[Amictus]

This may be a wild idea, but I would like to know if there are folk out there who have a turntable setup which is especially good for headphone listening? I'm looking for ideas and experience here. Thanks.

 

[canister]

When I listen to my main (speaker) system, I play mostly LPs. I have a vast collection and I bought a lot of my favourite LPs during the 70's and 80's when I was living in London. I love the sound of a good analogue music reproduction system and I will never give up my LPs. However, for headphone listening late at night, I listen to CDs and digital downloads exclusively. I find the record surface noise, the occasional clicks and pops too distracting, especially during the soft passages (music I listen to : mostly vocal jazz, chamber music, baroque instrumental and vocal). If you listen to a lot of rock or loud music, perhaps you won't find this to be a problem as the music itself would have drown out the unwanted surface noise. I never find surface noise a problem when listening through speakers as I sit about 8-10 ft. away. When the HP is just an inch away from my ears, I do find unwanted noises a big hindrance to my listening experience.

 

[Amictus]

Exactly... I was wondering about other people's experience. Somehow, surface noise, clips, pops and scratches are more disturbing via headphones. However, some cartridges are less 'sensitive' to such phenomena, apparently. Are there choices to be made there for a head-fi setup with a vinyl component? Or should we just man up and  put up with the noise to get the advantages of vinyl? I am throwing this out there for people's opinion and experience and THANK YOU SO MUCH for being the first one to reply. Awesome.

 

[boyda87]

The surface pops and other annoying sounds may sound worse on headphones, but I'm finding that it is worth gutting through the occasional crackle for that lovely vinyl sound. Of course a good vinyl cleaning machine or technique will help cut the noise down a lot. I'm using a Project 2Xperience with a Evo III cartridge and listening through my new utopias. I'll definitely say that the vinyl noise is more noticeable through headphones. Seems I might need to buy or build an excellent record cleaner. Why couldn't I get addicted to a cheaper hobby?

 

[Amictus]

  The surface pops and other annoying sounds may sound worse on headphones, but I'm finding that it is worth gutting through the occasional crackle for that lovely vinyl sound. Of course a good vinyl cleaning machine or technique will help cut the noise down a lot. I'm using a Project 2Xperience with a Evo III cartridge and listening through my new utopias. I'll definitely say that the vinyl noise is more noticeable through headphones. Seems I might need to buy or build an excellent record cleaner. Why couldn't I get addicted to a cheaper hobby?

+1 on the "why couldn't I get addicted..."! My life changed when I got a record cleaning machine. I am getting on in years and my LPs are, some of them, 45 years old. I was using vinyl less and less because of the noise problem, but now I can clean the discs properly I am using more vinyl. A new turntable is on the horizon and the old one is being lovingly repaired. I am also considering having a turntabel attached to the system in my bedroom, where the headphones rule - hence my interest in this topic! Thanks for your response!

 

[Mahdi8]

Just use a vacuum record cleaning machine and clicks and pop will be down to real minimum. I mainly use turntable with speaker but sometimes connect to my headphones and it's always make me smile when I do so 

 

[Amictus]

I have just had my trusty Thorens TD160 Super (now with SME 3009 II and Shure V15 V) serviced and my ancient Audiolab 8000A restored. I have read that the phono stage of the Audiolab is superb and that it is a bit meh. I think it's a bit meh, BUT, I decided to do some listening straight out of the built-in headphone output last night, chose a Grado for its tolerance of lesser kit, the PS500, and plugged in. Lovely. Time to buy an external phono pre-amp and plug in a pukka headphone amp.
 
I might start by moving a Lehmann Black Cube SE II from another setup and see what that does. Anyway, vinyl plus headphones = pleasure.

 

[mulveling]

SOTA Star III turntable
Fidelity Research FR64fx arm
Ortofon Cadenza Bronze cartridge
Headamp Gilmore Reference amp
Sennheiser HD650

I just hooked up this vinyl / headphone system again; first time in 8 years I've combined the two. Long ago I moved my turntable over to exclusive duty on the speaker rig. But later I upgraded to a new table, and stupidly let the old table rest in storage, rather than pairing it back with headphones.

The SOTA + FR arm was top-shelf analog gear in the 1980's; it's not nearly top shelf anymore, but should still kick the teeth out of new tables in the $3K range (well, at least the Project/Music Hall stuff -- VPI might be competitive). I have it rounded out with all my backups/second-stringers from the main rig -- there I much prefer a Koetsu platinum cartridge, but the Cadenza does exceedingly well in the headphone rig.

