[WNBC]

Name the high end stereo systems and the $50 monitors you use.  This would be a service to many people looking to save money.  Me too.
 
Quote:

Because I've never, ever in my life heard any high end stereo set up that sounds as good as my cheap little 50$ studio monitors

 

[wafflezz]

I don't have any high end stereo systems. I've never listened to any(or so I think).
All I know is they cost bundles. I'm not willing to spend thousands for *maybe* better SQ than you can get with a simple headphone set up

But the 50$ monitors I use are the superlux 681 evo. I originally was going just use them for gaming but they ended up besting my m50 for music too.

I have a review of them posted up here somewhere as well

 

[WNBC]

Actually sound quality can get better as you pay more.  It's not a myth or false advertising.  However, it is not true for every product out there.  I've owned plenty of $100-300 IEMs and headphones that I've enjoyed tremendously.  Have any of these made me think headphones I've purchased like the HE-500, LCD-2, or TH-600 were not worth their current price tag?  Nope.  And I constantly go back to try headphones in the $100-300 price range like the ATH-ESW99 or RE-400.  While very good I would pick the TH-600 or my former Heir Audio 4Ai over them any day of the week.  In this case price was worth it.  But I've owned DACs and amps that were very expensive and didn't feel so great about.
 
With that said, paying more doesn't mean I will enjoy music any more.  It may mean that I am getting closer to the signature I enjoy and some refinement.  There is some value in that.
 
My main point is to not overreact and say spending thousands *maybe* get you better SQ.  Keep an open mind at least until you try different rigs.  Spending thousands may get you better sound quality by leaps and bounds or very little.  It's also fair to say that you won't spend that type of money because you don't feel the need.  We all have our upper limits.  At some point many of us were in the same boat as you.  3 years ago I never had even a $50 headphone like your Superlux.  A couple years later I've tried a lot of things.  Some things were hyped and I never found them to be great.  Some things very expensive and pretty awesome.  
 
 
Quote:

I don't have any high end stereo systems. I've never listened to any(or so I think).
All I know is they cost bundles. I'm not willing to spend thousands for *maybe* better SQ than you can get with a simple headphone set up

But the 50$ monitors I use are the superlux 681 evo. I originally was going just use them for gaming but they ended up besting my m50 for music too.

I have a review of them posted up here somewhere as well

 

[mitchflorida]

Also, you most note that the hd598 isn't that expensive and hi-end...

I don't recall saying it was. What is your point?

 

[pervysage]

I like listening to my music privately instead of broadcasting it throughout the whole house

 

[davidsh]

Quote:

I don't recall saying it was. What is your point?

Just that you probably shouldn't compare them too much with your speaker system...

 

[Rawdawg3234]

I myself enjoy listening to both headphones and speakers.

Speakers offer way more freedom of movement and are a lot less intimate.
If I has to choose which was better I'd say for the price then hands down headphones rule.
You can't replicate the intimate sound and sheer precision for the same price on a speaker setup.

Headphones are a much cheaper way of enjoying top quality audio.

 

[klfl]

The distortion on speakers is much more serious than that on the headphones due to driver structures. A $5000 pair usually have 1% distortion, but even headphones like the hd600 can achieve 0.2%. Also there is no way to correctly playback binaural recordings on speaker systems, the soundstage and positioning are just ruined.
 
BTW I owned the 598s myself and imo it cannot represent the performance of high end headphones, when both well amped even the 650 completely destroys the 598. Not to mention the lcd2 or hd800.

 

[mitchflorida]

I am listening to classical music on my floor standing speakers and subwoofer, and it sounds like a concert.

Listening to the same music on headphones doesn't sound like a concert, maybe more like a small studio session if that. You never forget you are listening to headphones.

I actually put my Senn. headphones up for sale for $175, but then I thought, what the heck, might as well keep them for those occasions that they come in handy. I will keep them.

