speakers vs headphones

[keeper of the quays]

This may seem a dopey question? But which do you think are better? Reason I ask is,I saw a post about crispness of cymbals and how involving the music was with headphones! What I'm trying to say is this..putting aside the obvious differences, speakers are open..room makes a difference to sound etc..and headphones are a closed environment for listening...do you think your headphones sound better than your speakers or vice versa? I'm talking about the sound? Reason I ask is I was thinking about my Sony Walkman and how good it was (rose tinted?) and I remember thinking I wish my hifi sounded like this!

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_100004211376004]

At this moment in my system....listening through my amp and speakers has the best Sq Although my grado 325's and rega ear mk2 are good,they don't really come close to the smoothness in treble and sheer excitement within the xs and pmc's.I guess I would have to spend a few bob on a headphone amp and maybe another level or two up in the grado range . it's the first time I've had my amp and speaker set up sounding better than headphones.you have to go along way up the ladder to better a pair of decent Grado cans in speaker terms.

 

[Al ears]

At this moment in my system....listening through my amp and speakers has the best Sq Although my grado 325's and rega ear mk2 are good,they don't really come close to the smoothness in treble and sheer excitement within the xs and pmc's.I guess I would have to spend a few bob on a headphone amp and maybe another level or two up in the grado range . it's the first time I've had my amp and speaker set up sounding better than headphones.you have to go along way up the ladder to better a pair of decent Grado cans in speaker terms.

I for one feel you cannot compare the two. You cannot discuss sound without talking about the room system is in and it's obvious effects. Most people if you are perfectly honest have their system set up in a far from ideal room situation so it could, theoretically, perform much better. Headphones negate this room effect and so to all intents and purposes, sound better. Providing the headphones are of a good quality there is much less 'interference' to that sound.

I use headphones regularly both at home and on the move. The major difference, with my current two headphones is the lack of 'atmosphere' and in particular, soundstage. I don't believe you can get this unless you have a really good pair of open-backed headphones. I will be looking at some planar magnetic types soon and may sell all of my current headphones to pay for them if they give me this requirement.

 

[keeper of the quays]

At this moment in my system....listening through my amp and speakers has the best Sq Although my grado 325's and rega ear mk2 are good,they don't really come close to the smoothness in treble and sheer excitement within the xs and pmc's.I guess I would have to spend a few bob on a headphone amp and maybe another level or two up in the grado range . it's the first time I've had my amp and speaker set up sounding better than headphones.you have to go along way up the ladder to better a pair of decent Grado cans in speaker terms.

I for one feel you cannot compare the two. You cannot discuss sound without talking about the room system is in and it's obvious effects. Most people if you are perfectly honest have their system set up in a far from ideal room situation so it could, theoretically, perform much better. Headphones negate this room effect and so to all intents and purposes, sound better. Providing the headphones are of a good quality there is much less 'interference' to that sound.

I use headphones regularly both at home and on the move. The major difference, with my current two headphones is the lack of 'atmosphere' and in particular, soundstage. I don't believe you can get this unless you have a really good pair of open-backed headphones. I will be looking at some planar magnetic types soon and may sell all of my current headphones to pay for them if they give me this requirement.

Excluding the obvious differences twixt speaker and headphone..if you listen to a cymbal or a piano? Does it sound better on your headphones or speakers! Your in your damp flat with rats and mould and some moss thrown in for good measure! Sitting on your cardboard box between your speakers (that cost more than your boss's car! Lol) does the cymbal sound better between speakers or in your head with headphones? Ps kettles boiled! Pot noodle! Roast dinner flavour! Hehehe

 

[hg]

But which do you think are better?

Stereo on headphones is unnatural and requires a person to adapt to it before it can be tolerated for any length of time. The in-head sound is just wrong and I still find it mildly unpleasant. The absence of reflections removes a sense of space and envelopment and degrades timbre. They tend to beome uncomfortable when worn for a length of time. The frequency response is inevitably all over the place given the drivers are in the near field and everybody's head related transfer function is different. The list of what is wrong with stereo on headphones is possibly endless.

But what is right with stereo over headphones? The lack of reflections, the independence of the left and right channels and the reduction of external sounds may increase the clarity of some sounds and sound effects which could be useful for some monitoring operations.

 

[BigH]

I think generally headphones are better than most speakers however I prefer speakers, I don't find headphones that comfortable, after about 20 minutes ears are getting hot, the phones on my ears/head after about 30 mins begin to ache. Also I don't like the soundstage, inside my head, its not the same as with speakers. You also hear alot more hiss. I did buy some Sennheiser Momentums but soon sold them, could not get on with them, I have an old pair of AT that I use for the computer.

