I just wanted to add a couple of things. Very obviously this wasn't meant to be scientific, and I think that's where concerns about lack of a control is coming from, which is totally fair. However, the point of this video was NOT to determine if non-audiophiles could tell a difference between cheap and expensive frequency response (or sound quality alone), but rather to determine if non-audiophiles could tell between cheap and expensive HEADPHONES, which includes sound quality but can also include 'feel' and a number of other factors. If you JUST want to control for frequency response, you have to do something like Dr. Olive's virtual headphone test methodology, since weight, comfort, feel, all play a role in preference. But we wanted to see what happens if you include some of that. If you noticed, the rankings at the end were not always based on sound quality alone, and the ones considered most expensive weren't always the ones most preferred. This type of test could've been done without the blindfold even, but it at least makes it so they wouldn't be able to recognize brand names or tell which is which.
This video was very entertaining. It also told me that James has an inner headphone enthusiast just waiting to be unleashed. I predict that in five years, James or Han will own a $2,000 headphone system. Grace will happily live on with whatever she already has. Logan as a Koss-Kult member shall spread word of Koss heavenly value scripture to all of his friends during the day, and spend sleepless nights with Sennheiser HD600 playing video games.
_"This type of test could've been done without the blindfold even, but it at least makes it so they wouldn't be able to recognize brand names or tell which is which."_ Incorrect. Not seeing during the listening sessions meant that their brain won't focus on anything else _but_ listening, which does give a better audio experience in the end. On a second, semi-related note, the fact that the black haired guy completely nailed the Focal Clear price absolutely blew me away.
@@Tenhys Sure - I only mean that this wasn't ever intended to be about validating the "FR is all there is" point. You could put a bunch of headphones in front of non-audiophiles and have them try them out at their own pace and it would still be interesting to see what they think.
It's also worth noting that this is also a good example of how different people have different ears that have different preferences for what they consider good both in feel/comfort and the sound itself. The "blind" part affects both price bias a well as "listening with your eyes" where something that looks cheap or expensive can positively or negatively affect you through a placebo. So going only through touch and sound give a better impression of how the headphones are subjectively by showing that everyone has different tastes and one persons #1 isn't necessarily anothers.
Women are usually more into looks. I see the same behavior with my wife and sister. While I and my brother always look for the best stuff and sometimes sacrifice looks and even confort. Maybe headphone companies could attract more people building cute headphones
i think she's acquainted to the hobby because its not often that a layman guesses 3 or 4 grand for a good sounding headphone because that is just exorbitant she has to be the most into audio stuff not the least
I mean, pyschoacoustic research suggests that women tend to be on the "brighter" end of the harman target curve so it might not be surprising that she likes hifiman sound signature.
@@ydid687 If she was she wouldn’t have ranked the sonys first and she even said that she isn’t used to these kind of headphones because she uses airpods.
@@cicue2219 neutral headphones sound inferior to the newbies because they are used to liking bass of the distorted kind more but they are on the verge (in just 1 week more their old gear is gonna sound inferior to them others will take 2 to 3 weeks) its not that she's not a layman its just that she's less so than the rest of the 3 guys
Great video, it is refreshing to get 'normal', average views on headphones, think audiophiles can get caught in a bubble, I have been selling off a lot of my headphone stuff and just getting reasonably priced earbuds and more portable (small on ear mainly) headphones. I am finding that more fun, it does help that I am an old man now so my hearing is not as good as it was, so planar and electrostax etc. are wasted on me now. To be honest it is more fun in some ways, but I do miss some of the Koss and stax electrostatic headphones that I had a bit....... I think some of the prices now are just crazy though, 5,000 and over for some headphones now, but then I guess may be my age, as I think there was a high end Sony about 20 years ago that maybe cost the equivilant of 5,000 today....
I currently own a system in the $30k range w/ a few summit-fi headphones in rotation. I haven’t had one friend that wasn’t blown away, a few have even gotten emotional.
The girl would be shredded by "le audiophile" community but I did respect how honest she was. No point in having these great sounding 1500 headphones if the person can't wear them for 150 minutes without feeling like their head is caving in. Comfortability matters a lot to non audiophiles more than audiophiles/audio enthusiasts would like to admit
This is great. You guys need to hire this crew, furrealz. I think hearing the rationale for their rankings really drives home the point that "best" is truly subjective for so many reasons.
Very cool. Is good to have something more fun as a video once in a while. A suggestion: try to bring a more diverse group next time. For example, it was strange to see only a single girl give her opinion.
Personally I would have loved to see a Harman target headphone in the mix to see how the science shakes out IRL. Something like the K371 would have been great. Interesting nonetheless, similar to the vid Josh Valour did a while back.
it would have been nice to see how they reacted when you told them the susvara’s are 6k, and over 10k with the appropriate gear, when one of your friends thought they cost less than a good cable ;)
When I do the test with my friends and other people at my jobs (I change often) and around 10 headphones of my collection, there is always one that stand out, always to my surprise : Hifiman HE400i (lightly modified)
@@sooryanandanans236 Removed the grill, changed the pads, put a balanced cable (not for a direct change in the sound but more for the added power), and paired with a powerful enough amp. The blind tests were made with this simple configuration. I'm wainting to receive neodymium magnets to attach directly to the drivers to add more mass, accordingly to the "customcans"'s channel suggestions. IMO I tamed the highs and improved the bass and mids by a little margin. EDIT : this pair of headphones are clearly not my favorite, but I'm always surprised that this is a win for "not trained audiophiles" :-) Maybe I got lost at some point...
One important thing to know is that normal people just don't know headphones can even go that high in price. I thought the most expensive pair of headphones was 1000$ when I wasn't following the headphones industry
I think you would learn more from these types of video if the user doesn't get to hold the headphones at all before listening to it and give the audio rating. Not that there's a lot to learn in the first place but still :-P
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One surprise to me is how badly the Sony, a headphone that has been very well reviewed in the tech (non-audiophile) press, fared in these comparisons. That Sony is widely considered to be the best available headphone with active noise cancelling; if so, it's a sad comment on how bad that class of headphones is in general. But then I saw the other comments that explained it; that headphone is not designed for use as a passive wired headphone and does not perform well when used that way. The Porta-Pro may have been among the least favorite headphones for most of the listeners, but it still represents a value for people who are looking to step up their listening experience for not much money. And the Sennheiser unsurprisingly looks good at its price point.
I have several headphones priced from $500 to $1000 and I still enjoy listening to my Porta Pros, and even more so, the KPH30i's. There's a reason Koss has been selling those models since the 80s.
I mean it's not a scientific test and you can't control for variable. I think the fact that they got to feel the products first would have been the biggest liability. It's actually impressive that some of them ranked Porta pro high as they did given that they almost certainly fell the least expensive. And if Sony decides to make their wired connection and after that, that's kind of on them. It should still compare favorably with the $35 product.
Agreed, without the headphones turned on and using the inbuilt DSP you're essentially invalidating the test. And that's from somebody that really doesn't like the XM5s. The drivers used in (good) BT headphones are selected for their ability to deliver sound WITH the DSP - purposely selecting drivers that may be a compromise in freq response for other attributes because they know that the FR can be compensated for.
@@kiavaxxaskew Not better, but without it they will sound much worse than a normal wired headphone because the DSP is correcting for how the headset is designed. I have the Sony XM4s and I would never describe them the way they did so I knew something was wrong. When listening wirelessly they are bass boosted if anything and do not sound thin.
Price gas nothing to do with the quality of the sound, it's down to what company can make the best headphone unit for universal wearers. Only sad social influencers care about the price because it completes them and makes them better people than normal people. Well, that's what they think, usually social influencers are cash hungry wholesale who are thick as shit but too narcissistic to notice.
