[HoichiTheEarless]

Hello,

I just registered here after getting a recommendation to check out this forum for information about headphones. I’ve done some research on my own but I’m hardly an expert, so I’ll throw out the standard noob warning. I recently decided to purchase on a limited budget a home theater set up, with an LCD HDTV and a Sony HT-DDW670 home theater system with Dolby Digital and DTS processing. The system is great for the price, but I've found there are too many distracting noises in my current apartment to fully enjoy it. The main culprit is the air conditioning unit which is awfully noisy, which right now forces me to choose at times between not wearing a shirt (and still being uncomfortable) or watching with headphones. The air conditioning unit is still loud enough that I can hear it through a regular pair of headphones during quiet moments. This is going to become a bigger concern as summer approaches.

Here are my main needs:

1. Comfort - I purchased a cheap pair of AIWA noise canceling headphones some time ago. They are now tucked away in a box somewhere, and will probably never be used again. When the noise canceling feature was turned on, there was an audible hiss, but even more importantly, they were very uncomfortable. I need a set of headphones that would be comfortable to wear for two or three hours while watching a movie.
2. Noise canceling - The headphones should reduce ambient noises of the air conditioning and other noises I hear in my apartment. I don't hear it much when the audio is loud but during quiet scenes it becomes apparent. I didn't try to listen with any noise canceling headphones, but I'd like something that does a good job of removing ambient sound during quiet scenes, preferably without any kind of audio hiss…
3. Surround Sound - While I'm happy with the quality of the sound of the Sony HT-DDW670 for the price, it doesn't appear to have Dolby Headphone technology which would simulate 5.1 surround sound over a pair of stereo headphones. As I understand it, phone jacks with this technology would have the Dolby Headphones logo:
   
   
   
   So even though I didn't spend a whole lot, it's disappointing to consider that I may not be able to enjoy surround sound while watching movies in my apartment because of distracting noises or because I have to use headphones. Doing some research there doesn’t appear to be many surround sound headphones that are well reviewed. The only one I can find that seem to get good reviews in terms of producing Dolby Digital or DTS surround sound through headphones are the Pioneer SE-DIR800C, a very expensive wireless set with a separate Dolby Digital and DTS processor. I also don’t feel a need to get wireless headphones, so if there was a similar, wired model, that did a good job with surround sound, I’d like some recommendations. I would assume a wired set would be cheaper. Which brings us to…
4. Cost – I’d really rather not spend much more than $100 for a set of headphones. But, I’m getting my tax return and a bonus from work soon, so I may be willing to go over for something that does an exceptional job of reproducing surround sound and meets all my other needs. The Pioneer SE-DIR800C ranges anywhere from $300 to $400. I guess it’s something I would consider, but only if there wasn’t any significantly cheaper options that could meet my needs.

Based on my limited research, it seems my options are limited either to selling my current home theater system and upgrading to a system with Dolby Headphone technology, making an expensive purchase for a unit with a separate Dolby Digital or DTS processor like the Pioneer SE-DIR800C, or settling for having to listen to two channel stereo over headphones. Can anyone tell me what other options I have or offer some other recommendations? Thanks!

 

[jagorev]

Can't help you with the surround sound issue (I don't believe it can be done over headphones), but the Audio Technica a500 and a900 are both sealed headphones, with some isolation, that are commonly recommended for home theater use. They are also very comfortable.

 

[HoichiTheEarless]

Thanks. I am kind of stuck on the surround sound issue right now though. The reviews I've read of the SE-DIR800C do have very positive comments about it's ability to create surround sound through use of headphones. I can't seem to find reviews for any other set besides those with such positive feedback with regards to surround sound though, which is the only reason I'm considering spending that much. Has anyone tried the SE-DIR800C?

 

[solbergg]

This is sort of a tangent from the original post, so I apologize for that. But, if anyone here subscribes to the Diggnation podcast, they did an episode at Dolby Labs, and actually demonstrated the new Dolby Headphone surround technology. The greatest thing about it was that it functioned with any set of headphones. Some of the audio purists here may quaff at such processing, but it sounded very cool and would be perfect for "head theater". So, anyway, to tie it into the discussion, you might be able to purchase a nice set of closed cans now and in the future be able to have the full surround experience with them.

