[Hocenut1]

Thanks for the reply, very detailed, and you have used many options which I appreciate that perspective. You folks here definitely have the passion for your cans, I am totally screwed!!!! Just what I need, another expensive hobby, LOL

Cars, Home theater, wine, and now friggin headphones, ugh.

You had many points in your post, if I absorbed it all correctly you said the Kenwood and Ultrasone (spelling)?

If you were in my shoes now, is that the way you would go, or are you more highly reccomending a Sony product?

Thanks again.

 

[machead]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hocenut1 Anyone in the United States have these corded headphones from Philips? If so, where did you get them, and how much to have shipped to the U.S.? Thanks!

Yes, I have this Philips system (HP 1500). It is not available from any source in the US, AFAIK. I bought mine from Meier Audio -- use the link at the top of any Head-Fi forum page. Dr Meier doesn't keep the HP 1500 in stock but he ordered one specially for me and I received it in about a week. I think it cost around $350 including insured shipping but you should ask him for a quote as it's many months since I bought mine and who knows how the price, let alone the Dollar/Euro exchange rate, has changed since then! There is a link on his web site for contacting him.

I'm very impressed with the performance of the Philips system. I live in a small apartment, so I have no room for a speaker-based surround sound setup. Besides, to overcome the NY city noise, I would have to play speakers at a level that would have me evicted from the building before I could say "Dolby Headphone". The HP 1500 creates a very convincing illusion of sounds emanating from all directions and there is no sensation that the sound is trapped inside your head. I have not compared the Philips against any other DH implementations (such as the Pioneer and Audio Technica cordless systems sold by Audio Cubes) but it's a huge step up from the Sennheiser DSP Pro (aka Lucas), which only decodes Dolby Pro Logic and is not nearly as effective at externalizing the sound.

Footnote: The HP 1500 is 230V only, so you'd have to budget $30 or so for a transformer to convert US mains voltage. The power requirement is small, however, so a transformer rated at 1A would be more than adequate.

 

[_SLY_]

ultrasones are the best surround solution around

i used to own a pair, and they're awesome their lowest grade pair (but great sounding) run about 100 bucks

 

[Richard Martin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hocenut1 I will definitely audition a few first, I am actually BRAND new to the the headphone world, and I am scared, LOL I have a habit of once getting into something (home theater, car care, etc,) taking it to the limit. I know I wont be spending a $1,000 on headophones, but I could see a couple hundred. I am excited, this is a whole new experience for me, and I am so into movies, this could be something I actually enjoy MORE than always going with the speaker set up. Thanks for your insight

When you find the right Headphone + DSP solution you won't go back to speakers. The only thing that you MIGHT miss is the rumbling in your chest from big-daddy speakers in the room.

 

[sfxjames]

You might just want to wait for someething better, because I have dolby headphone and have heard it, plus a home theater that now compares to it, slightly.

The impact of the frontal imaging alone is the real deal and Smyth Virtual Surround according to the interview with Reber talking to the Smyth brothers who invented SVS, it actually compares to a full fledge home theater laboratory. This is a headphone technology that got it's start from dolby headphone.

The imaging with DH is impressive to the say the least but the space of sounds, that mesmerizing in your face effect of hearing sounds that attack the screen, is still hidden in that out of head shell that trys to sub as frontal imaging. But the front imaging still does a good job of being their it just needs more dimension or perhaps more settings.

 

[Mercuttio]

You know, I once too put a lot of faith in having at least 5 speakers around me when doing anything. I'm certainly an avid gamer, and I've owned all the major consoles through the past several years. I was quite surprised to realize that I enjoyed just two strapped to either side of my head a great deal more. Sure, I do like to know which direction something's coming from once in a while, but a good audiophile set of headphones not only let you know pretty much where it's coming from, but let you actually HEAR the way the air distorts around the projectile exactly as the foley editor intended. My selection for gaming would be Grado phones, due to their kicking bass (and most games have LOTS of bass).

 

[sfxjames]

That last remark about my home theater being slightly similiar

borders on the edges of speaker junkie hypnosis

I have been trying to use dolby headphone to calibrate my system.

DH has whooped my set-up as many times as I've made tweaks to my speakers.

I'm sure the HFI-700 might actually convince me to take off the analytical expert apron and sit back and enjoy movies instead of rehearsing sound mixes with my eyes and ears. There were certain scenes from movies that actually conveyed to me that my front imaging was off and that the speakers were too close to the sidewalls.

Yes DH can replicate a home theater more or less pinprick mine to death!