We need to get the consumer to think more about audio quality...

[Dude]

I wrote an article on my blog about this and writing it made me think more about the issue at hand. I am probably one of the few people that I know who is distracted or bothered by people spending so much money on a PC or TV or whatever else while either sticking with Earpods or dropping a few hundred on a pair of Beats without a care in the world.

 

https://joshdoestech.wordpress.com/2016/02/11/you-should-care-more-about-your-audio/

 

I share my thoughts in more detail in that post, but I'd like to share with you a few horror stories that prove my point.

 

One of my friends claims to love vinyl and believes it sounds great, and she wouldn't be wrong either... If she weren't listening to it on a Crosley Cruiser. I try and explain to her that she will destroy her records and that the turntable really shows off the worst side of the vinyl hobby, but to this day, she doesn't listen and goes on to destroy her overpriced repressings of indie rock albums. 

 

A friend of mine would not listen to any kind of advice that I would give on headphones, he really wanted a pair of Dr. Dre Beats even though the AT-M50Xs were cheaper and superior (I'm not in the M50X circlejerk, but it's a good example). I even try to give him practical information that shows that the Beats were inferior, but alas, he bought them anyway. Because what's an indoorsy person's knowledge of hi-fi and technology against the magic of impulse?

 

Anybody else got other horror/success stories?

[PlayStation 2]

See, I would love to get a nice pair of headphones, but you're implying that I have money.

[iShad]

As long as it produces sound, it's good enough for most. Can't force people to be interested in something they don't care about. 

[TheNuzziNuzz]

You know, some people are just normal people who are okay with settling for good instead of greatness. The simple bottom line is from your friends point of view, you are trying to tell them that they are wrong, and that you are better than them. I say, let them do what they must, your words will only make it worse. While some live their rich lives not knowing the science behind anything, the ones of us that do know how to do things tend to have lesser wealth. And then their are people like Skrillex, Steve Jobs, and Steven Hawking who have truly figured it out. The difference between them and the annoy ignorant condensing freak is the ability to just let it go, even if it means agreeing with anther's false statesmen.

 

Also, A wise man once said, "Be patient with those whom things are less obvious too"

[TheNuzziNuzz]

3 minutes ago, iShad said:

As long as it produces sound, it's good enough for most. Can't force people to be interested in something they don't care about. 

They really  can't Evan tell the difference between the sound, if It makes music, then they like it - No further questions asked.

[TheNuzziNuzz]

6 minutes ago, Dan Castellaneta said:

See, I would love to get a nice pair of headphones, but you're implying that I have money.

You can get better headphones than Beats in every way for way cheaper.

[PlayStation 2]

Just now, TheNuzziNuzz said:

You can get better headphones than Beats in every way for way cheaper.

Not even that.

I'm dead fucking broke.

[TheNuzziNuzz]

Just now, Dan Castellaneta said:

Not even that.

I'm dead fucking broke.

So I take it you are voting for Berny?

 

Just try and appreciate what you have. I KNOW you have something someone else in other part of the world would literally die a slow painful death a million times to have. You'r not alone in this world of people my friend.

[PlayStation 2]

Just now, TheNuzziNuzz said:

So I take it you are voting for Berny?

 

Just try and appreciate what you have. I KNOW you have something someone else in other part of the world would literally die a slow painful death a million times to have. You'r not alone in this world of people my friend.

Uhhhh..........

 

what the fuck are you going on about? I'm 15. I don't give a flying fuck about politics.

[TheNuzziNuzz]

2 minutes ago, Dan Castellaneta said:

Uhhhh..........

 

what the fuck are you going on about? I'm 15. I don't give a flying fuck about politics.

If your 15, than you can't be broke. Legally, you can't evan own money. So, not only would you be broke, you would be the richest 15 year old to egsist.

 

Like I said, You legally cannot possess anything, including money. So you can't be something you can't have.

 

I assume I confused you once again. Sorry, just ignore this and go cry and swear at the world for being your problem outside of this forum.

 

--------------------------EDIT------------------------------

I apologize for the growth of my anger against negative energy. Please disregard any personal message I may have conveyed.

[PlayStation 2]

Just now, TheNuzziNuzz said:

If your 15, than you can't be broke. Legally, you can't evan own money. So, not only would you be broke, you would be the richest 15 year old to egsist.

 

Like I said, You legally cannot possess anything, including money. So you can't be something you can't have.

 

I assume I confused you once again. Sorry, just ignore this and go cry and swear at the world for being your problem outside of this forum.

Huh?

 

What are you rambling on about? I'm just a semi-regular 15 year old part-Irish Dan Castellaneta impersonator that's sitting somewhere in Huntsville, Alabama.

[TheNuzziNuzz]

Just now, Dan Castellaneta said:

Huh?

 

What are you rambling on about? I'm just a semi-regular 15 year old part-Irish Dan Castellaneta impersonator that's sitting somewhere in Huntsville, Alabama.

This is definatly not what is thread was created for LOL....Sorry @Dude

[Ryoutarou97]

This is true for pretty much all forms of tech (and other things too, I'm sure). Why do you care what your friend listens to? Just gloat about your superiority to yourself instead of his inferiority. It's not like your audio is worse because he uses beats. Also, I have a friend who did literally the exact same thing. 

[Ryoutarou97]

6 minutes ago, TheNuzziNuzz said:

If your 15, than you can't be broke. Legally, you can't evan own money. So, not only would you be broke, you would be the richest 15 year old to egsist.

 

Like I said, You legally cannot possess anything, including money. So you can't be something you can't have.

 

I assume I confused you once again. Sorry, just ignore this and go cry and swear at the world for being your problem outside of this forum.

