Tyll Hertsens Blog

What you said near the end of the video, about headphones being linear paired with a matching amp and DSP processor, well it seems Paul Barton and PSB (/NAD) are doing something very similar with their new M4U 8. Exciting times!!

Yup the future is right here (which makes it the present, though...nevermind that.)I'm sure much of what Tyll was speaking of, he's seen prototypes for, but didn't mention by name. What I found fascinating is that not only can phones translate text, if you pair them with compatible earphones (in particular Google Pixel buds)they can translate the spoken word.

Exciting times indeed!

https://futurism.com/googles-new-earbuds-can-translate-40-languages-inst...

What is the audience you serve Tyll? Music lovers mostly, I would say. It is interesting the many new applications being developed for cans, and how these breakthroughs might influence not only music reproduction, but music as well.

Composers of electronic music actually produce for headphones, and realize the music on them, using the headphones as the target performance experience, that has at the core of the compositions, the unique spatial and dynamic effects best heard over them. Many of these mixes are like stereo on steroids, and I find myself enjoying this new art form a whole lot. I appreciate 'high fidelity'in capturing acoustic sound in space in an attempt to replicate the reality of live instruments and voices. That is probably the ultimate goal in music reproduction, but it gets more interesting when having that, as well as the music realized for headphones, taking us into new soundscapes previously unheard.

I really like this. The media (cans) is the message, and integral to the art, in purposefully designed compositions for headphones. Exciting..creative...headphones moving the art of music in new directions! Got Pandora? Create a station such as Deepernet Radio...put on your favorite cans and see what I mean...(you probably already have).

There is also the issue of electronics companies pushing wireless technology. As I understand it wireless headphones degrade the sound quality and high res wireless is currently not possible (or uncommon?). Furthermore, Apple and now Google make phones without headphone jacks. Sure, you can use an adaptor, however the intent is clear, for most consumers the wired headphone will be obsolete in future. I find this somewhat problematic, as current bluetooth models will also be obsolete if high res streaming becomes common but the existing bluetooth hardware cannot be updated. I predict that many perfectly good headphones will be rendered useless in this scenario (unless a wire is used). I have just bought a set of Oppo PM3 headphones. One could argue that whilst they fulfil the brief of sounding good and being comfortable, they are already outdated.

It's really educational for young children who will create future headphones. Tyll, thank you.

Really enjoyed listening to your thoughts on the state of headphones.

Loving the idea of a video series..thanks jana n tyll.

The mini history of headphones was very appreciated! Its crazy to think how much this technology and hobby has evolved.

Here's some of my thoughts on the future:

Consumer Market (ie: not high end audiophile):

Biggest investment, growth, evolution: Wireless earbuds. No question that apples decision to remove the headphone jack plays into this along with its wireless buds offering, but moreso the wireless buds are an evolution of bluetooth use for headphones. Ive been dabbling alot with this technology and there are some really cool factors involved..also some limitations and issues. The Kanoa debacle sheds light on the challenges of producing a high end product in this category. One of the biggest hurdles will be sound quality...the consumer vector does not pay as much attention to the overall sound profile of its products and therefore will settle a bit more than the audiophile community. Still..expect to see alot more "completely wireless" buds in the next few years.

Shift in market: This is completely just me guessing, but i think there's going to be an overall drop off in over ear and on ear headphones for the mass consumers. Beats came in and established the market. Others like sony, skullcandy, jbl, sol republic, etc, came in and grabbed what they could. But i think the market has peaked. We are seeing new headphones by these mfct's but its harder for them to grab new people. Other than those wanting the newest version of beats when they drop, i think that market is plateau for a while.

Audiophile Market:

It seems the market has alot of high end offerings and alot of lowish end offerings. Middle ground is starting to get tapped but i'd wager we'll see more of the following: $500-$1000...planar...closed. There's a few solid players in this area but it seems like a good move for manufacturers to try and drive some of the lower end audiophiles up the ladder. And, as always, we fans will be hoping for some giant killers within!

Keep up the great reporting Tyll and Jana

Peace .n. Living in Stereo

Three Toes of Fury

Listening to my 40-year-old yamaha orthodynamics, I realize audio fidelity has made very little progress in those decades, compared to other technology fields. The materials have gotten much cheaper and compact, there are now $50 IEMs that sound very good, but absolute fidelity has not improved significantly at the high-end, at least on headphones.

DSP seems like the only thing that can change that.

We probably reached the point of diminishing returns when it comes to transducer design about a couple of decades ago.

..for getting Tyll on record. Good job. Great idea.
https://goo.gl/images/MzGRj6

Right here on your sidebar for advertisers is an advert for Sennheiser HD 4 which looks like an HD 600 but it's a wireless device for iPhones. Hmm

I hope for your review on these things.

This is:
a nice start of a "Jana" Tyll Series that just might educate the Audio enthusiasts about "Things to come in the 21st Century".

a needed balance to Stereophile's regular emphasis of 1960s vinyl technologies.

Tyll should be a Print contributing Editor.

Innerfidelty is like StarTrek to Analog Planet's old-school.

Tony in Michigan

I'd like to see a DAC built into the headphone. The Sines have that clever DAC in the cable so it would be nice to see more of that, or maybe built into the headphone itself. think that would up the game for portable listening.

I think for portable systems, better sounding smartphones might be a wave of the future also. I'm getting a LG V30 this week, that has the ESS DAC, and supports MQA. Hoping it is as good as it sounds on paper.

The history of headphones left out the first serious headphones. Years before headphones were a serious going concern there were Stax. Stax has been around creating quality personal listening systems for many years.

My Stax Lambda Pros, which I still love and the driver requires service, is still a very well respected earspeaker (in Stax speak). Those were given to me as a Christmas present in 1990. Years before the current headphone craze.

Ed

It will be valuable to everyone who uses it, including myself.
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