GUTB gonna GUTB

I note that these impressions are very light on technical analysis of various products -- is that mainly because these shows are bad for critical listening? If that's the case, should they be avoided altogether except for social aspects and/or seeing products like in an auto show?

 

They're good for quick impressions. If you hate it at the show, you won't suddenly like it at home.

If you love it at the show, it might be worth more investigation.

Had I not been to the show, I would never have heard an Ampsandsound amp and would probably have bought a microZOTL.

Now I have little interest in the latter and own an Ampsandsound Mogwai.

 

Shows are not about technical analysis. It's just about checking out gear and having fun. When you stumble upon something you really like, you know it: like the Next

 

Don't leave us hangin'! The Next... what?

 

What exactly does "technical analysis" mean to you?

 

Dynamics, speed, imaging, staging, resolution, micro-detail, etc. Most the impressions here have to do with very low-level subjective takes like "I didn't like it", "sounded flat", "bass was great", etc. That's understandable if you're trying to listen to these products in a noisy environment in which you only have a short time with them and getting your audio memory shot. The thing is, if I were to go to one of these things it would be to try them and buy something that fits what I'm looking for -- but if I can't do that because of the awful listening environment, I may as well stay at home and browse reviews.

 

That was a typo (using voice). Like the Meze Classic 99...Great sounding headphone for 3 C-notes (and it's closed, so the show noise doesn't really bug you @GUTB )

 

You really have a gift for hating everything and everyone, don't you? Maybe before posting, you should get a feel of this place? People intending to troll couldn't troll as well as you do so naturally.

Meet ups are not the place to do in-depth analysis. But that said, you learn a lot from comparisons.

Reviews from meets tend to help us understand the defining characteristics of things, like the HD800: Resolving, treble-spikey, thinish, big soundstage. Did I define everything about the headphone? Nope. But that's the most important things and helpful to me. In-depth analysis if warranted can come later.

 

Well, good sir.

The thing is... no one is obligated to write up in-depth detailed analysis, technical or otherwise, after a meet. Not everyone here is a novelist (though they may succeed if they try).

And on the other hand, you are right. Meet impressions are not great for in-depth technical analysis, or at least not the kind you are looking for. In fact, not even reviews or at-home impressions online should be taken into account. Why? Because obviously no one else hears things the way you do.

That's why people go to meets to try the gears on for themselves and decide for themselves. They can't trust reviews and impressions written by other people.

Bottom line: if you want something, go try it and judge for yourself.

 

I like to think that my listening (even if it is brief and not ideal at meets or shows) could be considered a sort of analysis of the given products. Perhaps you could look up my post (#16 in this thread) and tell me if it qualifies as "technical analysis" in your judgement. I think @n3rdling and a few others have also given us some critical comments on what they heard.

Not everyone on this forum is quite as critical or consistent or "scientific" when it comes to evaluating gear, which is totally fine. A lot of folks are fine with listening and seeing if they "like" something or not. I'm going to assume that your definition of "technical analysis" consists of more than dropping those audiophile buzzwords like a 6Moons review. Which isn't to say that the language we use to evaluate isn't important. But to me a technical analysis simply requires a consistent listening methodology (using the same recordings) as well as a consistent set of metrics (some of the buzzwords you threw out could qualify) in order to evaluate the given variables that we are presented with.

 

There's a reason most people qualify impressions from meets and shows. They're not ideal listening conditions. However, for some items, that may be a positive (like IEMs, DAPs, items that will often be used in public places).

 

Maybe if you actually tried to make friends, or at least people whom you could talk to without them breaking your nose after one minute, then you wouldn't see such meets merely as a audiophile departmental store. The point of such meets is really to get to know the community, because frankly it is much easier to listen to gear (especially if you are willing to abuse return policies) than to meet members of the community en masse. In fact, even driving miles out to a brick and mortar store would probably be easier than the latter. Or maybe it is because you have such a materialistic attitude that you don't get to make many friends to begin with, and that's why you miss out on the really good stuff despite being something of a veteran in this hobby.

 

I give up, anyone want to take bets how long before he is banned/leave willingly? I'd say next Saturday the 9th April. I'll give him cred for one thing though, he is damn persistent.

Oh and to make sure I don't only post irrelevant garbage: There is a reason most impressions here look like a technical analysis because that actually what helps the reader evaluate if they would like the product or not, "bass was great" doesn't really say anything at all.

 

I'm not really sure what your point is with all of this. Are you just pontificating for the sake of it?

 

Now things are starting to make sense. You're not an audiophile, you're an audio gear fetishist. This explains your obsession with expensive, highly polished headphones regardless of how they actually sound, and the reason for your dismissal of lower cost gear, also regardless of how they sound. You keep talking about technicalities and the visual look of headphones. You talk very little about how music actually sounds out of them.

Something can be an engineering marvel and still sound terrible. If you're going to spend $4k on a pair of headphones, at least get a Final Audio Design Sonorous X, which also are made to order but at least they sound good.