[elbuzzard]

good read.  I tend to agree with santacore:
Quote:

From my experience having worked in many recording studios, there is not much importance put on headphones or headphone amps. As long as the amp is quiet and the headphones don't leak too much everyone's happy. Basically headphones are used for tracking and overdubs and that's about it. Plus they usually buy cheaper ($100 or so) phones because they get broken and replaced a lot.
 
I personally don't know any commercial studio engineers that do mixing with headphones. I've seen them in edit bays, or less then ideal rooms, but that's it. Most rooms are acoustically designed to monitor with speakers. I've been told by many engineers that you can't get a proper mix using just headphones. These are 20+ year veterans so I'll take their word for it.
 
The price difference is because audiophiles geek out on boutique parts and fancy cases. Studio gear is generally very utilitarian looking, functioning, and made to be put in a rack. Most engineers I've met laugh at fancy audiophile gear, especially cables.

that said,  I sometimes use my headphones for mixing.  usually when Im soloing a track and adding effects.   Its great for getting in close like a microscope.

 

[Ypoknons]

Quote:

Again everyone, thank you so much for your input.  A lot of these posts have really helped.  The Grace and SPL amps, $1,000+, are out of the question for me.  There is no way that I am willing to go that high on the diminishing-returns scale.  At that price, I'd rather just get myself a pair of 32 Ohm high-ends, such as Beyer 880, Edition 9, etc.

Oh, I didn't mean buy them,  just examples. However, headphone power amp requirements are not determined by impedance but by driver design, with impedance and efficiency both being factors. 

 

[Kurt]

Quote:

Keep in mind that the good studios do use very expensive gear. Don't think that expensive gear is always snake oil. Expensive gear also exists with studios too.
 
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/SLAM/
 
 
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/KSM353

 
 
http://www.economik.com/lavry-engineering/gold-da924/

 

[bob2010]

In well-conducted, randomized, double-blind, scientific tests, listeners (including audiophile enthusiasts)  are unable to distinguish between competently designed amplifiers provided that they are kept within their design parameters  and the gain is properly matched. When presented with two amps run at slightly different gains, most people pick the louder one as being better quality irrespective of what they are. 
 
If an amp produces so much distortion that it's noticeable then it's not Hi-Fi. And if that distortion sounds better, why wasn't it put on in the studio?
 
The design of good quality audio amplifiers is a problem that was solved decades ago. There are real differences between  headphones and between speakers -  why make them up for amps?
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

[oqvist]

bob2010 if you get some amps you will notice there are differences I am certain. If the differences are big enough for you to care I don´t know though. And studios does add distortion to recordings... Very common for rock. Try getting Metallicas Death Magnetic for example. Horrible example of tons of added distortion.

 

[bob2010]

 I probably would be able to hear a difference, but that doesn't mean it's real, there's a wealth of scientific data about how easily our senses are fooled by expectations.  And in one test, people who profess to hear such differences couldn't even distinguish a high-end valve amp from the amplifier stage from a cheap  music-centre, once the test switched to double-blind. 
 
It's true that rock music does add a lot of distortion, and if you want a little bit more then why not build a distortion knob into a pre-amp , having it in the power amp stage makes little sense, unless  you specifically enjoy driving  the amp into clipping (which would deafen the user in most headphone amps anyway ). Again none of this has anything to do with with HiFI which is about being  faithful to the recording.
 
The distortion produced by most amps (audiophile or cheap) is simply inaudible - we know this from tests where it's been separated out, recorded and played back into the amplifier.

 

[Crazyguy106]

I would agree that expectations and a whole bunch of other things such as image come into the picture when a usual audiophile comes to buy items. Rather than using one's ears usually people use preconceived notions and ego to listen to the music. However I would like to disagree with some of your statements regarding scientific findings, only in that not everyone could not tell the difference. It's usually the vast majority but from my experiences and what I read there is rarely a case of everyone getting things wrong unless influenced by others during the studies. There are the occassional individuals who can tell you exactly the differences between the amps and choose according to those suspected differences.

Moreover I realised in most circumstances such tests might not allow a person to bring a track which the subject is familiar to and for most subjects that'd be a rather difficult thing to use to assess the quality of something.

And regarding distortion no one likes to listen to music which is tainted by distortion. And I do not fully understand the bringing up of the topic. And I do agree with you that high fidelity is about being true to the music which most of the time studio engineers need that which is why they use studio monitors. And as for studio headphone amps the common thing is that studio headphone amps are also not quite well liked within the audiophile circuit because for most people it can get boring. Haha

 

[SP Wild]

I am pretty sure most engineers do not have audiophiles in mind when mixing.  I don't even think their priorities are to make realistic sounding reproductions, more like to master them to sound good on Ipods - that is what economics dictate.
 
This leaves a void in a market segment which is being filled in my engineers that master specifically for audiophiles - Chesky etc, which IME sound remarkably lifelike - too bad I can't stand the actuall musical content....................
 
I'm not saying all engineers are bad, but in my life experiences most people hate their jobs.  The standard of work is usually categorised as sufficient enough to not get fired and get paid.  This is simple psychology.
 
I mean, do you guys really look up to people that posses skills you don't.  Do you not feel that should you take the effort to learn the same skills that you could at least be just as competant and hopefully even better?
 
There are heaps of top40 tracks that are recorded very well.  I admire these engineers.  There are even more that are recorded very badly - heck I'm sure I could do better given the same opportunities in life.  Sound engineers are ordinary people after all, with their flaws just like us. 
 
I'm certain all sound engineers can produce good recordings, but what if that is not the organisation's priorities - perfection takes time and time costs money.  We live in an economically centered society where profit is the bottom line.
 
Having said that, I am more than happy with my studio orientated Bryston, Lehmann and AKG products as an audiophile - cheap they are not.