[ZV3]

I've been away from audio for awhile now and sold most of my amps most all my IEM's and headphones, but now the bug has hit me again due to seeing some good stuff on sale recently. (V-Moda M-80 and Audio-Technica ATH-M50 specifically) When I left the scene, the best-sounding headphones where all the top names, but coming back to the scene now I'm seeing decent stuff from what previsouly were NOT the top companies, V-Moda, Creative and dare I say Skull-Candy and more etc!
 
When I left the scene, anything Skullcandy was crap, now they have a headphone that gets an 8 in sound quality? Wow. Although the top headphone companies still dominat the tops spots as far as SQ go, I see these other newer companies and their cheaper offerings are closing the gap and QUICK!
A V-Moda headphone getting a 9 in SQ to dethrone a lot of the top headphones was a real shocker, to me anyway. I even see some really cheap
IEM's with very good SQ and CHEAP! Some of them sound better AND are much cheaper than the normal high-dollar IEM's that have dominated the scene.
 
My question is, has the gap between the known, established audio companies and the relative newcomers to audio closed this quickly? How are these cheaper portable headphones and IEM's so good and so cheap? What does the future hold for audio? Will a $50.00 cheapie headphone beat a
$200.00-$300.00 established model? The companies that make the cheaper headphones seem to be doing their homework and some are churning
out some decent-sounding stuff from what I see. At this pace, in a year or 2 I can see one of these companies taking the top spots for SQ with a
much cheaper headphone/IEM! Maybe I'm crazy, but I'm glad to have caught the audio "bug" again! Got 2 headphones coming and a port amp!

 

[vid]

  What does the future hold for audio? Will a $50.00 cheapie headphone beat a
$200.00-$300.00 established model?

 
The ease and accuracy of modern software EQ made it possible a while ago. What I'd ask is whether the future holds for audio that a $50 headphone isn't priced at $300.

 

[Happy Camper]

Well paying sponsors.........

 

[Saren]

You must also remember what they are comparing them to/what they've heard. Sometimes people give a high rating out of 10 in comparison to a headphone which is in the same niche/price bracket. A 9/10 $50 in a review might only be up against other lower end models. Similarly sometimes people give a phone 10/10 on sound when it is the best they have heard but have never heard anything above it in quality/price.
 
There are not many cheap (<300) headphones capable of taking on top of the line models, if any.