My exact philosophy.

And hello fellow psychopath that works out without music! I get some funny looks when I tell people I workout without any music. It makes your mind go to a cool place when you're deep into a lifting or cardio session with nothing but the task at hand to focus on and complete.

That's actually one of my main uses of airpods. Noise cancelling and an app called A Soft Murmur. Also have a website of the same name- https://asoftmurmur.com/. Allows you to mix and set what background noise you want.

I'm the exact opposite- I can't work and listen to music as it distracts me too much.

(Spicy take inbound) People listen to music too much. Now before you burn me at the stake, listening to music is a dopaminergic activity. Meaning it causes your brain to release dopamine. You get acclimated to these activities and your perceived response lessens. That's why when you go a day or two without music, it hits harder (at least that's my experience).

Shit I'm dumb. I haven't listened to Fort Minor in years- but time to change that. I wonder how it scales with better audio equipment.

RIP Chester

My brain no work today

That's fair and I can see it then. I'm fortunate to be at a job where I do much of my logic focused time in one part of the day and managerial stuff in another part. I can handle managerial tasks while listening to music.

Props to you. I cannot program for the life of me while listening to music. I get way too distracted. Brown noise or something like it is great though.

Edit: words and sentences are hard

You gotta try Soulstone Survivors. It's my favorite survivors game that isn't Vampire Survivors

25% Reddit scrolling, 25% searching and learning more about the artist like you mention, and 50% of the time brooding in silence enjoying the tunes haha.

Lights off at night and listening in the dark is the best IMO

Turn off audio enchantments in Windows settings

Makes sense to me. Less variation means they can focus QA/QC on finer details.

As an Audeze and LCD-5 stan, the glued on pads talking point just gets old. I asked them for a new set of pads for my LCD-5 and they shipped out a pair for free. And they have videos on how to replace it. Just seems like a gripe that gets magnified because they're the only company that does it.

> It in itself isn't a major problem, its more what it might say about their processes, business model and/or customer care that concerns me.

Yeah and given OP's experience with one of their inexpensive products it seems like Audeze does more harm than good. Like what if OP gets a higher headphone budget and can afford something like an LCD-X and now they will automatically avoid it. Seems like a quick way to save $100 now but lose more in the future.

Anyway, my experience with Audeze CS has been solid but I'm a degenerate with an astronomically expensive headphone so their more inclined to help me.

> That's seriously shows a lack of forethought... Or a distinct anti consumer design.

The pads are still replaceable albeit more of a pain to replace. They even wrote an article explaining why they glue on pads (article) but that doesn't explain why other companies can accomplish non-glued on pads while they can't / won't. Anyway I view it like some speaker manufactures really going on and on about how inert their speaker cabinets are.

Gorgeous set! I'm glad Audeze was able to capture what they had with the LCD-4 and cut it's weight down with the LCD-5. Because that 4 is too heavy for my weak neck.

I know the Quedlix 5K has great balance control (and independent L-R 10 band PEQ). But that's a mobile device but you might be able to hook it up to a PC with a USB cable.

On the much more expensive end (~$900) is the RME ADI-2 DAC/amp. That has extensive L/R balance capabilities and many more DSP features.

And like /u/Zilfallion says, checkout Peace EQ (which is a GUI interface of Equalizer APO). You can adjust Left and Right to your hearts content without having to buy one of the devices I listed above. Example image

Try resetting your cookies. Sometimes the PayPal plugin gets funky. If that doesn't work then it's something on their website

Headphones.com . I've bought from them on numerous occasions and have returned items without hassle. Bloom Audio is solid too. I haven't purchased from any other retailers.

Hey! Also a data scientist reporting in. I'm passionate about headphones and have spent a lot of time reading forums and watching videos on the topic. Frequency response is the only measurement that matters for headphones (CSD and waterfall are useless).

Measured frequency response (at least for over ears) will not match exactly what you hear because the measurement rig has a different anatomy than your ears.

This is a graph of 40 different peoples perception of FR, and the divergence starts at 1Khz.

So how a headphone looks on its FR, and how it is perceived by the individual, is subjective.

Check out the paper: https://vbn.aau.dk/ws/portalfiles/portal/227875122/1995_M_ller_et_al_AES_Journal_a.pdf

Now assuming your headphone is tuned to the same target by referencing a measurement rig, they still sound different. I'm with Resolve as far as explaining as to why- the reason being diaphragm material. I've EQ'd my HD660 to my LCD-5 stock FR and vice/versa using Crinacle's paid graphing tool. And they just sound different- especially in the leading edge (attack) and decay of notes as well as the LCD-5 imaging is far more accurate (the HD660 is blobish).

I recommend trying two separate headphones and EQing them to the same target and you'll experience that they sound differently in areas other than tonal balance.

Try reseating the headphone cable in the right socket. If that doesn't work, try another headphone cable if you have one.

I'm of the opinion the Schiit Magni/Modi stack is all you'll ever need. Full transparency, I am biased towards buying American. I've never heard a JDS Labs product, but I've only ever heard great things about them- so that's an option too. You can't go wrong with either.

Aside: Amps and DACs make such a minute difference and should be purchased mostly for the features you need (balanced, preamp, bluetooth etc.). I've gone up to $3k amps and DACs and the difference is inconsequential (to me). I'm also not a golden ear and I genuinely believe there's a variance in people's ability to hear. So I hesitate to proclaim all amps/DACs sound the same.

/r/HeadphoneAdvice can square you away. Schiit just recently updated the Magni. And it's still a helluva stack for $240.

I use a Bifrost 2/64 & Jot 2 stack now. Wanted balanced for my planars and for a long cable run I do from my DAC to my stereo.

100% and I agree with you on new headphones before rolling source equipment. Some people care about audio to an OCD level and others couldn't be bothered.

I was discussing how headphone and speaker presentation are very different with pros and cons of each. The difference between them is much more than over-ears and IEMs. But the good thing is the choice is not binary!

> Ultimately every single headphone discussed here is just a headphone. It doesn’t sound like good speakers in a room, it doesn’t sound like you’re in a concert hall, it’s a pair of little drivers strapped to your head

Obviously since we’re in r/Headphones , I’m a little biased towards personal audio. Headphones will never be able to render a soundstage or the chest feel of speakers in a room. But I’ll argue that for pure audio quality (at least what that means to me) and when equally priced, headphones trump speakers. I’m speaking from my experience with LCD-5s and my pair of Philharmonic BMR Towers speakers.

And good luck trying to make a stereo sound like a concert hall. That’s an exercise in futility and will burn a massive hole in your pocket. You’re better off accepting that a pair of speakers is just a pair of speakers. It’s in a room that is a fraction of the size of an actual concert hall and has 2 point sources of sound (assuming 2.0 setup) instead of dozens points of sound that a symphony has.

Yeah I’d say they’re both worth trying in the future but there’s no rush to it. Play around with EQ to get more out of the k702s.