Headphone Vs Speaker Listening

[Jason36]

Hi guys,

As some of you are aware I have recently purchased a MF X-CanV2 headphone Amp and Grado SR80i Headphones. I must say that over the last 6 or 7 weeks I have owned these I have been extremely impressed with both products.

The Grado SR80i headphone have been an excellent purchase and I am very impressed with the sound and detail I get from these..in fact so much so that I would say that 80% of my listening time is now via the MF X-Can and Grado's as opposed to my HiFi speakers.

The X-Can was originally purchased to connect to my Caspian / Rega TT setup, however more recently I have moved the X-Can and Grado's into the lounge and either connect them directly to my Onkyo DS-A3 iPod dock or alternatively connect my Grado's directly into my laptop (which surprisingly sound exceptionally open and detailed).

To this end I can see that the majority of my future listening will be via headphones (especially seeing as there is usually a "non music loving" someone else in the house) and a dedicated listening room is out of the question for a few years yet :-(

I have therefore recently decided to improve my headphone set-up which will include buying a pair of either Denon AH-D2000 or AH-D7000 headphones for connecting to the X-Can and potentially a Fubar IV Plus DAC to sit between my Laptop and Headphones for listening to music via iTunes and Spotify.

The Caspian Equipment is to be sold and replaced with a Marantz MCR-603......which will allow me to connect my Rega Planar 3 Turntable and also stream music from iTunes and Spotify.

Has anyone else on here experienced a similar change of listening time after purchasing a decent pair of Headphones.

Sorry for the long post...I just wanted to share my experience and feelings

:cheers:

 

[caesar44]

I have been on the same situation, having people/neighbors who dont like music. I havent used my speakers for a while, and decided to buy a pair of headphones. They are more convenient, and there's no need to disturb others. Im saving money to upgrade my portable amp and headphones...good post Jason.

 

[eggontoast]

I started listening to headphones after the arrival of a little one. This resulted in selling my floorstanding Kef speakers after one fell over onto her.The CD player has now also gone and has been replaced with a NAS and Sonos system which is great, it also means all the cd's are now in the loft.

While I enjoy listening to headphones I'm afraid that it is most definitely not my preferred method of listening to music. I greatly miss listening to my music through speakers and will reinstate a decent pair when feasible.

Until then I plan on trying/owning as many headphones and headphone amplifiers as I can

If you enjoy the headphones that much maybe you should consider buying a Stax setup.

 

[richie60]

A bit of both for me. if I really want to listen to an album in detail, lie back with a decent set of headphones on & really get into the music. I currently use AKG K601's fed from my Audiolab 8000LX amp (really good headphone out on these amps) & when i'm at the laptop, from a Fubar II usb DAC into a Little Dot II headphone amp.

Can't walt to try a pair of Alessandro MS2's next!

 

[Jason36]

I started listening to headphones after the arrival of a little one. This resulted in selling my floorstanding Kef speakers after one fell over onto her.The CD player has now also gone and has been replaced with a NAS and Sonos system which is great, it also means all the cd's are now in the loft.

While I enjoy listening to headphones I'm afraid that it is most definitely not my preferred method of listening to music. I greatly miss listening to my music through speakers and will reinstate a decent pair when feasible.

Until then I plan on trying/owning as many headphones and headphone amplifiers as I can

If you enjoy the headphones that much maybe you should consider buying a Stax setup.

Cheers mate,

Yeah I must say Im really getting into this headphone lark, especially for dedicated listening at night...the detail is just so much better...OK you lose the soundstage you get from speakers, but the detail you gain is just amazing, I'm hearing stuff in the music I havent heard through my speakers..just little extra detail.

As far as Stax go mate..what sort of thing would you recommend?? not really that up with Stax stuff.

I suppose most of my headphone listening will probably be via a laptop and Fubar IV DAC / HP Amp and I may then add a digital dock for the iPod.

 

[Anonymous]

So far I've been lucky enough to have soundproof walls and floors, and a wife who is okay with most of my music. But I do love my headphone setup at work (JPlay on the pc > Audioquest Coffee usb > Burson Audio ha160D usb dac / headphone amp > Sennheiser hd800). I listen to completely different music on headphones - more random and eclectic - because it's just me listening, and also because it's so easy with a computer to scroll through your library and rediscovery old favourites quite randomly. Converting all the music to flac has been a big project over the last year (I now have 25,102 tracks) and still about 1000 cds to rip...!

 

[Sizzers]

I hate using them, and I hate my neighbours even more for HAVING to use them.

In saying that, though, without the neighbours I probably wouldn't have discovered my K's. They really are almost like having speakers perched on your head, so that's some consolation!

 

[eggontoast]

As far as Stax go mate..what sort of thing would you recommend?? not really that up with Stax stuff.

If you wanted to try some Stax you would be better off buying a second hand set up as the current entry level is approx £750. A good little starter kit would be a lambda basic 2050 II entry set up, you should be able to pick these up for about £300 in excellent condition. This includes a little solid state energiser which has standard RCA inputs and some SR-202 earspeakers. They will give you an idea if Stax if for you, if they are upgradeitus will soon grab hold and you can spend loads of money