[socialjazz]

For a long time I am a happy headphone listener until I... hear some really good audiophile speakers.
Sure the headphone gives me more details but they sound very unnatural after listening to speakers. This is from hearing from the exact same CD (song Shima Uta). No matter if it was using my Denon 5000 or a borrowed pair of HD800, they now sounds like poo to me. Unfortunately due to various reasons I am not able install such huge and high end speakers in my home and is limited to headphone usage.
Granted I have not listened to any electrostatic headphone at all, will these provide me with a more natural sound? will these move me one step closer to the dynamic and entralling sound of speakers?

 

[joelpearce]

You might want to try a source that does crossfade instead, as it might be the unnaturally huge stereo separation that's giving you trouble. You have high-end enough headphones that you've probably pretty much heard what headphones are capable of delivering.
 
That said, you might want to give something like the Sony MDR-F1 or AKG K1000 a try--they theoretically would present more of a speaker-like presentation...

 

[socialjazz]

Now I am trying crossfader, free surround and channel mixer with dolby headphone, and a combination of channel mixer with crossfader. Somehow it still sound unnatural to me. However as I am also getting accustom back to the sound of headphone and they currently sound nice to me. However I cannot get back the feeling of enthralment anymore.
Anyone has experience with the electrotstatic headphone to give a comment on their sound?

 

[socialjazz]

Also I want to add that the thing i feel most unnatural about headphone after listening to a good pair of speaker is the treble part. The treble just sound unnatural and also the whole listening lacks the kind of full body experience.

 

[jeust0999]

Damn, sucks for you.

 

[zotjen]

Headphones will always sound unnatural to some extent, just as speakers will also sound unnatural when compared to a live performance. Rather than try to achieve the most natural sounding listening experience, you might want to just try for the best sounding listening experience instead and accept the fact that you can't achieve from headphones what you can from a live performance or speakers. Headphones serve a different purpose than speakers so get the most out of that purpose rather than trying to recreate a sound produced from something else.

 

[jeust0999]

Look...
 
Floating in water is such an incredible experience. But floating in a beach is a completely different experience than floating in a pool. There are tangibles and intangibles one must take into account to fully experience this whole phenomena. Nevertheless, you're floating in water. Just as you could experience weightlessness in outer space.
 
Just as Apple Ipod headphones sound very similar to Sennheiser HD800's, obviously speaking in relative terms. This is probably why 99% of people live their whole lives with crappy speakers and never notice.
 
Consider this, Frank Sinatra's voice in morse code, and you're singing along to the lyrics with the music in your head. An extreme example, with the complete opposite of high fidelity.
 
The moral of the story is...your mind is [Mod Edit: No swearing please] with you.

 

[joelpearce]

I like to think of listening to headphones as having a concert performed just for me inside my head.

 

[pp312]

To the OP, if you find the treble unnatural and a lack of body compared to speakers, try the Sennheiser HD650. It's one of the most speaker-like headphones you can buy in terms of balance.

 

[wind016]

Yes the Stax Omega 2 is the best sounding headphone I've never heard and I already ordered a pair. Dynamics just pale in comparison. Here's a quote of myself lol
 
"When I heard the Omega 2 MK1 at a meet through a BHSE, the first thing that hit me was their incredibly elegant sound. After hearing headphones like the AKG K1000, R10, HD800, HE6, and LCD 2, I KNEW I had to get the Omega 2. The orthodynamics are nice but they didn't sound too different from dynamics IMO. Music through the O2 sounded so light, that it was almost ethereal. It made music through dynamics feel heavy. The bass performance was quite a feat. Low frequencies were so well separated from the rest of the frequencies yet still so impactful. Music sounded like it was coming out of air, like the drivers were lightning fast. The best part about the O2s were the mids. I felt as though the other dynamics were all to concerned with treble and they were not exactly the most pleasant to listen to. The O2s have very lush and full mids that you may love in Audio Technica headphones, but one-up it by making it spacious, more elegant, and much more resolving. After hearing the Stax, I immediately sold my dynamic rig because I couldn't justify the cost of that rig when I could get a good Stax Omega 2 system for a bit more and sound much MUCH better IMO. At least to my preferences, they blew the likes of the other legendary or non-legendary top tier ortho/dynamics out of the water. The only way I can see someone preferring a dynamic headphone over the Stax Omega 2 is if they like a brighter sound that something like the K1000 can give or if they wanted more bass impact. But to me, they sounded perfect. Most of the members on Head-fi seem to prefer the brighter original Omega, but I didn't. I definitely preferred the warmer Omega 2 MK1. I felt it was a much more versatile and pleasant sounding headphone, but it was just being picky. The Omega is one of the best sounding headphones I've heard, though a tad too bright for me.
 
