[wind016]

So what are head-fiers missing? Crossfeed or effects?

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

Try with dolby headphone those who can. Listening from the with the browser embedded player I clearly heard it like 2nd image but when I downloaded it and opened with foobar2000 with dolby headphone it sounded clearly like 1st picture.

 

[Funky-kun]

We aren't missing anything. This sample (just like 99% of music) is recorded to sound correct on speakers. The different design of headphones will never recreate the same soundstage as speakers, whatever manufacturers say.
 
On the other hand, why don't some speaker enthusiast try how binaural samples sound on their system?

 

[wind016]

 
Quote:

We aren't missing anything. This sample (just like 99% of music) is recorded to sound correct on speakers. The different design of headphones will never recreate the same soundstage as speakers, whatever manufacturers say.
 
On the other hand, why don't some speaker enthusiast try how binaural samples sound on their system?

So why can't we get a sound and spatial imaging like speakers? Is it the lack of a natural crossfeed?
 

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

Quote:

 

So why can't we get a sound and spatial imaging like speakers? Is it the lack of a natural crossfeed?

 
Use Dolby headphone with foobar2000! http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/555263/foobar2000-dolby-headphone-config-comment-discuss

 

[wind016]

 
Quote:

 
Use Dolby headphone with foobar2000! http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/555263/foobar2000-dolby-headphone-config-comment-discuss

I did before and also Isone pro. It works for the first few minutes, then eventually music sounds artificial =(
 

 

[Roller]

Quote:

 

I did before and also Isone pro. It works for the first few minutes, then eventually music sounds artificial =(
 

I always found Dolby Headphone to sound artificial and with an uncanny reverb. Simple crossfeed or bs2b works best, much more nuanced effects.

 

[Funky-kun]

Quote:

I did before and also Isone pro. It works for the first few minutes, then eventually music sounds artificial =(
 

Isone pro is the best speaker sound simulator, but indeed after a period the music sounds dull and lifeless.
 
This is due to the fact that the music is recorded to be played back on speakers, and yes, the biggest difference is that they have natural crossfeed. Also, the L and R channels should be positioned in front of the listener with speakers, not on the sides as with headphones.
 
If you really want to hear what headphones are capable of in terms of soundstaging - binaural is the way to go!
 

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

Quote:

Isone pro is the best speaker sound simulator, but indeed after a period the music sounds dull and lifeless.
 
This is due to the fact that the music is recorded to be played back on speakers, and yes, the biggest difference is that they have natural crossfeed. Also, the L and R channels should be positioned in front of the listener with speakers, not on the sides as with headphones.
 
If you really want to hear what headphones are capable of in terms of soundstaging - binaural is the way to go!
 

I tried Isone and also couple of other VST plugins but for me dolby headphone worked best (as in sounding as natural as possible) but only after fiddling around with the settings why I started my own thread about it, with only Dolby headphone plugin activated it'll sound very artificial indeed but you'll need Channel mixer as well and the appropriate settings with it. Give the http://cid-87ed83e2c9fd453c.office.live.com/self.aspx/Public/foobar2000/foobar2000.v1.0.3.Dolby.Headphone-RPGWiZaRD.zip config a try, won't take you long, extract it somewhere else, open foobar exe file n drag some songs to the playlist so you can compare with your own foobar2000 install. I think this config I pointed to with foobar2000 v1.0.3 sounds a little better than with v1.1.6 because it sounds less reverby along with Dolby Headphone enabled.
 
I've used it now for 1 year+ and I couldn't imagine going back to not using it, everything sound so boring and lifeless with so little depth when comparing with other players.

 

[Funky-kun]

Thanks for the link, I'll definitely give it a try once I am reunited with my setup.

 

[Arleus]

Dolby headphone (I'm using your setup, rpgwizard) does improve the imaging quite noticeably, pushing it closer to image 1 than image 2. I hate to say it though, but I'm with the above posters in that I don't quite like the sound of it. While the soundstaging is better, the suspicious reverb is too off-putting for me - it makes everything sound a bit boxy for my liking. I'm quite happy to sacrifice a bit of sound stage to get what I perceive as a 'cleaner' sound.

 

[olor1n]

Quote:

I can clearly pinpoint the position of each hit, but what I hear through my HD650 is closer to the second image.
 
With my Audioengine A2's at ear level, arm's length away and a metre apart, the hits are evenly spaced exactly like the first picture.
 
My setup:
Macbook via optical > Audio-GD Fun via dac line level rca out > Lyr via preamp rca out > speakers
                                                                                         > Lyr headphone out > HD650
 
 
I'm intrigued by those claiming to hear the first picture through their cans. The OP shouldn't have posted the images until results were declared.

•      •   •  •  •   •      •     = HD650 with tube imaging through the Lyr and Audio-GD Fun dac = closer second image
•  •  •  •  •  •  •               = Audioengine A2 speakers with tube imaging through the Lyr and Audio-GD Fun dac = first image
•  • • • • •  •                   = Alessandro MS-1i straight from Macbook headphone out = closer to first image
 
I suspect those claiming to hear the first image are simply hearing the limitations of their basic setup. I wouldn't be surprised though if those with very capable cans and systems really did hear speaker like imaging depicted in the first picture.
 
I also have an Astro MixAmp with Dolby Headphones. It's very good for gaming if you place great importance in positional queues. It blows for music.

 

[rymd]

Quote:

On the other hand, why don't some speaker enthusiast try how binaural samples sound on their system?

 
I played some binaural recordings on two bookshelf speakers facing each other and stuck my head dead center. Sounded at least 10 times more real than headphones.
 
 

 

[wind016]

 
Quote:

 
I played some binaural recordings on two bookshelf speakers facing each other and stuck my head dead center. Sounded at least 10 times more real than headphones.
 
 

Really? Binaural recordings never sounded right with speakers to me and I generally avoid playing binaural music on speakers.

 

[rymd]

Well of course they shouldn't sound right. But I positioned the left speaker to play directly to my left ear, and the right speaker to play directly to my right ear. Just like headphones! ... sort of
 
About the 7 drum hits file, it seems to be corrupt when I download it. But when I play it through browser, I get a mix of the top and bottom with Yulong D100 --> Radius DDM
I tried it with 2 more alright earphones and for some reason, I keep getting something that looks like this:
•  • • •••     •  
 
The first 3 are evenly spaced out. But as it proceeds more right, it gets much much closer until I can barely discern the positions and then it suddenly hard pans right. This happened to all 3 phones I used, with the best one (Radius DDM) being least effected. A problem with my hardware... or my hearing? o.O