I don't think these were "normal" people. They kept up using words you really only hear from people in the audio community. Even Grace who seemed less inclined to audio gear she guessed prices that no lay person would guess; no one would just know that headphones can cost in the thousands of dollars. This is still a good video to watch, but it is not from a 'normal' person's perspective. What is shows is that there are other things to consider when buying a headphone than just the nuances to sound quality.
They are friends of an audiophile that makes audiophile videos, if a friend of mine was making youtube videos I would watch at least some of them even if I wasn't particularly interested in the subject of the video
Chrono: Hopefully someday we'll see these qualities married with the convenience of something like Sony's headphones. Breaking news: Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H95, Focal Bathys, and many others already exist. Sony MDR-Z1R: What am I, chopped liver? Sony MDR-1AM2: Hey, I exist too!
Eh, I can see how you can have that opinion, because in comparison to better headphones that comes out. They still have a pleasing sound to people though, so it's still definitely a personal preference. They undoubtedly get a little bit of extra love from people for the nostalgia factor too.
@@redstang5150 Nostalgia I can understand.. there are cheap options with better sound though at least imo.. what I do not understand is that these get a praise and the bass shelf starts at 600hz and there are much better tuned headphones (commercial ones) that get crapped on.. a it unfair.. so if someone new to the hobby listens to the reviews they will get the porta pro which have worse tuning than some commercial headphones and think they got a better tuned product..
@@jackjack3874 Yeah, and one of those better sounding headphones is the Koss KPH30i. And I think that opinion is pretty universal. I bought a pair of those after reading that comment a few times because I was skeptical that it could be true, but after both myself and a friend got a pair and compared it to our Porta Pros, we concurred that it's better. For me, it's not as comfortable though b/c it puts pressure on the top of my ear that is irritating after a couple hours, whereas the Porta Pros do not.
@@redstang5150Yes, I have the triad from Koss.. my preference is KSC75 but the clips are a bit small for my ears.. the KPH30i is warmer but I like it for that (it has its use case) and yes they are a bit clampy..the Creative Aurvana Live Se is around 60 euros on creative's site and is probably the next one up the ladder (they are closed back).. (mind you I have not tried the KPH40)... the original Shure SRH440 is no longer available otherwise they would follow the Creative (the SRH440A, new model, are not that good)... then AKG K361 and then K371 (also closed back)... then Sennheiser HD560S (open back) depending on whether you have a sort of powerful source (I mean better than a phone)... if you are good with eq the HD599 are cheaper, you can power them with your phone but they are open back, so not in public pls.. if you live in the US or one of the other countries Beyerdynamic site supports, supposedly the TYGR300R are a good V shape headphone (open back).. I have not tried them.. hope this helps... last comment, if you get the KSC75 and eq the bass to extend, you may probable not need anything else
You really have to hand it to Koss for being able to pump out cheap headphones that sound good. And with retro styles coming back, they don’t really look that bad either.
@@residentzero the Aria is also great. I find the Chu 2 to be a bit more vocal forward and energetic than the Aria. Though the Aria might have more perceived detail. Depends on what you like in this case. I feel like Crinacle will give the Chu 2 (2) or (3) stars (if that rating system means anything to you)
Videos like this are enlightening because so much of how we are influenced is usually determined by price and name brand. Always fun to see how subjective sound is.
Sorry, these aren’t “normal” listeners. If they use words like soundstage and flatness, or can identify a sennheiser product blind folded, they are not an “average joe” off the street.
@@samyg123 I agree but at the same time based on the genre they all seemed to primarily listen to I would say the Bose/Sony products wouldn’t have done as well? There’s a reason why they were picked. V shapped sounds are primarily dance, electronic, hip hop & R&B which NONE of these testers even chose as a day to day listening genre.
@@SteelyDanUnofficial makes me think. Should i spend thousands on an education to design and build my own headphones, or just spend the 6k on 200-300 dollar materials.
Even as an audiophile, there is only so much I’m willing to sacrifice with headphones because even for dedicated music listening session use, comfort/ergonomics and some convenience is as important as quality sound. I like a balance gestalt. Thanks and hopefully you’ll be doing more of these in the future.
HD650 was really a legacy in my audiophile community, one of the best pair along side AKG K-1000 or Grado RS-1 last 10-15 years ago, maybe. One of my friends still have it for daily use.
The legendary K1000 was such an important invention & creation in audio, even though it was released in 1989 it still puts so many flagship headphones to shame in many sonic areas (if you have powerful speaker amps to drive them of course).
Amazing how close Grace came to the actual price with what appears to be the LEAST experience in the panel. Great job!! I think price/performance is a LOT more accurate on full size headphones as opposed to IEMs.
She was perfectly capable of discerning sound quality of the phones, but in the end, sound quality wasn't at all her main choice criteria. Unlike audiophiles, what matters most to her is convenience and looks, - as the PortaPro might be the most convenient of them all, but she couldn't stand the (in her words) "computer lab" design -. In that regard, she is probably representative of a large chunk of the population.
As a producer im using a 180$ AKG and a 49€ Superlux. Both are studio headphones. The AKG has almost no bass at all. But great mid and high details. But i used to push the bass too much. Thats why i got those Superlux DH660 Pro. Great Soundstage and a little bit more bass. And very comfi to wear for many hours. Sometimes i forget that i have them on. But mixing is something new now... because you have to learn new headphones first. But i also use some cheap 20$ Motorola Headphones to check the final mix. A mix should also sound good on crappy headphones. 😜
Mastering engineers usually listen to their final masters in their cars, on cheap speakers and Apple earbuds just to make sure it sounds good for most of their customers.
Gotta say, this would be much more interesting if they didn't handle them first. That's another layer of bias, and it'd be far more interesting if it was just sound they were judging.
to be fair. because they all come from the same source. If wh use wireless its will bit different. In this aspect they just try pure tuning from all headphone without eq or app
@@kiavaxxaskew They're designed so that when you're on the go you enjoy a more lively but still accurate version of the music. The 3.5mm jack is for when you want to bypass the DAC and it's super flat. It's not enjoyable to listen to, it's there to give you a choice if you're hooking up to a computer and want your own EQ. 🙂 It might be better quality but it does not sound pleasant at all with no EQ.
This was cool. I wish you included headphones the average listener would use to highlight the differences. Your choices were all pretty good options. Realistically, the average person isn't going to drop $400 on headphones and the Porta Pro is a cult classic only audiophiles get. It would be nice to see some Beats or Skullcandys included to see if your friends could pick them out.
@Carl Gunderson I have a set of Sony's that I wear on planes. But, I still wouldn't say the "average" person is wearing them. In my extended family, I am the only one who would ever think of spending more than $100 on headphones. I'd also bet they are picking those for ANC, not sound quality.
Totally agree. Just look at the number of ratings on all the sub $200 headphones from all the no-name brands, not to mention the more well known consumer brands that you mentioned. Most people are buying a relatively cheap set and not looking for anything else until those break.
for the pure science of sound, you should not have let them touch the headphone. the premium materials and touch could have influenced how they perceived "sound quality". they might perceived as sounding "expensive" due to premium materials touches...
@@madpossum24 I guess they donot like the weight, to become audiophile, one needs to have a strong neck, lol, to have a big headphone on... cheaper headphones typically made with plastic is what regular people are used to...
Audio quality is a bit like wine; our ears and taste buds can both become very refined, with training. But if you don't care or haven't paid attention before, you won't tell much difference between a $10 bottle and a $100 bottle. Same with headphones. Most people are oblivious to how crappy the audio quality is in (most) cheap consumer gear. Therefore, nice equipment will just sound "different somehow" to them, if they notice a difference at all. But audio engineers, mixers and others trained in sound, can EASILY tell a difference.
