Are there quantitative ways of proving good audio? Good Audio vs. Bad Audio

[eBiz]

I am in no way an audiophile and know very little about audio. Maybe I'm wrong but audio products seem like expensive wine. Meaning people think wine that's expensive tastes better because it's more expensive but when blindfolded can't even tell the difference. Is this true with buying headsets/speakers?

 

If so then is there a quantitative way to measure good audio sound?

 

Also a little off topic but every head set I have had has eventually got to the point where I have to bend the 3.5mm cable a certain way to hear the audio out of both ears, otherwise just one side plays audio. When you buy expensive quality headphones/headsets does this not happen? Is there any easy way to fix this issue?

[ShadowCaptain]

I am in no way an audiophile and know very little about audio. Maybe I'm wrong but audio products seem like expensive wine. Meaning people think wine that expensive tastes better because it's more expensive but when blindfolded can't even tell the difference. Is this true with buying headsets/speakers?

 

If so then is there a quantitative way to measure good audio sound?

 

Also a little off topic but every head set I have had has eventually got to the point where I have to bend the 3.5mm cable a certain way to hear the audio out of both ears, otherwise just one side plays audio. When you buy expensive quality headphones/headsets does this not happen? Is there any easy way to fix this issue?

 

yes because there are graphics and charts showing the frequencies that the headphone can create, though its subjective to a degree

 

Honestly, wine is wine, sure there are differences between recepies and grape types but its 90% the same

headphones are completely different, different coil types, different membranes, different magnets, different sized drivers, etc etc etc,

 

Also more expensive headphones have removable cables, so when the cables breaks you buy another £10 cable not another £300 set of headphones

[Yiz]

In regards to your cable problem. I spent $200 on the astro a40s and I'm going on a year and the cable has zero problems. Not to mention all cables are detachable so you can get a replacement if something happens to the cable.

[DigitalHermit]

1. Depends on who you're asking... As for me, as long as I know the settings and songs, I can differentiate between pairs of headphones (not considering their mounting to my head)

 

2.Looking at response curves is one way...

 

3. Depends on the cable... You can have them recabled but there's a point where the recabling becomes more expensive than the pair...

[thekeemo]

I can't really tell the difference between my $15 Sony zxr100 and my $270 bose qc15's (got them as a gift dont kill me) but the noise canceling is great when I travel and when my sister decides to play 'music'

[BoredErica]

It's kind of a gnarly topic because is neutral = objectively best? And for headphones, what IS neutral? Music isn't really mixed on headphones and is a very unnatural way of listening to music. A flat line for speaker FR might be cool but probably isn't perceived as flat to human ears if we're talking about a flat line headphone FR. Which compensation curves are we going to use? Yes, a lot of high end audio is placebo and nobody is immune, but how are we supposed to double blind test headphones?

[creatip123]

I am in no way an audiophile and know very little about audio. Maybe I'm wrong but audio products seem like expensive wine. Meaning people think wine that's expensive tastes better because it's more expensive but when blindfolded can't even tell the difference. Is this true with buying headsets/speakers?

 

If so then is there a quantitative way to measure good audio sound?

 

Also a little off topic but every head set I have had has eventually got to the point where I have to bend the 3.5mm cable a certain way to hear the audio out of both ears, otherwise just one side plays audio. When you buy expensive quality headphones/headsets does this not happen? Is there any easy way to fix this issue?

 

I'd say, none, no quantitative ways to measure how good a headphone sound. 

 

A few methods of measurements can be used to measure a few factors, like impedance, frequency response, efficiency, sound leakage, etc, etc, but no methods to measure how good or how bad a headphone sound is. Reason is simple, good or bad is individual's labeling of something. In other words, very subjective. 

 

Here's an analogy: Say you're going to a fancy restaurant, and order a premium steak. You can measure lots of stuffs out of it, like the weight of the meat, condiments used, amount of fat, calorie, etc, but you can't really measure how tasty it is, within an objective standard. Sure, you can say, 'I give this steak 6 out of 10', according to you. According to the guy next to you, the steak scores 4 out of 10, and the guy next to him gives it 8 out of 10. Exactly same steak, different appreciations. 

 

I love my $250 HE400, and I've tried Beyer's $1500 T1. I still prefer my HE400, because for me, it sounds better than the T1. I like HE400's sound better, hence it's better, simple as that.

[xtroria]

All of our 5 senses that we perceive are subjective-objectivism. There's a standard that people would say "oh this is perceivable / acceptable" but from there on people's own opinion matter more than the numbers.

 

Say for example, $300 - 500 headphones, we have a bunch of those in the market.

 

All of them will be good to the ears to people who are new to audiophile world, sometimes they can't notice the difference at all.

 

But for the people who understand a bit or a lot about audio, many of us know the type of sound we like, I can test a beats solo and i know that people who like bass will like this headphone, it sounds good for people who likes U-shaped FR headphone, but it's simply not my cup of tea (a very neutral, with slightly warm-ish sound)

[Lutkeveld]

If so then is there a quantitative way to measure good audio sound?

 

No, but you can get close. You need measurements that go way beyond frequency response and results from psycho acoustical tests.

Psycho acoustical results will give you details about how the brain of MOST people perceive sound.

You can't get any closer than that, because 'good  sound' is subjective and not everybody is the same.

[ShearMe]

Maybe I'm wrong but audio products seem like expensive wine.

 

Ding Ding Ding, we have a winrar!