#85

Volume isn’t the problem per se - it’s distortion that’s the issue. Which is to say that your ears/hearing can tolerate high volume with low distortion much better than low/mid volume with high distortion. This is compounded by the fact that most people listen at high volume through devices in which the signal path - the encoding, the amplifier & most notably the earbuds - all conspire to produce terrible distortion which fatigues the listener & damages the ear drum & nerve pathway

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#86

do they really pay 7 x more than spotify? I’d read they pay a bit more but didn’t see any actual figures so was a bit sceptical.

Is it 7 x more if you pay the standard subscription or only if you pay for the higher rate?

#87

I mean we’re talking 0.001 vs 0.007 or something last I checked, but yeah.

Actually seems spotify have upped theirs a bit since
https://www.forbes.com/sites/hughmcintyre/2017/07/27/what-do-the-major-streaming-services-pay-per-stream/

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#88

Thanks for that.

Did use Tidal for a while and I thought it was absolutely fine so I may well swap back from Spotify on the basis of this info.

Can’t quite believe how Youtube get away with what they do.

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#89

back in the early days of internet use i can remember using search engines other than google, social media sites other than facebook… but i can’t remember ever using a video sharing site other than youtube

#90

That’s interesting, thanks. Something I was completely ignorant to.

I thought the Apple earphones were better now than when they were first introduced, at least the sound ‘quality’ appears better to me. Might try to find an honest appraisal of them that focuses on the distortion

#91

yeah absolutely.

Not sure how they have negotiated paying so much less per stream than anyone else. Maybe it is the same rate as radio play and they argued successfully it was equivalent?

Off topic so i won’t go there but I’m increasingly anti-Youtube tbh.

#92

When I’m out and about I don’t mind listening to music on lower end equipment but at home when I’m usually paying more attention to the stuff I’m listening to I become very very fussy and I like very natural sound that fills a room easily without distortion. But I’m not full-blown audiophile obsessive, the biggest investment that I’ve made that some people find odd is buying a Chord Mojo [which is a headphone dac/amp that costs £389] but I just got a sizeable tax rebate so whatever.

I got Shure SRH 1540 headphones which are incredible and I wanted to get the most out of them is all, I don’t see myself making any further upgrades anytime soon. Of course the budget and total cost for my whole set up is pretty north of a casual set up but far shy of audio obsessive [and took a couple of years to complete]

Current Set Up.
Denon DM41 [AMP/CD Player/DAB] - £250
Bower & Wilkins 685S2 [Bookshelf Speakers] - £499
Chord Mojo [Headphone AMP/DAC] - £389
Shure SRH 1540 [Headphones] £489

#93

It’s waaaay less than radio play.

#94

just had a look actually & I see that the latest earbuds are a significant improvement in THD (total harmonic distortion) though that still is highly susceptible to large increases in distortion the more you increase volume & given that they’re such tiny drivers it’s likely most people have them on full volume all the time so…

they are by no means the worst however as this list shows

though there are many other caveats as a lot of what’s on the list can’t really be compared in real terms as most of them are not in-ear

#95

amazing, the lowest on the list (Sennheiser HD 201) i have on my desk! got them when first making my music production set up

#96

Interesting that the very same website is saying a Beats product is the best on-ear headphones

I don’t know what to take from that

#97

sigh…

Set up:

Cambridge Audio Topaz AM5 amp
Cambridge Audio CD6 player
Sennheiser HD 25 headphones
Cambridge Audio headphone amp (can’t remember the model)
Tannoy Mercury M2 speakers
Sony turntable my dad gave me ages ago

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#98

are they the most expensive ones? i’ve heard the most expensive beats are ok but still 3x the price you can get elsewhere for the same quality

#99

Dailymotion and Vimeo are still around.

The latter is very good for hi-res media people and stuff.

#100

like I said, there are some apples (heh) and oranges here and technical measurements are not 100% accurate to human experience

for instance, if you have headphones with a large driver (presuming they are suitably powered) and you like a lot of bass you will almost never be using them at the same Sound Pressure Level (SPL) as a pair of tiny driver earbuds in order to experience the same perceived volume. Thus the level of distortion will be significantly increased for the earbuds vis-a-vis the large driver headphones AND the SPL you subject your ears to will also be increased

#101

£190. I don’t know if they do more expensive ones.

And if they are top of the rankings, surely you cannot get the same quality elsewhere. What’s more, you could definitely spend more on inferior sound quality

#102

I’m stuck with rubbish headphones at the moment mainly through indecision as to what combination of bluetooth/noise reduction is worth paying for. Most days I listen for a couple of hours at least on headphones so really want something decent in the not too distant future.

Otherwise have a basic ProJect turntable and mostly listen through Sonos speakers which are perfectly good to my ears.

If money was no object and I had the space then I’d for sure get something a bit higher end. To be honest I think a fair bit of the decision would be based on aesthetics. Just part of the enjoyment to have a nice hifi.

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#103

i’d build the most perfect listening room if i won the euromillions, would be ludicrously expensive but so worth it

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#104

How much would everyone hate me on a scale of 1-10 if I started yet another recommend me some headphones thread? I’m thinking about slanting it towards active noise cancelling ones as the air circulation thing in my office is deafening

  • 1 - I wouldn’t hate that at all, I’m all for it!
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5 - I would be indifferent to such a thread
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10 - I will find you and kill you. If I read another ‘recommend me some headphones’ thread I will scream

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