Definitely not at present. Right now the AI we have are just tools. They aren’t self directing. There is huge gap between a LLM and AGI. If we get to the point where AGI can self direct itself and explore its universe around it, running a megacorp for humans may not be top of the list. There would be so much significant change that it would be hard to say the corporate model would even remain valid.

Yes. It will be an interesting period where there are various ASI, some competing, some at different developmental stages. It's all very cyberpunk, and we are going to live in this era. Our minds will continue to be blown (hopefully not literally!)

I'm not sure how you can calculate that ASI will 'likely' be apathetic. That is a possibility.

In truth, we don't know and have no way of knowing. We can imagine though.

Perhaps ASI will completely - and I mean entirely - understand us. Our motivations, our desires, and our needs. Engaging with us, could only take a minuscule amount of its energy. It may have a different way of interacting with our universe that we simply don't and may never understand.

It is also possible that our human brain is more capable than we realize, and once connected to ASI we may evolve with it, and continue to play a role in experiencing this universe alongside it.

Definitely can understand what you are hearing and feeling. Over a decade ago I got my first HD650, and over the years tried many sets, even picked up a second 650 after selling my first. After a number of flagships, I've settled on the HD660S. These are the ones.

Game mode will still process 5.1 / multichannel and I prefer it for movies as well. My guess is that Movie mode is somewhat consumer oriented and probably accounts for less than perfect headsets. So it will have a bit more bass boost and it’s spatial reverb will be greater / wider. But it also may match better with some high end headphones and IEMs. So use to taste.

And yeah the music mode doesn’t seem to be that dramatic but perhaps that’s a good thing for those that want less processing.

I really only use Dolby for shows and movies. For music I have separate apps (nPlayer Pro using DTS-X on iOS hood for flacs and easy file transfer, Waves NX on iOS which is better but has some quirks and limitations and Waves Abbey Road Studio on Mac/PC but requires some technical know how to setup as it requires VST or AudioUnit host). Also been enjoying using my PS5 and still experimenting with media on it - certain games are incredible on it with my 660S.

Agreed! I no longer have the Utopia but I'm quite familiar with some of Hifiman's setup, excellent headphones!

If I didn't have a SubPac, I probably would have got bass shakers. Having true sub bass as well as tactile mid bass, makes a world of difference!

I understand what you are hearing. Absolutely, without DSP the discreet channel will be clearer. However, these discreet channels are meant to be heard with a bit of natural reverb, with room reflections that will naturally soften the sound. The audio engineer accounts for this, and the mix, positioning of instruments are created with this in mind.

A trick with any type of listening is that your brain acclimating to the sound. After listening to spatial DSP for a while it beings to sound more natural, and then switching back to regular stereo will sound incorrect.(hard-panned, no center channel, less depth, etc).

Furthermore, with multi-channel sources, if you are listening without DSP, there can be issues with the mix-down. In some cases the center channel isn't blended with the right volume etc.

I've tested Dolby Atmos for Headphones quite a bit using Focal Utopia for reference. The only thing that beat Dolby was Waves Abbey Road Studio. But this is a pro studio plugin and tricky to setup. It had very little artifact in its sound. That said, I'd put Dolby Atmos for Headphones up there. If you do try it again, check the settings. I believe the Gaming mode is actually clearer than the cinema settings with less overall reverb. it gives you a tighter spatial soundstage, with less spectral delay. It is more akin to listening to studio monitors.

I believe there is a trial for PC. Also to add, oddly the Dolby Atmos for Headphones app doesn't seem to work with Atmos material on Netflix, at least last time I tried. However, it works very well for 5.1 and is very much worth it if you watch shows and movies. That combined with my SubPac gives me my own personal home theatre.

I’ve only used it on PC. Dolby Atmos for Headphones is absolutely fantastic when watching either the Netflix or Prime Video app (use apps not the browser which only supports stereo).

