Good soundstage cans for Dolby Headphone movie watching

Heya,

Denon D2000.

Very best,

Quote:

Originally Posted by MalVeauX 

Heya,

 

Denon D2000.

 

Very best,

x2.  They sound perfect for your needs.

I vouch for the D2000 as well.  Largest soundstage out of any closed can I've personally heard.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Junkboxy 

 

Hello Head-Fi!

Over on AVSforum, they frequently refer people with headphone questions over here.  So that's the story of how a head trip noob wound up over here.

I've done a fair amount of digging so far.  The thing is,...hearty discussions about headphones usually seem to be centered on their suitability for music or gaming.

A problem in trying to assimilate music advice into movie advice is: I don't know if its safe to assume that cans that are said to have a good "soundstage" for stereo music listening WOULD ALSO present a good "soundstage" for source 5.1 movie audio that has been Dolby Headphone-ized (or THX TruStudio-ed or Yamaha Silent Cinema-ed) for headphones output.  Alright, alright, that WAS a bit wordy!  In other words, is it true that:

Good music "soundstage" <=> good movie surround sound "soundstage"?

I'm afraid to assume so.  Hence I ask the community here for their thoughts as relates to the task of surround sound movie watching (er, listening).

So ideally it would be a sub-$300 headphone that:

- Good soundstage for Dolby Headphone surround sound

- Closed

- Gets by well enough without an amp

I have a couple of other prefs, but shall keep the criteria short & sweet so many other cinema-phile headphone noobs can benefit.  Any and all words to the wise are much appreciated.

 

Your right, it is a bit wordy, I have to read it several times to make sure I'm understand your question(s)

I'm thinking you use the word "soundstage" to describe too much, so it's losing its meaning in your writings.

DVD movies use Dolby Digital 5.1, so you would listen to movies with your headphones using Dolby Headphone 5.1

To me at least "soundstage" is more a music term, not really used for describing movies, I would just use the word "surround sound" for movies, but that's just me.

I believe Yamaha's Silent Cinema is something Yamaha came up with so they do not have to pay Dolby any royalties.

THX was invented by Industrial light and magic, Dolby is a separate company.

I would be helpful to know what source(s) these headphones are going to be plugged into?

How far will you be away from people with the headphones?  D2000s no doubt leak, but not as much as a completely open headphone.  If you listen at moderate volumes, anything beyond 10 feet should be no problem at all.  If it's an instance when you're right next to somebody in a bed or on a couch, then it might be moreso a problem.

So far I havn't had an issue with their screws coming loose, but I'm only 5 months in.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Junkboxy 

 But I've also seen a lot of complaints about the earcups coming off because of cheapo screws breaking.  Quality control issues like that are a major buzzkill.  The other thing I've heard is that it is very leaky (the only reason I'm restricting to closed cans is because I don't want to bother others late at night).  Are either of these two things overstated complaints?

Heya,

This is the phenomena of the internet. If something happens once or twice, there will be a room of 5,000 people who have never experienced it, but one dude from the internet will come in and spout off about it like it's law, and that person never even listened to, let alone owned, the headphone in subject. But hey, if it has your knees shaking, go with something lesser. They're beyond over-stated. The leaking of the D2000 is no more than a lot of non-isolating closed back headphones. Closed back headphones are still able to let out sound. It doesn't leak like a Grado. If you put on the D2000's, listen to high volume, someone in the next room will not hear much unless you have your headphones off so that they're open to the room, and not sitting on your head. This applies to nearly all closed headphones by the way, not just the D2000. They do allow more sound leaking than a headphone that clamps very hard on your head, but having several of these headphones, I wouldn't put a lot of weight on it unless absolute silence is a necessity (in which case, just get an IEM).

As for decoder, the astro mixamp would do well for you. Receivers, most of them at least, are not setup to do dolby headphone specifically.

Very best,

There's people in Head-fi's trade forum that sells them for around 200-250 dollars.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Junkboxy 

The sub-$100 list:

 

JVC HA-RX900

JVC HA-RX700

Superlux HD681

Samson SR850

Shure SRH440

Sennheiser HD 448

Sony MDR-V600

Sony MDR-V700DJ

UltraSone HFI-450

AKG K 240 Studio

JVC RX900, no doubt.

Heya,

D2000 for $250. It will go fast.

Very best,