[JWFokker]

If audio is recorded with the intent that it gets played back via speakers and thus, with the drivers in front of us and not at our sides, why aren't there any headphones with the drivers oriented the same way as speakers generally are? I understand they'd need to be louder because the drivers would not be as close to the eardrum, but not that much louder with a closed design so that little sound is "lost". Or am I mistaken and this has been tried and failed?

 

[El_Doug]

AKG K1000

it is not tried and "failed," as these headphones kick ass and chew bubblegum - and theyre all out of gum. the simple truth is that headphones like these must be open, and in order to be loud enough, are also loud enough to be heard by everyone else in the room. another consequence of the design is a much larger than normal thirst for power. as to why this design was never made closed, i imagine it has something to do with the enclosed space not getting along well with the increased distance the sound has to travel to reach your ears.

many successful headphones now use "angled drivers," which are not completely flush with the head, but instead slightly pitched to face along the head somewhat. the resulting soundstaging is superior. see HD800's, MDR-R10's, or many (if not all?) of the Ultrasones

 

[fraseyboy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by El_Doug /img/forum/go_quote.gif many successful headphones now use "angled drivers," which are not completely flush with the head, but instead slightly pitched to face along the head somewhat. the resulting soundstaging is superior. see HD800's, MDR-R10's, or many (if not all?) of the Ultrasones

Don't forget the Audio Technica AD series, which does it at a much lower pricepoint

 

[El_Doug]

id never forget

 

[Shoewreck]

Stax Sigma anyone?

 

[DefectiveAudioComponent]

angled drivers... it doesn't sound like a terribly difficult mod to tweak the driver mount just a bit. At least some headphone should have room for it. Did anybody try that?

 

[Shoewreck]

Mod may require some cutting and molding. Or just angled pads, like K701.

 

[DefectiveAudioComponent]

Exactly, the pads could do it, and some cans could probably be modded using stiff foam baffle (easy to cut, still air proof).

 

[Uncle Erik]

Also consider that not all speakers radiate the same way. You're thinking of the conventional box, with drivers on the front baffle. But there's also a range of dipole speakers that radiate front and back, like electrostats, ribbons, AMTs, and planars. Some like MBLs and the hombrew plasma tweeters radiate omnidirectionally! And consider the Bose

901. It has one driver that faces front and eight more on its back to send most of the sound out as reflections from the wall behind the speakers. So sound engineers are faced with quite a task when they consider playback. It could be done any number of ways.

However, you might want to take a look at binaural recordings. Those are made specifically for headphones. You can listen to them on speakers, but you lose what's special about binaural.

 

[b0dhi]

When you're listening to speakers, although the speakers are in front of you (or wherever), you are hearing sound from all directions because the sound bounces around the room. Although the typical sound spectrum of "sound in a room" can be emulated by voicing headphones so that they have a "diffuse field" response, you can't emulate sound from all directions because that response is different for each person. Some systems can do this in a personalised way though (the recently released Smyth for example). Even the K1000 is a far cry from the 3D sound of a real band/orchestra in a real space, though.

 

[moogoob]

As Erik said, Binaural recordings are made for phones, and actually sound pretty neat, although recording for binaural seems like a bit of a hassle. For example, to make an instrument louder, you approach the dummy head. Quieter, you walk away. The environment where you record is important as well. If done well, you get something like Ottmar Liebert's Up Close, which is well worth checking out if you like acoustic guitar.

 

[AmanGeorge]

Lots of headphones either have angled drivers or angled pads (both pairs of my AKGs and my Denons have angled pads, my old SA5000s had angled drivers, my future CD3000s have angled drivers).

 

[thrillmetoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by b0dhi /img/forum/go_quote.gif When you're listening to speakers, although the speakers are in front of you (or wherever), you are hearing sound from all directions because the sound bounces around the room. Although the typical sound spectrum of "sound in a room" can be emulated by voicing headphones so that they have a "diffuse field" response, you can't emulate sound from all directions because that response is different for each person. Some systems can do this in a personalised way though (the recently released Smyth for example).

There are several software-solutions which more or less succeeded in simulating these room reflections. One I like most is 4front headphones. It's a plug-in for several media players and works pretty neat, provided you turn the level a bit lower than the default. (www.yohng.com) After some getting used to, it also reduces the in-the-head effect. There is no way you can design headphones that sounds like speakers. When you listen with speakers, for a great deal you are in fact listening to your room.

 

[falis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Erik /img/forum/go_quote.gif ... However, you might want to take a look at binaural recordings. Those are made specifically for headphones. You can listen to them on speakers, but you lose what's special about binaural.

Yeah, it's too bad that the catalog of binaural recordings (music anyway) is so limited. I was really impressed by what I've heard on the net.

Orion+, eh? You're a monster!

- Ed

 

[tintin47]

I don't think that music is mastered just to be listened to on speakers, especially considering that most of the world uses headphones or terribly placed, poor quality speakers. That said, I also think that headphones are about something different from speakers. Using phones is a different experience, and I think it is meant to be that way.

Also, to add to uncle eriks point, some speaker designs are weird and completely different from what any engineer would think when mastering. I have magnepan tympani 1Ds, which have 3 bi-directional panels on each channel, attached by hinges. So, not only can you vary the speaker position, but the angles between the panels and the such.