An easy parallel can be drawn between headphones and cameras.. you can spend 5k on a high-end DSLR but for most people camera phones are fine, and many people prefer the smart images taken with iPhones etc
You can also spend over 100K on an Arri cinema camera, but a normie would probably find it way too complicated and also way too big and heavy. It also doesn't make pictures that are simply 20x nicer than a Sony Alpha, the differences will only matter to professionals.
I'd love to get a top picks for VR headphones from you. VR has very specific needs from headphones: ability to swap out cable with a short 3.5mm cable stability on head (won't move around when being more active) Immersive sound (my personal preference. VR is all about immersion to me)
I think people had an inherent bias against koss because of the feel. Would have been interesting if you just sort of placed them around their ears without them feeling it first and then got their initial reaction.
I have finally just decided to enjoy the gear I have and I have stopped buying new stuff. And I probably won't buy new stuff again until the stuff I have now breaks and even then.... I will be more selective about it.
I don’t usually comment on videos but this was entertaining and enlightening. More of exactly this video with other reviews friends and family would be welcome. It’s really fun to hear people’s reactions and impressions. It also brings this insane hobby down to earth, not everyone cares about sound and will prioritize comfort, makes sense. Keep up the good work!
As someone that uses a pair of HD6xx daily for at least 6 hours a day... I understand your sentiment. For the average user they're just fantastic. But if you want to spend a bit of money on a hobby, why not? My 'nice' pair of headphones (LCDX 2021) is noticeably different in many ways from the HD 600 series. Both are nice enough to keep me fairly disinterested in buying more headphones 👍
True, the headphones selections here are nice but they don't really have that WOW factor to impress the newbies. It's just more detail retrieval and then some more.
Interesting how they noticed an improvement in sound quality but did not rate that improvement to be worth that much more in their price predictions compared to the price jumps the headphones actually displayed. Shows that audiophiles massively overpay in an industry with ridiculously high margins.
I don't think the margins are so high because audiophile companies don't sell a lot of product. It's the same in other industries like film cameras. A big chunky cinema camera from Arri or Red costs 80K to way over 100K not because the picture is 100x better than a Sony Alpha. It's because they only sell a couple thousand of each of them.
@@maximilianmustermann5763 It depends on the particular brand and model, sure. But I would bet most products that are above "mid-fi" are grossly overpriced for what they are in this industry.
Yeah I also think they were probably able to deduce price based on feel which probably added some confirmation bias or placebo when they listened. It's not really entirely possible but it would have been nice to have them listen before they could really get a good sense of the heft or feel of the product with their hands
Overpriced, sure. But 1; everything is. And 2; If you want that experience from your music, and you can pay no less to get it, then its worth its price. To give an example. If we think of the clarity and detail of a headphone like a window. The difference between one of the best headphones in the $1-2k category and a TOTL headphone is the window being spotless, and the window not being there at all. If you want the window to no longer exist, then you are willing to pay how ever much more it cost to get that. To that guy, its ENTIRELY worth its value, therfore there value of diminishing returns never applied as to get that experience, they could pay NO LESS for it. Now the reason such a headphone is considered as beyond that curve to you is because you DONT value that requirement relative to its cost of reaching that point. Both of you are completely valid. Doesn’t stop a product being overpriced by other metrics, but you can still find the margin of a product worth paying for. For these people, obviously that wasn't going to be true.
I’ve listened all these minus the Koss and my favourite are the Hd650’s. People always associate price with being better that’s why blind tests are the best! Different strokes for different folks!!
I love my sennheiser stuff, but I can't go back after living with my focal clear. I'm a fiend for that punch quality. In reality anything above $500 doesn't really significantly improve in quality. You may get another 20% if you go for something like a Stax L700/Susvara/etc
I don't know why you guys are doing this, but 1000xm5 on wire mode is PURE CRAP, no objections accepted. This headphones has terrible acoustic design, which is corrected by DSP when powered on, and when the power is off in wired mode, you hear what it actually is.
Interesting. I have the XM4s and think they sound pretty darn good - but I've only ever used them wireless. I was really surprised that they all disliked them. To me they're tuned in a way I would think would really appeal to the average person, so if they suck in wired mode that would explain why they all thought they sucked.
@@redstang5150 again, due to lack of DSP correction most Bluetooth headphones sound very bad in wired mode. You also have the Stax spirit S3 which forcely power on when cable is plugged in so you don't get to hear the driver's true horribleness
Sure but it should still theoretically compare favorably to it $35 pair. They probably just didn't want to introduce a whole new variable of latency and compression which would have been inevitable with Bluetooth. But sure I mean Sony's view the wired connection as an afterthought. But still even accounting for that, I think an average person would probably assume a $400 pairs back up plan would compare favorably to something like the Porta pro.
And also, I mean Sony chose to do their wired connection as an afterthought. But they still offer it, so they can be judged for it. And if you introduce wireless, you're adding three new variables at least which could then complicate the test even further. Latency, compression, and the relative comfort of wireless. So I can kind of understand why they didn't do it Bluetooth. I can also understand why some Sony enthusiasts are dissatisfied with the decision but again, Sony didn't have to make the wired connection a complete afterthought.
@@michaelcorcoran8768The Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless headset are Premium Noise Canceling Headphones, not plugged in via some janky cord~ I own a set of the XM4s as well as many other Audiophile headphones ranging from less than $100 all the way up to a first car so I feel strongly on this..
This was fun to watch! I have the Arya Stealth and dream of hearing/owning Susvara. I will say that I am still blown away by my HD6XX. They are just such a satisfying headphone that loves to be cranked while not causing fatigue. I use them with a Burson Conductor GT and it is absolutely incredible what these $200 headphones are capable of. And I own other headphones that are more expensive. I've done tests like this with friends and it's very interesting to to hear their take not knowing the different prices of each headphone and just simply saying why they think one pair sounds better than another. This is truly a fun hobby albeit an expensive one after a while. Great video Chrono!
This is not a blind test. They shouldn't have touched headphones. In this case you could've just leave their eyes open. What's the point of this "How do they feel?" when the main question is "How do they sound?"
Yeah that's the biggest flaw in this process. You should have made them listen to it first without feeling it, and then it would have been interesting to do the field test second. But for instance, you feel something that seems cheap and plasticky, that's when confirmation bias and placebo kicks in and you might think it sounds worse. Placebo and confirmation bias are pretty big.
Interesting experiment. People often underestimate just how biased auditory perception is. Not to be too melodramatic, but this skill of "analytical listening" or "hearing the gear" that an audiophile develops over time tends to be more of a immersion-breaking curse than anything else (unless you have an unlimited budget of course). It's even worse for musicians. After you've learned how to play a certain piece of music, listening to it will never sound the same to you ever again, usually for the worse. The psychoacoustics iceberg goes much deeper with studys that show how people with perfect pitch typically show a significantly flatter affect to music than people without it. There's also a well-documented phenomenon where perfect pitch people start to experience all music and ambient noise as "sounding wrong" when their hearing starts to deteriorate with age. There's a bittersweet irony in how the human brain manages to make music less enjoyable for those who're particularly good at listening. We should envy those who're able to feel like they want to headbang and air drum to generic music with only some cheap ass in-ears.
The moral here is that ignorance truly can be bliss. I think it's really true that the more you think about and obsess over something the harder it can be to just simply enjoy it. The other thing is that, at least in my experience, my ears like variety. I think your ears adjust to whatever headphones and speakers you always listen to and after a while they start to sound boring/the same. Therefore I enjoy having a collection of headphones and switch up what I'm using every so often, because when I start listening to a different set of headphones, it's like hearing things in a slightly different and new way again, and I start to appreciate how they sound different and how some songs sound better or worse through them.