 

[Duggeh]

Wait until I start mass-producing the Phonodome

http://www.thismanwillkillyou.com/phonodome.htm

 

[HoichiTheEarless]

There's some more information about Dolby Headphone including flash demos where you can hear the effect for yourself here:
http://www.dolby.com/consumer/technology/headphone.html

The concept is that the sounds from each channel are treated in a way to simulate the characteristics it would have if it was coming the speakers in a traditional surround set up, so it sort of tricks the brain into thinking there are sounds coming from different directions. Sort of like 3-D films create a double image which the glasses filter for each eye so your brain will percieve depth from a 2 dimensional image. It's pretty subtle and effective, but not mindblowing. The "virtual speaker" demo gives you a sense of it. The surround channels do sound like they are coming from a different source than the front channels. But in the demo the sound is quite different... I guess that is the simulation effect. It makes you a little skeptical about it, but if you're watching a movie it would probably be pretty effective.

 

[Aryolkary]

I highly recommend you experiment with PowerDVD and WinDVD players. I use PowerDVD and I think that both Dolby Headphone and Cyberlink Headphone are VERY nice options to use when watching dvds. This of course is from the PC, given one has a nice soundcard, etc.
With Dolby Headphone and Cyberlink, you have 3 options in each: "Living room", "Theatre", and "Stadium" effects. Each giving a different "soundstage (headstage)". It really is better than listening in Stereo. You just try it if you can and will see it's quite useful.
Good luck

 

[UezeU]

Something you might want to think about is one of the newer 5.1 computer headsets. Most seem to be lacking in the sound department but there are exceptions. One I think that might be suitable would be the Medusa 5.1. It might be worth a shot, it is only $96 and even comes with an amp. They have a review of it over at http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/07/...ove/page2.html. If you want to buy it you can over at www.medusa-usa.com. The original version would work best, the amp has seperate inputs for every channel so a home theater workaround would be relatively easy.

 

[HoichiTheEarless]

Quote:

Originally Posted by UezeU Something you might want to think about is one of the newer 5.1 computer headsets. Most seem to be lacking in the sound department but there are exceptions. One I think that might be suitable would be the Medusa 5.1. It might be worth a shot, it is only $96 and even comes with an amp. They have a review of it over at http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/07/...ove/page2.html. If you want to buy it you can over at www.medusa-usa.com. The original version would work best, the amp has seperate inputs for every channel so a home theater workaround would be relatively easy.

You'll have to forgive the noob question here, but I'm confused about how I could connect the amp on the Medusa 5.1 to my home theater system. I'm not much of a gamer and I'm not looking to hook it up to my computer. In the picture from the link you provided, there are three inputs, a sub/cen input, a front input and a rear input. I can't see how I could connect the Sony STR-K670P reciever to the amp. Here is a picture of the back of the reciever:

 

[UezeU]

The connections on the amp are standard 1/8 inch connections found on many stereos. Each connection carries two channels since most of the time they are just used for a stereo connection. The first has two channels; one for center and another for the subwoofer. The second has one for left front and another for right front. The third is one for left rear and one for right rear. The rear speaker would be the surround connections on your reciever.

The heaset includes the proper connector. It plugs into the back of the amp and terminates into six RCA plugs. Then all you would need is a cable that plugs into the RCA plug and terminates into bare copper. You could make this yourself if you had spare RCA plugs around, just cut off the other end.

Take a look at the manual for some clarification.
http://www.gc-plus.de/bin/sl-8790_manual_3.0.zip

Edit:
I just thought of something, the connections on your stereo are going to be powered. Your DVD player should be hooked to the amp input and then use the passthrough on the amp to connect your reciever. By looking at the back of your reciever it looks as if your DVD is hooked up to your reciever by an optical or a coax connection. This should mean that you have another output on your DVD player open so this should be possible. Hopefully you have seperate RCA connectors on the DVD player. I just looked at my DVD player and it only had a optical and a coax. There might be an adapter, but I think a decoder might be needed. Maybe someone with a little more experience can help out. Or maybe you could turn the volume all the way down

That might be a good recipe for frying the amp though. Too bad it looks as if the only preamp on your reciever is the sub, see if your reciever cant run the others unamped.