 

[Al ears]

At this moment in my system....listening through my amp and speakers has the best Sq Although my grado 325's and rega ear mk2 are good,they don't really come close to the smoothness in treble and sheer excitement within the xs and pmc's.I guess I would have to spend a few bob on a headphone amp and maybe another level or two up in the grado range . it's the first time I've had my amp and speaker set up sounding better than headphones.you have to go along way up the ladder to better a pair of decent Grado cans in speaker terms.

I for one feel you cannot compare the two. You cannot discuss sound without talking about the room system is in and it's obvious effects. Most people if you are perfectly honest have their system set up in a far from ideal room situation so it could, theoretically, perform much better. Headphones negate this room effect and so to all intents and purposes, sound better. Providing the headphones are of a good quality there is much less 'interference' to that sound.

I use headphones regularly both at home and on the move. The major difference, with my current two headphones is the lack of 'atmosphere' and in particular, soundstage. I don't believe you can get this unless you have a really good pair of open-backed headphones. I will be looking at some planar magnetic types soon and may sell all of my current headphones to pay for them if they give me this requirement.

Excluding the obvious differences twixt speaker and headphone..if you listen to a cymbal or a piano? Does it sound better on your headphones or speakers! Your in your damp flat with rats and mould and some moss thrown in for good measure! Sitting on your cardboard box between your speakers (that cost more than your boss's car! Lol) does the cymbal sound better between speakers or in your head with headphones? Ps kettles boiled! Pot noodle! Roast dinner flavour! Hehehe

We could only dream of Roast dinner pot noodles...... You lucky, lucky barsteward.

 

[keeper of the quays]

At this moment in my system....listening through my amp and speakers has the best Sq Although my grado 325's and rega ear mk2 are good,they don't really come close to the smoothness in treble and sheer excitement within the xs and pmc's.I guess I would have to spend a few bob on a headphone amp and maybe another level or two up in the grado range . it's the first time I've had my amp and speaker set up sounding better than headphones.you have to go along way up the ladder to better a pair of decent Grado cans in speaker terms.

I for one feel you cannot compare the two. You cannot discuss sound without talking about the room system is in and it's obvious effects. Most people if you are perfectly honest have their system set up in a far from ideal room situation so it could, theoretically, perform much better. Headphones negate this room effect and so to all intents and purposes, sound better. Providing the headphones are of a good quality there is much less 'interference' to that sound.

I use headphones regularly both at home and on the move. The major difference, with my current two headphones is the lack of 'atmosphere' and in particular, soundstage. I don't believe you can get this unless you have a really good pair of open-backed headphones. I will be looking at some planar magnetic types soon and may sell all of my current headphones to pay for them if they give me this requirement.

Excluding the obvious differences twixt speaker and headphone..if you listen to a cymbal or a piano? Does it sound better on your headphones or speakers! Your in your damp flat with rats and mould and some moss thrown in for good measure! Sitting on your cardboard box between your speakers (that cost more than your boss's car! Lol) does the cymbal sound better between speakers or in your head with headphones? Ps kettles boiled! Pot noodle! Roast dinner flavour! Hehehe

We could only dream of Roast dinner pot noodles...... You lucky, lucky barsteward.

when i was young all we had was noodles..no pot!

 

[Al ears]

At this moment in my system....listening through my amp and speakers has the best Sq Although my grado 325's and rega ear mk2 are good,they don't really come close to the smoothness in treble and sheer excitement within the xs and pmc's.I guess I would have to spend a few bob on a headphone amp and maybe another level or two up in the grado range . it's the first time I've had my amp and speaker set up sounding better than headphones.you have to go along way up the ladder to better a pair of decent Grado cans in speaker terms.

I for one feel you cannot compare the two. You cannot discuss sound without talking about the room system is in and it's obvious effects. Most people if you are perfectly honest have their system set up in a far from ideal room situation so it could, theoretically, perform much better. Headphones negate this room effect and so to all intents and purposes, sound better. Providing the headphones are of a good quality there is much less 'interference' to that sound.

I use headphones regularly both at home and on the move. The major difference, with my current two headphones is the lack of 'atmosphere' and in particular, soundstage. I don't believe you can get this unless you have a really good pair of open-backed headphones. I will be looking at some planar magnetic types soon and may sell all of my current headphones to pay for them if they give me this requirement.

Excluding the obvious differences twixt speaker and headphone..if you listen to a cymbal or a piano? Does it sound better on your headphones or speakers! Your in your damp flat with rats and mould and some moss thrown in for good measure! Sitting on your cardboard box between your speakers (that cost more than your boss's car! Lol) does the cymbal sound better between speakers or in your head with headphones? Ps kettles boiled! Pot noodle! Roast dinner flavour! Hehehe

We could only dream of Roast dinner pot noodles...... You lucky, lucky barsteward.

when i was young all we had was noodles..no pot!

