Jump to content

Headphones or speakers


Ormion

Recommended Posts

Headphones all the way for me.

 

A good headphone setup will be far more fidel than any kind of speaker in the same price range.

You can get something pretty amazing under 1k, while it probably would cost you 5 or 10 times more to have the speakers equivalent.

Some more expensive setups are said to be out of this world, but i never had the luck to listen to them.

Same point with a lesser budget, there are some good headphones around 200 bucks (unamped) that are no match for any speaker system at this price up to.. 1k maybe?

 

That's something i wouldn't have believed a few months ago, but now that i own such setup i just can't enjoy listening music through speakers anymore.

Music sounds way more trippy and involving than it ever was with any kind of speakers i have heard so far (granted the best i have heard is a vintage Akai setup, but its not exactly bad either)

It's honestly like night and day.

 

Also i get a much wider and accurate soundstage with my headphones, i can clearly pick up elements and locate them around me (very obvious if the production is good).

Albums like "Trippy Future Garden" by Planet B.E.N. or any Shpongle album are sounding really amazing and very 3D like, which is something i don't notice as much with speakers.

 

That being said, i think an amazing speakers system (read: bloody expensive) would be more fun to listen to than any pair of headphone, that if you bother to set it up in an acoustic room.

So yeah.. with unlimited costs i would probably have a dedicated speakers room, but until then i'll stick to headphones.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 69
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Headphones for me since I bought them 3 weeks ago, I dreamed about them for a year or two and one day I walk to a shop and there they are 60% from the original price here in Ukraine. Listened to most loved old albums and I can't express how they sounds :) To get the same quality speaker sound system I'd need much more money. Now looking for a decent amp, as there phones reveal flaws of my system. They'll shine :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Headphones for me since I bought them 3 weeks ago, I dreamed about them for a year or two and one day I walk to a shop and there they are 60% from the original price here in Ukraine. Listened to most loved old albums and I can't express how they sounds :) To get the same quality speaker sound system I'd need much more money. Now looking for a decent amp, as there phones reveal flaws of my system. They'll shine :)

Congrats! i't's a different world. There is a downside, suddenly if the mp3 it's not 320 Kbps and it was encoded like 3 years ago, it's really not the same, you become more bitchy with the quality, you realize you can't live unless SRS iWOW is turned on all the time, it all seems to spiral out of control in your wallet. :drama:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

It doesn't really matter too much in my case, because I neither have really good monitors nor really good headphones, but overall I'm tending to speakers because I don't wanna ruin my ears with the headphones. Only in the evening I use headphones, I live in a very noisy flat (you can hear the neighbour brushing his teeth), don't want to make people call police at night.

 

Sound-quality wise it differs. The sound system my computer is hooked to is crap, headphone sound is much better in that case, but especially when playing vinyl over my stereo the sound is much, muuch nicer from the speakers than from headphones...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I recently got a pair of these headphones:

 

Posted Image

 

Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro (80 ohm)

 

The overall sound quality is excellent and the bass is amazing. I'd recommend them if you're in the market for a pair costing around £100.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I recently got a pair of these headphones:

 

Posted Image

 

Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro (80 ohm)

 

The overall sound quality is excellent and the bass is amazing. I'd recommend them if you're in the market for a pair costing around £100.

I got myself Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro, which is the same model but opened and they're 250 Ohm. Bass is nice too, though not as wild I guess :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I listen to music about 5 or 6 hours a day so my ears wouldn't take the stress of using headphones so long. I usually change to headphones at 22:00 or so. My speakers are really bad but I cope with them...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like both. I have studio monitors and also studio headphones, so both are very good for producing and home listening. I prefer listening trough speakers because it is more mobile and more bassy

 

but for nice dynamics and pan effects headphones are nice. for good darkpsy which has lots of swirling sounds and a deep sound headphones are great

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

Well in my case its really depends what kind of music I listen at...

for the upbeat if prefer enjoy it on my speakers but when its come to all the downtempo genre its HP for sure !

I really much more appreciate to spirit of the album that way

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I prefer speakers, since they can give me the feeling that the sound is filling the room, rather than just filling my ears, and this also enables me to "interact" more with the music. Though my opinion is probably skewed since I don't recall ever having used a decent pair of headphones, whereas my parents have some pretty sweet speakers.

 

But there are some pieces of music that need to be played through one or the other. For example, Biosphere's Vibratoire is designed to be felt rather than heard, and is therefore utterly pointless through headphones. On the other hand, Autechre's Tewe contains noises which are pretty much indiscernible through speakers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I prefer speakers, since they can give me the feeling that the sound is filling the room, rather than just filling my ears, and this also enables me to "interact" more with the music. Though my opinion is probably skewed since I don't recall ever having used a decent pair of headphones, whereas my parents have some pretty sweet speakers.

 

But there are some pieces of music that need to be played through one or the other. For example, Biosphere's Vibratoire is designed to be felt rather than heard, and is therefore utterly pointless through headphones. On the other hand, Autechre's Tewe contains noises which are pretty much indiscernible through speakers.

Actually for me when it comes to the feeling/hearing point I find headphones to be better for feeling the music than speakers. Maybe because they isolate every external sounds so you're just you and the music.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Actually for me when it comes to the feeling/hearing point I find headphones to be better for feeling the music than speakers. Maybe because they isolate every external sounds so you're just you and the music.

+1 for you, Sir.

 

Of course it then all depends on what kind of headphones or speakers we're talking about. Speakers can give out a nice ambience in a good room, and you can dance without tripping over the cable. Of course I dream of having a nice isolated studio somewhere far away from people, and use some hi-def speakers. Untill then headphones do it for me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Actually for me when it comes to the feeling/hearing point I find headphones to be better for feeling the music than speakers. Maybe because they isolate every external sounds so you're just you and the music.

I don't think you realised how literally I was speaking when I wrote about "feeling" the music - Vibratoire consists mainly of a slow pulse which is almost too low to hear, but which shakes the whole room.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't think you realised how literally I was speaking when I wrote about "feeling" the music - Vibratoire consists mainly of a slow pulse which is almost too low to hear, but which shakes the whole room.

some decent isolated in-ears are more than capable of (literally) vibrating your perception. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


×
×
  • Create New...