Has Anybody Got High Quality Headphones For Home Listening?

[raleighnut]

Raleighnut I think that's what I had already had in my mind about headphones what Paul is saying in that interesting video. I still need to listen to a really good set though. With a good set of speakers, sat in a central position, I feel as though the speakers aren't there, it's a great sound-stage.

That's interesting Swee'pea I like a bargain. I know they do exist. I'll maybe take a punt on some of them, it's not a lot of money at all..

Paul has done hundreds of videos on various aspects of HiFi, whilst I don't always agree with him they're always interesting.

The headphone comparison to a microscope is very apt, when I began moving up in the HiFi world from a Pioneer Turntable and Integrated amp to a Thorens Turntable and QUAD 33/303 then to twin 303s and now a QUAD 44 with twin 303s what began to happen was I listened more to the production of the music than the music itself, songs I liked I started to pick holes in and 'go off'. It's all very well having a 'revealing' system but be prepared to reveal some glaring 'nasties' in songs you liked before especially recordings that are over-compressed (the so called 'Loudness wars' engineers indulged in is worth a google)

 

[swee'pea99]

Paul has done hundreds of videos on various aspects of HiFi, whilst I don't always agree with him they're always interesting.

The headphone comparison to a microscope is very apt, when I began moving up in the HiFi world from a Pioneer Turntable and Integrated amp to a Thorens Turntable and QUAD 33/303 then to twin 303s and now a QUAD 44 with twin 303s what began to happen was I listened more to the production of the music than the music itself, songs I liked I started to pick holes in and 'go off'. It's all very well having a 'revealing' system but be prepared to reveal some glaring 'nasties' in songs you liked before especially recordings that are over-compressed (the so called 'Loudness wars' engineers indulged in is worth a google)

Too true. I almost wrote to Leema Acoustics to protest that their speakers had ruined at least half my record collection, whose faults, previously masked, had now become so inyerface as to make them pretty much unlistenable to. Even listening to good ones, I do occasionally wonder/worry how much of my enjoyment is now coming from the reproduction rather than the music.

 

[sheddy]

Recommendations for someone with large lugs.?
I had some Sennheiser HD206 for Christmas but after 20mins listening, my earflaps get uncomfortably hot. .

 

[Cycleops]

Recommendations for someone with large lugs.?
I had some Sennheiser HD206 for Christmas but after 20mins listening, my earflaps get uncomfortably hot. .

I have the same problem here X10!

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Detached house is the way to go.

Can't stand the closed in feeling I get when wearing headphones - my ears feel like high pressure is building up in them. Very uncomfortable.

Must be my ears though as I can't wear Bluetooth earpieces for my phone.

 

[FishFright]

Sennheiser HD 540 Reference are my all time favourite headphones , although they are getting very long in the tooth design wise nothing I've listened to so far does the job quite as nicely. They aren't the most sensitive things ever made so a headphone is handy. The fact that the second hand price is usually above their original rrp means I'm not the only one who loves them

 

[StuAff]

KEF Space One? Currently available for £230. I have a pair of the now-discontinued M500s, and they're excellent.

 

[Cletus Van Damme]

Detached house is the way to go.

I agree for more reasons than just speakers/headphones. It costs though..

 

[cookiemonster]

Sony WH-XB900N. The best there is. Brilliant sound, good battery life and excellent build quality. I had Bose once before but the build quality was shoddy in comparison to Sony and the less said about the sound quality the better.

 

[MntnMan62]

I agree that you really can't compare speakers to headphones. Two very different experiences. Your decision about headphones really depends on what you are looking for in music reproduction. Are you looking to hear the music as it was heard by the sound engineer handling the mixing and recording? Or do you want something that will augment and modify the music, sometimes vastly from what the original recording sounds like? I ended up with a pair of SONY MDR7506 headphones. They are pretty much industry standard for recording engineers, or at least were for quite some time. Using those you will hear what the engineer intended you to hear. My wife on the other hand really likes the Beats headphones, which really boost the bass. I find the bass to be far too boomy for my liking. I love bass but I like it punchy and clean which I get from the Sony's. Not so much with the Beats. And the Sonys can be had for under $100. My wife's Beats cost close to if not over $300. Not worth it in my opinion. There are other options out there which I cannot comment on because I've never listened to them. But I'm very happy with my Sonys.

