Sony WH1000XM2 MSRP $349.95

[AMR / iFi audio]

The ifi hip dac,go blue and diablo all have xbass button.
I find it most prevalent in devices where the presence of bass is counter intuitive.

counterintuitive presence of balance? What does your intuition say then?

 

[Gregadd]

Linearity is more complicated than most people would assume. Fletcher -Munson tells us that. It goes beyond flat frequency response.in this world of mix and match components you may get one that is rellatively flat, but others are not. Add to that source material aimed at the mass market you have no idea what you get.
Headphones remove the room from the equation but present their own set of problems.
Lastly there is personal preference. What does it for you? What clues contribute most to your illusion of teality?

 

[AMR / iFi audio]

You're right. People tend to simplify complex processes, to better understand the surrounding environment. As you are saying, despite the numerous aspects of sound, these are our personal preferences that matter the most.

All in all, the quality of sound is always the top priority, but it remains subjective which sound signature suits my mood in the moment. What about you?

 

[Gregadd]

The most important is do you listen. If you don't that tells you went wrong. It does not matter if it's huge,expensive,technically correct,critically acclaim and/or all your buddies have one.if you don't listen it's just audiophile jewlery or even worse its a boat anchor.
So first off it must be articulate. Not just the lyrics but also the musical instruments. I need to know what the singers are saying. For a long time I thought singers blurred their speech. It turns out it was my equipment. Same thing with instruments. Did you know that bass players breathe? They do and you can hear them. And the sound of guitar players dragging their fingers along the strings as they change chords.

 

[AMR / iFi audio]

I agree. The final quality of sound is most def determined by the equipment, but also let's not forget about the source and the recording process. They matter to a great extent as well.

One thing that many music lovers tend to forget is to focus on their personal preference. I realised that very often people new to the business blindly follow the advice of the experienced audiophiles or the reviewers, who may have a very particular taste. If one is choosing a pair of headphones o DAC or an amp, I would say, the best way to go about it is to learn from other people, but choose whatever products suits your preferences the most.

 

[Gregadd]

Audio equipment is like exercise equipment. The best one is you will use. The rest is a clothes hanger

 

[AMR / iFi audio]

I agree with you to some extent! Personally, I like having some variety from time to time... But you're right, the favorites will always get the most playtime. I'm guilty of this myself!