[OriginalReaper]

It's not the same thing, but it's better than, uh, nothing. Anything with Dolby Digital, DTS, or even Pro Logic. As long as it's less expensive than a home theater in a box.

I already have good headphones (SR-225)

 

[grinch]

i find that grado headphones just all around suck for home theatre, but that's just been my feelings and i've compared them to the hd600 which, in my opinion, are the best headphones for home theatre although i hear positive things about stax.

as far as i understand, no headphone amp has built-in dolby headphone-type processor. dts and dd hold information for 5+ channels of sound and headphones only have two, so i doubt that much can be done to alleviate that. i'd say just use the "dolby surround" track on the dvd and run the left/right outputs to a nice amplifier, that's what i always do.

note to the world: a decent headphone amp with built in processor would be neat. especially if it had its own dac inside and could accept digital connections to convert dts/dolbywhatever to dolby headphone or the like. any other thoughts on the subject?

 

[Spad]

I listen to DD and DTS 5.1 DVDs regularly with a Mac PBG4 as well as Yamaha's Silent Cinema, and Sony VSS headphone outs. Using CD3Ks the results are excellent, sometimes even approaching the realism of good binaural recordings.

There has been lots of progress in this area in the last few years. I'm surprised we see so little mention of it here.

If you have a PC laptop, I'd recommend checking out the Echo Indigo PC card.

Spad

 

[fredpb]

Yes. One device that tried to stay in the market for a while under many names ended up in it's best form the Sennheiser DSP Pro headphone amp.

Dolby pro logic in a small package mainly for headphones.
I have one and love it. It is NOT a good high end headphone amp, but for Dolby pro logic or movie listening I am happy with it.
Most people don't know how to set it up or understand it, so it died on the marketplace. You can still find them on eBay sometimes. I won't get rid of mine.

Since I chose "high end" (on the cheaper side) audio for my main system, it meant really, I was not going to invest in "home theatre". But I do have a video rack (which I just rewired, UGH).
I do feed audio to my tv, which in turn feeds to my main system. But I got rid of my speaker based Dolby unit today, it was just not worth it. But I use my DSP Pro for ear blasting headphone movies in my system.

I was also called the "Lucas" for a while and a few other names. There is some stuff on the net for it.

It is NOT crossfeed. It is really five channel sound. Nifty little device.

You might even find a new cheaper variant of it sold new, but look for the DSP Pro.

 

[Spad]

The Sennheiser DSP Pro's forerunners were first the Auri produced by a company in Florida that holds the patents. Sennheiser then licensed the Auri and produced a cosmetically identical product under the name Lucas. I bought the Auri, hated the terrible S/N ratio and other artifacts, and returned it within a few days.

When the Lucas came out I bought one and found it to be much better. I used it occasionally for late-night movies for a year or so and still have it in a closet somewhere. The DSP Pro lacks some of the bells and whistles of the Lucas, but the price was also significantly lower as well.

The Lucas really isn't in the same league with the newer technology offered almost as an aside in many of the current AV products. It was meant to process Dolby ProLogic which it did with only modest success IMO. The new stuff handles Digital Dolby and DTS 5.1 formats over headphones, and the results can be extremely good.

I wouldn't recommend buying AV gear solely for headphone listening, but for me it's a prime consideration when upgrading components.

Spad

 

[bobf]

Antique Sound Labs (Joe Lau) makes a new headamp the SRS Head which has a DSP chip. I just received it and it does give you the sensation of surround, but will obviously never match a 6 channel speaker setup. It's not to bad for music, although Joe has stated that it is mainly for movies.

 

[Spad]

Quote:

Originally posted by bobf Antique Sound Labs (Joe Lau) makes a new headamp the SRS Head which has a DSP chip. I just received it and it does give you the sensation of surround, but will obviously never match a 6 channel speaker setup. It's not to bad for music, although Joe has stated that it is mainly for movies.

If I'm not mistaken, this uses a version of the WOW Thing chip set. This DSP chip coupled to a decent amp stage could be very interesting. I'd love to hear more about it.