 

[Drago]

Ive got Sennheiser HD650 reference headphones. I don't use them a great deal as im not a fan of headphones with respect to how they may harm your hearing, but they do get the occasionsal outing and they are very lovely.

 

[Venod]

I am the wrong person to give advice on hifi, my hearing is down on the high frequences due to years of working in noisey environments so I base my listening experience on what sounds good to me, I have two pairs of headphones some Sennheiser open and some Sony closed noise cancelling.
I prefer the Sony, but they don't get used much, the Kef and Dali speakers in the lounge sound great, in the garage I have some old Goodmans speakers which also sound great, even the Yamaha wifi speakers in the kitchen and the bedroom are good enough for me, but we are detached, I don't think the neighbours would put up with it if we lived in a semi.

 

[mustang1]

I have Bose qc35 bluetooth headphones that I use several hours a day. Let's get the naysayers out of the way first about Bose making expensive items from low quality parts. Perhaps, perhaps not. But whatever, they do use excellent equalisation technique to get beautiful sound quality and sure they market the heck out of their items as if that's a bad thing.

And now to the good points of which there are several: excellent sound quality, supremely comfortable to wear for long periods, very good build quality (no squeaking even after several years of bashing around). Bluetooth connectivity is good and battery life is excellent.

I wear my headphones very frequently, including in the hot and stuffy London Underground, in hot weather walking up hills where I get sweaty and the occasional off-road bike ride). After about 3 or 4 years of this, the cups have opened up and the sponge has come out but I still continue using the headphones and will get round to ordering new cups shortly (official ones from Bose, the after-market ones I heard were almost as good, but I'm not an "almost" kinda guy).

I *think* the current model of these headphones have google search integration which really put me off but you can disable that.

Note: I also bought a pair of Goldring NS1000 shortly after buying the Bose so I can bash those about instead. They were far cheaper and the reviews said they were as good as Bose. The sound quality was almost there and for the far cheaper price, I would have dumped the Bose BUT after only a short while, the Goldring started to squeak which was highly irritating. I also considered Sennheiser (whatever the model was equivalent to Bose) but they were not in stock.

EDIT: duh, i forgot to mention the noise canceling. I've not used other headphones so cannot compare, but as the Bose stand, they cancel noise very well. Juut like all noise canceling systems, they drown out the background hums very well, but noises with undulating wavelengths (or should i saw amplitude?) are less effective. I deliberately went for full-cup size (covered ears) style headphones to mitigate from such ghastly audio intrusions.

EDIT 2: duh again. Now that I've read your post, I see you wanted to compare headphones with loudspeakers and here I am giving a full-blown headphones review. I prefer headphones for most types of music as my room is acoustically challenged (the head accountant doesn't get on well with the futuristic design paradigms of the lead designer and Chief Sound Architect at my place of residence) but sometimes (ahem, this classical nutjob prefers the bass) I not only want to listen to the music, but feel the soundwaves of the low frequencies hitting me with a jolt that defies the mannerisms of a well-to-do lady-fo-art and for that, some kick-ass bass boxes would play well on Phantom of the Opera (the new one) but sometimes things get ridiculous. So in conclusion, I just have headphones. (Shrugs).

EDIT 3: and now, I must go through the spelling mistakes...

EDIT 3B: ... and the grammar.

 

[RoubaixCube]

I got a pair of Philips Fidelio X1's that used to cost somewhere near £200-250 back in the day. I never paid anywhere near that price for it though. Hasnt really seen a whole lot of use though since I purchased it in 2014.

Ive got a full on home theatre 5.1 speaker set up and thats what i prefer and use most of the time.

The greatest thing about home theatre setups is even slightly older receiver units a few years old can still sound great while being very affordable on ebay which is how i built my setup. Everything apart from the subwoofer. center speaker & cables are second hand.

Im not super rich mind you so the speakers ive sourced were JBL Control One's which have a fairly good reputation (all pre-owned)