I've always been curious about this sort of thing. I grew up playing bass heavy instruments and currently I prefer bass heavy headphones and iems. Unfortunately that means I'll never be an audiophile according to Reddit but at least I'm happy listening to the stuff I currently have.
@@zachbenson9548 audiophiles seem to be allergic to large bass quantity even when done well, I wouldn't worry much about it. If it sounds great to you then no one should tell you otherwise.
@@VexxedSR you're 100% correct. I spent so much money on endgame headphones and items only to settle for the stuff I didn't know I liked that was far less expensive.
Did you guys turn on the XM5's before plugging them in? lol Because Sony's headphones sound like trash just using wired, gotta turn em on first before plugging in and I don't think I've ever heard anyone describe their headphones as tinny. And then having them say the next pair has more bass. Sony's headphones are WAY too bassy lmao
JBL660 NC Headphones are as good as headphones costing over $300. I have tried most of the more expensive brands, some in the $300-$600 range. The sound quality of JBL is fantastic and sounds better than some much more expensive cans. JBL is wonderful for ambient, atmospheric, oldies, classic rock, soft rock, Motown, and classical music. If you love heavy base, they are average. The noise cancelling is great. They are comfortable to wear . The construction is high quality. They work great with JBL and Bose speakers and Bluetooth devices. There are some nice protective carrying cases available. They are great for travel. If you want to save money, buy these. You won't be disappointed.
it woould be interesting to see what opinions change and why with long term listening such as for a week. i know mine did. i so so like my Hifiman 4XXs and like them better after the headband failed and I got a band with the intermediate comfort strap below the top overhead spring. got the band cheap from ali express. even after a few years of this, I still would like to afford some good electrostats but planars do a credible job. i got a pair of Audeze Maxwells for $329 and like them a lot with some reservations.
Ok i get that the xm5s are not great but you guys definitely dint turn them on, and just plugged them in via aux, which is not how they are meant to be used. They have in built dsp which does all the work and the drivers are nothing. There is no way those guys thought koss had more "bass" than the xm5s. Sure they might be better overall but the test was misleading and i feel that you guys did that on purpose.
I love videos/reviews in this aspect. Unbiased initial opinions which of course is subjective but the level of innocence each pair of headphones was granted by the listeners is what stood out the most and pulled me in deeper to hear and understand their overall opinion of each pair. thx guys.
Wow... I'm learning a lot. But I get it, they don't want to listen to music critically, so their opinion actually doesn't matter. At the end of the day they don't know what to look for. It's like asking a normie to judge between Van Gogh and Manet... He/she will choose the one which suits his/her style or will look good in the apartment wall.
Nice try, common let them look for sound quality, instead asking them too many other things, why in the world should start from the end, let them tell you the best to the world, people too complicated but for reason, the girl had no business in the test, she wasn't about the sound, but caused it, by no focusing on sound quality, annoying video, I forced to watch through bc it's an interesting idea, but very badly put together, just feedback not hate, thanks
Yeah but honestly the sonys would sound much better through Bluetooth with the active noise cancellation. They're not really tuned to sound good as a wired connection
Honestly the music you guys pick make all these videos pointless 😣 stop with the pop songs and actually start showing these people some lossless recordings, especially old psychedelic rock, and they would actually be amazed.
You need to get more random people with Zero Audio experience, these folks are into audio... Also, you should place the headphones on them, you let them feel expensive build quality. Not an accurate test at all
I just wanted to add a couple of things. Very obviously this wasn't meant to be scientific, and I think that's where concerns about lack of a control is coming from, which is totally fair.
However, the point of this video was NOT to determine if non-audiophiles could tell a difference between cheap and expensive frequency response (or sound quality alone), but rather to determine if non-audiophiles could tell between cheap and expensive HEADPHONES, which includes sound quality but can also include 'feel' and a number of other factors. If you JUST want to control for frequency response, you have to do something like Dr. Olive's virtual headphone test methodology, since weight, comfort, feel, all play a role in preference. But we wanted to see what happens if you include some of that. If you noticed, the rankings at the end were not always based on sound quality alone, and the ones considered most expensive weren't always the ones most preferred.
This type of test could've been done without the blindfold even, but it at least makes it so they wouldn't be able to recognize brand names or tell which is which.
This video was very entertaining. It also told me that James has an inner headphone enthusiast just waiting to be unleashed. I predict that in five years, James or Han will own a $2,000 headphone system. Grace will happily live on with whatever she already has. Logan as a Koss-Kult member shall spread word of Koss heavenly value scripture to all of his friends during the day, and spend sleepless nights with Sennheiser HD600 playing video games.
_"This type of test could've been done without the blindfold even, but it at least makes it so they wouldn't be able to recognize brand names or tell which is which."_
Incorrect. Not seeing during the listening sessions meant that their brain won't focus on anything else _but_ listening, which does give a better audio experience in the end.
On a second, semi-related note, the fact that the black haired guy completely nailed the Focal Clear price absolutely blew me away.
@@Tenhys Sure - I only mean that this wasn't ever intended to be about validating the "FR is all there is" point. You could put a bunch of headphones in front of non-audiophiles and have them try them out at their own pace and it would still be interesting to see what they think.
It's also worth noting that this is also a good example of how different people have different ears that have different preferences for what they consider good both in feel/comfort and the sound itself. The "blind" part affects both price bias a well as "listening with your eyes" where something that looks cheap or expensive can positively or negatively affect you through a placebo.
So going only through touch and sound give a better impression of how the headphones are subjectively by showing that everyone has different tastes and one persons #1 isn't necessarily anothers.
differences between...one's wireless and the other isn't~
it seemed like grace was least into audio stuff out of them yet her price guesses were almost on point... impressive stuff
Women are usually more into looks. I see the same behavior with my wife and sister. While I and my brother always look for the best stuff and sometimes sacrifice looks and even confort.
Maybe headphone companies could attract more people building cute headphones
i think she's acquainted to the hobby because its not often that a layman guesses 3 or 4 grand for a good sounding headphone because that is just exorbitant
she has to be the most into audio stuff not the least
I mean, pyschoacoustic research suggests that women tend to be on the "brighter" end of the harman target curve so it might not be surprising that she likes hifiman sound signature.
@@ydid687 If she was she wouldn’t have ranked the sonys first and she even said that she isn’t used to these kind of headphones because she uses airpods.
@@cicue2219 neutral headphones sound inferior to the newbies because they are used to liking bass of the distorted kind more but they are on the verge (in just 1 week more their old gear is gonna sound inferior to them others will take 2 to 3 weeks)
its not that she's not a layman its just that she's less so than the rest of the 3 guys
> Can "normal people" tell the difference?
> "I know the dynamic range of that song..."
Find the mistake. 😀
I feel like adding a legit bad cheap headphone to the list would be interesting
yeah, a "cute" pair
Great video, it is refreshing to get 'normal', average views on headphones, think audiophiles can get caught in a bubble, I have been selling off a lot of my headphone stuff and just getting reasonably priced earbuds and more portable (small on ear mainly) headphones. I am finding that more fun, it does help that I am an old man now so my hearing is not as good as it was, so planar and electrostax etc. are wasted on me now. To be honest it is more fun in some ways, but I do miss some of the Koss and stax electrostatic headphones that I had a bit....... I think some of the prices now are just crazy though, 5,000 and over for some headphones now, but then I guess may be my age, as I think there was a high end Sony about 20 years ago that maybe cost the equivilant of 5,000 today....
the dude recognized sennies by touch... hes definitely not "normal" 🤣
@@Medsas I would too honestly, it something about them being open back and that 2 hump headband that makes it stand out.
