....i just compared them to a newer model of sennheisers i got last year and they're just not on the same level...
when i put the 440-IIs back on, all i could think was "why did i ever take them off?".
it was like taking a pair of ear plugs out.
like switching from grey-scale to colour.
like walking out of the city and taking a breathe of fresh air...
like, the way they're able to separate the fuzz guitar in the middle section of mountains made of steam so that it's directly harmonic to the guitar part is...it's almost impossible, really....there's *no* blur....
and, then when the bow comes in, i can clearly hear the buzz on the fucking string. spectacular!
i'm wondering if the model name is a coincidence or a hint.
something about these sennheisers, though, is that they don't have those big muffy ear pieces - and that's an asset, as i find they muffle. all the new phones come with all this noise cancelling stuff that fucks with the signal. no. i want clear, crisp, perfect reproduction...
about five or six years ago, i picked up a pair with some funny digital processing in them that reduces more or less to a boost on the high and low; it was meant to compensate for mp3 compression, and it did give the sound a nice boost through an mp3 player. but, they were impossible for mastering. that's what i'm trying to avoid.
but the market has changed. back in the 80s and 90s, people bought high-end headphones to listen to record player and cd player signals through high end amps. so the focus was on reproducing the signal exactly. that's sort of rare nowadays; the market now is for mp3 players, laptops, djs...
...and because the sources suck, the phones companies have come up with all these digital tricks to try and make their product sound better. basic reproduction is a niche market, now.
