By subjective listening test, i mean explaining why they sound good, what makes them sound so great.
Its one thing to say "So then i put on some Gnarls Barkley, and the headphones performed fantasticly".
Its one thing altogether differnt to say... (the folowing is a COMPLETELY ficticious review)
"I decided to grab Gnarls Barkleys new CD, and took a liten to their single "Crazy". I chose this particular song because it not only has a very raw sound to it, but also has a varied range of bass tones, as well as producing some solid mid range vocal, and the ocasional high fewquency tone, all simultaniously. Plus it also uses alot of imaging and imersion effects in how its mixed. All told, if the headphones suck or fall flat in any area, this song will expose it. Imidiately i noticed that the bass, while smooth, was not as impacting as i would have liked it to be, and seemed to distort at higher volumes because of being overdriven. Otherwise the bass responce was smooth, and seemed to articulate well with the song Even if it wasnt terribly strong.
The mid range was well pronounced, and the vocals where very forward, where they should have been, and had a very strong presence to them. One area where the mid range fell short however, was in the lower midrange, where some of the lower frequency background chorus seemed to almost fade into nothingness.
The highrange, as limited as it is in this song, was sharp and crisp, with out being overpowering or fatigueing, which can be a problem with alot of "budget" level (less then $100) headphones.
One area where this headphone really shined was in the detail and soundstage department. The placment of the audio was very articulate, and percise. The background chorus sounded distant, and the main versus of the song, which are mixed to sound hallow and empty, sounded as such. Even more impressive was the subtleness of the headphone to pick up on alot of the nuance like sounds in the background. Particularly the aforementioned rawness of the mix, like the sound of the needle on the record. THough this "raw" dust in the groove sound might be irritating to some, the fact that the headphone was able to reproduce this clearly, without detracting from the music, or clouding it, shows that it was at least designed with drivers of high enough quality to actually translate the sound as it should be, full of detail, and charm, rather then watterd down, and muddled like it was being played through a Bose Wave Radio."
Somthing along those lines.
Like i said, that might be a little wordy for some, and might be a tad bit to technicle for most. But i think it shows that the reviewer has a solid grasp of the product, its intentions, and can subjectivly argue its finer points, and expound on its lower ones. To me sound equipment is more then just build quality, and packaging. Its 90% about the actual sound they produce, and conveying how the sound, and why they sound that way. Not just that they "sounded great and performed admirably". ANd i think becuase you already have a strong background int eh finer points of music, and enjoy a varied selection of tunes, that you could easily put what you hear in the music, easily into words that allow the reader to understand how the headphones sound, in your oppinion.
Well, I hope that helps.
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