@@Alepap. we're not normal either we're audiophile nerds 🤣
I currently own a system in the $30k range w/ a few summit-fi headphones in rotation. I haven’t had one friend that wasn’t blown away, a few have even gotten emotional.
i just want the 1000se
@@KenMoreira go for arya stealth it's better 😉
@@KenMoreira careful what you wish for ; )
That can has quite a lot of top end energy
@@sjqideez6626 I have a tube amp, and a spring 3 kte r2r dac I think it'll have great synergy
Describe your source. What feeds the information to your dac?
The girl would be shredded by "le audiophile" community but I did respect how honest she was. No point in having these great sounding 1500 headphones if the person can't wear them for 150 minutes without feeling like their head is caving in. Comfortability matters a lot to non audiophiles more than audiophiles/audio enthusiasts would like to admit
This is great.
You guys need to hire this crew, furrealz. I think hearing the rationale for their rankings really drives home the point that "best" is truly subjective for so many reasons.
Very cool. Is good to have something more fun as a video once in a while. A suggestion: try to bring a more diverse group next time. For example, it was strange to see only a single girl give her opinion.
Personally I would have loved to see a Harman target headphone in the mix to see how the science shakes out IRL. Something like the K371 would have been great. Interesting nonetheless, similar to the vid Josh Valour did a while back.
The susvara is harman target. You are dummer than I thought.
Very nice Idea. I lIke that Format. We see that we have to skill our Ears.
I would like to see more Videos like that!
it would have been nice to see how they reacted when you told them the susvara’s are 6k, and over 10k with the appropriate gear, when one of your friends thought they cost less than a good cable ;)
Not gonna lie, I started to really tell a difference after I had been listening to audiophile grade stuff
Will you do IEMs next?
Amazing video, need more videos like this one🔥🔥🔥
When I do the test with my friends and other people at my jobs (I change often) and around 10 headphones of my collection, there is always one that stand out, always to my surprise : Hifiman HE400i (lightly modified)
What mod did u do?
Just curious
@@sooryanandanans236 Removed the grill, changed the pads, put a balanced cable (not for a direct change in the sound but more for the added power), and paired with a powerful enough amp. The blind tests were made with this simple configuration. I'm wainting to receive neodymium magnets to attach directly to the drivers to add more mass, accordingly to the "customcans"'s channel suggestions. IMO I tamed the highs and improved the bass and mids by a little margin.
EDIT : this pair of headphones are clearly not my favorite, but I'm always surprised that this is a win for "not trained audiophiles" :-) Maybe I got lost at some point...
"They are heavy, I don't like heavy. Heavy is not cute"
One important thing to know is that normal people just don't know headphones can even go that high in price. I thought the most expensive pair of headphones was 1000$ when I wasn't following the headphones industry
wow, they know "Eddy Wally" from Belgium :D
Should've thrown in Meze 99 to see their price/performance reactions in comparison to the porta pros.
I think you would learn more from these types of video if the user doesn't get to hold the headphones at all before listening to it and give the audio rating. Not that there's a lot to learn in the first place but still :-P
One surprise to me is how badly the Sony, a headphone that has been very well reviewed in the tech (non-audiophile) press, fared in these comparisons. That Sony is widely considered to be the best available headphone with active noise cancelling; if so, it's a sad comment on how bad that class of headphones is in general. But then I saw the other comments that explained it; that headphone is not designed for use as a passive wired headphone and does not perform well when used that way.
The Porta-Pro may have been among the least favorite headphones for most of the listeners, but it still represents a value for people who are looking to step up their listening experience for not much money. And the Sennheiser unsurprisingly looks good at its price point.
I have several headphones priced from $500 to $1000 and I still enjoy listening to my Porta Pros, and even more so, the KPH30i's. There's a reason Koss has been selling those models since the 80s.
You should have asked them if they like cat ears on their headphones then showed them pictures of Resolve with pink cat ear headphones.
I believe you used the sony powered off... via cable. That disables DSP and basically invalidates the test
I mean it's not a scientific test and you can't control for variable. I think the fact that they got to feel the products first would have been the biggest liability. It's actually impressive that some of them ranked Porta pro high as they did given that they almost certainly fell the least expensive.
And if Sony decides to make their wired connection and after that, that's kind of on them. It should still compare favorably with the $35 product.
so you're saying that the "DSP" would have a better effect than a 3,000 US dollar headphone amplifier?
Agreed, without the headphones turned on and using the inbuilt DSP you're essentially invalidating the test. And that's from somebody that really doesn't like the XM5s.
The drivers used in (good) BT headphones are selected for their ability to deliver sound WITH the DSP - purposely selecting drivers that may be a compromise in freq response for other attributes because they know that the FR can be compensated for.
@@kiavaxxaskew Not better, but without it they will sound much worse than a normal wired headphone because the DSP is correcting for how the headset is designed. I have the Sony XM4s and I would never describe them the way they did so I knew something was wrong. When listening wirelessly they are bass boosted if anything and do not sound thin.
Hd6xx sell after this 🚀 🚀 🚀
Price gas nothing to do with the quality of the sound, it's down to what company can make the best headphone unit for universal wearers. Only sad social influencers care about the price because it completes them and makes them better people than normal people. Well, that's what they think, usually social influencers are cash hungry wholesale who are thick as shit but too narcissistic to notice.
lol.....too bad you guys didn't have an old school billion pound Audeze laying around.
I hope you guys used Top End source, DAC, and AMP for this test that way you can get the most out of every headphone especially those Susvaras.
If you're asking this like for real I genuinely and seriously am concerned for your IQ
I don't think these were "normal" people. They kept up using words you really only hear from people in the audio community. Even Grace who seemed less inclined to audio gear she guessed prices that no lay person would guess; no one would just know that headphones can cost in the thousands of dollars. This is still a good video to watch, but it is not from a 'normal' person's perspective. What is shows is that there are other things to consider when buying a headphone than just the nuances to sound quality.
They are friends of an audiophile that makes audiophile videos, if a friend of mine was making youtube videos I would watch at least some of them even if
I wasn't particularly interested in the subject of the video
Chrono: Hopefully someday we'll see these qualities married with the convenience of something like Sony's headphones.
Breaking news: Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H95, Focal Bathys, and many others already exist.
Sony MDR-Z1R: What am I, chopped liver?
Sony MDR-1AM2: Hey, I exist too!
Am I the only one that finds the porta pro to be a bloated mess? Maybe I have a defective unit or something
Eh, I can see how you can have that opinion, because in comparison to better headphones that comes out. They still have a pleasing sound to people though, so it's still definitely a personal preference. They undoubtedly get a little bit of extra love from people for the nostalgia factor too.
@@redstang5150 Nostalgia I can understand.. there are cheap options with better sound though at least imo.. what I do not understand is that these get a praise and the bass shelf starts at 600hz and there are much better tuned headphones (commercial ones) that get crapped on.. a it unfair.. so if someone new to the hobby listens to the reviews they will get the porta pro which have worse tuning than some commercial headphones and think they got a better tuned product..
@@jackjack3874 Yeah, and one of those better sounding headphones is the Koss KPH30i. And I think that opinion is pretty universal. I bought a pair of those after reading that comment a few times because I was skeptical that it could be true, but after both myself and a friend got a pair and compared it to our Porta Pros, we concurred that it's better. For me, it's not as comfortable though b/c it puts pressure on the top of my ear that is irritating after a couple hours, whereas the Porta Pros do not.
