05-09-2014, 02:25 AM
ka jowct wrote:
[quote=Lew Zealand]
[quote=jdc]
Is it bad (or wrong?) that I only associate beats with thugs and hoodlums?
Yes. You should in fact associate it with poor quality audio reproduction.
My impression of those headphones is that they are not designed for natural, accurate sound. Right or wrong?
Right.
They are status symbols, but not just of fashion, but false symbols of good sound.
That said, I'm a subjectivist when it comes to music and music reproduction; there are no "facts" that can "prove" a certain technology for example, "must" sound better. It's for that belief that notions of A-B or A-B-X sound tests aren't just irrelevant scientifically, but are far worse: they "prove" whatever the test is set up to do (which is usually something other than what any conclusions drawn reveal.)
So if/when a listener prefers Beats headphones it doesn't "make them wrong" in my view ... but I reserve the right to question what experience they have with such things as live, un-amplified music or music that's not heavily dependent on processed special effects.