Total noob to audiophilia, helpp!

waazzaapp uuup?

well the title says it, I'm a noobie

I would guys to give articles for beginners, I would like to learn all the terms too, like bass, treble, mids, warm sound, muddy sound. also terms like surround sound and stage sound etc.

also the spec. in the headphones, dac and amps. like frequency response, SPL (sound pressure level)  etc.

It would really be helpful if there's a tutorial on how to use th equalizer, like I said I'm a noob

IF you really wnt to become knowledgeable about the audio world, you are going to need to learn a lot. IT is a lot of reading, a lot of observing, a lot of hands on experience (if you can). It takes a lot of time, so please, do not get frustrated by the amount of information that I am about to post, because this is where to start if you really want to learn, and boy is there a lot to learn.

These first two links are a good generalization of what common terms mean. To get a better understanding of what they actually mean (the links are lose definitions) to the people in the field, you are going to need to get a good understanding of the sound of a lot of different things. In my experience, good understanding of the terms came best with good understanding of reviews and whatnot, but this is a good place to start. Remember, fast a lose.

http://www.head-fi.org/a/describing-sound-a-glossary

http://www.head-fi.org/a/glossary-of-terms

This man, |joker|, is a very well respected reviewer. He has reviewed hundreds of iems and portable headphones. If he says something, you need to listen. Now, not everyone will have the same opinions, everyone hears things differently, and everyone has a sound signature that they prefer (he like a colder, more analytical sound in general), but he is honestly one of the most objective reviewers that I have had the fortune of reading. You ought to give his opinions a good amount of weight.

http://www.head-fi.org/t/478568/multi-iem-review-328-iems-compared-lear-luf-4f-luf-4b-luf-4c-added-11-07-14-p-994

http://www.head-fi.org/t/433318/shootout-113-portable-headphones-reviewed-alpha-design-labs-adl-h118-added-07-15-14

CliOS is another reviewer who commands respect to a similar degree as |joker|. Take his opinions very seriously.

http://www.head-fi.org/t/541204/concise-multi-iem-comparison-final-update-march-1st-2013

http://www.head-fi.org/t/596482/the-sub-100-portable-amps-shootout-11-1-amps-compared

http://www.head-fi.org/t/620775/the-sub-200-portable-amps-shootout-13-11-amps-compared

This website is a really good place to find some solid information. I like the graphs and whatnot that they make (I like frequency response graphs a lot), but their reviews I find somewhat questionable. That is that problem that I have with most "review sites". They are usually getting the headphones or whatever from the company, so there is a bit of a conflict of interest and since audio is all subjective reporting, it makes things a bit questionable. That said, I like their reviews a lot, I just like user review (on sites like head-fi) better. Tyll does have a favored sound signature, but I don't know what it is (I am more familiar with |joker| and his reviews).

http://www.innerfidelity.com/

Some of the best place to get information is just from users who happen to have the equipment that you are interested in. So, for example, if you want to know how two headphones compare, and there is no thread or review already up which compares them (and they don't have very different sound signatures which would give you a good idea of how they sounded right off the bat), then you could pm a user on head-fi (or maybe start a thread) and ask them straight up. Try not to be annoying though. People only have so much patience, so try not to ask anyone any questions which you can find the answers to somewhere online (becuase why ask a question which has already been answered?). So yeah, research a TON first, but do remember that you can just ask people if you need to.

No reply? I guess you either gave up or have been immersing yourself in the information.

i really didn't give up, but my brain stopped after reading the first 2 articles. by the way I'm only interested in over-ear and on-ear headphones. do I still have to read about those IEM? I mean will have useful on the overall audiophile world. 

I think the best way for me to read all these info with comfort is to print the articles. I hate reading long articles on a screen.

I still have to read those again, otherwise I'll just forget them

thnx a lot you are simply awesome.

The main reason that I linked the multi-iem thread was becasue you need to get used to the terms being used as well as being able to apply them and think about how things will sound without actually hearing it yourself. You can go about it without those threads as well, but they are really good places to start and really good for getting used to reading reviews and whatnot becuase they are all in the same place.

 

There is no reason to read all of it like a book report or something. The goal here is to get used to audiophile reviews and to be able to understand them. If you can completely understand what joker means in one of his very concise, snippet reviews in that thread, then you should have a decent grasp of things. The problem is that that tends to come with experience. If you can pick a random review from one of those giant threads, read it, and completely understand what it is that he is trying to say, then the goal has been met.

 

I think that it is a mistake to not take at least some interest in the iem world. The reason being that they are useful for different things when compared to full sized cans. Iems are amazing for on-the-go listening, and customs are probably the best way to get isolation without resorting to active noise canceling (which audiophile's hate). They also require little in the way of amping, whereas many of the totl/flagship full sized cans just can't/shouldn't be used without a massive amp. Amps are always a good idea in the audiophile world, you just need a less powerful/expensive one in general for iems because they need less power (and are often meant for use with daps which have much less power than a full desktop rig). There are benefits to using iems, but still, they aren't for everyone. If you really don't care to read about them, then try finding a bunch of reviews about stuff that doesn't interest you. The problem there is that there isn't a thread that is so well put together like that for full sized stuff. Those threads are also really concise and you can easily compare different items based on reviews from the same author which makes it really easy. It is a lot easier to read about stuff that you are actually interested in though, so do what you want. There are plenty of reviews about full sized headphones. The first that comes to mind is the link below. I like headfonia reviews quite a bit. They are very professional and are for full disclosure which I sadly find to be pretty uncommon.

 

http://www.headfonia.com/old-school-trio-akg-k701-beyer-dt880-sennheiser-hd650/

 

If you feel that it would be beneficial to print out some things for reading, then that is up to you. It seems like a waste of money to me considering the sheer amount of stuff that there is to read. Try just reading a few things a day or something. Space it out to help you better absorb it. There is no time limit to learning this stuff. There is no deadline.

thanx a lot you really helped with these articles, one last thing, it's ok for me to read long articles or even books but I always get a headache after somewhat like an hour or so. but is it okay if also gave a couple of links about amps and dac. 

I am not sure I know what you are asking of me.

sorry for confusing u and taking a long time to respond, I meant I would like a another article with many reviews for DACS.

headfonia and innerfidelity have limited reviews about DACs, I would like a full site or article specifically for DACs.

I apologize for asking too much, it's just that I'm a horrible researcher. and again thanx alot.

You aren't going to find reviews for dacs nearly as easily as for headphones. The reason being that they make the least amount of difference in the line up. So long as you have a decent dac, you will be fine. If you want something cheap and good, look at the Stoner UD110.

thnx a lot.