Do you really enjoy headphones?

mantis

Hello all,
I have a few different kinds of headphones and find myself annoyed using them for any length of time.
I use them at home when I need to listen and not disturb others. I find listening to speakers way more satisfying
With that being said I love using my Beats Power 3's for working out, Mountain bike riding etc. These are the best overall in the ear and over the ear sports stop style head phones I've owned and I like them better then my Klisch Sports headphones that are also pretty good.

I have Sennheiser over the ear headphones that sound good, they are hard wired and I like the way they sound but get annoyed using them as I always feel like someone is calling me or wanting to talk to me, I hate that.

mhardy6647

No, I don't like them.

txcoastal1

https://youtu.be/r_DuHGYv2W8

motorhead43026

Nope

jeremymarcinko

Not for music, but i am on teleconferences for several hours a day so a decent set of headphones with a mic is much better than the speakerphone. So yeah I enjoy them.

cfrizz

My Sennheiser Momemtums save my sanity when I'm commuting back and forth to work or traveling, but this is the only time I use them.

They are the best fitting, comfortable headphones I have ever had.

MrBuhl

^^ I got my wife a set of Momentums - she absolutely loves them, sound and style ^^

MrBuhl

Plus, with 65K miles in the air this year, my UltraFocus 8000's are an absolute lifesaver this year, best money I have spent!

Emlyn

I can’t stand in ear headphones. I do use over the ear sealed DJ or noise cancelling headphones for travel. It is very rare for me to use headphones at home.

ALL212

Good pair of cans with a good dedicated headphone amp...you'll hear things you never thought existed on your tunes.

Clipdat

Ok, apparently I need a pair of Sennheiser Momentums in my life! The hype is real...

To answer the op's question, yes and no. When I want to listen to music, I never think to myself "I'm going to go sit down in front of my computer and headphone amp and put on some cans". Instead it's always "I wanna go listen to my speakers play..."

The fact that I wear glasses also hinders my enjoyment of most headphones. While some are better than others, I've yet to find a pair that is completely comfortable with my glasses. My frames are fairly thick on the sides which doesn't help.

I mentioned the glasses thing, and a co-worker of mine said that I should not even have my glasses on at all while I'm listening. Basically implying that I should be so absorbed in the music that I shouldn't be reading or doing anything else besides listening. Shrug. Aside from the glasses factor, my ears run hot and it's just not super enjoyable to keep headphones on for extended listening sessions.

All that being said, there is something to be said for the detail and clarity from a nice headphone setup. It really does extract every little bit of musical information that's there, and it'll reveal poorly recorded/mastered songs in a hell of a hurry.

Nightfall

ALL212 wrote: »

Good pair of cans with a good dedicated headphone amp...you'll hear things you never thought existed on your tunes.

At the expense of imaging that doesn't sound like it's inside your head and tactile bass you can feel all around you.

Good headphones sound great but I preferred speakers 100% of the time when I had them. Even if the choice is quiet speakers vs loud as I want headphones.

ALL212

I don't intend to start a war but I'm curious (everyone has a different perspective, now, mine is always right but you're entitled to yours!).

Have you spent as much on headphones and its amp as you have on speakers and those amps?

EndersShadow

Love my headphones and hate my headphones.

My over the ear Beyerdynamic DT-770's and I have put in a lot of time together. I've had them on for 12 hours straight with music as loud as I can go and my ears dont hurt, sweat or ring.

I've used them on various headphone amps from ifi, Audio GD, Meridian, as well as regular stereo receivers and again, they just sound great.

My in-ear headphones I love to use for when I'm mowing the grass, or working out... but I can't keep them in for longer than an hour without pain, having to re-position them 50 million times, etc.

I've run through both Polk in ear and some others and again they just dont fit my ears right, and I can't justify the cost for a pair thats custom fitted to my ears either.

On ear get to hot and I hate them.

mhardy6647

So -- here's my headphone story & perspective (I know all y'all're dyin' to hear it!)

When I was in college, due to limited funds I kind of eased my way into hifi, starting with a good (better than I realized at the time) mono hand-me-down hifi 'system' from my father. My first 'modern' purchase was a used tt and new cartridge, followed by a stereo amplifier -- and a 'good' (as good as I could afford) headphones.

