HeadPhones are fun!

Lots of intresting headphone information to be found at HeadphOne, the Pictrures and Wallpaper sections are packed full of images but technical information is a bit sparse.

Via Fleshbot (NSFW) but FUN!!

Auric

 

This should keep paul occupied for a while

 

No, they are not! They gave me tinnitus

 

providing your co-habitants are speaker-friendly too, you can't beat large boxes in front of you as opposed to small ones clamped to the side of your head

 

Dev, sounds like you were a bit playful with the volume control then

I think for the price they cost, headphones cannot be beaten for overall sound quality. How much would it cost for a speaker rig to sound better than a well chosen £500 headphone + amp combo? I reckon about £5 grand would leave them on about equal pegging

I've seen that fetish site already - I am a member of headfi remember

 

Paul,

You are obviously spot on!

In my late teens, (a long time ago now!), I used to fall asleep listening to music through headphones at fairly high volumes. Now I hate them, even though it was my fault for playing them that loud

What I find odd is that in the Train sometimes you come across people with their Walkman/MP3 players with volume so high that practically the whole carriage can hear the "music". Don't they realise what harm these things can do in the long term? I don't believe I ever played it that loud.

On the balance though, I've always preferred the real speakers, headphones were only used for late night listening or when others in the house wanted a bit of peace&quite. There's no substitute for chest thumping (but enough about my private life ).

 

Try adding a zero to that, Paul! I reckon if you put, say, Henryt's current amp/speakers up against my Rega Ear/Sennheiser 580s the headphones would only be very slightly behind (no disrespect to your kit Henry - but that headphone system is ace!). Headphones/amp ~£220, pre/amp/speakers ~£16500

 

Sorry to drag Henryt into this again I remember we were travelling over for Live 94, when, at Eastleigh(?) station, some guy LITERALLY down the other end of the platform clearly had "One way" by the Levellers on his Walkman - you could hear every word! I'm not sure if the cans were closed or open back, but he was easily 30 metres away.

In the 9.5 years since then, he's probably gone deaf...

 

Dom,

I'll have to come around and hear your h/phone set-up for myself, then make a judgement!

Mind you, don't judge the mainly brand new prices that I paid for my system. I've learnt much since. Sometime soon, hopefully, I'll get in what some have likened to listening to a big pair of headphones - but their speakers...

Not a great fan of headphone listening myself personally. Don't mind them for walkmans, but not at home if I can help it. It's not quite the same. Headphones do intimacy well no doubt, but you can't get that feeling you get when you're driving the room with volume through speakers. :JOEL:

 

I'll grant you its certainly an acquired taste, and there is much to be said about blasting out some nice bassy songs through speakers at volume, but for myself thats not practical right now. My HD650s and X-Can v3 give me a taste of high end sound that I would not be able to afford otherwise. IMO, some music even sounds better through cans (like Shpongle). I wouldnt like to imagine how much it'd cost me to beat my headphone rig thru speakers, but suffice to say I think it sounds as good if not better than any other speaker system that I've had the pleasure of hearing.

 

I can fully sympathise on the practical necessities for having to use headphones, although I'd admit that I'm lucky enough to live in accomodation which allows me to play the speakers loud enough for my own tastes at just about most times of the day (or night ).

I'd agree on the VFM aspect of headphones vs speakers, but then headphones have a far easier time of it IMO. The major thing that headphones have going for them is the lack of room interaction and externally influencening accoustics issue - you are just presented with so much (more) of the "direct sound" from the original source - something loudspeakers have to fight the room to convey to the listener. The other is that headphones are smaller and more easy to control or be controlled (in the both the electro and the mechanical/vibrational sense) by its driving amp.

 

He he he - I can vouch for that - and the levels - 1200 Mics at fairly high volume at 3 in the morning was tasty dude - man, that Mescalator EP is great! Shame you're not more local Paul, 'cos Henry can throw a mean party

This is true - don't forget there are no crossovers either, and driving a ~3.5 inch diaphragm is easier than trying to shift a room's worth of air with an 8 inch driver....

As Paul says though - it's quite hard to play music late at night without 'phones in many cases. If I'd been playing Slaughter and the dogs, Albertos Y Los Trios Paranoias, Chris Isaak etc (all on 7inch vinyl) as loud through speakers as I was 'phones last night, I'd have been evicted pretty quick

 

Is it really pronounced like that? I always thought it was 1200 Micrograms?

Yep, exactly. Forgot to mention those things, especially the crossover... and the fact that headphones are better at reproducing very low level detail which most non-expensive (non-electrostat or low sensitivity [say circa <94dB] speakers) tend to mask over.