Why do headphones sound so good...
Although the responses thus far seem diverse, I can honestly say that I agree with every single one of them to at least some degree. To add to the already excellent insights given above (not a loser in the whole lot, imo), I would say:
--Headphones USUALLY are able to retrieve more sonic detail than all but the very finest loudspeakers, as Itball mentions.
--In my experience, headphones do NOT provide a convincing soundstage, presumably for the reasons Shadorne alludes to.
--I personally own both Stax Lambda Signatures AND Stax Lambda 404's (it's a long and embarrassing story as to why I own both sets of cans....), and the speakers I own seem to outperform them in every arena-probably even including retrieval of detail(although I'd like to do more critical listening to test this point). That is saying a lot considering the legendary status of these headphones--Stax makes only one model of higher caliber, which is the Omega II's.
Although the responses thus far seem diverse, I can honestly say that I agree with every single one of them to at least some degree. To add to the already excellent insights given above (not a loser in the whole lot, imo), I would say:
--Headphones USUALLY are able to retrieve more sonic detail than all but the very finest loudspeakers, as Itball mentions.
--In my experience, headphones do NOT provide a convincing soundstage, presumably for the reasons Shadorne alludes to.
--I personally own both Stax Lambda Signatures AND Stax Lambda 404's (it's a long and embarrassing story as to why I own both sets of cans....), and the speakers I own seem to outperform them in every arena-probably even including retrieval of detail(although I'd like to do more critical listening to test this point). That is saying a lot considering the legendary status of these headphones--Stax makes only one model of higher caliber, which is the Omega II's.