The amplifier was a Yamaha CA-610II
The headphones were Yamaha HP-2 (the singular/plural thing is bothersome!)

Eventually, I did add a pair of loudspeakers (Polk Audio Monitor Series Model 7A)

The headphones sounded good (still do, actually) but I just don't like the isolation of headphones. I also don't like their hyper-immediacy (inside one's head imaging) -- this despite the fact that I really appreciate immediacy in loudspeaker reproduction.

FWIW, I still have all of those components, including the HP-2 headphones The latter have suffered the classic partial disintegration of the fabric 'headband'. Consequently, they kind of look their age (39 years old) but still sound pretty good.

I've bought a couple of pairs of headphones in the intervening four decades, but I still just don't get the urge to listen to headphones very often.

https://www.headfonia.com/vintage-yamaha-orthos/

Yamaha headband rehab (FYI & FWIW):
http://home.hccnet.nl/joop.nijenhuis/headwize/rhp1be.htm

___________________

As a nearly pointless coda (would you expect anything else from me?), The original series of Yamaha headphones: HP-1, HP-2, HP-3 were rather quickly and unceremoniously re-monikered YH-1, YH-2 and YH-3. Supposedly this is because Hewlett-Packard (HP) objected to the nomenclature. I saw it on the internet, so it must be true!

msg

Depends on the mood and environment for me.

For me, headphones are more a lifestyle/workstyle thing. I prefer speakers at home for the most part, but headphones also offer the added benefit to me of blocking ambient sounds a bit, reducing distraction, so I like them for work situations. Sometimes even in the home office for when I'm working on something requiring focus and concentration.

Secondarily, I like them for bike rides. I don't know, helps me settle into the rhythm and leave life behind for a while. I like to block out ambient sound.

They've got their place, but yeah, I find they're only comfortable up to a certain extent.

jflail2

Absolutely. I use NC headphones (and an Emmeline SR71 amp) on average about 5 or so hours of each work day. Keeps me sane and focused, and the music helps me to "regulate" my mood at work.

I travel for work regularly, so some nice in ears for travel are a must also. More sanity for a long train ride or flight. I prefer to melt into the couch with the speakers blaring at home, but headphones keep me sane otherwise!

ALL212

Opinion only:

I think folks probably have excellent speaker rigs and then want to try headphones but they don't dip all the way in so they get less expensive headphones and plug them into non-dedicated or cheaper headphone amps and expect miracles.

I've been a headphone junky since I bought my Koss Pro4AAA's (that may date me...).

Now, I do have to switch between the headphones and the speakers. I can't live in one land or the other exclusively.

EndersShadow

My work setup. I’m planning on adding a TT and maybe a dedicated tubed headphone amp at some point. I could add a better DAC but honestly it would be a bit of a waste lol....




Maybe @ALL212 will sell me one o his headphone amps cheap

ALL212

LOL...maybe someday! My office rig is not fancy and sounds fairly crappy but it fills in the empty spaces.



Old Sansui SS amp, Senn HD590's or BostonFrankenAcoustic A40's (rebuild from hell!) and an old PC streaming Media Monkey. Used to have the BH S.E.X V1 in here and that sounded very nice but I was afraid I would either electrocute a curious person or it would grow legs and walk out.

EndersShadow

Yeah, mine is also nothing fancy. Its more of a conversation starter, and will be even more so when I bring in the TT and or add tubes in some capacity (even a tube buffer).

mhardy6647

Oooooh, them ol' Sherwoods wuz very sweet (with excellent tuners, too).

Sherwood S-7200 f by Mark Hardy, on Flickr

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That Sansui integrated's kinda familiar lookin', as well...

001a by Mark Hardy, on Flickr

Toolfan66

I have been on the fence for sometime with headphones, I really want to try the OPPO's PM-1 or PM-3 not sure how deep I want to go, I do know I want something for when I can't just rock out without bothering the rest of the house..

JLStice

I've been pretty happy with my over-the-ear semi open-back 'dj' style headphones - the openness -sounds- open and it also delivers much richer sound than closed cans I've had in the past.
For one, I don't like sound isolation, with the semi-open design you can still hear the room. The ability to listen and not hear anything but the music isn't important to me, I don't give two f about if someone sitting next to me can hear my tunes. I'm not in a recording studio, I don't need to worry about it looping back to a mic or anything.

