What happens when AUDIOPHILES take the ROOM out of the equation?

The Audiophiliiac ponders the case for headphones. They eliminate ALL room acoustics issues, hush external noise, and headphones resolve superior detail at substantially lower prices than speakers! Your room is fighting your music! But it's not a matter of which is better, headphones or speakers, we can enjoy BOTH!

Twitter: @AudiophiliacMan

#headphones #audiophiles #greatsound

[SteveGuttenbergAudiophiliac]

There's a misunderstanding of what this video is all about. I did not say headphones are the best way to listen to music, it's just the best way to hear recordings without your room adding its own sound/coloration to the music. Which may sound wonderful, yes, but it's NOT the sound of the recording itself. I prefer listening over speakers MOST of the time, but there are times when I want to go deeper with a recording, and then I listen over headphones. Both ways, speakers and headphones are valid.

[gogo-fklu]

I agree, but late at night, when everyone is asleep and the rhythm of life has calmed down, listening through the speakers is a heavenly experience, completely different from during the day, even if you live in a relatively quiet environment.

[douggarber]

One benefit of headphones is the ability to listen to the music you like at the volume you want without being heard by neighbors or even housemates. As to comfort, I have had Beyerdynamics, AKGs and Sennheisers that are very comfortable. Those with plastic ear pads instead of velour . . .not so much.

[hamishthecat]

At almost 70 years old and always having a reasonably powerful stereo system I approached an audiologist about my hearing. The news wasn't good above 4k apart from my hearing loss being even in both ears. He suggested headphones, I was reluctant to go that way as I have a nice set of speakers in my home, he set up a pair of hearing aids and they made a huge difference up to 8k. I started to have a look around at headphones as I had never bought high quality phones in the past (just gaming phones under $100). I ended up with a pair of Audeze LCD-X (2021)'s and after some equalization was like I was 16 again. Loving the music all over again.

[bikdav]

You stated a good case for headphones. I've been using headphones for many years.

[janetyer]

Steve, I too do a lot of listening over headphones. However, I would also point out that the vast majority of music recordings that were mastered and published for commercial retail sales have been mastered while using a loudspeaker based monitor system in a mastering studio, and were optimized for consumer playback over a loudspeaker system operating in a nonspecialized domestic listening environment, and were not optimized for playback over headphones.

[GrotrianSeiler]

Steve’s material is the best. Always engaging.

[zzz]

Wow, agreed on every point! A well designed, neutral headphone/IEM is the ultimate shortcut to listen to music as "neutral" as possible, eliminating the room.

[richardwhite]

Hi Steve, What a fantastic topic!!! I Love listening to music through headphones as it is a totally different music experience. I have a pair of Sony MDR 7506 and they are incredible sounding headphones, and I remember when I was growing up I had a beautiful pair of Koss Headphones that I loved.

[joewhip]

When you take the room out of the equation, you hear what your components are actually capable of. You can therefore stop chasing your tail, buying more equipment in an attempt to try to correct for a room issue. In short, it is not the equipment that was the issue, but the room. It gives you the opportunity to get off the endless swapping out equipment.

[steveowens]

I usually listen nearfield, but I use a pair of Sony MDR-7506 headphones for composing work, and sometimes for 'change-of-place' listening to favorite tracks. I've accidentally left the speakers on when listening to the headphones, and noticed this adds some room space and bass to the experience. It would probably be more pronounced with open-back headphones. Killer shirt by Mrs. Audiophiliac BTW!

[danielheffernan]

I used to just use headphones/IEM’s, only when out and about, but now it’s my primary way of listening to music at home. It makes you focus on the music with no external distractions, no room problems and no annoying the neighbours! ZMF headphones (any) + tube amp = heaven. Surprised you haven’t reviewed any ZMF headphones yet Steve, they would be right up your street. Still love speakers too!

[williamsharp]

For me, some reminders from this one: With speakers, just do what you can with your room and setup to bring out the best they can provide in that 'venue'. This channel is a gold mine of info on how. I am reminded of here that headphones aren't going to provide the soundstage imagery that a home theater system does - kiss that goodbye, but a lot of great films don't need it anyway. Boom 'n Zoom movies are great in surround, but headphones are great for understanding dialog. Lastly, with headphones and others in the house you should probably position yourself facing the door to your room, lest someone creep up behind you and scare the living crap out of you, usually frequently. :)

[Bob_Betker]

Steve thanks for an interesting video. Your description explained something that had always puzzled me when listening to headphones. It always felt that my soundstage was reversed and that the music was coming from behind me but when you explained that the listener was in the position of the microphone it all made sense.

[mrpositronia]

I will always love how speakers play with the room. They can sound very different when placed in different areas of the room. Headphones are definitely like plugging yourself straight into the system.

[kloss]

Speaker room interaction is related to radiation pattern not all loudspeakers are as affected by room boundaries some are designed to utilize room boundaries. Also a loudspeaker more naturally replicates the way real sound is reproduced in a real space. Headphones have an inaccurate reproduction of sound staging. Headphones are wonderfully useful and sometimes nessesrary but they are not accurate to realistic reproduction since the reproduction in itself is a form of distortion.

[redbull]

I’ll say, you got me on this one, I didn’t see “headphones” coming as the answer to the guessing game part.

[bba]

I moved to Tokyo 14 years ago when I got married. My wife wasn't keen on me bringing my setup, because neighbors and how close together everyone lives here with paper thin walls. I then became a headphone person, and it was a happy discovery. One reason was because of how much more affordable headphone gear is and two, how much more detailed everything is. I get that it's not everyone's cup of tea, but I love it. My current setup:

Gaming PC I build myself > O2/ODAC > AKG k712 Pro

The O2/ODAC is getting a bit old now, but other than it not supporting DSD, I can't find anything that justifies replacing it. If anyone knows anything that greatly surpasses it, I'd love to check it out.

[cobymela]

Yep, I’ve learned that if I want the best audio experience and also stay economically sane, headphones are the way. Yes, I have my amp, speaker combo that I enjoy, but for leas than half I get double the fidelity and audio experience.

[TheHammerofDissidence]

I'm just now getting into headphones. Have 6xx's, T60 Argons, and a pair of SR80e's that I've owned for a while. At the end of the day, I still love speakers more, especially with vinyl. Feeling music with your entire body adds a lot to the enjoyment. After all, that's how you experience the real thing.