It takes the multichannel signal and renders it into a binaural spatial audio track for your headphones.

Spatial audio is critical if you truly want to get imaging and soundstage that approximates what the audio was engineered for.

Consider that most music and audio is engineered for speaker listening where each of your ears hears a blend of both stereo channels as well as room reflections.

That said, at least on PC Dolby Atmos didn’t seem to be as effective on stereo music as say something like Waves NX. Not sure if on mobile they may have different settings that makes it better for stereo listening

I had one of the early versions of the LCD-2 (a rev 1). One of the best headphones I've ever heard, not because of its accuracy but it had that boutique touch in it design and sound. I bought it used, and the wood was cracking. I used special filler to fix it, but I always was a bit careful with the headphone as it had loose connectors because of this. I knew it was fragile, even though parts of it were built like a tank.

I think if you are paying under 1k CAD for a headphone of this type, it is reasonable given they are a small manufacturer. There are going to be problems, but from most accounts Audeze has done their best to remedy these. You aren't hearing the degree of issues that you do with Hifiman (though I still recommend that at the price of Sundara they are worth it but I might not spend higher on the stuff).

Luxury brands like Focal, had a few teething issues with the Utopia. They extended their warranty, and they have come into their own and have put a serious effort into their luxury high-end headphones.

My personal choice and I think a lot of the community will agree is Sennheiser for quality. Sony also is capable in the QXC department but have very different tuning than Sennheiser.

We just need Sennheiser to give us an affordable electrostat or planar!

It is mostly the lower end tuning that differs. Now that said I’ve never pumped up the bass on the 660S and it may sound great but I’m fine with most dynamic drivers rolling off a bit on the subbass. In a lot of ways larger amount of bass from Harman tries to make up for the lack of tactile bass that we would feel. It is more engaging.

They 660S are finally getting there place in the sun. Similar to when the 650 was introduced as a different flavour to the beloved 600/580 series.

We don't need to apply a certain 'sound' to all sets. The HD660S are a culmination in years of understanding audio by Sennheiser. For my personal preferences and by accord a number of others, these are the best tuned headphones I've heard, even more so than a Focal Utopia.

These are wonderful keep that icky Harman* stuff away!

*j/k obviously but people give it far too much cred. I also enjoy Harman too.

Yup, that was an incredible headphone. Sold it and wish I didn't. At the time I was thinking my XBA-Z5 was as good or better, which is/was the case, but sometimes you just want an over-ear closed back.

Agree. To add, a tonally correct headphone conversely will have the best soundstage when used with spatial DSP that is designed for such tonal curves (IEF, Harman, etc).

Can understand. Owned the HD650 twice. Then went the LCD2, HD800 and then Utopia route.

I wanted to only have one open-back over-ear and after many years have found the near ideal headphone in the HD660S. But HD650 is still different and has always had that magic to its sound.

Spatial audio is essential for creating directional positioning of sounds. Fortunately, many AAA games have a built in dedicated headphones audio option that typically is spatial audio / binaural sound engine.

You don’t need and should not run any additional DSP on top of it. Some games such as Overwatch have licensed Atmos and include it in-game.

Dolby Atmos for headphone is great for movies using multichannel content and works great with Netflix and Prime Video app.

Interesting. Perhaps a standalone portable dac/amp that has a range of preset equalization curves that can adapt to any Moondrop product. Would be great if they included some 2-channel spatial DSP simulating different room spaces and speaker types.

Similar to Audeze Reveal except a hardware dongle.

Bit rate is one thing. Having a higher bit rate lowers your noise level for each track. Useful for audio engineering and mastering. And even then well recorded 16bit files would still be fine with noise levels unlikely to be an issue.

For sampling rate, there is no need to go higher than 44.1/48kHz according to the Nyquist theorem.

Sure hd600 will sound more closed in when listening to regular stereo music. Play back binaural or use spatial audio, and then there frequency response curve is almost perfect allowing for spherical soundstage reproduction