do good headphones really make a difference?

In my school, theres been a flurry of buying those humungous headphones (usually Sennheiser) and students boasting that their pair of headphones cost xxx USD, can't remember precise numbers, but it freaked me out. They say it sounds awesome.

I can't help but wonder how good sound can be produced with such small err..drivers? Cones? Coils? That magnetic thing that produces sound >< . So as the title says (as it always does ) do such expensive headphones really make it worth the investment?

oh and if i were to compare them to my 2.1 Edifier M1350 speakers, how would they match up? Just a note, I've carefully positioned my speakers to optimum placements following instructions and tips from audiophile forums, and it sounds like heaven. Is there a higher audio heaven?

 

Good speakers > good headphones. Headphones are still great though.

 

Well, it will be very difficult if not impossible to ever make headphones sound as good as a truely great and well set up home audio system, just like your home can never sound as good as a great sound system in an auditorium designed to have great acoustics. That said, of course you can get a very very good listening experience from portable products. Personally, I like in ear monitors better than cans, just because they are less clunky and I find them more comfortable, butto each thier own. Have you ever visited head-fi forums?

 

yes i have. But these people are just...biased?

 

Open the door to Head-fi and there is a passage-way with stairs that go down. Do not go inside. The stairs are retractable.

 

lol. It is true that last time I started digging about Head-Fi for a few days, I was starting to think that I could justify spending $500 on new IEMs even though I was unemployed....

 

I'm still in the market for a K701 or K702. They're supposed to be the same but K702 being dark blue and with a loose cable, but apparently the K702 is warmer and the K701 more sparkly.

 

What source are they using on the headphones though? Having deluxe headphones on an iPod kind of defeats the purpose lol

As stated, good speakers beat good headphones, but headphones still provide a very good experience. I mean, if you can get studio monitor headphones, they sound quite good, but are pricey. I personally would not spend so much on headphones(like max 100$) but mostly because I'm not an audiophile and I have too many types of music that no single headphone can cater to.

 

You have your speakers which provide a solid listening experience, then you have your headphones/earbuds/IEMs that aren't perfect, but you enjoy listening to.

That's good enough IMO.

edit: but do make sure that your speakers have a good source. Integrated audio for the most part can make speakers sound pathetic and lazy.

 

Yeah, speakers are much better, but you can't lug speakers around.

For instance, my $1000 2.1 system completely crushes my $1000 IEM's. But, I can't use my speakers while working or working out at the gym or any of that. And as a general rule larger headphones(full sized cans) will sound better than IEM's.

And FYI, careful over at head-fi, there is tons of good information there, but there are also tons of people who don't have a clue what they are talking about.

 

I think good headphones give better sound stage and localization than good speakers but good speakers "sound" better and of course can offer more bass.

Sometimes I just split my output and use the subwoofer and headphones together

Also headphones are friendly to microphones if your doing voice chat and your neighbors and room mates while a big stereo system is not.

 

if you have open cans you won't have a good listening experience if you're toting them around in public as there is too much noise from outside and that's where IEMs can have their place.

 

IEMs have the best sound isolation. Open headphones have the best sound quality in quiet areas (but leak so much). Still, can't really beat a good speaker setup in the same price range~

 

Do Open headphones really leak that much? I haven't tried any in years soooo I'm not up to date on headphone technology.

I tend to see more and more closed headphones though, idk how good those sound.

 

They're like paper walls. (I haven't been near paper walls in a while, but imagine...)

It's like you can talk with someone while playing music without removing your headphones, for my AD900. And when I have music at a medium level (maybe medium-high because I still like to listen loud), people can hear my music clear enough to tell what it is. :C

For my RE0 (in ear), it's like you can block out train noise. I've unintentionally ignored people trying to talk to me wearing them.

 

Oh okies, I haven't really noticed; my friend had a pair of Sennheiser 51s and I couldn't really hear his music when I was talking to him(although like you said, he could maintain the convo while having the headphones on).

I wonder if they've made any advancements in closed headphones.

 

Especially if an Orpheus is a realistic proposition for you. Most of the (especially peer-led) opinions on there are rubbish, but I credit the site with finding ways to extract money from me that I didn't even know existed.

But to answer the question from the viewpoint of an owner of the most expensive headphone system ever to go into serial production (and that's just for starters), yes. But not as much as many people on Head-Fi say. If you're sane and are thinking in terms of 'Can I afford x', you should stop at $200 max.

 

i got myself a steelseries siberia icemats (headsets) only put down $80 i used for gaming in 1.6 to css competitively even dota.. You use sound well at least i do to hear where the enemy is how many are coming to your spot etc... in dota gotta see if enemy is creeping to gank or close to you...

 

Good speakers are better than good headphones, sure, but what about at prices of up to $200?

