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Author Topic: Headphones as good as $40K speaker systems for a fraction of? BULLSHIT!  (Read 15664 times)

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Questhate

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Re: Headphones as good as $40K speaker systems for a fraction of? BULLSHIT!
« Reply #50 on: March 06, 2013, 05:37:42 PM »
Quote from: Maxvla on March 06, 2013, 05:26:01 PM

I've had James Blake's album for a while now and have tried to enjoy it, but just really do not like it. Popped it into my speaker rig last night and actually did enjoy it. Then put in BT's These Hopeful Machines which I love on headphones and it was just meh on my speakers.

This is beyond strange to me, and symptomatic of someone listening to their gear more than listening to music. It's the same music regardless. I can see preferring one over the other, but to not enjoy it on headphones and then enjoy it on speakers, when you're listening to the exact same recording is a bit extreme.
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Marvey

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Re: Headphones as good as $40K speaker systems for a fraction of? BULLSHIT!
« Reply #51 on: March 06, 2013, 05:43:28 PM »
They are just different. If speakers are good on one track and then "meh" on another, then there is probably something something seriously wrong with those speakers.
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Maxvla

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Re: Headphones as good as $40K speaker systems for a fraction of? BULLSHIT!
« Reply #52 on: March 06, 2013, 05:47:35 PM »
Quote from: Questhate on March 06, 2013, 05:37:42 PM
Quote from: Maxvla on March 06, 2013, 05:26:01 PM

I've had James Blake's album for a while now and have tried to enjoy it, but just really do not like it. Popped it into my speaker rig last night and actually did enjoy it. Then put in BT's These Hopeful Machines which I love on headphones and it was just meh on my speakers.

This is beyond strange to me, and symptomatic of someone listening to their gear more than listening to music. It's the same music regardless. I can see preferring one over the other, but to not enjoy it on headphones and then enjoy it on speakers, when you're listening to the exact same recording is a bit extreme.
Assuming you've heard James Blake's album, you'll know that the slightly out of time left and right voices can be really distracting on headphones. On speakers the sound is coming from far enough away that the effect is minimized, but still present. I can enjoy it like that. It's almost as if I need more time from the emission of sound to my ears to process it. With the BT album, I want to be IN the music so it starting from several feet away just isn't immersive enough.

@ purrin it really has nothing to do with the quality of my speakers.
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shipsupt

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Re: Headphones as good as $40K speaker systems for a fraction of? BULLSHIT!
« Reply #53 on: March 06, 2013, 05:51:47 PM »
Not my point... I wasn't trying to say it was track/genre/album dependent, I was just saying my speakers are probably pretty shitty and not set up well for the room they are in.  I still love listening to them, but I've spent more time getting my headphones sounding right and it's evident.  I need to give a little love to the speaker set up.

But there is some truth that it's probably easier to buy a complete headphone set up that is "proven", plug it all together and you're "good to go".  All you need is a check book.  Since every room is more or less different I think setting up speakers, even a simple set up, takes a little more work/skill.  Or not, I really know jack shit about speakers.

FWIW, I think that James Blake album is unlistenable on a crap system.  I tried listening to it in the car and couldn't take it... I find it really engaging on my home systems.  Just say'n.



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Yeah, well, you know, that's just, like, your opinion, man.

Questhate

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Re: Headphones as good as $40K speaker systems for a fraction of? BULLSHIT!
« Reply #54 on: March 06, 2013, 05:59:19 PM »
Quote from: Maxvla on March 06, 2013, 05:47:35 PM
Quote from: Questhate on March 06, 2013, 05:37:42 PM
Quote from: Maxvla on March 06, 2013, 05:26:01 PM

I've had James Blake's album for a while now and have tried to enjoy it, but just really do not like it. Popped it into my speaker rig last night and actually did enjoy it. Then put in BT's These Hopeful Machines which I love on headphones and it was just meh on my speakers.

This is beyond strange to me, and symptomatic of someone listening to their gear more than listening to music. It's the same music regardless. I can see preferring one over the other, but to not enjoy it on headphones and then enjoy it on speakers, when you're listening to the exact same recording is a bit extreme.
Assuming you've heard James Blake's album, you'll know that the slightly out of time left and right voices can be really distracting on headphones. On speakers the sound is coming from far enough away that the effect is minimized, but still present. I can enjoy it like that. It's almost as if I need more time from the emission of sound to my ears to process it. With the BT album, I want to be IN the music so it starting from several feet away just isn't immersive enough.

