A journalist writing for The Verge, who self-identifies as an “audiophile” has posted a review of Apple’s AirPods. In it, he points out that he is “headphone obsessive,” and that, for some reason, he is “not supposed to like the AirPods.” To be fair, this luxury music listener uses $3,000 headphones to listen to music; and undoubtedly has speaker cables whose cost per meter is more than the AirPods.
So he likes the AirPods. It’s not like this guy is the official audiophile that everyone should listen to. Just read some of what he says; the same drivel that audiophile reviewers spout all the time:
The AirPods convey a full sense of the mood and intent of the music I listen to. By that, I mean that they’re not technically spectacular. They don’t fill my world with a sparkling shimmer when listening to “Rachel’s Song” on the Vangelis Blade Runner soundtrack, but they still put me in that longing, wistful mood.
He only mentions the sound in one paragraph; the rest is about the technical features of the AirPods and their design. As often in “audiophile” reviews, it’s a lot of fluff and little substance.
No, self-identifying as an “audiophile” doesn’t make anyone more qualified to judge audio equipment. This article proves it.
$3000? For headphones? But if all his music is digital, does it really matter? I am sure he has some vinyl kicking around, but very little music is vinyl, so if you have that much to spend on cans, send it my way, I need a new NAS drive to store my music.
$3000? For headphones? But if all his music is digital, does it really matter? I am sure he has some vinyl kicking around, but very little music is vinyl, so if you have that much to spend on cans, send it my way, I need a new NAS drive to store my music.
“The AirPods convey a full sense of the mood and intent of the music I listen to.” How does he know that? He’s simply saying he likes the sound. People such as he are the bane of those who want neutral, uncolored reproduction.
$3000 is not altogether out of line for headphones — especially electrostatic ‘phones with a direct-drive amplifier and diffuse-field equalizer. I have STAX Lambda Signatures, along with a STAX tube amplifier * and EQ. I suspect the current price would be around $3000.
I’m no fan of tube amplification. But (if I recall correctly), the STAX transistor amp is darker and less-detailed. Tubes seem to do a better job of driving reactive loads.
“The AirPods convey a full sense of the mood and intent of the music I listen to.” How does he know that? He’s simply saying he likes the sound. People such as he are the bane of those who want neutral, uncolored reproduction.
$3000 is not altogether out of line for headphones — especially electrostatic ‘phones with a direct-drive amplifier and diffuse-field equalizer. I have STAX Lambda Signatures, along with a STAX tube amplifier * and EQ. I suspect the current price would be around $3000.
I’m no fan of tube amplification. But (if I recall correctly), the STAX transistor amp is darker and less-detailed. Tubes seem to do a better job of driving reactive loads.