 

[Kenny]

Re no headphone amps yet with Dolby Headphone - as the saying goes, that was this morning

Pioneer SE-DIR1000C Digital Surround Headphone implements Dolby Headphone in a wireless way, $409 US from www.audiocubes.com, maybe cheaper elsewhere if you really hunt. Haven't heard it, don't even know if you can profitably plug the headphones that you presently have into it.... Note if you buy direct from Japan you will get a Japanese manual and will need a 120 - 100 V convertor (which audiocubes can supply, and does so for free with some orders).

Lake Technologies Theaterphone HSM6240 (6 analog in, Dolby Headphone out via headphone jack or RCA connectors). Not sure where to buy one, but you can start at www.laketechnology.com, might still be about $1200 US. I've had one for about a year and it sounds Absolutely Fabulous, Lake invented Dolby Headphone and obviously took considerable care in making their amp.

There are systems out there that aren't Dolby Headphone (AKG Hearo, Sony DS-8000 or something I forget the model), but so far I haven't seen a review that says anything beats Dolby Headphone.

 

[JahJahBinks]

How does a headphone produce sound that comes from behind?

 

[Spad]

Quote:

Originally posted by JahJahBinks How does a headphone produce sound that comes from behind?

Search on the term "binaural." Accuately localizing sound in 360 degrees is easily done, but this requires binaural recording. What's surprising is how effective post processing of normally encoded DD and DTS can be done these days.

 

[OriginalReaper]

Is any of this stuff light on the pocket? If it's over $200 I'll just save up and get a Onkyo or Kenwood budget HTiB

 

[JahJahBinks]

I just tried the Lake PLS plugin for musicmatch and it adds a bigger soundstage to songs.

Does such a plug-in exist for winamp?

Edit: I want to say dolby headphone plug in can really improve the song by a lot!!! Some songs now sound unbelievable!

HOLY BATMAN!

I am wondering if this is the soundstage improvement that an amp brings. It moves the sound from inside your head to about 1-2 feet away from the front of your head. Bass becomes weaker but listening becomes less fatiguing. Am I right?

Edit again: I take back my words on songs becoming much better, actually it's just a personal preference, both are good.

 

[GanChan]

I can recommend the Silent Cinema processing that Yamaha includes in its receivers for DVDs. I haven't compared with any other processors, but it sounds like the descriptions of "crossfeed" that I've always heard on this board -- not so much a specific directionality, but a general increase in depth, so that the sound seems to be coming at you spherically rather than just right and left. It's a fair approximation of sitting in a room listening to speakers. No more hole in the middle of your head!

Depending on how the DVD audio was originally mixed, voices can sometimes sound a little muddy, but I think I can tame that by lowering my center channel level slightly....

 

[Spad]

Quote:

Originally posted by GanChan I can recommend the Silent Cinema processing that Yamaha includes in its receivers for DVDs. I haven't compared with any other processors, but it sounds like the descriptions of "crossfeed" that I've always heard on this board -- not so much a specific directionality, but a general increase in depth, so that the sound seems to be coming at you spherically rather than just right and left. It's a fair approximation of sitting in a room listening to speakers. No more hole in the middle of your head! Depending on how the DVD audio was originally mixed, voices can sometimes sound a little muddy, but I think I can tame that by lowering my center channel level slightly....

I'm afraid you've been misled concerning the affect of crossfeed. It attempts to fill in the gaps between left-center and right-center that is common to some headphone designs. There is no surround effect at all. If your headphones tend to produce a wide, continuous soundstage similar to the CD3K or W2002 (among others), you may find that, like me, you don't like it at all.

OTOH, Silent Cinema and Sony's VSS actually attempt to create the 5.1 soundfield and can be fairly effective. Dolby Headphone is better than either, of course. Too bad it's not more universally applied.

 

[GanChan]

I see. In any event, I'm enjoying Silent Cinema's ability to make me forget (somewhat) that I'm wearing headphones. It's nice to be rid of the "cans on ears" effect. It does squash the left-right soundstage inward slightly, but it compensates with a feeling of foreground-background.

Also, having a decent headphone jack for a change is fun.