[yepimonfire]

true, binaural blows everything even high end multichannel sound out of the water, but unfortunately the world of binaural recordings is EXTREMELY limited.
Quote:

As for speakers beating headphones in terms of soundstage... Well, for most recordings, yes, but if we're talking about binaural, then I'm going to say a confident no. The way binaural or similar technologies recordings can make sound encompass you completely and position sound more accurately than any 7.1 system I've heard is hugely impressive.
 
The problem, of course, is that pretty much no-one records in binaural or similar technologies.

 

 

[khatch]

To each his own....I just finished auditioning a $20,000 system built around some very high end floor standing speakers.  I thought it sounded like crap.  Sound reflections all over the damn place - and this was in a formally built demo room.  It had a perfect "football" sized listening focal point....and sounded just ok within that space.  Everywhere else sounded like $200 speakers.  Even a modest headphone setup would have walked all over the results I was getting from this system.

 

[JamesMcProgger]

I have some labtec speakers and i really like them, when Im at my desk I'd prefer them over any of my closed cans. HD25 and M50 included.
 
Now about 1 month ago I bought a K601 and since a week or so my pref has shanged slighty. Still like the sound of the speakers but I feel like I'm missing something.

 

[Napilopez]

Quote:

i love my headphones ok, its just i have yet to hear a pair of headphones i prefer over speakers.
 

Hmm. Have you tried any of the higher end Sennheisers? I get the impression from your posts in this thread as well as well as your previous ones that you would like the Sennheiser sound. Perhaps an HD598 (or modded HD558 which should be very similar, for the sake of your wallet). Sennheisers are the notorious antithesis to harshness(while retaining good detail) and imo tend to be the most "speakerlike" of headphone brands. The 598 and 558 in particular are supposed to have huge soundstages while being quite engaging.
 

 

[Napilopez]

Sorry for the double post, but as it's on a different note I thought it would merit it.

Part of the reason I think people tend to prefer speakers is that even today most music is made for speakers. No matter how many people listen through their ipods, I'd venture to say most people still discover music through their TVs or radio, so it's still more important to design music for speakers than otherwise.

Which is a bit of a shame, given the potential of headphones. Even iBuds sound exponentially better with headphone oriented recordings like HRTF binaurals.

 

[Thommohawk]

Well speakers often will provide more of a visceral kick than any headphone will so straight away kickdrums and basslines should be miles better on speakers than headphones because they are able to move a lot more air so the kickdrum will sound like a real life kickdrum instead of a knock on wood thud that you tend to get with headphones. Also as another person said much music is made for speakers and NOT headphones. There's another big advantage to speakers.
 
But headphones have significant advantages of their own too. Better bang for the buck in terms of cost/quality ratio, better insight and detail, better resolution, sometimes better surround sound....also privacy and intimacy too. But a key advantage is in soundstage because much of how good or bad a speaker sounds is based on speaker placement and personal room acoustics which obviously vary wildly from person to person - you do not have this problem with headphones each headphone is perfectly optimized in that sense because there's no such room acoustic to consider and so therefore left to right soundstage can often sound better/clearer on headphones rather than speakers despite the bias for speakers.
 
Basically there's something to be said for quality on both sides. And both have their pro's and cons. No reason why you can't enjoy both, I know I certainly do! 

 

[sachu]

this is where all my headphones have resided for last 3 months now
 

 

[classakg]

One thing, is portability. Thats why i use headphones a lot, when i'm home i enjoy my speaker system.  
 

 

[yepimonfire]

yep, and stereo works good even on headphones. but it wouldnt be that difficult to record both. anyone here ever tried listening to a binaural recording on speakers? if so what does it sound like?
Quote:

Sorry for the double post, but as it's on a different note I thought it would merit it.

Part of the reason I think people tend to prefer speakers is that even today most music is made for speakers. No matter how many people listen through their ipods, I'd venture to say most people still discover music through their TVs or radio, so it's still more important to design music for speakers than otherwise.

Which is a bit of a shame, given the potential of headphones. Even iBuds sound exponentially better with headphone oriented recordings like HRTF binaurals.

 

 

[TMRaven]

What are some well-regarded binaural albums?
 
I listened to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUDTlvagjJA and now I feel like I at least need one or two good binaural albums.

 

[yepimonfire]

theres one from chesky records i think is kinda catchy. i dont remember the name of it but it was posted on this forum awhile back.
 
Quote:

What are some well-regarded binaural albums?
 
I listened to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUDTlvagjJA and now I feel like I at least need one or two good binaural albums.

 

 

[JamesMcProgger]

Quote:

What are some well-regarded binaural albums?
 
I listened to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUDTlvagjJA and now I feel like I at least need one or two good binaural albums.

Pearl Jam's Binaural, If I understand correctly
 
Quote: wikipedia

The music on the record featured an experimental sound, evidenced on songs that utilized binaural recording techniques

 
but I listened to that album like 28793834 times when i was in college and never notice anything different

 

[sigrist]

Different strokes for different folks, I suppose!
 
I find that headphones suit my music listening experience better. I like listening to music in bed or lying on a couch in a pitch black room with my eyes closed, so that all the sensory stimulation comes from the music. So headphones just suit this better, and make for a more intimate listening experience, where you sort of want to have all sounds closer to you so you can hear everything.
 
Another problem I have with speakers is that I lack a proper room, and the proper neighbors (or lack thereof) to be able to fully appreciate them.
 
And finally, I may be wrong, but I find headphones give you more bang for the buck specifically in terms of technicalities. For example, with cans like the Sennheiser HD600 or HD650, I just don't know of any speaker setup at the same price that can match their bass extension & quality. And that's just one example.
 
So, it is headphones for me, though it is totally understandable to prefer speakers (even cheap ones).
 
Cheers!
 
 -- thiago

 

[hedrick]

I find the sound from my ADS L500's to be fairly matched to my Sennheiser HD 580 headphones, though I think the speakers do somewhat better.
 
This is with good electronics: A Benchmark DAC-1 from iTunes driving the headphones and supplying input to a NAD integrated amp for the speakers.
 
Most people feel that for equal quality headphones are less expensive. Since speakers of this class today would be around $1000 / pair, and the headphones don't require as much power from the amp, that would be true in my case.
 

 

[mibutenma]

You know you should really try getting a source upgrade before another putting your headphones down thread.
 
Headphones you can go fairly far off just the headphones with no real nice extras and it doesn't matter where you live you can enjoy them.
 
Speakers real speakers not computer speakers need a home area where you can use listen to them without others not liking it.
Amp, and good source.
But you can have a fairly nice system with a fairly small budget for a little less than or a bit more than the cost of a T1,HD 800 etc....