@@redstang5150Yes, I have the triad from Koss.. my preference is KSC75 but the clips are a bit small for my ears.. the KPH30i is warmer but I like it for that (it has its use case) and yes they are a bit clampy..the Creative Aurvana Live Se is around 60 euros on creative's site and is probably the next one up the ladder (they are closed back).. (mind you I have not tried the KPH40)... the original Shure SRH440 is no longer available otherwise they would follow the Creative (the SRH440A, new model, are not that good)... then AKG K361 and then K371 (also closed back)... then Sennheiser HD560S (open back) depending on whether you have a sort of powerful source (I mean better than a phone)... if you are good with eq the HD599 are cheaper, you can power them with your phone but they are open back, so not in public pls.. if you live in the US or one of the other countries Beyerdynamic site supports, supposedly the TYGR300R are a good V shape headphone (open back).. I have not tried them.. hope this helps... last comment, if you get the KSC75 and eq the bass to extend, you may probable not need anything else
Cries for the portapro, but is a fair list.
I refuse to believe, there are people who wouldnt know Koss Porta pro just from having in their hands. :D :D :D
After it has become a Tiktok thing, I refuse to believe people don't recognize that
Long hair blonde guy lowballed everything so hard and he even guessed the Sennheiser and got the price wrong
Would've loved to see their reactions to the prices
Especially that first guy. Thinking the most expensive headphone was only $300 🤣
@@daveguan2432Yeah I don't think he realized how are expensive headphones can even get.
I feel like letting them touch the headphones takes away the objectiveness of assessing sound quality.
Just what I was about to say.
Almost no one knew even after touching em though :p . When he said sennheiser, probably thought the hd560s.
@@kenneyt9 maybe but the 600 is the most well known.
You can't "objectively assess" quality of sound
No because the build and comfort are a part of the experience
You really have to hand it to Koss for being able to pump out cheap headphones that sound good. And with retro styles coming back, they don’t really look that bad either.
yeah and the great thing about koss is, all you have to do is yank on the cables and they come off.
@@provisionalhypothesis ahaha 🤣. It’s passed a toddler’s abuse so it passes in my books for now.
@@residentzero bro try the Moondrop Chu 2. Such a good budget set.
@@residentzero the Aria is also great. I find the Chu 2 to be a bit more vocal forward and energetic than the Aria. Though the Aria might have more perceived detail. Depends on what you like in this case. I feel like Crinacle will give the Chu 2 (2) or (3) stars (if that rating system means anything to you)
Also solid and lifetime warranty
Videos like this are enlightening because so much of how we are influenced is usually determined by price and name brand. Always fun to see how subjective sound is.
Sorry, these aren’t “normal” listeners. If they use words like soundstage and flatness, or can identify a sennheiser product blind folded, they are not an “average joe” off the street.
I feel like the girl was the most average joe but did the best. He did say it wasn’t super scientific at the end
@@robertct06 I agree. Most non-audiophiles would prioritize light weight builds and V shaped sounds. That’s why Bose and Sony do so well.
@@samyg123 I agree but at the same time based on the genre they all seemed to primarily listen to I would say the Bose/Sony products wouldn’t have done as well? There’s a reason why they were picked. V shapped sounds are primarily dance, electronic, hip hop & R&B which NONE of these testers even chose as a day to day listening genre.
@@1988remixx that’s a good point as well, none said they like typical popular music 🤦♂️
Ahhh yes nothing like gatekeeping the hobby! Those are our words 🤬😡!!!
I love videos where non-audiophiles try out dope gear. The look on their faces is so entertaining
Dude's just casually flicking a 6000$ Headphone...
(7:18)
It definitely is 200-300$ headphone though.
Yeah...
@@SteelyDanUnofficial makes me think. Should i spend thousands on an education to design and build my own headphones, or just spend the 6k on 200-300 dollar materials.
@@kiavaxxaskew just spend 15 on the ksc75 it is life changing
@@kiavaxxaskewPeople who buy 6000 dollars headphones don't need to choose between the two
Even as an audiophile, there is only so much I’m willing to sacrifice with headphones because even for dedicated music listening session use, comfort/ergonomics and some convenience is as important as quality sound. I like a balance gestalt. Thanks and hopefully you’ll be doing more of these in the future.
HD650 was really a legacy in my audiophile community, one of the best pair along side AKG K-1000 or Grado RS-1 last 10-15 years ago, maybe. One of my friends still have it for daily use.
My HD650 will be buried with me. On my skull.
@@TheWorldTeacher never heard the 650 but I love my 600. Bought them like 4 months ago.
The legendary K1000 was such an important invention & creation in audio, even though it was released in 1989 it still puts so many flagship headphones to shame in many sonic areas (if you have powerful speaker amps to drive them of course).
Hd 650 hype
@@aidencoder lol
Amazing how close Grace came to the actual price with what appears to be the LEAST experience in the panel. Great job!! I think price/performance is a LOT more accurate on full size headphones as opposed to IEMs.
She was perfectly capable of discerning sound quality of the phones, but in the end, sound quality wasn't at all her main choice criteria. Unlike audiophiles, what matters most to her is convenience and looks, - as the PortaPro might be the most convenient of them all, but she couldn't stand the (in her words) "computer lab" design -. In that regard, she is probably representative of a large chunk of the population.
i was waiting for price reveals for the guys who stayed in the hundreds.
Man blond guy is an audiophile even though he's not aware of it yet.
My man even picked on the driver timbre.
As a producer im using a 180$ AKG and a 49€ Superlux. Both are studio headphones. The AKG has almost no bass at all. But great mid and high details. But i used to push the bass too much. Thats why i got those Superlux DH660 Pro. Great Soundstage and a little bit more bass. And very comfi to wear for many hours. Sometimes i forget that i have them on. But mixing is something new now... because you have to learn new headphones first. But i also use some cheap 20$ Motorola Headphones to check the final mix. A mix should also sound good on crappy headphones. 😜
Mastering engineers usually listen to their final masters in their cars, on cheap speakers and Apple earbuds just to make sure it sounds good for most of their customers.
Gotta say, this would be much more interesting if they didn't handle them first. That's another layer of bias, and it'd be far more interesting if it was just sound they were judging.
Why are you using the 3.5mm port on the WH1000? That bypasses the processor. I'm certain you're not running an EQ
to be fair. because they all come from the same source. If wh use wireless its will bit different. In this aspect they just try pure tuning from all headphone without eq or app
wouldn't they sound better if you bypass the built-in dac/amp?
@@kiavaxxaskew They're designed so that when you're on the go you enjoy a more lively but still accurate version of the music.
The 3.5mm jack is for when you want to bypass the DAC and it's super flat. It's not enjoyable to listen to, it's there to give you a choice if you're hooking up to a computer and want your own EQ. 🙂 It might be better quality but it does not sound pleasant at all with no EQ.
This was cool. I wish you included headphones the average listener would use to highlight the differences. Your choices were all pretty good options. Realistically, the average person isn't going to drop $400 on headphones and the Porta Pro is a cult classic only audiophiles get. It would be nice to see some Beats or Skullcandys included to see if your friends could pick them out.
@Carl Gunderson I have a set of Sony's that I wear on planes. But, I still wouldn't say the "average" person is wearing them. In my extended family, I am the only one who would ever think of spending more than $100 on headphones. I'd also bet they are picking those for ANC, not sound quality.
Totally agree. Just look at the number of ratings on all the sub $200 headphones from all the no-name brands, not to mention the more well known consumer brands that you mentioned. Most people are buying a relatively cheap set and not looking for anything else until those break.
Hey Chrono - did you volume match all the headphones beforehand? That can greatly change the perception of detail, bass levels, etc.
