Is it just me or headphone are turning into niche like speaker market

[Goldilock]

I would like to post this question on audio thread but seeing it's not really about audio device per se but market condition on general so I post this on general discussion.

 

The Nostalgia

I am Indonesia resident. First time I knew good audio was around 2012 (the year I enter college), I bought Audio Technica WS-55X with my first scholarship money. It was very particular atmosphere in the headphone market.

 

Big chain store like Jaben are popping up and having sales each month. Everyone is talking about "what headphone to buy under $100?" on facebook, I can visit headphone store for audition. Headfi and Headfonia were the go-to review site for me. Audio meet were held every year.

 

Audio Technica and the likes are coming up with new budget headphone almost every year. I can see and audition legendary headphone priced +$1,000 on store display like LCD-2,  HD650, ATH W series, etc.

 

In short it was a good time to be headphone enthusiast - but a bad time as speaker enthusiast because there were hardly any speaker sold on market. Headphone were cheap but speaker are getting more and more expensive.

 

Somewhere between the nostalgia and Today (before covid)

Slowly and steadily speaker were becoming mainstream again?, Hivi Swan and Thonet and Vander were taking the market by storm. Decent speaker for $120 was unheard of. While at the same time headphone are fading

 

Today Audio Market (2019 to today)

Fast forward today, it's a bad time as headphone enthusiast.

1. All the headphone chain store went bankrupt (even Jaben too if not for their pivot to CIEM market)

2. No more new cheap headphone, only old models now. Literally M20X has been around for 7 years without update. Like the only new headphone on my market are only HE-400 SE that's it.

3. New headphone nowadays are getting pricey like the new new HD660s $400, new Sundara. Oh and pre-order only, so cannot audition in store.

4. No more audio meet

5. No more people talking about old brands like sennheiser, audio technica. Today it's all Chi-fi selling iems on all kinds of price range

 

Headphone are becoming the new speaker. Headphone are getting expensive and fewer people relate to headphone market nowadays.

 

Cheap headphone were beaten to death by cheap IEMS. My $45 Blon BL-05s sound waaaaay better than M20X and my AVC-400.

 

Conclusion Remark

I don't try to shit on headphone market, but come on man. Headphone manufacturer are becoming lazy and lazier each year, no wonder they were beaten by new wave of chi-fi iems.

 

Maybe it was just me, I don't know about US. But this is my observation on my Indonesia market.

[GER_T4IGA]

The question about in person events in quite obvious given COVID and it isn't guaranteed all events will recover to precovid levels. What you might be forgetting though is the flocks of 'normies' including my who are buying Bluetooth - in some case even true-wireless- devices. That market is flourishing and has probably taken a lot of customers of the market perceived by you with them. 
 

And there is that other thing. One human always has a limited perspective on a market. I do to and I could be completely talking out of my ass when it comes to the Indonesian market. I have never even been to South East Asia but what I am saying might be happening is that your local bubble might have change but it could a/so be different two cities over or just in a neighbourdng country. 

[AndreiArgeanu]

Headphones have lost popularity in my opinion because they aren't as commonly used because they're often bulky and cost more compared to just standard earphones. Nowadays it is just far more convenient to have a pair or wireless earphones that are compact and fit neatly in your pocket next to your keys and phone. Whereas carrying around a pair of headphones isn't convenient, they don't fit in your pocket so most of the time they'll either have to hang around your neck or carry them in a backpack. I'd always rather carry my Taotronics wireless earphones over any other bulky pair of headphones I've got around.

 

Additional thing I forgot to mention is that while the budget headphone market is pretty dead the higher end marker does seem to be more active and there you also have more options to choose, not to mention new headphone manufacturers entering the market like Meze who makes premium feeling high quality headphones.

[crakddx]

I just have some wireless earbuds for on the go annd a dedicated headphone pair for my setup.

[tikker]

1 hour ago, Goldilock said:

1. All the headphone chain store went bankrupt (even Jaben too if not for their pivot to CIEM market)

I'd guess this is a combination of COVID and just the general dissappearance of highly specific stores. Everything is moving online, and headphones for day-to-day casual use has moved to inconspicious IEMs.

1 hour ago, Goldilock said:

2. No more new cheap headphone, only old models now. Literally M20X has been around for 7 years without update. Like the only new headphone on my market are only HE-400 SE that's it.

