Headphones vs Speakers.....Go!

[hdo]

4 hours ago, buonassi said:

Headphones

Pros - incredible detail,

This is especially true with high resolution planar magnetic headphones. It's sound is extremely detailed and accurate. No noticeable distortions. That's why I ditched speakers  and solely use planar magnetic headphones now. Downside is that it's revealing too much. I can even hear distortions of DSD! It's brutally revealing.

[hdo]

8 hours ago, diecaster said:

Headphones, even the best, leave me feeling like what I am listening to is quite artificial. Quality speakers don't do that as they disappear from the room

Actually it's wrong to blame headphones for being artificial. The truth is with studio recording quality! Headphones are so detailed, you can hear artificialness of studio recorded music, manufactured by adding tracks with sound cutouts using equalizers. I don't like studio recorded music as they sound manufactured. I prefer live concert DVD music. Speakers cannot produce detailed sound. So you cannot hear manufactured-ness of sound from speakers. It's all with recording techniques.

[hdo]

3 hours ago, Blake said:

Sorry, but that comment is absurd.

There is no "high resolution" speakers! Laws of physics does not allow large sized drivers move fast to produce detailed sound without distortion. Speaker sound you are hearing are blurred wobbly distorted sound. I found planar magnetic headphones are the real high resolution headphones.

[hdo]

14 minutes ago, buonassi said:

Of course speakers can provide a high level of resolution.

You need to take laws of physics into account: inertia and momentum of drivers. Speaker drivers are very heavy. They cannot move fast to produce accurate sound. This is well-known fact! That's why they adopt alternative technology such as magnetic planar and electro-static. Electro-static force is very weak force. So it cannot generate volume. Magnetic planar uses stronger magnetic force. Perfect for headphones. But it cannot extend to speaker level naturally. You need over-engineering like Magnepan speakers.

 

[hdo]

1 hour ago, diecaster said:

I find that a proper speaker/room setup with the right amp kills headphones in bass reproduction.

You will never enjoy "high-resolution" sound with speakers as mandated by the laws of physics. High-resolution headphones' common frequency range is 10Hz ~ 50KHz that speakers never match. Headphone drivers are small. So it lacks bass volumes. But it can be easily corrected with bass boosting using equalizer of player software. Once you this setup, you will enjoy bass with headphones.

[hdo]

1 hour ago, esldude said:

No he can't because he is mistaken.

Did you study physics?

[hdo]

2 hours ago, Ralf11 said:

can you explain what you mean in 1 & 2?

As you know, planars work on placing thin diaphragm between two magnetic plates. It cannot naturally produce high volume of air movement that is required for speakers. Look at Magnepan speaker sizes! They are humongous. Still volume level is not impressive.

[hdo]

2 hours ago, esldude said:

Headphones can be used like a magnifying glass to find details that might be missed over speakers. 

That's exactly my point is. Fine details is a main advantage of headphones.

[hdo]

1 hour ago, Ralf11 said:

Which laws of physics do we need to take into account?  Could you write them out so we can solve for them with real world speaker info?

Try to move your car so that it can produce musical sound as a speaker.

[hdo]

2 hours ago, Ralf11 said:

you might be better off taking high school physics than posting here

You don't understand things relating speakers. Your response show that.

[hdo]

1 hour ago, esldude said:

The dome diaphragm itself is measured in grams.

Actually if you look at coils of large speakers, they are quite thick and heavy. Coils have to move to push and pull cons. Weight makes them difficult to move fast. So distortion is necessary. High impedance dynamic headphones use thinner coils to reduce this weight.  As you well know, the whole idea of electro-static and planar magnetic is to improve two things of moving parts: Lower-weight and no friction with levitation. Without these, planar magnetic and electrostatic don't make sense.

 

I agree that speakers sound more natural. Using high-resolution headphones, I hear all the downside of poor recording. I can even hear of original recording media such as metal alloy tape, vinyl, etc. But I like this because with good recording tracks, I can enjoy better music.