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Headphones .......... Huh?

I'm an old geezer. Have probably bought $250,000 worth of amps, pre-pros, speakers in the last 50 years. I mention that only to contrast it with the $150 I spent on bluetooth headphones, that sound better than anything I've ever heard. How is this possible?

Less than $100 for the wireless headphones. About $30 for the round bluetooth thingy I plug into the headphone jack on my tv. Call up Tidal on my Amazon Fire-thing and play one of my playlists.

I'm hearing details from this low end streaming mess, than I have ever heard over my systems. I have several hundred CDs, and those songs are most of the stuff on my playlists. So I've heard them many times. But, never like this!

Is this just a matter of me never using headphones previously? If so, I've been missing out.

The headphones aren't comfortable, so I can only listen a few hours, but it's totally worth it.

Thinking about placing some thick cloth over the cups to make it easier on the ears.

Who'd a thunk it!

Kind regards!
cgregory4
big_greg
6,623 posts
 
I picked up a used pair of Sennheiser Momentum headphones to wear while mowing the lawn.  I wasn't expecting much, especially since I have an extensive collection of headphones and headphone amps, some costing thousands of dollars. 

I was really surprised at how well the noise cancelling technology works.  I can barely hear the mower with the music at a moderate volume.  I was also surprised to hear details that I hadn't noticed before in songs that I'm familiar with.  They have an artificial quality to them that I think would get tiresome for serious listening sessions, but for some music on the go, they're really quite good.  All for $125.
stringreen's avatar
stringreen
6,468 posts
 
Its true....I just got a pair of Grado GR10E in ear phones that are plugged into a 200 dollar Sony Walkman music player.....better than my multi-Thousand dollar system. I hear instruments that I didn't know were on the record....clarity, bass extension, ...its all there.
cgregory4 OP
7 posts
 
Thanks to all for the confirmations! And to you freediver for the rec!

Kind regards!
erik_squires
16,056 posts
 
Room acoustics. 

Do this experiment.  Sit 2' from your speakers and listen to the detail there.

The difference in detail from 2' to 10' away is your room acoustics and speaker dispersion pattern.

If you find yourself much happier at 2' than 10', give GIK Acoustics a call.
mastering92
870 posts
 
Headphones tend to scale better in price-to-performance than speakers. This is especially true today; as headphones have become the more popular way to enjoy music.

Room treatment - deflections from sharp surfaces in particular can be detrimental to sound quality.

May I ask which bluetooth headphones you bought? I'm curious now.

If you want bluetooth headphones but without limitations, check these out. https://www.audio-technica.com/en-ca/ath-dsr9bt

I used to have them, and holy smokes. When you play CD quality files it actually sounds like your source is a CD player. The tech they use with these headphones is impressive.
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