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Appreciation of the sound from speakers vs. headphones - Page 2

post #16 of 27
5/29/10 at 2:34pm
Thread Starter 

Here is something that at first struck me as counter-intuitive.  Having a bit of ADD, I had a hard time concentrating at work with all the office buzz - people talking, printers going, phones ringing, IT guys coming to mess up computers, etc.  At first I thought that using my IEMs and iPhone for music would be just as distracting - you know, focus on the music instead of on working.  However, I find that I can get into a "zone" at work with my earphones and iPod/Phone.  I guess my brain can deal with the music - it is only one thing that I hear, instead of multiple noises - and it gives me the ability to focus.  It is like that at home, too.  I can zone out with the headphones on, but I can't with speakers.  I enjoy listening through speakers more due to comfort, etc., but I think I'll always have a need for headphones.

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post #17 of 27
5/29/10 at 3:28pm

Speaker sound is very nice if you have the living arrangement to be able to do it.  Condo living or apartment living is not suitable to proper speaker listening.  Even in a proper home you need a suitable room and not be too close to the neighbors.  Not everybody can manage that.  And if you have a cat better hope it doesn't decide to use your maggies as a scratching post.

 

A neat thing with headphones is that you can have multiple headphones and amps each with their unique sound and switch among them easily.  That makes the hobby fun.  You can easily experience different flavors of sound.  How do you manage the same with speakers?  Multiple pairs of full range speakers and amps in the same room all set up so you can switch between them?  Yeah, right.  So for me the headphone listening allows for more freedom to play with different sound flavors and freely switch from one sound to another. 

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post #18 of 27
5/30/10 at 1:35am

x2 Ham Sandwich

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post #19 of 27
5/30/10 at 1:53am

Only speakers I have at home are my PC-speakers and a portable speaker fro my iPod. After intense use of my newest headphones for months and trying out my PC-speakers again yesterday... I will NEVER EVER again listen to those horrible "speakers" again. My portable speakers have fun sound though, I like them.

 

Anyway, as you figured I don´t have anything to make a reasonable compare.

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post #20 of 27
5/30/10 at 9:39am

When I got speakers and a good sub set up, man, it was great. With headphones, I got fatigued from listening after a few hours, but the speakers never did that.
 

Basically, when I want to sit down and get some work done with music playing in the background, speakers. It's only when I really want to get intimate with my music that I use headphones. They'll probably get less head-time if I get some nicer speakers to complement the sub though. I figure I'll at least get another one or two dynamics (HD650, DT880 or something) and then a STAX setup to see just how far I can get improvements in my music.

 

Still, one thing I love about headphones is that you can get totally different flavors for reasonable prices and switch them around with ease. Unlike speakers. And they present things so closely that you really can immerse yourself in your music. For that reason, I don't think I can forsake headphones just yet.

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post #21 of 27
5/30/10 at 9:39am

whoops; double post.


Edited by Zeroblade - 5/30/10 at 4:51pm
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post #22 of 27
5/30/10 at 3:06pm

For me, speakers are better overall but I like headphones as well.

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post #23 of 27
5/30/10 at 4:23pm

The best you can get are speakers. The bigger the better.

 

However, what do you do at night, when everyone in your house/apartment/room is sleeping? 

We whip out the headphones/IEM's and listen to them.

 

On top of that, my 10" cannot be moved around (dirty innuendo implied)

 

So it depends where you spend most of your time.

If you are one that moves around a lot, then headphones or IEM's.

If you are one that works at home/studies at home, then get speakers.

 

You could get best of both worlds, or could go for the "average" speakers/headphones, like i have done...

 

Although i wouldn't say neither my speakers nor earphones are average :P

 

Westone 2's Vs 505 watts from my Logitech Z-5500 :D


Edited by Totally Dubbed - 5/30/10 at 4:25pm
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post #24 of 27
5/30/10 at 4:45pm

The problem with headphones is my neighbors can hear me singing along with nothing. >______>

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post #25 of 27
5/30/10 at 4:53pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by redshifter View Post

The problem with headphones is my neighbors can hear me singing along with nothing. >______>


haha!

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post #26 of 27
5/30/10 at 7:25pm

Ewww, Z5500s 

 

Quote:

Westone 2's Vs 505 watts from my Logitech Z-5500 :D

 

 

 

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post #27 of 27
5/30/10 at 7:43pm

When I said speaker sound can be very nice I was thinking of quality home stereo equipment and good speakers (say $1500 range and better level for speakers, not that $$$ spent indicates audio quality, but it's a rough ballpark).  Computer speakers aren't what I was thinking of.  Even my M-Audio BX8a setup as nearfield don't qualify.  They could be considered "nice" but not very nice and not something to put in the speaker quality vs. headphone quality battle. 

 

I've only used the BX8a as nearfield.  I've never tried them farfield setup like a proper home stereo setup.  I wonder how they'd do?  They'd need a sub.  They're not what I consider a transparent or detailed speaker even though they're sold as studio monitors.  But I digress.

 

I have listened to some quality two channel speaker setups.  I've heard high end speakers.  I just don't play in that game.  I do headphones.

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