Audiophiles

[Fairy]

Defined as: "a person enthusiastic about high-fidelity sound reproduction. Audiophile values may be applied at all stages of music reproduction: the initial audio recording, the production process, and the playback, which is usually in a home setting."

Would you consider yourself an Audiophile? Are IEMs (in ear monitors) the only things that make music worthwhile? Do you have a graph that visualizes your preferences for highs, mids, and lows too?

I ask because my husband is a self-identified Audiophile, lol. For me, personally, I don't even have the eardrum(?) acumen to tell the difference between what he claims are "total opposites" in sound reproduction. It's often the case he gets new IEMs, insists I try them, and.. yeah it sounds fine I guess? Then I put my pink $8 earbuds back in. It's my theory that, as a musician, he has a more acute sense for sound and a much more developed understanding of what sounds good to him - so he highly values monitors that can produce his exact preference in music. Savoring the experience and claiming to hear something new and fascinating each time he listens to the same song but with different IEMs. In contrast my auditory faculties depend on whether the noise-marker bit is in my ear-hole.

So where do you sit on this spectrum? How important to you is the tech that defines your music listening experiences? If you do have IEMs, do you have a preferred brand? And if not do you think you'd be open to min-maxing your auditory experiences?

Or are you more like me and think that a lot of these devices sound the same? And however the music gets from where it's playing to your ears isn't such a big deal? Or otherwise just think aesthetics (cause pink amirite?!) and cost override that "high fidelity sound reproduction"?

 

[Palamon]

? I am definitely not an audiophile. I don't honestly even like headphones or earbuds they hurt my ears a lot.

 

[Fairy]

? I am definitely not an audiophile. I don't honestly even like headphones or earbuds they hurt my ears a lot.

Oh.. That's definitely not supposed to be a thing no matter how cheap or expensive the earbuds/headphones are. Have you tried looking into different sizing options? My left ear, for instance, can only use the "small" bud-tip because I just have a narrow ear canal I guess? Whereas in my right ear, medium tips work fine.

I'm sorry you experience discomfort though! :(

 

[Roni]

I can tell the difference between $3 and $15 earbuds at least lol. Personally it's all about the punchy bass, well defined mids, and treble presence that isn't insanely harsh even on lower volumes.

Definitely wouldn't classify myself as a true audiophile though, even though I do listen to music a lot. Budget Chinese IEMs are my jam, and these KZ ZSN pros I got for... well, $15 lol (as an upgrade from shitty $3 Xiaomi buds I used to main that broke within 6 months) are more than enough for me. I don't even wanna touch headphones. All of them make my ears sweat and I can't wear them comfortably when I'm fresh off the shower with wet hair.

 

[Fairy]

Budget Chinese IEMs are my jam, and these KZ ZSN pros I got for... well, $15 lol

Aye I got a pair of those too! I'd grade them a C+ / B- personally, but they're still a solid go-to set for those "I want to listen to quality sounding music while I jog but if I get mugged it's no major loss." kind of days.

Definitely affordable and fairly durable. Always buy two if you see'em on sale, lol. I've never regretted owning a backup.

…Though at this point I have so many "backups" from my audiophile husband (who always passes the oldest pair to me whenever he gets new ones… which is often…) that my daily use set is a pair of MOONDROP Starfields. ლ(ಠ_ಠ ლ) Which I'm not ungrateful for! I just don't feel like you're getting $485's more worth of audio fidelity between a $15 set and a $500 set, ya know? Juice ain't worth the squeeze.

 

[Roni]

Aye I got a pair of those too! I'd grade them a C+ / B- personally, but they're still a solid go-to set for those "I want to listen to quality sounding music while I jog but if I get mugged it's no major loss." kind of days.

Definitely affordable and fairly durable. Always buy two if you see'em on sale, lol. I've never regretted owning a backup.

…Though at this point I have so many "backups" from my audiophile husband (who always passes the oldest pair to me whenever he gets new ones… which is often…) that my daily use set is a pair of MOONDROP Starfields. ლ(ಠ_ಠ ლ) Which I'm not ungrateful for! I just don't feel like you're getting $485's more worth of audio fidelity between a $15 set and a $500 set, ya know? Juice ain't worth the squeeze.

Very solid daily driver right there~ A bit outside my budget range, but the brand gets my respect. And indeed these days, for us non enthusiasts, there's a very shallow diminishing return window when it comes to gear. Imo anything beyond $30 isn't worth buying anymore, especially with just how much there is available in the market today~

 

[colours]

nervously glances at her $200 sony earbuds..........

i don't even consider myself an audiophile i just spend on good quality earbuds lmao u_u

 

[Juno]

Couldn't tell you the difference in sound between $30 and $300 earbuds if my life depended on it. I've never really cared too much about sound quality as long as they do emit sound, but I will spend around $100-$200 on earbuds just because cheaper ones have a history of dying on me pretty quick and they are annoying (and could get costly) to replace often, so I generally like to get a pair that will last me a longer time. I like the convenience of true wireless, too. So battery life and longevity matter more to me, but I guess with that usually comes decent sound too.

Although I will say that for the fun of it, I've gotten a $2 pair of earbuds from like a gachapon machine once and those I could actually immediately hear how terrible the sound quality was, lol. But anything over like $20-$30 all sound the same to me? Or I guess I just don't care how bass-y or whatever sound is, and other terms audio people use