 

--------------------------EDIT------------------------------

I apologize for the growth of my anger against negative energy. Please disregard any personal message I may have conveyed.

"EVEN! EVEN!" Evan is a name. The word is "even!"

[EndlessOyster]

Consumers and I think a lot of people on here who think there above it need to learn what numbers mean what and how audio is acutauly dominated by maths

[Dude]

3 minutes ago, Ryoutarou97 said:

This is true for pretty much all forms of tech (and other things too, I'm sure). Why do you care what your friend listens to? Just gloat about your superiority to yourself instead of his inferiority. It's not like your audio is worse because he uses beats. Also, I have a friend who did literally the exact same thing. 

Because as a friend, I have an obligation to care. I don't like to see my friends blow money on stuff that I know isn't very good, or even good at all.

[Dude]

The key point I'm trying to make is that because people either spend too much on poor products, or stick with stock earphones, they become less sure of what's good and what's not and they find themselves being unconsciously screwed over by record labels and audio companies who take advantage of their ignorance.

[iShad]

13 minutes ago, Dude said:

Because as a friend, I have an obligation to care. I don't like to see my friends blow money on stuff that I know isn't very good, or even good at all.

I've been in this hobby for a few years, and I've learned that people simply don't care and nothing you do will convinced them otherwise. My current audio gears are pretty decent, but whenever I let families and friends try it out they do it to amuse me then go back to stock earbuds since it was good enough for them. I'm probably the insane one for spending so much on audio from their perspective, but it's what I enjoy.

 

On the other hand, I don't care about fashion and designer clothes, and if someone were to nag at me telling me to get something "better" since I don't have taste. I would tell them to fuck off.

[spwath]

1 hour ago, EndlessOyster said:

Consumers and I think a lot of people on here who think there above it need to learn what numbers mean what and how audio is acutauly dominated by maths

If you think a lot of people here need to learn what numbers mean, try going to head-fi

[Kenzie]

Quality audio is really as supplemental as higher resolutions and refresh rates. It's just not something that's going to appeal to your average consumer. It's costly, complicated, and not easily recognized by the untrained ear. I bought a pair of HD 598s a couple months back and have been really enjoying them, but I wouldn't have missed the better quality before I experienced it.

[SSL]

When it comes to audio, it's very hard to imagine better than what you have. Combine that with the fact that it challenging to market high fidelity audio (no buzzwords like HD or 4k, and no meaningful specs) and the result is that people buy what is recognizable and accessible. This also makes it difficult for the consumer to gauge quality. There's absolutely no way to know how good a headphone sounds just from looking at the box.

 

I think it's also important to recognize that music enjoyment is about more than fidelity. I have a $1000 audio stack right now, but I wouldn't claim for a minute that I enjoy music more than before; I'm just appreciating it differently.

 

 

[HappDrank]

3 hours ago, TheNuzziNuzz said:

If your 15, than you can't be broke. Legally, you can't evan own money. So, not only would you be broke, you would be the richest 15 year old to egsist.

 

Like I said, You legally cannot possess anything, including money. So you can't be something you can't have.

 

I assume I confused you once again. Sorry, just ignore this and go cry and swear at the world for being your problem outside of this forum.

 

--------------------------EDIT------------------------------

I apologize for the growth of my anger against negative energy. Please disregard any personal message I may have conveyed.

First off I will say the kid is an bit on the bratty side. But I would like to correct you on the legally own money thing. At the age of 14 I got my own job and started filing taxes myself and managing my own bank account and bills. People's views on what rights a underage person have are pretty skewed. When I became fully employed without it being ran as a internship or school job program I was basically given all my adult rights except for drinking and smoking ages. So yes he legally can own money. also side note he shouldn't complain about being broke while underage since he's probably being financially supported by his family. 

[Pomfinator]

The most important thing is music quality, aka not brickwalling everything.  There are songs I love that desperately need a better master, there are artists I respect who let their mastering engineers push their average volume into the -4/-5dB RMS ranges.  It's just so frustrating that Metallica releases Death Magnetic thinking that their audience wants literally 2dB of dynamic range in their songs, and then claim that it sounds better.  All genres sound better with more dynamics, I'd understand if it was done on purpose (see Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt soundtrack), but most of the time it's just cause record labels want to compete in some kind of fake loudness competition, as if radio and Spotify and Youtube don't normalize audio levels.

[Kenzie]

18 minutes ago, HappDrank said:

At the age of 14 I got my own job and started filing taxes myself and managing my own bank account and bills. People's views on what rights a underage person have are pretty skewed.

I agree with you here. I thought about commenting on that little piece but decided it was a vain effort. Funny it is to watch misinformed people behave arrogantly on an Internet forum. If people can work before the age of majority, it should be fairly simple to understand that minors have property rights and autonomy in other respects.

[HappDrank]

1 minute ago, Kenzie said:

I agree with you here. I thought about commenting on that little piece but decided it was a vain effort. Funny it is to watch misinformed people behave arrogantly on an in Internet forum. If people can work before the age of majority, it should be fairly simple to understand that minors have property rights and autonomy in other respects.

Up and as a working minor you actually have some extra rights compared to the normal worker. Like when you get the job in most areas its illegal to fire you over problems with scheduling. Basically they have to accept they put a minor on pay roll and must give that person appropriate time off for things like school. Also with awesome things like my union at the time I had full benefits healthcare, personal days, regular raises, paid vacations, and more. I was exempt from curfew and before I turned 16 and could drive the school system was required to have the bus stop and let me off my place of work just as their required to take kids back home within a half mile radius of where they lived. I learned early on to make sure you know your rights and how to read a contract.