After the meet I felt that if anyone that loves the quality of mids on Audio Technica or just want the best mids, I think they will be very happy with the Stax Omega 2. The Audio Technica W11R I'm keeping because I think they offer a completely different sound (closed design, more upfront vocals, more bass impact), but still keeping me happy with their great midrange. I even suspect that owning the Omega 2s would be my retirement from Head-FI XD"

 

[ssavage]

Quote:

To the OP, if you find the treble unnatural and a lack of body compared to speakers, try the Sennheiser HD650. It's one of the most speaker-like headphones you can buy in terms of balance.

but it's said to be dull, slow, and boring

 

[estreeter]

Is there a single Head-Fier whose desire for a speaker rig is not constrained by:
 
- budget
- location
- reality
 
???????
 
I have seen photos of really topnotch speaker rigs installed in apartments, particularly in places like Singapore, and I can only assume that it must test one's relationship with one's neighbours to the limit. Even in a suburban environment with quarter-acre blocks (fast disappearing here in Oz), you only need one basshead in your street and everyone gets to enjoy his, ahem, taste in music. Throw in the amount of room space you need for a good pair of floorstanders plus the acoustic characteristics of your room and its not hard to see why headphones sell in such huge numbers. I dont own anything from Martin Logan or the like, but I am assured that a thousand dollar pair of cans is the equivalents of a 10-15k pair of speakers, and you arent going to drive those speakers from an entry-level amp. We wring our hands over a $500 amp purchase, but the stakes get a lot higher when you start looking at a decent pre/power combination for speakers. 
 
Perfect world, I would have a completely separate structure dedicated to music, soundproofed and designed from the ground up to have great acoustics. Anyone who wants to help me with my dream just needs to PM me for my Paypal details

 

[olor1n]

Quote:

but it's said to be dull, slow, and boring

Also overrated apparently.

 

[snaps11]

Quote:

but it's said to be dull, slow, and boring

Why don't you get a pair and let us know :-D. (I have the hd-650 but no use in arguing with you.  It would be better you tried it yourself (on a new pair w/ silver silk))

 

[Vkamicht]

Quote:

For a long time I am a happy headphone listener until I... hear some really good audiophile speakers.
Sure the headphone gives me more details but they sound very unnatural after listening to speakers. This is from hearing from the exact same CD (song Shima Uta). No matter if it was using my Denon 5000 or a borrowed pair of HD800, they now sounds like poo to me. Unfortunately due to various reasons I am not able install such huge and high end speakers in my home and is limited to headphone usage.
Granted I have not listened to any electrostatic headphone at all, will these provide me with a more natural sound? will these move me one step closer to the dynamic and entralling sound of speakers?

 
This is really simple - you're experience the fact that a good pair of speakers (at least, "studio monitors", but I'm not sure what you refer to when you say audiophile speakers) have a nearly flat frequency response and sound very natural and life-like. If I compare any pair of headphones I have in my house (DT-880, HD-600, Alessandro MS-2, all of which are $300 or more MSRP I think) to my studio monitors which were only $230, they sound like they're reverberating out of a tin-can. It's THAT bad. If you do a frequency sweep from 20-20000, you can immediately hear the speakers have an incredibly smooth response, the "perceived volume" stays very very close throughout the entire frequency range. Play well-recorded music and they sound fantastic. If I do a frequency sweep on any of my pairs of headphones it gets louder, quieter, VERY LOUD, normal, quiet... it's all over the place... some people say it's the nature of the beast I guess, but you can actually EQ your headphones to sound like a pair of monitors and you'll get close to the same natural response while still retaining what headphones do well i.e. not letting room acoustics affect the sound
 
At least, this is from my experience...