 

isn't that the same with every forum?

i personally prefer IEM's as far as portable products. like everyone else said tho, there's a trade off in sound quality to compensate for portability.

 

my speakers came free with my desktop. Thanks for the replies. No headphones necessary I have an internal sound card, Realtek HD Audio + Dolby Home Theater software

and Forever_Melody, why did you say that having an iPod as the source was "lol"? As a matter of fact, all of these students use iPods with them.

 

Well I don't want to bash iPods, but let's say that they're not the greatest source in the world Defeats the purpose of getting deluxe headphones really.

It's like getting really really nice speakers and using integrated sound chips.

The actual source of the media is just as important as the output device. This means that you'd need a good source as well as actual good media(i.e. not average quality 192kps mp3s).

If your friends are using 192kbps and iPods with 500$ headphones, then really they're wasting their money IMO.

 

I KNEW IT!! lol...so basically from all the replies, premium headphones are only good when traveling eh? for stationary people, speakers are the best. That is what i gather (am i right?)

 

Well yes, it's always been like that for electronics in most cases lol

Non-portable > portable in terms of quality/power/price-performance ratio for the most part generally.

It's like desktops vs laptops, audio receivers+amplifiers vs portable media players, HDTV+DVD player vs portable DVD player...

 

Well it depends on the environment you are in too. My cans/speakers usage is roughly a 50/50 split. I pop my AD700 on when I game or feel like listening to music really loudly. Turning my speakers up would annoy the crap out of my house mates and neighbours hehe. I also have a pair of IEMs for traveling uses.

 

* Sigh * an I pod as a source on nice headphones is like trying to drive perfect theater sound with an 1800's gramophone, if the source SUCKS you are fooling yourself thinking it sounds sooo much better

an Ipod IMO is a very mediocre source, great for the cheapy $40 earbuds but nothing that is actually worth a couple hundred bucks

 

Which is why I gave my iPod Classic to my bro and replaced it with a decent PMP that can play FLAC and run my headphones better~

 

YOU my friend have good taste

Im guessing a Sansa or a Cowon

 

Nah. It's an Ainol V8000HDG Wanted a Cowon, but was out of my budget range D:

 

This thread is filled with nearly as much marketing fluff as an audio magazine. Unfortunately, the level of substance is about the same.

Price is a very poor yardstick when judging audio equipment. The easiest way to prove this is through a blind listening test.

Go to an audio shop that will allow you to audition a few pairs of headphones. Bring a friend and a familiar piece of music. Ask your friend to swap headphones (don't look!) while you listen to the same piece of music through both pairs of cans. Audio memory is very short, so keep your sample to about 15 seconds.


I can't help but wonder how good sound can be produced with such small err..drivers? Cones? Coils?

In general the smaller the speaker, the better the sound.

In terms of sound quality headphones are superior to speakers and speakers are superior to a live event. While you may enjoy the experience of a concert more then listening to your ipod on your couch, it's a very simple matter to determine the superior listening event.

The ipod is an excellent source when your media source and format are up to snuff.

 

That's a ridiculous statement.

 

Not a very compelling counter claim.

 

your original claim was even less compelling.

 

This is wrong on so many levels. I could barely get 60% out of my Grados when I was listening to them on my iPod. That was with 320kbps mp3 as source. Definitely needs an amp to drive a really good pair of headphones.

 

They may fall behind speakers in other regards, but you'll get much more detail from the best headphones vs the best speakers in the same price range unless you go up very high in price.

 

ipods are a mixed bag. i have an 80gb ipod classic, which after listening to a 60gb ipod classic, 120gb ipod classic, an 8gb ipod touch, an ipod nano, ive got to say my 80gb seems to be the best. its older than the touch and 120gb classic, but it sounds much better. however it is the most expensive ipod apple ever made other than the high capacity ipod touch.

however i bought my stepdad an 8gb sansa clip, and was astonished by the sound quality. i use RE0 and ultrasone 780s, and although it sounded underpowered with the ultrasones, it was really, really good with the RE0.

laptop soundcards SUCK , so i bought an ibasso D10 DAC/AMP. (i only went ou to get a cheapy! damn you head-fi) which sounds good, but i spent far too much on it. i cant listen to headphones through the laptop soundcard anymore, sounds terrible.

people say that speakers sound better than headphones, but i went looking for a new stereo, looking to spend about £400 (double how much my ultrasones cost) and i couldnt find anything that came close to them. so i looked at studio monitor speakers which sounded much, much better, but still not £400 better than my current sony all-in-one stereo. so i gave up.

 

Headphones are excellent for the convenience factor as well as for sound quality. Sure, they don't usually beat a $10,000 home theater sound setup, but laptops don't usually beat desktops in the same price range either...yet people still buy laptops, don't they?

