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Are Headphones Fit for Serious Music Listening?

Not for me they’re not, but I welcome and appreciate that they might be for you. Here’s why:

First, I am aware that extraordinary headphone gear exists out there, rivaling the best of 2-channel gear.

Second, I do own headphones myself. They’re Bowers & Wilkins; I think they’re a pretty decent set. They live in my gym bag because I listen to podcasts with them.

As I rejoin the audio fold, it becomes more and more clear to me that different folks experience music in different ways, leading them to different head spaces and different beliefs and different corners of this hobby. Yes, that much should be self-evident, yet many people don’t seem too aware of it; they think their way is the way, and they’re quick to dismiss other people’s points of view, sometimes in terms that can be unpleasant to witness.

The number of fruitless arguments we see around here could be greatly reduced if folks respected the diverse ways in which other folks consume, appreciate, enjoy, and love their music, and agreed to disagree.

Back on topic - i strongly believe that - for me - music is to be felt as well as heard.

I’m not necessarily talking about 115 dB peaks and wall-shaking electronic sub-bass, though that’s fun too. I’m talking about the tangible, tactile quality of tight, well-controlled bass that envelops the entire head and is felt in the chest as sound waves radiate, deep inside the chest if one’s amps + speakers couple allows it.

I’m listening to A Tribe Called Red’s Nation II Nation album as I write this. VC is on 35 out of 100, probably no louder than 70 dB, yet I distinctly feel the waves of tribal drumming hit my body, in ways wholly unrelated to my hearing sense yet deeply complementary to it.

And there you have it: headphones, by definition, don’t / can’t give this to me, so - for me - headphones don’t work for serious music listening. But they’re great for podcasts.

How about you guys? How do you experience your music, and how loud do you like it?

 

devinplombier
mahgister's avatar
mahgister
13,201 posts
 

I hate headphones. I bought 10 pairs and modified them with success. I disliked them even after successful modifications...

 

I stumble on the AKG K340 and after 6 intensive months i succeed after optimization (6 modifications) to reach a S.Q. level on par with speakers system on all counts... If the recordings was top i had the experience of a complete out of the head soundfield with deep bass i felt with my toes (bone resonance)

 

My first dedicated room beat the K340...No headphone can beat an acoustically controlled dedicated room...

But my second room acoustically designed for nearfield listening dont rival my K340 at all ( my speakers are 4 inches woofer they are modified and strikingly good but limited in bass output)...

i dislike all headphone save the founder of AKG Dr. in physics Rudolf Gorike marvel ( i read his patent) the only hybrid headphones ever made with a dual acoustic chamber (5 passive tuned Helmhotz resonators).

I read other top of the line review about headphones. i will not mention them, with for example no deep bass ... Why paying a fortune for that?

Others gave a sound closed in the head... like my 9 others headphone...

 

Thanks Dr. Gorike...

I asked the Russian headphone Kennerton representative about hybrid design as the K340 ? They say that they tried but it cost too much money and time in research for the profit results...They quitted...

There is no other hybrid. The Dharma was dynamic cell with electroacoustic super tweeter...The K340 has a crossover and the two cells dynamic and electroacoustic do each one half of the audible frequencies range.In the mid frequencies the electroacoustic cell work beginning if i remember around 6,000 hertz not 12,000 hertz as the Dharma... Correct me if i am wrong...i forget the exact numbers.

This is why i will die with my K340...cool

vinylvalet
913 posts
 

For me, not for the enjoyment of music but a useful tool in the recording/production studio.

It's a personal thing. To each, their own.

marco1's avatar
marco1
587 posts
 

Headphones are for when you’re bored thinking about upgrades to your speaker system or when your better half continues to tell you to turn it down. I own 2 very nice dedicated headphone amps and 3 sets of headphones.  Oh, and easily get bored.

Ag insider logo xs@2x
knownothing
1,636 posts
 

I find myself alternating now in late night listening sessions between headphones and my 2.1 channel system.  My room is pretty good, and my system comes alive at around 60db with the sound on good recordings extending wall to wall and bass that has presence and can be felt.  The room has sound insulation so is fine up to 70db at night for other residents and neighbors unless I am playing Yello or Skrillex or something like that.  But sometimes I just want to listen to the intense details provided by my open back headphones and will forgo the bass punch for the retrieval and nuance of my cans.

So my answer is yeah, headphones are fit for serious music listening.

kn

larsman's avatar
larsman
2,074 posts
 

I love headphones, as do most of the people on most of the forums I go to; Audiogon people don't seem to like them - the headphone thread sees almost no action -  but that matters to me not a jot. 

If you want to hear really good headphones, Bowers and Wilkins is not what you want. They're great at what they specialize in - speakers. Plenty of companies that do only headphones, like Audeze, Hifiman, ZMF, and others are much better.

Focal is one of the exceptions that make both great speakers and have a full line of great headphones. Headphone amplification is also very important in the chain.... I've got tube and SS headphone amps, and 3 sets of headphones. 

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