AKG K240

And they're really comfortable and sensibly loud.
I use them right from the Technics receiver, my Samsung phone, and the Casio piano.
I bought them specifically because they reproduce the lower end well when plugged into the keyboards.
These are clearly not what I wear while doing activities... For that I usually just don't do wired anymore. I've destroyed too many sets getting caught on something. I have a cheap set of bt in-ears i use and can afford to lose.

Clipdat

Speaking of AKG, logging some serious hours on my K845BT pair tonight. No BT though, just using the included cable hooked up to my amp.

Very revealing, very detailed. Bass response could be better but sometimes you don't want to feel like you have mini subwoofers attached to your head.

http://www.akg.com/Headphones/Over-ear & On-ear/K+845BT.html

98Badger

I used to hate headphones. Had a pair of Shure 840s which are closed back. They were hot and uncomfortable. Unfortunately, my wife gets migraines, and there are times I couldn’t crank up the tunes. Tried a pair of Sennheiser 558s to see if open cans would work for me. They were very comfortable, but didn’t cut it for me in the sq department. Jumped to the Focal Elears and I’m a happy camper now. As good or better sound than my main rig at 1/8 the price. I notice more details in music with headphones, plus you don’t have to deal with room interactions.

The only thing I miss a bit is imaging and sound stage. I use the Out of Your Head software to get it back. Can’t say it works well for all recordings, but it is spectacular for many. I did have to get used to it at first. Now that my brain has been trained, it works well.

There are two things I love about headphones over speakers. First is the lower cost. Second is that they are a hell of a lot easier to ship if I sell them.

codycatalist

The trend continues, when the Mrs. doesn't want music blaring then I put on my cans. I also use them at work for almost the whole day. I started with HK CLs, graduated to Grado Sr80e's and a Bravo V2, then moved onto a little dot 1+. I dig headphones and the Grado's paired with a tubed amp sound really great, the soundstage is there but obviously nothing compared to my SDAs. I rarely get to listen to my 2Bs now a days so I find myself listening to my headphone set up more and more, hoping to score some Philips Fidelio L2s this holiday season...we shall see.

rooftop59

codycatalist wrote: »

The trend continues, when the Mrs. doesn't want music blaring then I put on my cans. I also use them at work for almost the whole day. I started with HK CLs, graduated to Grado Sr80e's and a Bravo V2, then moved onto a little dot 1+. I dig headphones and the Grado's paired with a tubed amp sound really great, the soundstage is there but obviously nothing compared to my SDAs. I rarely get to listen to my 2Bs now a days so I find myself listening to my headphone set up more and more, hoping to score some Philips Fidelio L2s this holiday season...we shall see.

Love my fidelio L2s! Got them for less than a bill shipped too!!

Viking64

From the mid-70's until 1984, I used speakers exclusively. From 1984 to 1990, I used headphones exclusively. (Pioneer, Realistic, Precept.)

In 1990, I bought my first pair of Polk bookies (4.5's) and then in 1992 my 2.3TL's.

I have used speakers almost exclusively since then except for a pair of Sennheiser HD 545's I bought in about 2001, which I probably have no more than 50 hours on.

I have been lucky enough to have lived alone in 2 different places in the last 7 years with my closest neighbor about 1/4 of a mile away, so headphones are currently a non-issue.

acmf74

makes commuting in NYC somewhat bearable. drowns out noises and people talking while trying to sleep. wish it could do something about the smells.

codycatalist

rooftop59 wrote: »

codycatalist wrote: »

The trend continues, when the Mrs. doesn't want music blaring then I put on my cans. I also use them at work for almost the whole day. I started with HK CLs, graduated to Grado Sr80e's and a Bravo V2, then moved onto a little dot 1+. I dig headphones and the Grado's paired with a tubed amp sound really great, the soundstage is there but obviously nothing compared to my SDAs. I rarely get to listen to my 2Bs now a days so I find myself listening to my headphone set up more and more, hoping to score some Philips Fidelio L2s this holiday season...we shall see.

Love my fidelio L2s! Got them for less than a bill shipped too!!

Dang that was a DEAL right there buddy! Excited to hear them, I was mainly looking for something comfortable with good SQ.