For what it's worth, I recently bought a pair of JVC HA-RX900 semi-ported headphones from several recommendations at Head-Fi. So far I'm quite happy with them, and yes, I'm using them with an iPod Touch 3rd generation 64GB.

 

This is an issue of system mismatch.

The ipod is a weak headphone amp. It's only designed to adequately power the earbuds that come alongside it in the box. Anything more current thirsty requires the ipod to act as source with a line out to an appropriate amp. In that capacity, when supplied quality media, it can be excellent.

 

say WHAT?! I've always known larger speakers to be better (aside from the band-type huge stuff)

 

Yeup. I found myself settling with a mini-hifi unit for speakers as well. :|

 

I used "speaker" as a shorthand for transducer, which seemed an overly technical term for a non-audio website. Typically, the best sound comes from a small transducer most of which are employed in large cabinets or fixtures.

Best sound is relative. For some it comes from the back of someone's civic, for others it comes from a front loaded horn. Whatever floats your boat.

That said, it's easier for a transducer to do what it needs to when it only needs to move the air in your head.

Nice. Finding something that let's you concentrate on the music and not the gear is what it's all about imo

 

I have gone through (broken or lost) 20+ varieties of in-ear headphones (earbuds), of varying price points. What I found is that you enter a world of diminishing returns around $150.

 

Did you find a favourite?

I found that IEMs vs headphones vs speakers depends on the situation in general.

My main headphones are still my favourites for some things, though my whatever speakers also provide for a different listening experience.

 

Augusta, you can't even do that. Your comparing apples to oranges to grapefruits. Its like this, go find me a ribbon speaker that with give me good db at 25hz. You can't. And headphones are the same, trust me, I've got some of the smallest headphones you can get(Westone ES3X, look up the drivers in those and you'll know they're small). And my larger headphones with a single driver(Ultrasone HFI-780) sound better. I will say that the 780's are more sibilant than the ES3X which drives me nuts, but I know TONS of people who prefer it that way.

 

Quality does indeed matter on headphones, just remember that sometimes, price does not equal to Quality, but I can vouch for the Sennheiser brand specifically, they make pretty high-quality headphones for decent prices.

And some among the best out there for high prices too...

 

Here you go:
http://www.magnepan.com/model_MG_201

I said -
Typically, the best sound comes from a small transducer most of which are employed in large cabinets or fixtures.

you responded with-

I think you may have misread my comment or misunderstood it.

I don't see it as apples to oranges, I see it as dollars and cents particularly in a thread about sound quality between speakers to headphones.

What headphones do well is drive full range sound from a single point source. High end loud speakers strive to do the same but suffer more from the physics that effect both types of transducers. Overcoming the limitations placed upon larger transducers is expensive.

I could get technical but I would rather just use an example. My sennheiser hd650's sound every bit as good as my old avantgarde trio horn speakers in the same system, but for 5% of the price.

 

@Augusta: I certainly won't blame you for your taste in horns and headphones. But it seems very difficult to me to abruptly link driver size and sound quality while so many other parameters come into play. It might be true theoretically, but in practice... Under 1000€ (which is already more than most persons I know would accept spending), I haven't heard many pleasant horn loudspeakers while there are plenty of extremely decent loudspeakers with medium to big drivers, would it be sealed, bass reflex or transmission line. And when you go to the expensive side, there's still a market for Martin Logan, Avalon or Wilson Audio. Not exactly based on small drivers.

If we keep it at reasonable prices, I'll agree that headphones are way superior to speakers for tone accuracy, details retrieval, instrument separation, dynamics or frequency balance. Cans around the 300€ mark can easily compete with loudspeakers costing ten times as much on those points (as long as the electronic chain is up to it of course). Soundstage on headphones is however an acquired taste.

What headphones, even the best, cannot do however is to provide the same enveloping experience that loudspeakers can recreate. And, at least for some of us, it's a huge part of the musical experience. I've only DIY transmission line speakers (best 500€ ever spent) and they're not as good as my headphones on many accounts, but, if had the choice , I'd rather listen to the loudspeakers.

PS: I've been through AKG K501, Senn HD600 and quite a few others before happily settling on AKG K340.

 

Yeup.. sometimes I prefer to use my ugh $40 Labtec speakers over my AT headphones.

 

Speakers... speakers are annoying - you move a bit it sounds different.. heck, I jut need to place a water bottle in front of them and the sound is altered...

Headphones - yes, expensive ones (if you read reviews and then select them) will sound better.

25 Pound Sony "Clip on" ones that clip to your ears are easily beaten by 45 Pound Sony EX85 IEMs.

And these are beaten by 200€ Sennheiser IE8 IEMs which are worlds away and brilliant in terms of sound quality.

So yes - pricier headphones can make all the difference over cheaper ones - in the end though, set yourself a price and see what the best for that price is.

 

Well, you're not supposed to do that.