[ferraro25]

Headphones. Speakers are better at the highest level than headphones, but I don't like speakers mainly because of these issues:

1. I like to keep my music to myself.

2. I hate the fact that speakers take up space.

3. Getting acoustics correct so the speakers don't sound like crap is annoying.

 

[rb67]

I would go with the headphones. I like listening to music in other places than just one room. Also, I like to listen to music while using the computer. In this case, the desk would completely interfere with the sound. I don't want to have to sit a certain way to get the right sound placement.

 

[Mastergill]

Both. With a nice pre/headamp you can have both perfectly integrated.

 

[TestSpecimen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wovenhand /img/forum/go_quote.gif Anechoic chambers are absolutely horrible for music, yes.

Yes this is true. I work in a fully anechoic chamber (all surfaces are anechoic including the floor and ceiling) for noise research at uni and its a very strange experience. No echo at all, it would sound totally unnatural. Drives you a bit crazy actually. If you ever get the chance to visit a fully anechoic room i would recommend it just for the experience. There is nothing like it.

 

[tom10167]

You're asking if I'd rather have $100,000 or $100,000,000.

I'll take a house on a 6 acre lot with clean power and a room designed by engineers for listening to music and watching movies in optimal conditions etc.

 

[jonnywolfet]

i prefer speakers to headphones for one simple non-performance related reason; music is social and you cannot share music with headphones.
i love getting a new cd or lp and coming home or to my friends house (even though he has a crappy technics system), cracking open a beer and enjoying the tunes together. i have plans for when i get my own house. no tv, just speakers in the living room, dining room, office, kitchen and bedroom.

 

[mikeg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by digitalmind /img/forum/go_quote.gif I spend a lot more listening to my speakers than with the K1000 on my head. Definitely speakers for me!

Some people actually listen to both simultaneously, and love the effect.

 

[PiccoloNamek]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonnywolfet /img/forum/go_quote.gif i prefer speakers to headphones for one simple non-performance related reason; music is social and you cannot share music with headphones. i love getting a new cd or lp and coming home or to my friends house (even though he has a crappy technics system), cracking open a beer and enjoying the tunes together. i have plans for when i get my own house. no tv, just speakers in the living room, dining room, office, kitchen and bedroom.

This is very interesting to me. For me, music is not social. For me, music is deeply and intensely personal. The emotions that I feel, the images I see, and the experiences that I have when I listen to music are mine and mine alone, and like qualia, they can never be shared or communicated with anyone else with any degree of accuracy.

Listening to music in a social setting is always awkward for me, because I can never truly listen to it, can never take it in and truly experience it fully. I'm not listening, I'm just... hearing.

I wonder how other people feel about this. I'm almost inclined to start a thread about music from a sociological standpoint to find out.

 

[mikeg]

These are also my feelings regarding enjoyment of music. It's highly personal to me, and therefore merits a serious commitment of my time. That's why I prefer using headphones, or nearfield studio monitors. In the case of the nearfield monitors, there's only sufficient room for one person to sit within the sound envelope, which is located a mere 4 feet from my speakers. Use of nearfield monitors, like headphones, is most appropriate for personal, and not for social, application.

Quote:

Originally Posted by PiccoloNamek /img/forum/go_quote.gif This is very interesting to me. For me, music is not social. For me, music is deeply and intensely personal. The emotions that I feel, the images I see, and the experiences that I have when I listen to music are mine and mine alone, and like qualia, they can never be shared or communicated with anyone else with any degree of accuracy. Listening to music in a social setting is always awkward for me, because I can never truly listen to it, can never take it in and truly experience it and take it in fully. I'm not listening, I'm just... hearing. I wonder how other people feel about this. I'm almost inclined to start a thread about music from a sociological standpoint to find out.

 

[rlanger]

I personally prefer the intimacy of my headphones.

When I was in Tokyo recently, I went to Dynamic Audio and had the chance to listen to a "money no object" system (No joke, the CD player alone was 8,000,000 Yen

).

Now, there is no doubt that this was one of the greatest sound systems that I've ever heard, but I was quite happy to put my custom IEM's back on and enjoy my music that way.

The only thing that I don't like about headphones is the tether. If I could get customs that were wireless (in the same form factor as I have now) then they would be perfect.

 

[nibiyabi]

Speakers -- definitely.

 

[DOUGHN]

speakers in a sound proof room.

 

[warubozu]

Hmmm, tough call. If the mentioned conditions were offered to me and I could listen to my music at any level without others around me complaining, then I'd go with speakers. Like a few here have mentioned earlier, I too like the intimacy of my headphones. I like to listen to my music up front and close without being disturbed. I also like the fact that headphones are portable and that you can take them with you to just about anywhere. Same can't be said about a state of the are or dream speaker set up.

 

[Sherwood]

I think the aavantage of a speaker setup is that it can be either personal or social. That's not a possibility with headphones. I often like to listen to music alone, but I'm a social animal and I enjoy listening to music with firneds as well. I like to play music I've recorded for my friends, and I like to listen to it with them.

In addition, the ideal heapdhone and speaker setup should be similar in detail, resolution, pacing, and all those audiophile terms; but the speakers would image far better than headphones. That image is part of the whole experience to me.

 

[TreAdidas]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PiccoloNamek /img/forum/go_quote.gif Listening to music in a social setting is always awkward for me, because I can never truly listen to it, can never take it in and truly experience it fully. I'm not listening, I'm just... hearing. I wonder how other people feel about this. I'm almost inclined to start a thread about music from a sociological standpoint to find out.

Speakers - The sound-field (image) portrayed by headphones annoys me. It sounds like there is a concert hall in my skull. When you listen to someone on a stage singing and playing guitar, it does not sound like that. If you have even a modest speaker system you get some degree of horizontal placement perception. To me that's what makes a music experience real, placement of various instruments. That being said I have three roommates in a 3 bedroom apartment so this is not possible. Headphones are without question a compromise.

Ok going off the deep end here but....

Regarding Pic's statement, I concur. Music is a personal experience for me. I don't just listen. I savor the sound. I don't merely sit and enjoy. I am consumed. I really think audio people's brains are hardwired in such a way that sounds evoke intense emotion. Trying to convey this to those who don't have this same affinity with sound and music is futile. Not that listening to a trick system would not be fun for anyone, but what I feel when I'm listening is not what they feel. Average listeners get over it pretty quickly.

As another example, my little brother is currently studying design. He is infatuated with beautiful things, specifically cars. The sight of objects with beautiful form connect with him on the same level as music does with me. I can pass by a nice car, quality architecture, etc. and say oh that's nice. Where he sits there and can observe for literally hours. I still do enjoy nice cars and cool looking buildings, but I get over it pretty quickly.

See a theme here?

I guess that's why he has an iPod with earbuds, a super trick digital camera, and top notch pencils/crayons/pens/etc. where I have a point and shoot digi-cam, a trick audio system, and mountains of CD's and LP's.