Opinions on headphones?

<font color='#000000'>So, I'm a member of Head-Fi under the same name (which is my real name). &nbsp;I've been a member for one year. &nbsp;That is how I got into HiFi and it's been a great ride. &nbsp;However, I do have to say that the things that the members over at Head-Fi tend to questionable. &nbsp;Since Audioholics is about pursuing the truth in audio, I kind of have a few questions.

First, is it true that a &quot;good&quot; pair of headphones can equal the sound fidelity of a &quot;good&quot; pair of speakers costing ten times more?

Second, why are headphones still relegated as being some kind of accessory or an afterthought in HiFi print -- i.e., magazines, books, Internet?

Third, what do you think are the biggest strengths and weaknesses of headphones?

Thanks for your opinions. &nbsp;I wanted to get another perspective from HiFi fanatics like myself.</font>

<font color='#0000FF'>Headphones arent subject to acoustical coupling so good ones can sound really accurate and un-colored, a fact that no speakers, even the most transparent ones can acheive. Having said that, none of the headphones I have auditioned and that includes the real expensive electrostatic Stax Kogyo can give bass or SPL like a well designed tower.</font>

<font color='#000000'>I agree with what Yamahaluver said,

You might find a pair of headphones that deliver good bass but I like to both hear and feel bass and that's why I would rather have towers if I had to chose one or the other.

The reason I want a pair of headphones is that I simply cannot play music at what I think is an acceptable level late at night in my appt...portability is also a plus.

Btw, for christmas I'll be getting a pair of grado sr-60's &nbsp;

Cheers!</font>

<font color='#000000'>Headphones create an unnatural soundstage in one's head, because recordings are mainly made to be played thru speakers, which couple with the room and thus render stereo differently. That may be one reason for their relative neglect (I am no doubt grossly oversimplifiying here).

There are headphone amps and processors that correct for this. I have heard good things about the products of HeadRoom in that regard. Prices range from near chump-change to oh-my-God. The Audio Critic liked the chump change one just fine.

More cynically, I suspect that the high-end Mafia of dealers and mags treat headphones as an afterthought because they don't offer the mystique and profit margin of things like $20k-plus rip-off speakers, SET tube amps, and magic wire. Give them time... </font>

<font color='#000000'>A serious headphone set-up requires a seaprate headphone amplifer. &nbsp;And yes, many consumer grade gears offer headphone jacks as some sort of an afterthought. &nbsp;In fact the more expensive amplifiers have no headphone jacks at all. &nbsp;That's based on the philosophy that if the consumer can afford their amps, they should afford a dedicated headphone amp if they want one.

It is generally a lot easier to design and produce a headphone than a lousdpeaker. &nbsp;And a headphone can easily approximate the sounds coming from an anechoic chamber where most speaker chracteristics are measured. &nbsp; &nbsp;When a performance is recorded, the sounds get picked up by at least two microphones in a stereo recording mimicking the ears.. &nbsp;A headphone correctly reverses that process by reproducing into your ears what the mics have captured, without any room or speaker enclosure and material resonances adding or coloring the sound that reach your ears which will happen if played though speakers. &nbsp;There's even a school of thought that claims various human ear geometries lend themselves better or worse to certain headphones than others. &nbsp;

An excellent pair of headphones can be startingly accurate and priced halfway that of exotic speakers with the same accuracy. &nbsp;But like what some in this forum have said, some bass frequencies are felt than heard and should sometimes give a room-shaking ability that makes it realistic. &nbsp;And that's what headphones can easily miss.</font>

<font color='#000080'>Having worked in the industry for nearly a decade before branching into multimedia, I can tell you that while many tracks are edited and composed in Hollywood using headphones (though mostly dialogue and effects) - sound design and most definitely mixing (stem and final) are done in a live room with speakers... so the intention is never to create a perfect &quot;headphone&quot; mix but to create an environment of sound.

So headphones are not just an afterthought on the back end, they are an afterthought on the front end as well. The same goes for music recording and mixing.

I have always enjoyed listening to both music on headphones, though I prefer my movies to be played in an environment with a physical subwoofer response.</font>

The physics of headphones

The physics of how headphones work allow them to sound "better" than regular speakers.

Drivers in the headphones need to move a fixed volume of air irrespective of frequency, whereas regular speakers need greater power for the lows. This makes it easier for headphones to achieve flat frequency response.

That's true, but a measured flat response into the low bass just isn't the same with cans as with speakers. With speakers the very low bass is felt as much as it's heard; with 'phones you hear the notes but don't feel them. That creates a "disconnect" with reality that's a bit disconcerting and unnatural.

Beyond that, a crossfeed circuit will definately help, as will material mixed for 'phone playback. I agree that cans get the short shrift due to their unglamorous & inexpensive nature, plus the bias that a "true audiophile" will dedicate as much space and money as is required to buy a small island in order to get good sound.

You can get an overall s/q with cans that would cost 5X-10X as much with speakers, and do it without getting evicted. Just be aware you'll look like a jackass singing along.

I just don't "get" headphones. Over the years I have managed to collect several sets including a pair of Stax SR84's. I have always thought phones sounded kinda' creepy with the sound coming from between your ears. Binaural recordings go a long way to removing the "creep". One of my recordings (binaural) sounds as if there is someone sitting to the rear and just slightly to my right. I mention this because this person seems to be muffling an intermittant cough. I am always tempted to turn around and offer him (yes him) a cough drop. If you are into headphones you should check out some binaural recordings. They don't need the processor that headroom uses.

Unregistered said:

The physics of how headphones work allow them to sound "better" than regular speakers.

Drivers in the headphones need to move a fixed volume of air irrespective of frequency, whereas regular speakers need greater power for the lows. This makes it easier for headphones to achieve flat frequency response.

Click to expand...

BETTER certainly is true, in very limited respects. BETTER for portable use. BETTER for removig room interactions. But 'better' is not being very specific. Rob's got an excellent point concerning the LF response. A headphone can never have natural bass response unless you use it along with a vibrational transducer(bass shaker, etc.) or other device to stimulate LF bone conductance.

-Chris

Rob Babcock said:

Beyond that, a crossfeed circuit will definately help, as will material mixed for 'phone playback. I agree that cans get the short shrift due to their unglamorous & inexpensive nature, plus the bias that a "true audiophile" will dedicate as much space and money as is required to buy a small island in order to get good sound.

Click to expand...

Some people just don't like crossfeed. I'm one of them. I've tried infintely variable DSP versions, where every parameer is customizable, and I just don't like them. However, their are special spatializer DSP units that are a different story. I can't remember a link at the moment, but one lets you connect a headphone, mount a positional sensor to the top of the headband, then go through a HRTF test sequence to find the optimal transfer function for your head/ears. When completed, you supposedly have very convincing and stabile soundfield(that is stabile thanks to the positional sensor on the headband that detect head movement).

-Chris

JoeE SP9 said:

I just don't "get" headphones.

Click to expand...

What a shame. I 'love' headphones. If not for headphones, I would have to go without great sound quality on-the-go.

-Chris