I don’t want to outright dismiss the snake oil because I can clearly hear the difference between MP3 and FLAC, but I got in a conversation on the iPod forums with someone who swore they were listening side by side on the spot and could not tell any difference. That’s why companies are able to market products that are well past most people’s diminishing returns, their is always that doubt that you haven’t discovered something yet.
His explanation of why he wasn’t a fan of the previous Sennheiser IEM’s was similar to the reason I didn’t like HD 560S enough to send it back. So flat its not enjoyable, and with not enough detail benefits to make the tradeoff worth it. I hear nothing but good things about HD 660S and HD 800. It seems like people like Sennheisers that are less flat.
Are they going to label them with their old name forever and ever?
Maybe, although my friend has an X570 and it sounds okay, I have witnessed OEM audio outputs that are not okay. You don’t need to spend serious bucks, just get the Apple dongle, or a Scarlett Solo.
I like the O font, OMG is millennial speak, who were new and cringy 10 years ago but are now in their 30’s buying headphones.
I believe expensive DAC’s are snake oil, the important part is not being a half assed afterthought, like what comes with basic PC’s or various electronics. Apple’s $10 will do just fine up to 44KHz, and there is debate that higher frequencies are even detectable by humans. That’s not to say it is not. For a long time the conventional wisdom was human eyes can’t see more than 60FPS, but I could, now there are 240Hz gaming monitors everywhere.
Winter Contingency from Halo Reach. If headphones are deficient in lows, highs, or separation, that track will make it obvious.