Submitted by MaximumEffort433 t3_10p8k72 in headphones
The Tao of Headphones, continued:
>Ever flat, one can hear the song.
>Ever tuned, one can hear the music.
>The two spring forth from the same source but differ in amplification;
>this appears as confusion.
>Confusion within confusion.
>The gateway to all snake oil.
Do you want to improve the audio?
I don’t think it can be done.
The artist's intention is sacred.
It can’t be improved.
If you equalize it, you’ll ruin it.
If you listen for enjoyment, you’ll lose it.
There is a time for hearing the song,
a time for hearing the singer;
a time for listening to the headphones,
a time for listening to the music;
a time for seeking upgrades,
a time for enjoying endgames;
a time for tradition,
a time for time for the new.
The Sage listens to things as they like,
without trying to convince others.
She lets them go their own way,
and eats popcorn at the center of the argument.
(20)
Banish upgrades,
No More grief.
Between mid-fi and summit-fi,
how much difference?
Between Crinacle and Zeos,
how much difference?
What others hear I must hear --
How pointless!
Commenters are wreathed in superlatives,
As if at a carnival banquet.
I alone am passive,
Giving no sign,
Like an infant who has not yet smiled.
Forlorn, as if I have no headphones.
Others have twenty or thirty cans,
I alone have two.
I have the mind of an amp skeptic,
Confused, confused.
Others like bright sound signatures,
I alone like dark, dark.
Drifting on my FLACs,
Listening endlessly.
Others have upgrade plans,
I alone am wayward and stubborn,
I alone am different than others,
Like a baby who has reached endgame.
> Others have twenty or thirty cans, > > > > I alone have two.
I actually loled at this, I love it.
For those who don't know, the original verse was something to the effect of "Others are clever, I alone am stupid," depending on the translation. I don't know, the juxtaposition of being headphoneless and being dull witted is somehow funny to me.
>"I only have two sets of headphones, I'm such an asshole."
Oommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Also, importantly, your riff is impressively spot on, I think Lao Tzu would approve, it really ties the post together.
I wish one could resume everything about áudio like sort of a meme “Recognize A and B is born”. You could narrow down so much about brands, subjectivity and use cases.
(9)
Hold it and power it -
Not as good as your first set of cans.
Measure and A/B it -
It will not long survive in your stash.
When headphones and amps fill your listening space,
They cannot all be enjoyed.
Riches and pride
Can never be quenched.
Withdrawing when listening is done:
Headphone Tao.
Low key, unironically some of the best content on here!
Very creative, I love it~
It may be even less pretentious than actual audio reviews and Its amazing!
Ehh… Wot?
(6)
The Waifu spirit never dies
It is called the mysteriously pubescent female.
​
The entrance to the mysteriously pubescent female
Is called the root of mesh and ear tip (keep it unclogged).
Endless flow
Of inexhaustible frequency response.
The first line of the Tao Te Ching, depending on your translation of choice, is essentially:
>The Tao which can be conceived of by a finite mind is not the infinite and eternal Tao.
Or, more simply:
>The Tao that can be named is not the eternal Tao.
And on account of a poorly made offhanded joke I tried to tell in another thread I was reminded of those audiophiles who are always chasing the truest possible sound for their music. They're looking for the flattest possible headphones, the highest possible bit rates, the lowest levels of interference, they're looking for a kind of purity that neither their equipment nor their ears will ever live up to.
Quite literally, the audio that can be played back on man made headphones and DACs, listened to by people's ears in lived in homes, will never be the truest or the cleanest or the purest audio, just like an eighty or ninety year lifetime will never be enough to conceive of an infinite universe.
(This isn't to say there's anything wrong with chasing the dragon or trying to get closer to perfection, you just have to realize that you can get close to perfection, but you'll never get the whole way there.)
From an audiophile perspective the metaphor is strained, this isn't much more than a shitpost in that regard, but trust me that from a Taoist perspective I've probably embarrassed the fuck out of them, too.
As Lao Tzu once said:
>Those who know, don't speak,
>those who speak don't know.
And boy do I have a lot to say on the matter!
... and comparison is the thief of joy!
Hey, you're my favorite 3EB album!
Overall_Falcon_8526 t1_j6j6e2r wrote
(2)
Recognize Sound Quality and Beats are born.
Recognize Build Quality and Hifiman is born.
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Objectivism and Subjectivism produce each other.
​
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Comfort depends on discomfort,
Harman is tested by V-shape,
Highs are determined by Lows,
Mids are Harmonized by Voice Coils.
Unless we're talking about planars in which case it's different.
​
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Therefore, the Audiophile is devoted to Purchasing,
Blathering on forums without teaching,
Buying ten thousand things without purpose,
Uses but doesn't really Own,
Constantly resells gear at a loss,
And accomplishes nothing while claiming to.
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When no accomplishment is claimed,
Listening to music endures.