@Bruupo Whoa, easy now. I wasn’t looking for a nerd fight, but I’m game. 1) If you’re listening on a noisy street, then of course passive or active noise canceling is better than nothing (which sometimes means big headphones); no argument here. But I understood this being about sound quality, which is a different beast entirely. 2) By “appreciate” I mean “be able to tell the difference.” Most people can simply not hear enough improvement in a set of pro-quality headphones in normal use to make the pricetag worth it - me included. Like I said, a ~$80-100 at most will do almost everyone just fine, not counting the need for noise-canceling. 3) MP3 is, by definition, a lossy digital format - that means it is *always* compressed. Any bitrate you use is still not going to reproduce the sound as accurately as a lossless format like FLAC or a CD simply by the technical nature of MP3 encoding. However, most non-audio-professional listeners in a controlled test don’t notice the quality loss with a decent-bitrate MP3. My point in bringing up MP3s was that the compression of an MP3 is going to make the source the sound quality bottleneck (if you can even notice it, which I doubt that I could), rather than the headphones. You’re right I was assuming they listened to MP3s, though it’s a fair assumption given that most people don’t store their digital music in a lossless format. Nonetheless, I was unfairly characterizing the dickish guy in the article - got me there. 4)”YOU are a ‘hipster meme’, you clearly process every image you see through that prism.” Not sure what that’s supposed to mean - that I have an anti-hipster bias? Sure, they annoy me. But you have to admit that the fat-headphones-plugged-into-a-turntable meme is immensely appealing to said hipsters.

“Massive headphones are a hipster meme…” YOU are a “hipster meme”, you clearly process every image you see through that prism. “…but for what 99% of the population needs (and can appreciate)” And now look at who is deciding who is capable of appreciating what, or not…that kind of pretentiousness sounds awfully “hipster-ish” in itself.
Can 99% of the population “appreciate” a set of headphones that physically cancel out external noise by virtue of covering your ears? Do you know what noise pollution is like in a place like Brooklyn? And what is that crap speculation about MP3’s? 1. You have no idea what format said music is in. 2. MP3’s are not necessarily compressed at less than CD quality sound. MP3’s can, in fact, be of a much higher quality than native CD bitrates. Of course, they might as well use other uncompressed audio file formats (and they do), but since you could “eyeball” the use of the MP3 format… But I’m not an audiophile, so clearly I need someone with your expertise to explain which earbuds would be sufficient for a person like myself to “appreciate” my “MP3’s”…

Just think of it, you guys: Sufjan is making an album for each of the 50 states in which Alec Duffy will never, ever get laid.

“There are still only two kinds of headphones in the world, the big kind that cover your ears, or crap.” Not true. When you get into studio-quality range headphones, that may be the case, but for what 99% of the population needs (and can appreciate), that’s not true in the least. Massive headphones are a hipster meme, and so people use them whether they’re the best thing technically-speaking or not. Besides, the guy in the photo (and the girl in the article) are both listening to MP3s, ostensibly; $1200 studio headphones can not perform an ounce better than a good $80 pair in that case.

“And I don’t think anything is more annoying than hipsters wearing vintage-looking, gigantic, bulbous headphones.” I have no opinion about this guy or the song, but headphones aren’t a strictly aesthetic choice, and they haven’t kept making the big ones for the sake of looking “vintage”.  There are still only two kinds of headphones in the world, the big kind that cover your ears, or crap.

how sweet, he doesn’t charge a listening fee! not that it would make much of a difference, on top of the hundreds of dollars in plane fare and hotel fees non-new yorkers would have to shell out to get themselves to this asshole’s apartment.

oh, alec, get off it and sell it for an apple ad already.

I can appreciate the concept of what he’s doing in a sense, but he still comes off as a self-important dick. And I don’t think anything is more annoying than hipsters wearing vintage-looking, gigantic, bulbous headphones.

Immature + totally stupid + can you say desperate for attention = Alec Duffy. I mean Really? Does he have a life? It would make my day if someone would break into his house and steal the song or something.

um…. Sufjan Stevens isn’t really that impressive…. I wouldn’t cross the street to hear any of his songs. So, no, that’s okay, you can keep this song for yourself. Enjoy!

What do you mean I can’t get my instant gratification! I WANT IT NOW! NOW! kudos to this guy. I like the statement he’s making.

sufjan steven sucks anyway. it sounds like bad indie music for little kids.

Whoever cares about what the guy does with the PRIZE HE WON IN A FUCKING CONTEST is an idiot. If I win a Lear Jet it’s not my goddamn responsibility to fly the world around in it. Why does everyone has to be such a goddamn asshole. “He’s not sharing! He’s not playing nice!” Well, suck it up buttercup. Find something else to do, I’m sorry you weren’t invited to the party.

that music is tripe