 

[Rawdawg3234]

Quote:

I am listening to classical music on my floor standing speakers and sub, and it sounds like a concert.

Listening to the same music on headphones doesn't sound like a concert, maybe more like a small studio session if that. You never forget you are listening to headphones.

I actually put my Senn. headphones up for sale for about $175, but then I thought, what the heck, might as well keep them for those occasions that they come in handy. I will keep them.

I constantly forget i'm wearing my cans. Even my LCD3's which are heavy as can be. My speakers are very respectable martin logans and they sound great and I love em but to compete with my desktop setup it would cost me more than triple the price.. If not more. Now that's just my opinion of course.
 
Just look at the figures. Headphones are pretty much maxed out at the Sennheiser Orpheus system which goes for what? $15,000
I've seen plenty of speakers that push the $500,000 price tag. That's just the speakers!!!!  

 

[brhfl]

Quote:

 
BTW I owned the 598s myself and imo it cannot represent the performance of high end headphones, when both well amped even the 650 completely destroys the 598. Not to mention the lcd2 or hd800.

 
Absolutely this. Around the 650s the presentation starts feeling more like that of a decent line array to me. 598 are good cans, but they're definitely cans. 
 
Quote:

I am listening to classical music on my floor standing speakers and subwoofer, and it sounds like a concert.

Listening to the same music on headphones doesn't sound like a concert, maybe more like a small studio session if that. You never forget you are listening to headphones.

 
I'll take a small studio session over a concert any day, myself! Speakers have their place, certainly, and the two can happily coexist. More often than not I find myself looking for the benefits of headphone listening when I'm listening to speakers, and not the other way around.

 

[zazex]

Quote:

I am listening to classical music on my floor standing speakers and subwoofer, and it sounds like a concert.

Listening to the same music on headphones doesn't sound like a concert, maybe more like a small studio session if that. You never forget you are listening to headphones.

I actually put my Senn. headphones up for sale for $175, but then I thought, what the heck, might as well keep them for those occasions that they come in handy. I will keep them.

 
Not so with me; I often forget I'm listening to headphones simply because they immerse me so thoroughly in the music.

 

[mitchflorida]

I don't want to sound patronizing but I am guessing that many of you have never heard an upscale speaker and subwoofer system. There is no way headphones can touch a good speaker system, it is just physically impossible.

 

[weekendtoy]

I prefer listening to music through speakers.  In particular I listen to a lot of multi-channel music, SACD and DVD-A (and blu-ray movies). This is not a experience you can duplicate through headphones, you simply cannot achieve the same surround effect.  In addition, by incorporating a good sub (I use a SVS PC13-Ultra) you get bass that is not only heard but felt.  To me, when listening to music through headphones, the music lives inside your head and that's a big difference than having the music live around you.
 
My room acoustics are not perfect, but to me trading off a small amount of detail is worth it when compared to the more emmersive  effect of a decent multi-channel speaker system.
 
I love my headphones for late night listening or for when perhaps the rest of the family isn't exactly keen on what I may be listening too.  When I do use the headphones I want have the best possible experience I can (or can afford, which may or may not be exclusively mutual) which is why I come to head-fi, to read, research, and sometimes contribute.
 
Cheers.

 

[zazex]

Quote:

I don't want to sound patronizing but I am guessing that many of you have never heard an upscale speaker and subwoofer system. There is no way headphones can touch a good speaker system, it is just physically impossible.

Perhaps.  Or perhaps that type of system works better for you for some reason.
 
I can tell you that I've been an audio enthusiast for several years, and have had
home systems with equipment by Audio Research, Magneplanar, Rogers/Chartwell,
B&W, db Systems; turntables with separate tonearms and moving coil cartridges;
very good gear.  Great gear. Plus my friendship with the owner of a local high end audio store
has allowed me to bring home and sample many more top pieces.
 
I really do enjoy listening to my speakers/amp much of the time
But when want to really get carried away by the music, I choose headphones.