A community for discussion around all topics related to headphones and personal audio.
A meaningless, subjective and unquantifiable property that some audiophiles like to apply to gear - in the same way that Wine Nerds say things like "Has notes of unwashed Levis, enmeshed with a hint of a teen mother's regret" when reviewing some cheap Merlot.
See also "musicality", "texture", "immediacy", "slam" etc...
Lol redditors do not believe in anything ๐
"tonal effects are a meaningless audiofool myth. so is timbre and things sounding enjoyable"
t. biggest brained arr headphones user
t. biggest brained arr headphones user
I know most of those words, but I am having trouble parsing this.
That's probably on me dude - apologies.
"i do not know what any of the terminology i am using actually means but will choose to offer my enlightened commentary on it anyway"
t. the most intelligent headphones subreddit poster
p. Hey - I am always open to learning from the experts!
j. If you can teach me or show me the best resource to understand the terminology that I don't understand, then I am all yours.
r. "Note Weight" as per OP is a good start and I would love to get to grips with "Musicality".
Note weight is generally used to describe how substantial the note sounds to your ear. There's a Cocteau Twins song called The Hollow Men and it opens up with a bass line that recedes into the background.
On my 7hz Timeless the bass sounds pretty pleasing but a little thin, on my FH7 the bass has a much thicker, more distinct and meatier quality that literally feels heavier on your eardrum, that's why they call it that.
Slam. There are slam differences across lows mids and highs. Not just the lower spectrum.
Fun fact: drivers will perform poorer in higher altitudes due to thinner air.
You underestimate the Delta Airlines complimentary headphones.
This is the fuel I need to climb K2 in winter
Probably take the magic line just to spice things up
If you want an example, think of a recording of someone playing a low piano note. On something with thicker note weight, you might hear a full-bodied "DUN!", with emphasis being placed on the initial part of the note that makes it sound like the key is being struck more heavily. On thinner-sounding gear, you might hear a plain "DUN!" without the emphasis, making it sound like it's being hit more weakly. Measurement-wise, it would generally be associated with the upper/lower midrange balance being skewed towards the lower mids. V-shaped/Harman IE stuff will tend to sound thinner.
You judge headphones by listening to them, not spending hours on spreadsheets.
Ok and? I just wanted to know what a certain descriptor people have used meant, it's not like I'll change my opinion of any of my earphones and headphones now that I know what note weight is
If you haven't read Crins post on this, you should.
https://crinacle.com/2020/04/19/the-big-breakdown-ranking-list-update/
As already demonstrated in this comment section, these kinds of audiophile terms really annoy some people because they aren't super easy to define. While it is possible to find and pinpoint many subjective things in objective data, it's bloody difficult and confusing. Plus, we all have different ear canals, taste, and levels of ear training. This isn't to say that there's a lot of confirmation bias going around. There definitely is. But these subjective terms are still useful tools for describing the subjective experience. The fact of the matter is that objectively captured data is also liable to being misinterpreted. So in my opinion, you need to learn how to evaluate both subjective and objective data points.
If you think of a drum kit, the tom-tom could be said to have more note weight than the snare. A fat smash on the tom will give a big bong! sound coming all the way from the bass and saturating the upper harmonics with vibrato. That's heavy note weight. Listen to Pet Sounds and you'll get the idea. On the other hand, the dink! of the rightmost keys on a piano could be considered a light note weight.
The Headphone Show on YT has done some videos about these audiophile terms. It's worth a watch.
https://www.youtube.com/@TheHEADPHONEShow/search?query=terms