The HD650 is obscenely musical and enjoyable on this setup, even with just the stock cable. It eliminates any of the graininess, dryness, and veil that bugged me about it with digital. The soundstage is huge, even driven just single-ended. I've also experimented with a Stax L700 on this vinyl rig, and while it's is definitely better than the HD650 in some ways (which it should), overall system gain is an issue with the electrostatics (BHSE's gain is too low; many Stax amps are configured to optimally handle hot digital sources 4V+), and the HD650 is just so damn impressive in how well it gels with vinyl. I'd pretty much given up on dynamic headphones before this.

Next I'm going to experiment with getting balanced drive for my HD650 via the use of Jensen transformers (my Gilmore Reference will not convert a single-ended input to balanced), and with a Silver Dragon cable. May hve to give the HD800/HD800S another shot too. On a digital rig, the Sennheisers are awful next to Stax, though.

I use a Schiit Yggdrasil for digital (with an Audiphilleo 2 w/ PP converter), and overall it's quite decent, but it's nowhere near as musical as this table.

 

[13713]

That is an absolutely stellar setup mulveling! Glad to see other SOTA tables still in use and loved. Vinyl through headphones is how I relax so this is a great thread to see others enjoy the same things.

 

[mulveling]

That is an absolutely stellar setup mulveling! Glad to see other SOTA tables still in use and loved. Vinyl through headphones is how I relax so this is a great thread to see others enjoy the same things.

Definitely -- I sometimes wonder if I would've been happier with a new SOTA Cosmos in my main rig, instead of the (more expensive) Clearaudio Innovation Wood. The Clearaudio table is certainly excellent, but the dang the SOTAs are nice; extremely reliable, and classier than anything in the right wood finish (especially with a super-cool looking arm like a FR 64S or Dynavector 507). And to be honest it's kind of silly that I have the suspended table in the headphone rig, and the (much more) rigid table near the gigantic Tannoy speakers. Either way I now enjoy both of my tables & rigs immensely -- and I'll still be tinkering/tweaking in the headphone/vinyl rig for a while.

 

[mulveling]

DACs keep changing but unfortunately this reality always stays the same -- with digital it's just so much harder to achieve those "lose yourself in the music" moments than with a good analog rig. Been hearing this "finally an analog-like CD/DAC" hype since I got more serious into headphones (and I'm sure it was going on long before that). The Bel Canto DAC2 and Meridian G08 didn't live up to the hype back then, and the Yggy (though a good sounding DAC, and better than G08) doesn't now.

 

[Amictus]

@mulveling Great posts! The turntable looks wonderful... I have been using the HD650 more recently, but not through the vinyl setup. Something to try very soon...

 

[336881]

I highly suggest speakers for vinyl. I have a Nitty Gritty 1.0 as well. If your really not into live or already have a kick ass speaker set up then maybe. For me one of the biggest advantages of my direct to disc and japan import live recordings is the sound stage and to me that is what speakers excel at.

 

[Amictus]

I highly suggest speakers for vinyl. I have a Nitty Gritty 1.0 as well. If your really not into live or already have a kick ass speaker set up then maybe. For me one of the biggest advantages of my direct to disc and japan import live recordings is the sound stage and to me that is what speakers excel at.

Yes... I wasn't thinking of only listening to LPs through headphones, but there are times when headphones are necessary (late at night, for example!). Also the intimacy of the listening through headphones is always a joy in itself, although the vulnerability of the vinyl medium to surface noise is then a factor. A record cleaning machine is essential, I think. I buy old records a lot and some of the ones that I bought new are fifty years old now. I use a Clear Audio Smart Master Professional, which works for me and which has encouraged me to listen to far more vinyl than I used to.

 

[Achybreaky]

When I listen to my main (speaker) system, I play mostly LPs. I have a vast collection and I bought a lot of my favourite LPs during the 70's and 80's when I was living in London. I love the sound of a good analogue music reproduction system and I will never give up my LPs. However, for headphone listening late at night, I listen to CDs and digital downloads exclusively. I find the record surface noise, the occasional clicks and pops too distracting, especially during the soft passages (music I listen to : mostly vocal jazz, chamber music, baroque instrumental and vocal). If you listen to a lot of rock or loud music, perhaps you won't find this to be a problem as the music itself would have drown out the unwanted surface noise. I never find surface noise a problem when listening through speakers as I sit about 8-10 ft. away. When the HP is just an inch away from my ears, I do find unwanted noises a big hindrance to my listening experience.

That's very interesting. So do you find headphones bring out more detail or is it just that they accentuate the unwanted bits?