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Loudspeakers vs headphones - Page 2

post #16 of 175
10/12/12 at 12:00am
Quote:
Originally Posted by MorbidToaster View Post

I'm a big fan of huge panels. If I had room I'd still have my Maggies, tbh. It's a totally different experience from headphones or dynamic speakers.

 

 

At the time I was thinking of upgrading to a pair of Apogee Divas or even Maggie 20s but I lost interest.

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post #17 of 175
10/12/12 at 12:11am

Headphones provide better detail per cost ratio and smoother frequency response (usually) without having to treat a room.

 

When it comes to overall neutrality, soundstage, realism and visceral qualities, headphones can't touch good speakers with a good room though.  And there's so many good speakers out there unlike headphones where you have to pick and choose-- often depending on massive coloration.

 

Headphones can sound very real with good binaural recordings.

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post #18 of 175
10/12/12 at 12:21am

I'm new to headphone listening and I totally love my HE-500's but I find that for big orchestral pieces and opera speakers are absolutely superior for realistic soundstage and imaging.  For chamber music or solo instrumental and/or vocal stuff I now tending to prefer the intimacy and detail of headphones.

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post #19 of 175
10/12/12 at 12:25am

Best speaker I ever heard were some westminster SE's, blew my mind, the most natural sounding things, decimated my SP1/2R2; they also cost £20,000 more! Top flight speakers are silly money.


Edited by mark_h - 10/12/12 at 12:27am
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post #20 of 175
10/12/12 at 7:22am

TBH I am pretty happy with my setup....

 

NAD 326bee

Cambridge audio dacmagic

B&W 602 s3

 

Yes not perfect or particularily high end but definately musical and fun to listen to... I prefer it to my HD650 tbh. It has a lot of energy and excitement even if not the most refined setup ever....

 

Obviously I would like a better speaker setup but I do not have the funds...


Edited by nicholars - 10/12/12 at 7:23am
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post #21 of 175
10/12/12 at 8:54pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by TMRaven View Post

Headphones provide better detail per cost ratio and smoother frequency response (usually) without having to treat a room.

 

 

 

+1

 

For obvius reasons the soundstage is bigger when we use speakers, but not having the need of a treated room, headphones can be better in sense of detail, resolution and ability to dive into the music.

 

With speakers we have the sensation of being at the forefront of a scenario, however with some headphones the feeling is to be playing along with them.

When I use my HD800 I feel I'm one of the members of the group. I love that closseness sensation...

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post #22 of 175
10/12/12 at 10:24pm

Everything being equal I'd prefer a nice room and speakers.

 

But I don't have the time and money to really sink into a dedicated room and equipment. But good headphones + a good virtualizer is a great option. Headphones only I don't enjoy as much.
 

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post #23 of 175
10/12/12 at 11:41pm

Have a read of this thread:

 

Headphones are great, but will never be speakers...

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post #24 of 175
10/13/12 at 12:54am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Currawong View Post

Have a read of this thread:

 

Headphones are great, but will never be speakers...

 

 

Interesting read sort of, but this part is quite wrong:

 

 

Quote:
When listening with one of these players on the beach in southampton – about 60 yards in from the water, the water added “dither” and let me hear further into the music.

 

 

Mathematically impossible. Dither has to be added pre-quantization in order to yield signal-to-noise perceptual benefits ie "hearing further into the music". Otherwise it just means the person prefers the noise of the water added to the music.

 

.......


Edited by YCH - 10/13/12 at 1:07am
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post #25 of 175
10/13/12 at 10:52pm

To answer the thread's question, I prefer speakers in the appropriate venue for critical listening and headphones for convenience and shutting out ambient interruptions.

 

I am fairly new to headphones as well.  I have had various earbuds, some $300-$1,000 noise cancelling headphones and some custom molded in-ear BigEar phones over the years.  All of which have produced the "cranial sound" with varying degrees of fidelity, but none of them have created the external soundstages like my Maggie systems (according to Golden Ear's thread, I guess Maggies are not quite high fidelity =). 

 

Can any headphone/amp combo create a soundstage external to the "cranial sound" ???  If so, what would some example combos be ???

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post #26 of 175
10/13/12 at 10:58pm

The K1000 can to a certain degree, but the only real way to get a real soundstage from headphones is to use either (1) binaural recordings, or (2) a smyth realizer

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by emailtim View Post

 

Can any headphone/amp combo create a soundstage external to the "cranial sound" ???  If so, what would some example combos be ???

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post #27 of 175
10/13/12 at 11:11pm

To me, a high end speaker setup is much more enjoyable when listening to music. I like the physical impact of the bass from a subwoofer.

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post #28 of 175
10/14/12 at 12:55am

So, there seems to be a consensus of responders to this thread at least that good loudspeakers systems beat good headphone systems.  I then wonder why there seems to be a kind of fanaticism among headphone users about their "gear" on this website that I haven't seen on the various forum websites aimed at standard hi-fi and home theater aficionados? 

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post #29 of 175
10/14/12 at 4:32pm

avsforum.com

Quote:
Originally Posted by Andolink View Post

So, there seems to be a consensus of responders to this thread at least that good loudspeakers systems beat good headphone systems.  I then wonder why there seems to be a kind of fanaticism among headphone users about their "gear" on this website that I haven't seen on the various forum websites aimed at standard hi-fi and home theater aficionados? 

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post #30 of 175
10/14/12 at 4:53pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Andolink View Post

So, there seems to be a consensus of responders to this thread at least that good loudspeakers systems beat good headphone systems.  I then wonder why there seems to be a kind of fanaticism among headphone users about their "gear" on this website that I haven't seen on the various forum websites aimed at standard hi-fi and home theater aficionados? 

 

Most here would say a dedicated room for speakers and the cost of a good speaker system. However, some here also have a good speaker system.

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