Did you have to lick road clean wit tongue?

 

[keeper of the quays]

At this moment in my system....listening through my amp and speakers has the best Sq Although my grado 325's and rega ear mk2 are good,they don't really come close to the smoothness in treble and sheer excitement within the xs and pmc's.I guess I would have to spend a few bob on a headphone amp and maybe another level or two up in the grado range . it's the first time I've had my amp and speaker set up sounding better than headphones.you have to go along way up the ladder to better a pair of decent Grado cans in speaker terms.

I for one feel you cannot compare the two. You cannot discuss sound without talking about the room system is in and it's obvious effects. Most people if you are perfectly honest have their system set up in a far from ideal room situation so it could, theoretically, perform much better. Headphones negate this room effect and so to all intents and purposes, sound better. Providing the headphones are of a good quality there is much less 'interference' to that sound.

I use headphones regularly both at home and on the move. The major difference, with my current two headphones is the lack of 'atmosphere' and in particular, soundstage. I don't believe you can get this unless you have a really good pair of open-backed headphones. I will be looking at some planar magnetic types soon and may sell all of my current headphones to pay for them if they give me this requirement.

Excluding the obvious differences twixt speaker and headphone..if you listen to a cymbal or a piano? Does it sound better on your headphones or speakers! Your in your damp flat with rats and mould and some moss thrown in for good measure! Sitting on your cardboard box between your speakers (that cost more than your boss's car! Lol) does the cymbal sound better between speakers or in your head with headphones? Ps kettles boiled! Pot noodle! Roast dinner flavour! Hehehe

We could only dream of Roast dinner pot noodles...... You lucky, lucky barsteward.

when i was young all we had was noodles..no pot!

Did you have to lick road clean wit tongue?

Road? We used to dream of roads..all we had were cinder paths...you don't know your born! We had to a do a full days work before we were conceived?

 

[MajorFubar]

Different strokes. No headphones fully recreate the same impression of scale a speaker does when it's shifting lots of air. No headphone is going to give you that satisfying thump in the chest. But the huge advantage of putting on a pair headphones and instantly listening to the music in the best seat in your virtual perfectly-treated room cannot be understated. They're a bit rubbish though if one of your ears is noticeably defective compared to the other, you won't notice the deficiency half as much with speakers.

As for detail retreval, old wives tale in HiFi circles used to say you need to spend 10x as much on speakers to get the same detail a pair of headphones will give you. I do feel much closer to the music with headphones on, and they have a much better frequency response (go lower before they drop off) without having to resort to subwoofers or huge coffins with 15" drivers.

 

[Al ears]

At this moment in my system....listening through my amp and speakers has the best Sq Although my grado 325's and rega ear mk2 are good,they don't really come close to the smoothness in treble and sheer excitement within the xs and pmc's.I guess I would have to spend a few bob on a headphone amp and maybe another level or two up in the grado range . it's the first time I've had my amp and speaker set up sounding better than headphones.you have to go along way up the ladder to better a pair of decent Grado cans in speaker terms.

I for one feel you cannot compare the two. You cannot discuss sound without talking about the room system is in and it's obvious effects. Most people if you are perfectly honest have their system set up in a far from ideal room situation so it could, theoretically, perform much better. Headphones negate this room effect and so to all intents and purposes, sound better. Providing the headphones are of a good quality there is much less 'interference' to that sound.

I use headphones regularly both at home and on the move. The major difference, with my current two headphones is the lack of 'atmosphere' and in particular, soundstage. I don't believe you can get this unless you have a really good pair of open-backed headphones. I will be looking at some planar magnetic types soon and may sell all of my current headphones to pay for them if they give me this requirement.

Excluding the obvious differences twixt speaker and headphone..if you listen to a cymbal or a piano? Does it sound better on your headphones or speakers! Your in your damp flat with rats and mould and some moss thrown in for good measure! Sitting on your cardboard box between your speakers (that cost more than your boss's car! Lol) does the cymbal sound better between speakers or in your head with headphones? Ps kettles boiled! Pot noodle! Roast dinner flavour! Hehehe

We could only dream of Roast dinner pot noodles...... You lucky, lucky barsteward.

when i was young all we had was noodles..no pot!

Did you have to lick road clean wit tongue?

Road? We used to dream of roads..all we had were cinder paths...you don't know your born! We had to a do a full days work before we were conceived?

Aye! And you try telling that to the young kids of today that and they won't believe you!

But back on track....... speakers properly set up in the right room any day, as per the Majors post above.

