Can a really good/great pair of headphones and amp match or beat a room system?

joeinid

joeinid

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Curious what you headphone fans think. Could you love a great headphone system more than a great room system or is the experience just too different.

I will say I’m growing to appreciate headphones more but not sure I could give up the home stereo system.
 
I do not do much main listening with headphones. I do think headphones can bring as much enjoyment. I've actually picked up details I haven't noticed before while using cans. Bass on headphones can be so good you think it's in the room. There are some real advantages to headphones like no room interactions.

Sort of like digital vs analog to some extent, both are, can be, good, but just two different experiences.

Me personally, I just don't like wearing the headphones for main llistening. I could if I had to. I guess although I feel headphones can be great I still prefer sitting my my spot and listening to speakers. It just seems more natural to me.
 
No. We have some of the best headphones in the world in the shop and guess what they all sound like? Headphones.

They just can’t create the sense of realism that a proper system can.

Headphones are like eating a chili dog and telling yourself it’s a filet.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
Ha!

Thank you Mr. Peabody and Mike. I don’t really enjoy wearing headphones but they can be necessary sometimes.
 
Pro musicians use monitor headphones. Headphones make the room disappear without investing billions of dollars to fine-tune the listening room.

Headphones are like smartphones; an expansion on the go exploration.
Try to bring your turntable rig on an airplane ...
 
Mike said:
No. We have some of the best headphones in the world in the shop and guess what they all sound like? Headphones.

They just can’t create the sense of realism that a proper system can.

Headphones are like eating a chili dog and telling yourself it’s a filet.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
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I think you nailed it. If I only could listen to music through headphones at my house, I would find a new hobby. I personally can't stand wearing headphones.
 
with the diaphragm right on the eardrum, headphones can eliminate the room as a source of distortion. I detect nuances in recordings over my head-fi setup that's usually obscured through traditional systems. That said, head-fi really cant suspend your disbelief or recreate soundstage, differentiating small vs large recording venue with much realism. worst of it, I can't take headphones for more than 30 mins before fatigue and earpad discomfort sets in.
 
puroagave said:
with the diaphragm right on the eardrum, headphones can eliminate the room as a source of distortion. I detect nuances in recordings over my head-fi setup that's usually obscured through traditional systems. That said, head-fi really cant suspend your disbelief or recreate soundstage, differentiating small vs large recording venue with much realism. worst of it, I can't take headphones for more than 30 mins before fatigue and earpad discomfort sets in.[/QUOTE]

You beat me by about 29 minutes.
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I have a pair of Final D8000 headphones that I find extraordinary. The do combine a sense of warmth and detail that I find hard to recreate in a listening room. I was incredibly thankful for them when my twins were born. For a few years, they had much more use than my home system.
After awhile though, I have become fatigued by the imaging in my head.
I enjoy perusing the Head Fi site, and I have loved the Can Jams when they were in Denver. I am pleased there are many young audiophiles who get to enjoy this hobby with a lower entry fee and less demanding room needs. I suspect many do not have access to higher end two channel. But given they got their start with in ear or standard headphones, I wonder if they have developed this as their gold standard, and would not enjoy standard two channel setups?
Even if that latter are "more realistic"?
 
If I had to I'd make do with headphones. I used to wear them a lot when making mixed tapes and CD's for friends and family.

My Sennheisers are old but I've never gotten fatigue with wearing them.

I didn't get much time, just an audition of a couple pair, the brand that used to be Mr. Speakers are capable of expanding the sound beyond your head.

I can see the concensus here but some must enjoy cans quite a bit for the market to blow up like it has. Going back Stax was the only high end system I can think of. Now there is any number of very high end and expensive head amps and cans to choose from.

I thinketh you do protest too much, LOL
 
mep said:
I think you nailed it. If I only could listen to music through headphones at my house, I would find a new hobby. I personally can't stand wearing headphones.
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my first 'phones were by Koss ('70s), the ones with vinyl ear pads. I'd wear them for hours until the sweat ran down my cheeks. those were the days when I came home stoned and I'd walk past my parents--unnoticed--straight to the rec room were the stereo resided. I'd spend the next few hours spinning 'Floyd, Sabbath or Led Zep records. I'm glad I now have my own place and can play the rig as loud as I want and NOT have to wear headphones.
 
They are different but I enjoy both. I can crank more on my headphones but have no issue getting my speaker system mostly as loud as I want it. I used to use headphones more, at work and when I had a fairly open room at the house in California.

The Abyss never felt fatiguing at all and they sound fantastic. I have a bad hankering for tubes in my headphone amp so I have my favorite that I have had, a Woo WA22, on the way for a second adventure. The Schiit was/is really good. I boxed it up for sale, but I am thinking of pulling it out until the Woo arrives next week.
 
Apples to Oranges.

I have a "good" system, certainly not "the best", and I still prefer it to my "best" headphone system (Blue Hawaii SE + STAX)
Enough, that while I have upgraded tubes, I hesitate to buy an "improved" $5-10K set of Stax cans.

The electrostatic definitely slays in precision and clean-ness. By the total body experience of a good speaker system is still king in my opinion. My class A headphone system is warm and pretty, but similarly, does not compare to the speaker system.

Now, we have children/grandchild living here, and the pair of headphone amps + cans makes streaming video at night a possibility.

I was concerned with my move that I would have such a small listening room, that I would be limited to headphones only. I'm glad that did not turn out to be true.
 
I went down this rabbit hole a few years ago. I had several pairs of high end phones from all the key manufacturers along with amps to match. In the end, the large, spatial, three dimensional presentation of room speakers trumped them all.
 
Cincy2 said:
I went down this rabbit hole a few years ago. I had several pairs of high end phones from all the key manufacturers along with amps to match. In the end, the large, spatial, three dimensional presentation of room speakers trumped them all.
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I wear cheapie bluetooth headphones on planes to listen to YouTube or TV on my phone. It's fine. That's as far as I'll go though.
 
Is there some kind of DSP that can create the illusion that the music is coming from in front of you and not from right next to the ears? I could never get used to the headphone experience. Not necessarily the sound quality, but more the way my brain processed it as coming at each ear directly from the side. My experience is limited, from about 10 years ago with a Cavalli Liquid Carbon paired with HD 650's.

I would sum it up this way: It sounded pretty good, but not remotely natural or believable.
 
Bones13 said:
Apples to Oranges.

I have a "good" system, certainly not "the best", and I still prefer it to my "best" headphone system (Blue Hawaii SE + STAX)
Enough, that while I have upgraded tubes, I hesitate to buy an "improved" $5-10K set of Stax cans.

The electrostatic definitely slays in precision and clean-ness. By the total body experience of a good speaker system is still king in my opinion. My class A headphone system is warm and pretty, but similarly, does not compare to the speaker system.

Now, we have children/grandchild living here, and the pair of headphone amps + cans makes streaming video at night a possibility.

I was concerned with my move that I would have such a small listening room, that I would be limited to headphones only. I'm glad that did not turn out to be true.
Click to expand...

Are you the one that moved from Alabama to Seattle?
 
I enjoy my headphone setup when I'm only going to listen for a short while and dont' want to wait for the big system warm up as it takes about an hour for the main system to sound its best. The headphone setup sounds fine after about 10 min.

George
 
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