Koss Porta Pro.
for the pure science of sound, you should not have let them touch the headphone. the premium materials and touch could have influenced how they perceived "sound quality". they might perceived as sounding "expensive" due to premium materials touches...
True, yet it seemed none of them liked the Focals, which probably had the most premium feel
@@madpossum24 I guess they donot like the weight, to become audiophile, one needs to have a strong neck, lol, to have a big headphone on... cheaper headphones typically made with plastic is what regular people are used to...
no touch, no price would be fair.
Audio quality is a bit like wine; our ears and taste buds can both become very refined, with training. But if you don't care or haven't paid attention before, you won't tell much difference between a $10 bottle and a $100 bottle. Same with headphones. Most people are oblivious to how crappy the audio quality is in (most) cheap consumer gear. Therefore, nice equipment will just sound "different somehow" to them, if they notice a difference at all. But audio engineers, mixers and others trained in sound, can EASILY tell a difference.
A very appropriate analogy.
An easy parallel can be drawn between headphones and cameras.. you can spend 5k on a high-end DSLR but for most people camera phones are fine, and many people prefer the smart images taken with iPhones etc
You can also spend over 100K on an Arri cinema camera, but a normie would probably find it way too complicated and also way too big and heavy. It also doesn't make pictures that are simply 20x nicer than a Sony Alpha, the differences will only matter to professionals.
The best camera is the one you have with you.
I'd love to get a top picks for VR headphones from you.
VR has very specific needs from headphones:
ability to swap out cable with a short 3.5mm cable
stability on head (won't move around when being more active)
Immersive sound (my personal preference. VR is all about immersion to me)
Great vid. Before we were audio enthusiasts expensive = 300 hehe ❤. Susvara cry 😢
I think people had an inherent bias against koss because of the feel. Would have been interesting if you just sort of placed them around their ears without them feeling it first and then got their initial reaction.
Koss are not going to outperform any of these other than the Sony’s as seen from the video
Tbh I used to enjoy music a lot more before I got into this hobby and now I'm always skeptical about what am I missing
I have finally just decided to enjoy the gear I have and I have stopped buying new stuff. And I probably won't buy new stuff again until the stuff I have now breaks and even then.... I will be more selective about it.
Then you have mental issues that need to be addressed. These are not caused by a hobby, but an addiction. Learn the differences.
I don’t usually comment on videos but this was entertaining and enlightening.
More of exactly this video with other reviews friends and family would be welcome.
It’s really fun to hear people’s reactions and impressions. It also brings this insane hobby down to earth, not everyone cares about sound and will prioritize comfort, makes sense.
Keep up the good work!
The Sennheiser 600 series should be good enough for most people, it's just a waste of money to buy more expensive headphones imo.
As someone that uses a pair of HD6xx daily for at least 6 hours a day... I understand your sentiment. For the average user they're just fantastic. But if you want to spend a bit of money on a hobby, why not?
My 'nice' pair of headphones (LCDX 2021) is noticeably different in many ways from the HD 600 series. Both are nice enough to keep me fairly disinterested in buying more headphones 👍
Not entirely true, but you do have my sympathy :)
Imagine what they would think of a STAX lambda and then the surprise from the sound lol
True, the headphones selections here are nice but they don't really have that WOW factor to impress the newbies. It's just more detail retrieval and then some more.
Absolutely, I’ve shocked many people with a 40+ year old Lamdba can
550V can be quite shocking, yes
They should listen before feeling them.
Interesting how they noticed an improvement in sound quality but did not rate that improvement to be worth that much more in their price predictions compared to the price jumps the headphones actually displayed. Shows that audiophiles massively overpay in an industry with ridiculously high margins.
I don't think the margins are so high because audiophile companies don't sell a lot of product. It's the same in other industries like film cameras. A big chunky cinema camera from Arri or Red costs 80K to way over 100K not because the picture is 100x better than a Sony Alpha. It's because they only sell a couple thousand of each of them.
@@maximilianmustermann5763 It depends on the particular brand and model, sure. But I would bet most products that are above "mid-fi" are grossly overpriced for what they are in this industry.
Yeah I also think they were probably able to deduce price based on feel which probably added some confirmation bias or placebo when they listened. It's not really entirely possible but it would have been nice to have them listen before they could really get a good sense of the heft or feel of the product with their hands
Overpriced, sure. But 1; everything is. And 2; If you want that experience from your music, and you can pay no less to get it, then its worth its price. To give an example. If we think of the clarity and detail of a headphone like a window. The difference between one of the best headphones in the $1-2k category and a TOTL headphone is the window being spotless, and the window not being there at all. If you want the window to no longer exist, then you are willing to pay how ever much more it cost to get that. To that guy, its ENTIRELY worth its value, therfore there value of diminishing returns never applied as to get that experience, they could pay NO LESS for it. Now the reason such a headphone is considered as beyond that curve to you is because you DONT value that requirement relative to its cost of reaching that point. Both of you are completely valid. Doesn’t stop a product being overpriced by other metrics, but you can still find the margin of a product worth paying for. For these people, obviously that wasn't going to be true.
Your comment was deleted. I'm unable to see it.
I wish you had included reactions when they found out the headphones cost 30x more than their guess.
I’ve listened all these minus the Koss and my favourite are the Hd650’s. People always associate price with being better that’s why blind tests are the best! Different strokes for different folks!!
Koss are godlike
I love my sennheiser stuff, but I can't go back after living with my focal clear. I'm a fiend for that punch quality. In reality anything above $500 doesn't really significantly improve in quality. You may get another 20% if you go for something like a Stax L700/Susvara/etc
You’ve heard here folks… Susvara should be $200ish 😅
7:16 dude just thumped a $6000 headphone.
Some of the people in the video make me think I’m a “normal” person and that they’re the audiphiles LOL
My take away is that higher price does not equal better sound. The comfort + how closely a Headphone is tuned to your preference is more important.
It’s called marginal gain.
no, sound quality is most important. The headphone that sounds the best is the best.
@@kiavaxxaskew What good is that for if you can't wear them not even for an hour or if it breaks after some time.
God I always love these sorta videos
😼
God knows, no need to state the obvious.
I don't know why you guys are doing this, but 1000xm5 on wire mode is PURE CRAP, no objections accepted. This headphones has terrible acoustic design, which is corrected by DSP when powered on, and when the power is off in wired mode, you hear what it actually is.
Interesting. I have the XM4s and think they sound pretty darn good - but I've only ever used them wireless. I was really surprised that they all disliked them. To me they're tuned in a way I would think would really appeal to the average person, so if they suck in wired mode that would explain why they all thought they sucked.
@@redstang5150 again, due to lack of DSP correction most Bluetooth headphones sound very bad in wired mode. You also have the Stax spirit S3 which forcely power on when cable is plugged in so you don't get to hear the driver's true horribleness
LMAO when he flicked the susvara.
Why are the Sony's plugged in? I would think Bluetooth w/the LDAC codec set correctly would have been more realistic...But what do I know...
Sure but it should still theoretically compare favorably to it $35 pair. They probably just didn't want to introduce a whole new variable of latency and compression which would have been inevitable with Bluetooth.
But sure I mean Sony's view the wired connection as an afterthought. But still even accounting for that, I think an average person would probably assume a $400 pairs back up plan would compare favorably to something like the Porta pro.
And also, I mean Sony chose to do their wired connection as an afterthought. But they still offer it, so they can be judged for it.
And if you introduce wireless, you're adding three new variables at least which could then complicate the test even further. Latency, compression, and the relative comfort of wireless.
So I can kind of understand why they didn't do it Bluetooth. I can also understand why some Sony enthusiasts are dissatisfied with the decision but again, Sony didn't have to make the wired connection a complete afterthought.