Plenty of cheap headphones still around, just not from major brands that you expect good audio quality from, naturally. Also old does not mean obsolete. A pair of cans is not a 3080 that will struggle 2 years later. Audio equipment doesn't get better in that way, today's music isn't "harder to run" than 20 years ago music. Why fix what isn't broken? This point also sounds more like a regional market problem.

1 hour ago, Goldilock said:

3. New headphone nowadays are getting pricey like the new new HD660s $400, new Sundara. Oh and pre-order only, so cannot audition in store.

There's little point in building cheap mediocre headphones, quantities are also smaller -> price goes up, less phyiscal locations to try.

1 hour ago, Goldilock said:

4. No more audio meet

Idk, they never realy were a thing around me in the first place even 10 years ago.

1 hour ago, Goldilock said:

5. No more people talking about old brands like sennheiser, audio technica. Today it's all Chi-fi selling iems on all kinds of price range

Because they aren't really releasing that many new products constantly. No new products = people don't talk about it anymore after a while. There's probably nothing you can say about a decade old pair that hasn't been said already. Honestly I'd rather have headphone brands bring out a new set of cans once every 5 years than that they turn into the phone industry releasing a "new" product every year where the only difference really is that the cable is 10 cm longer and now it's dark gray instead of black.

1 hour ago, Goldilock said:

I don't try to shit on headphone market, but come on man. Headphone manufacturer are becoming lazy and lazier each year, no wonder they were beaten by new wave of chi-fi iems.

Define "beaten". For heavy strain environments like work, construction, sports etc. I'll just grab a pair of cheap headphones that I wouldn't lose sleep over if damaged in the process. For scenarios where I'd like good sound quality I'll spend money on a good pair of well built headphones from a reputable brand. As I mentioned earlier as well, there is no point in releasing a new pair every year or faster just like for speakers. The market isn't there for it and the technology isn't really suited for it either in my mind.

[Heliian]

Greed and stupidity has ruined the headphone market.  

 

Quality has dropped across the board and prices have skyrocketed.  Pretty much happened when Beats came out with their weighted low end speakers that caught on with the bass=good quality misconception.

 

I recently went to purchase a couple of wired mid tier headphones for field/studio work.  There's nothing for under $100 that sounds decent, you need to spend hundreds of dollars for proper quality and it's uncalled for.

 

 

 

 

[Goldilock]

23 minutes ago, Heliian said:

Greed and stupidity has ruined the headphone market.  

 

Quality has dropped across the board and prices have skyrocketed.  Pretty much happened when Beats came out with their weighted low end speakers that caught on with the bass=good quality misconception.

 

I recently went to purchase a couple of wired mid tier headphones for field/studio work.  There's nothing for under $100 that sounds decent, you need to spend hundreds of dollars for proper quality and it's uncalled for.

 

 

 

 

Your experience sounds eerily similar to mine.

 

I have a hard time accepting that $175 HE-400 SE feels, accessorised, and sounds cheap. IEM for the same price I can get titanium housing (Ikko OH-10), or some hand made design like Seeudio Yume.

 

While headphone are stuck with same plastic injection mold + classic dynamic driver, IEM market has gone far beyond with 5 axis cnc, berylium and graphene driver, exotic metal housing for $150 iems?. Iems are wild in 2021.

 

I have personal believe that there is no more engineer left working in headphone industry because everything is same old same old every year.

[Goldilock]

2 hours ago, tikker said:

Define "beaten". 

I can define beaten as having lower market share, less favored by typical customer, and visibly less innovation.

 

This january I went to computer shop that sells headphone, I was surprised they still have audio technica stock from 5 years ago.

 

Though I agree with "if ain't broke don't fix it" but it's not good excuse for headphone to remain same for 20+ years. Like HD 600/650 came when most cars are carburated, yes it was that old.

 

What if we cnc the housing to better tune the driver?

What if we put new exotic material for the driver? Berylium, graphene, titanium coating?

And best of all let's make it not obscenely expensive.

 

I don't care if headphone manufacturer do "throw sphagetti into the wall and see what stick" like KZ do all the time. I want to feel the passion of challenging the limit which unfortunately gone in headphone industry.

 

I still have emotional connection with headphone but my wallet in the end vote differently.