 

[plastic penguin]

This may seem a dopey question? But which do you think are better? Reason I ask is,I saw a post about crispness of cymbals and how involving the music was with headphones! What I'm trying to say is this..putting aside the obvious differences, speakers are open..room makes a difference to sound etc..and headphones are a closed environment for listening...do you think your headphones sound better than your speakers or vice versa? I'm talking about the sound? Reason I ask is I was thinking about my Sony Walkman and how good it was (rose tinted?) and I remember thinking I wish my hifi sounded like this!

A good headphone with an appropriate amp will yield better results. However, using phones isn't practical. After owning Grado SR60s they were immensely detailed. In fact too revealing for my taste. I just found Grado presentation too cloying. I prefer speakers to be further away from my ears..

 

[keeper of the quays]

This may seem a dopey question? But which do you think are better? Reason I ask is,I saw a post about crispness of cymbals and how involving the music was with headphones! What I'm trying to say is this..putting aside the obvious differences, speakers are open..room makes a difference to sound etc..and headphones are a closed environment for listening...do you think your headphones sound better than your speakers or vice versa? I'm talking about the sound? Reason I ask is I was thinking about my Sony Walkman and how good it was (rose tinted?) and I remember thinking I wish my hifi sounded like this!

A good headphone with an appropriate amp will yield better results. However, using phones isn't practical. After owning Grado SR60s they were immensely detailed. In fact too revealing for my taste. I just found Grado presentation too cloying. I prefer speakers to be further away from my ears..

think I'm in agreement...i love my headphones but the sound stage is quite different..

 

[Deleted member 108165]

Personally, if I want to physically immerse myself in music then it has to be speakers; the little PMC's trump my headphones every time in this respect. For detail and up-close and personal then there's headphones, (also a must for late night sessions too). The two sets I own, (SR225 and HD650), have very different sound signatures, though I must admit they don't get used very often.

Headphones are a no-go for me where vinyl playback is concerned, it must be speakers only.

 

[Dom]

 

[keeper of the quays]

 

yes I'm fine..they say nutters realise not they are off their trolley? So to quote James Cagney "look at me,ma? Top of the world" please don't ask who James Cagney is? Lol...the voices in my head keep telling me I need krell? Who is krell?

 

[Dom]

Well I'm sure you have a legitimate reason to ask the question. Here.

I have found that headphones give you intimacy [/b]and precise reproduction. Details perfectly realised that each note has substance.

Speakers on the other hand give a depth of bass scale, real stereo imaging and loads more.

I'll happily listen to headphones though like there, TOP OF THE WORLD.

 

[keeper of the quays]

Well I'm sure you have a legitimate reason to ask the question. Here.

I have found that headphones give you intimacy and precise reproduction. Details perfectly realised that each note has substance.  

Speakers on the other hand give a depth of bass scale, real stereo imaging and loads more.

I'll happily listen to headphones though like there, TOP OF THE WORLD.

I own a pair of AKG 550s! Lol..theres legitimacy! I so like having boiled ears! Lol..at least with speakers, no ear boiling involved!

 

[Dom]

 

[keeper of the quays]

Headphones wrap around ears..insulating ears..causing ears to heat up! Sometimes in the forum one gets the pip! Thus steam comes out of ears! Steam out of ears..headphones on...poached ears! So the moral of story is? Don't listen to music with headphones on..in case of the pips! Those pips! The enemy within..pips..within headphone lurks a pip..with speakers? No pips! Just harmonious consideration! Hope this clears up any misunderstanding!

 

[Dom]

I get it now. *lol*

 

[expat_mike]

A few external thoughts and opinions, that may be interesting.

http://www.head-fi.org/t/631428/loudspeakers-vs-headphones

 

[keeper of the quays]

A few external thoughts and opinions, that may be interesting.

http://www.head-fi.org/t/631428/loudspeakers-vs-headphones

mike! Beware of the pips....wish I was given this advice! I wouldn't be such a wretched fellow..if I evaded the lips ..sorry the pips as a young msn? Sorry man...course of my life would have altered...i wouldn't be on this forum.I would have been a Yugo..sorry yogi! Yes...i could have been the new yogi 1 Kenobi! Damn you pips..

 

[Thompsonuxb]

I've never owned 'hi-end' headphones my current pair being in the £40 - £50 bracket.

Sennheiser HD205II

Previous pair

Beyerdynamic DT231

Never listened to a dedicated headphone amp either.

That said I prefer the sound of speakers. Headphones for me have never created the sort of immersive soundstage you can allow to wash over you well positioned speakers can. Nor do they deliver the physical 'presents' speakers can when the mood takes me.

The HD205's are good but music is physical for me. Something headphones in my experience fail to deliver.