@@michaelcorcoran8768The Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless headset are Premium Noise Canceling Headphones, not plugged in via some janky cord~ I own a set of the XM4s as well as many other Audiophile headphones ranging from less than $100 all the way up to a first car so I feel strongly on this..
This was fun to watch! I have the Arya Stealth and dream of hearing/owning Susvara. I will say that I am still blown away by my HD6XX. They are just such a satisfying headphone that loves to be cranked while not causing fatigue. I use them with a Burson Conductor GT and it is absolutely incredible what these $200 headphones are capable of. And I own other headphones that are more expensive. I've done tests like this with friends and it's very interesting to to hear their take not knowing the different prices of each headphone and just simply saying why they think one pair sounds better than another. This is truly a fun hobby albeit an expensive one after a while. Great video Chrono!
Good job Chrono. Great video.
ofc headphones have to be "cute" i mean wtf
This is not a blind test. They shouldn't have touched headphones. In this case you could've just leave their eyes open. What's the point of this "How do they feel?" when the main question is "How do they sound?"
Yeah that's the biggest flaw in this process. You should have made them listen to it first without feeling it, and then it would have been interesting to do the field test second.
But for instance, you feel something that seems cheap and plasticky, that's when confirmation bias and placebo kicks in and you might think it sounds worse.
Placebo and confirmation bias are pretty big.
That wasn't really their intent on this one. They wanted to include feel and comfort in the overall impressions, not just sound quality.
Terrible headphone choices tbh. I’d keep hd 600 and sus there but rest, no. Throw in 109 pro, dca stealth maybe even zmf etc etc.
Interesting experiment. People often underestimate just how biased auditory perception is. Not to be too melodramatic, but this skill of "analytical listening" or "hearing the gear" that an audiophile develops over time tends to be more of a immersion-breaking curse than anything else (unless you have an unlimited budget of course). It's even worse for musicians. After you've learned how to play a certain piece of music, listening to it will never sound the same to you ever again, usually for the worse. The psychoacoustics iceberg goes much deeper with studys that show how people with perfect pitch typically show a significantly flatter affect to music than people without it. There's also a well-documented phenomenon where perfect pitch people start to experience all music and ambient noise as "sounding wrong" when their hearing starts to deteriorate with age. There's a bittersweet irony in how the human brain manages to make music less enjoyable for those who're particularly good at listening. We should envy those who're able to feel like they want to headbang and air drum to generic music with only some cheap ass in-ears.
The moral here is that ignorance truly can be bliss. I think it's really true that the more you think about and obsess over something the harder it can be to just simply enjoy it.
The other thing is that, at least in my experience, my ears like variety. I think your ears adjust to whatever headphones and speakers you always listen to and after a while they start to sound boring/the same. Therefore I enjoy having a collection of headphones and switch up what I'm using every so often, because when I start listening to a different set of headphones, it's like hearing things in a slightly different and new way again, and I start to appreciate how they sound different and how some songs sound better or worse through them.
I've always been curious about this sort of thing. I grew up playing bass heavy instruments and currently I prefer bass heavy headphones and iems. Unfortunately that means I'll never be an audiophile according to Reddit but at least I'm happy listening to the stuff I currently have.
@@zachbenson9548 audiophiles seem to be allergic to large bass quantity even when done well, I wouldn't worry much about it. If it sounds great to you then no one should tell you otherwise.
@@VexxedSR you're 100% correct. I spent so much money on endgame headphones and items only to settle for the stuff I didn't know I liked that was far less expensive.
just a comment.. if a "normal" people can identify the dynamic range of a song... he is NOT a "normal" people !!! Come on !!!...
2:48 "🤓 I KnOw ThE DyNaMiC RaNgE oN ThIs OnE, YoU ArE nOt GeTtiNg EvErYtHiNg ThRoUgH ThEsE HeAdPhOnEs"
Seems like the Sony was off. The sound is different when on.
They are just bad sound quality headphones when you compare them to stuff like Sennheiser or even Koss Gear
@@sufjanfloofens yes but as they have all describe the sound, it's typically like when they are lintened to off
They’re terrible either way, but a different kind of terrib,e without their DSP, true.
They should have picked up the t+a solitaire T
Did you guys turn on the XM5's before plugging them in? lol
Because Sony's headphones sound like trash just using wired, gotta turn em on first before plugging in and I don't think I've ever heard anyone describe their headphones as tinny. And then having them say the next pair has more bass. Sony's headphones are WAY too bassy lmao
JBL660 NC Headphones are as good as headphones costing over $300. I have tried most of the more expensive brands, some in the $300-$600 range. The sound quality of JBL is fantastic and sounds better than some much more expensive cans. JBL is wonderful for ambient, atmospheric, oldies, classic rock, soft rock, Motown, and classical music. If you love heavy base, they are average. The noise cancelling is great. They are comfortable to wear . The construction is high quality. They work great with JBL and Bose speakers and Bluetooth devices. There are some nice protective carrying cases available. They are great for travel. If you want to save money, buy these. You won't be disappointed.
I think that cheap contenders are wrong choice. Too many boutique models. You could pick some of the Samson, AKG, Beyer Dynamics for that range.
it woould be interesting to see what opinions change and why with long term listening such as for a week. i know mine did. i so so like my Hifiman 4XXs and like them better after the headband failed and I got a band with the intermediate comfort strap below the top overhead spring. got the band cheap from ali express. even after a few years of this, I still would like to afford some good electrostats but planars do a credible job.
i got a pair of Audeze Maxwells for $329 and like them a lot with some reservations.
Ok i get that the xm5s are not great but you guys definitely dint turn them on, and just plugged them in via aux, which is not how they are meant to be used. They have in built dsp which does all the work and the drivers are nothing. There is no way those guys thought koss had more "bass" than the xm5s. Sure they might be better overall but the test was misleading and i feel that you guys did that on purpose.
This was interesting, I'd like to see more content like this.
I love videos/reviews in this aspect. Unbiased initial opinions which of course is subjective but the level of innocence each pair of headphones was granted by the listeners is what stood out the most and pulled me in deeper to hear and understand their overall opinion of each pair. thx guys.
Wow... I'm learning a lot. But I get it, they don't want to listen to music critically, so their opinion actually doesn't matter. At the end of the day they don't know what to look for. It's like asking a normie to judge between Van Gogh and Manet... He/she will choose the one which suits his/her style or will look good in the apartment wall.
I didn't like the Sony when I tried a pair, but every consumer website says they are good sounding. Why this gap in reviews and reality?
Nice try, common let them look for sound quality, instead asking them too many other things, why in the world should start from the end, let them tell you the best to the world, people too complicated but for reason, the girl had no business in the test, she wasn't about the sound, but caused it, by no focusing on sound quality, annoying video, I forced to watch through bc it's an interesting idea, but very badly put together, just feedback not hate, thanks
Hmmm. Did you turn on the Sony? If you connect the cable without turning them on it will sound tinny as the high res circuit is bypassed.
Now do it again without letting them handle the headphones.
Yeah but honestly the sonys would sound much better through Bluetooth with the active noise cancellation. They're not really tuned to sound good as a wired connection
Honestly the music you guys pick make all these videos pointless 😣 stop with the pop songs and actually start showing these people some lossless recordings, especially old psychedelic rock, and they would actually be amazed.
You need to get more random people with Zero Audio experience, these folks are into audio... Also, you should place the headphones on them, you let them feel expensive build quality.
Not an accurate test at all
'Way too heavy' he says about the Clear MGs.
Me watching this with a VC Ironwood on my head - right...
Bet you that if the HD 560s were included, they would come up 1st almost with everyone.