@ purrin it really has nothing to do with the quality of my speakers.

Word. I can see where you're coming from if I remind myself that you're only speaking on subjective experience rather than quality of the music. I've enjoyed that album on my headphones, speakers and even laptop speakers playing a 192k web stream. But I agree that they're much different experiences.

Funny you used the James Blake example. My girlfriend didn't like his album at all, and tried to get into it. She listened mostly on her laptop speakers and in the car. I dragged her to see him at the Fillmore where they set up huge subwoofers -- literally the glasses on the back bar were clinking on the bass drop from Limit To Your Love, and you can feel the room shaking under your feet. She loved it.
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Marvey

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Re: Headphones as good as $40K speaker systems for a fraction of? BULLSHIT!
« Reply #55 on: March 06, 2013, 06:03:03 PM »
Quote from: Maxvla on March 06, 2013, 05:47:35 PM

Assuming you've heard James Blake's album, you'll know that the slightly out of time left and right voices can be really distracting on headphones. On speakers the sound is coming from far enough away that the effect is minimized, but still present. I can enjoy it like that. It's almost as if I need more time from the emission of sound to my ears to process it. With the BT album, I want to be IN the music so it starting from several feet away just isn't immersive enough.

@ purrin it really has nothing to do with the quality of my speakers.

o i c. It's obvious you need surround sound. Not only will this immerse you in the environment. You will get amazing localization.
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DaveBSC

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Re: Headphones as good as $40K speaker systems for a fraction of? BULLSHIT!
« Reply #56 on: March 06, 2013, 08:55:08 PM »
Quote from: rhythmdevils on March 06, 2013, 06:27:08 AM
Where are these rooms that cause 10 dB swings in response?  Have you actually ever heard that?  Or do i have invisible acoustic angels following me everywhere?  Or do audiophiles all live in little cement basements with no furniture?  10dB is huge.

Actually, for an untreated room, 10dB is pretty run of the mill. I've seen it happen in my old office, which was a nightmare to work with. Small and squarish in shape is a 1-2 punch for bad acoustics. There was a suckout at right around 62Hz where response dropped off the face of the earth. Subwoofer placement was pretty much impossible.

Not everyone will have to go to this extent to get a good sounding room, but it certainly helps. Particularly in a space that's this narrow.


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RexAeterna

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Re: Headphones as good as $40K speaker systems for a fraction of? BULLSHIT!
« Reply #57 on: March 06, 2013, 09:09:03 PM »
i agree it helps a lot. also i think the acoustic stuff you see online and studio pictures is more for aesthetic reasoning as well. you can simply get your own supplies at local home dept. roxul rockwool is very good but only problem i have with mineral wool is it is not flexible material. it is denser than fiberglass though per R unit. it's very easy to make panels and shouldn't cost too much at all cause it's very easy to eliminate high and midrange frequency reflections. it's usually from mid-bass to sub-bass due to the wave lengths that can be a pain.

my old room before i moved i had it really,really dead sounding. you were able to actually hear very easily what ''silence'' sounds like. when i moved and in current room with no treatment it doesn't sound bad at all but i can still hear some reflections(i guess you call them peaks. i don't know). currently all i'm using is heavy ass cinder blocks as stands and it alone helped a good deal eliminating standing waves. i have my speakers 3ft away as well from the walls(i always found it best to do atleast 2 1/2-3ft away in my experience).
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omegakitty

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Re: Headphones as good as $40K speaker systems for a fraction of? BULLSHIT!
« Reply #58 on: March 06, 2013, 09:27:02 PM »
Not sure if anyone here knows luvdunhill, but here are his corner loaded Lowther DX4's driven by F4 monoblocks. I imagine they sound good.
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Marvey

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Re: Headphones as good as $40K speaker systems for a fraction of? BULLSHIT!
« Reply #59 on: March 06, 2013, 09:30:56 PM »
And that's a good example of how we can make the room work on our behalf. There's no need to go apeshit on dedicated treatments for a "Googleli" factor. A lot of regular stuff in the house can be used to great effect.
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