 if non EQ'd performance isn't critical (looser interpretation of "Basically following the Harman curve")
View attachment 129234

Starting to feel like I've wasted my money having gotten the HD 600's 2 years ago. Would I have gotten the same sound quality for as little as $40?

 

[Thomas_A]

Thanks everyone for the replies



Starting to feel like I've wasted my money having gotten the HD 600's 2 years ago. Would I have gotten the same sound quality for as little as $40?

Depends. If you want to bother with EQ you can certainly get good response from many cheaper headphones. I use both several sources and different headphones depending on the situation, I am too lazy to add apply EQ for all these. I don't even know how this would be done for my Casio digital piano.

 

[Jimbob54]

Thanks everyone for the replies



Starting to feel like I've wasted my money having gotten the HD 600's 2 years ago. Would I have gotten the same sound quality for as little as $40?

Buy the $40 pair and let us know. But doesnt it only matter if the HD600 arent doing it for you?

I'll put it another way- I bought these based on this review as a cheap experiment https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/9-headphone-review-sony-mdr-zx110.19484/

After EQ they do indeed sound pretty decent. But they feel like $10 of cheap plastic on your head and ears- and thats not something I want in what for me is akin to a piece of clothing. Its not a great overall sensory experience and not conducive to good listening.

Does that mean good comfort and sound cant be had for less than HD600 money? No idea

 

[Nango]

If you like IEm you have the recently tested Panasonic for €5 at Amazon EU which ASR recommends postEQ. I don't see a cheaper way to re-built the HD800 sound signature for less!!

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/.../panasonic-rp-tcm125-review-budget-iem.22797/

 

[weasels]

Thanks everyone for the replies



Starting to feel like I've wasted my money having gotten the HD 600's 2 years ago. Would I have gotten the same sound quality for as little as $40?

I'm beating a dead horse here, but comfort matters. Clamping force, ear cup size, pad construction... cheap headphones typically have compromises in construction, and my experience is comfort frequently gets the short straw.

 

[KR500]

Weasels makes good points about comfort and all the parts to that.
I think for myself, the Beyer phones and pads are very comfortable.
This past week I have really been enjoying my new 600 Ohm Beyer 990 Edition headphones ( not the Pro version ).
They tick a bunch of my boxes, but the enabler is being able to cut down 6 db's of the 8k treble peak with my Schitt Loki 4 band EQ.
Without that option, they would be fatiguing for certain.
So, count me for EQ in this case.

 

[Jimbob54]

I'm beating a dead horse here, but comfort matters. Clamping force, ear cup size, pad construction... cheap headphones typically have compromises in construction, and my experience is comfort frequently gets the short straw.

You and me both - lets keep banging the drum.

 

[LightninBoy]

Agree that comfort is critical and why its #1 in my list. It is also subjective and can be unique to each person, which is why I kind of disregarded it when filtering the ASR review list.

I don't see the HD600, HD650, HD6xx as wasting money. I once thought they were overpriced but my opinion changed when amir showed the HD650 bass deficiencies could be addressed via EQ without excess distortion.

 

[Sgt. Ear Ache]

You and me both - lets keep banging the drum.

For sure comfort matters, and I'm not sure about $40 cans getting there. But you can absolutely get great sound and comfort for less than HD600 money...that's not by any means a criticism of the Senns though.

 

[Yorkshire Mouth]

So, as soon as AKG make the K371s with the comfort of the DT990 Editions, we’re laughing.

Joking aside, add ‘balanced’ inputs and just release it as a deluxe edition.

 

[Jimbob54]

For sure comfort matters, and I'm not sure about $40 cans getting there. But you can absolutely get great sound and comfort for less than HD600 money...that's not by any means a criticism of the Senns though.

Agreed. But let's not go as far as saying some of the more expensive headphones don't have some attributes that the lower end don't quite hit. Just not worth the ludicrous prices they go for. And very much diminishing returns above $150 (assuming the FR and distortion measure well).

 

[Saidera]

I have a question: is it unnecessary to use IEMs with various driver types integrated in them, or balanced cables or any similar equipment in the expensive realm, since the mastering engineer checks the sound using common dynamic driver headphones and possibly a 3.5 or 6.3 mm jack? Of course, monitor speakers make this statement meaningless, but just in terms of headphones, has 3.5 mm and dynamic driver achieved its full potential without any further room for development?

 

[jmillar]

Some headphones can be EQed into excellence, others can't. You can't eq away resonances and driver breakup distortion. There are (a few) jewels out there, true.