quadklipsh Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 anyone facing a similar frustration please chime in... i was listening to a new released album by yanni. the song "ECHO OF A DREAM" , the bass notes were so rhythmic and flowy and thrilling to my senses through my old FOSTEX RP20 headsets that i couldnt resist playing the song over and over again. finally connected the pc soundcard audigy 2 output to my amp, the musical fidelity A1 , and sat in my sweet spot but i never got that bass feel.and the detail of the lows . does that happen with you guys too. is this a demerit of loudspeakers . is it headphones supremacy all the way ???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ironsave Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 I have never had a set of headphones that sound better than my Heresies (with sub). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SSnyder Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 somone said Klipsch ear-budds are better then Klipschorns manny way!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coytee Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 sat in my sweet spot but i never got that bass feel.and the detail of the lows . Perhaps someone will chime in that knows more than I do.... (uh...that would qualify just about everyone!) I wonder if you are comparing hearing the voices in your head verses in the room. With the headphones on, you are taking the room 100% out of the equation. When you use your speakers, your room might be 50% (maybe more, maybe less?) of what you hear as your speakers WILL interact with the room itself. I suspect this is why some who preach/harp on "fix the room, fix the room" suggest that changing amps, preamps, crossovers, speaker wire, low level wires is largely a waste of time and money until such time that the room is fixed and sounds as good as it can. Even then, I suspect, the headphones will offer the most intricate experience other than the visceral impact. Of course, it might be interesting to use headphones with a sub... best of both worlds? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quadklipsh Posted February 19, 2011 Author Share Posted February 19, 2011 someone quoted elsewhere that it is easy for a headphone to outperform a loudspeaker that costs in thousands of dollars. no wonder room acoustics have a pleasant or a terrible bearing on what you hear from your set of speakers. also i must mention i read in a magazine that the designer of krell , DAN AGOSTINO uses a pair of headfones and not speakers to test his amps . [] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russ69 Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 Headphones can sound very good. Especially for the dollars spent. However if your phones sound better than your loudspeakers, it's kinda of telling you your system needs an upgrade. Nothing sounds better than good loudspeakers. If your headphones sound better, it's time to move up the food chain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quadklipsh Posted February 19, 2011 Author Share Posted February 19, 2011 russ. my gear is okay , my room isnt[:'(] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennie Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 Hey QK, Good to see you. I get a little claustrophobic in headphones. The sound can be fantastic, but I find them confining, which is probably a good thing as "Cans" can be a whole 'nother investment, with HP amps etc. I was scouring Craigslist (online local classified ads, for you out of towners) and came across one of these a few years ago..... A AudioControl C 101 III, it is a RTA (Real Time Analyzer) and full octave Equalizer. It comes with a microphone and is used to "Tame" the room by measuring the frequencies and displaying which Freqs. are "bouncing" around the room. It has helped "Fix" my room and completely cleaned up the sound. When I hit the "Bypass" button now, the sound is very congested and loud. Just something to think about to help your "Room" problems. Oh and I am sure the Headphones work out well with the Baby, as you won't be able to hear the baby cry!! [] Dennie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ironsave Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 Quad, There is a lot you can do to make your room better; for cheap. Do you have carpeted floors? (If not; go to the thrift store and get a throw rug). What else is obstructing your sound? A simple room rearrangement may do wonders! Where are your speakers located; can you get them spread wider? Is there a way to re arrange the furniture to get them in a better listening position? Also; consider that the RF3s; while good; could be replaced with RF7s, or RF82/83s. (Probably not that cheap). My Klipsch S4i headphones sound really good.... But my Heresies sound WAY BETTER. There is no comparison. Good Luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiet_Hollow Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 does that happen with you guys too.Sure thing.My $40 pair of Sony MDR-AS40EX are my reference. I can hear anything on those buds, and It has been quite an escapade trying to put my home system on par with that. I'm close, but the sound from those buds is very intimate, as you've so described. One plus of the home system is that it can shake everyone's clothes and bend gravity at war volume. ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moray james Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 Try a set of these in ear Stax electrostatic ear speakers. Are they better than speakers? Yes but they are a phone they won't shake you like a loudspeaker but they go lower than anything in the Klipsch loudspeaker line up and they can play loud enough to cause you problems. They are fantastic for setting up your turntable and they are a great reality check for what is on your recordings. If these fit your ear cannal properly they are one of the best phones Stax have but they don't fit everyone so try then out. As an add on Stax have a portable version of these and thet amp is a little better sounding than the table top version. Hope this is of interest. Best regards Moray James. http://www.stax.co.jp/Export/SRS005Se.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdm56 Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 I love good 'phones! I've got an old pair of Sennheiser HD580's and a new pair of Bose AE2's; plus an even older pair of AKG K270S's. You can't really compare headphone sound to speaker sound, though. I put on the headphones when I want maximum detail and/or I don't want to make a racket. And sometimes, I put them on just because I want to...for a change-up I guess. I can't say one is better than the other (hp or speakers). I wouldn't want to be without either one. I do listen to speakers a lot more than 'phones, though, so I guess that says it all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauln Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 If you really want to seek a fantastic sound out of headphones, you may try modifying them to be balanced. Most headphone plugs have three wires, left channel, right channel, and ground. Both channels share a common ground. This is the way the headphone jack presents the signals, the way the plug is wired. At some point between the plug and the headphone drivers, the common ground is split to make a pair of wires for each channel - left (+) left (-) right (+) right (-). Balanced means the two wire pairs that go to the drivers originate as two wire pairs; usually directly from the speaker outputs (if the headphone impedance is high enough). This principle is at its best when the two channels are fully independent as in mono-blocks. Some two channel amps share a common ground at the speaker outs, so the signal won't be truly balanced, but you may still enjoy some reduction in noise that is common to both channels. The balanced sound changes some of the spatial aspects of the presentation. When using a common ground, most of what you hear in each channel is shared sounds coming through both sides; with balanced, sounds don't interact through the common ground If you imagine that the left and right channels are sharing their "negative" leads (-) with each other, it is easy to see how the right channel's negative half of the signal waveform is being partially subtracted from the left channel, and vice versa. For a mono signal, or center field sounds this is not much of an interaction because both channels are in phase with each other, but for sounds more in the left or right side the interference is greater, which can reduce some of the spatial aspects depending on the way the recording was engineered, etc. Anyway, I think it is definitely worth trying to see if you like it better (not everyone does). If the transition from three to four wires happens where the cable connects to the plug, the change is easy. I converted my 35 year old Sennheiser HD424X to balanced about a year ago and never looked back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quadklipsh Posted February 20, 2011 Author Share Posted February 20, 2011 I think it is definitely worth trying to see if you like it better (not everyone does). If the transition from three to four wires happens where the cable connects to the plug, the change is easy. I converted my 35 year old Sennheiser HD424X to balanced about a year ago and never looked back. how to do it . can you tell me how to make this wiring happen , maybe with the help of a simplified diagram Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quadklipsh Posted February 20, 2011 Author Share Posted February 20, 2011 A AudioControl C 101 III, it is a RTA (Real Time Analyzer) and full octave Equalizer. It comes with a microphone and is used to "Tame" the room by measuring the frequencies and displaying which Freqs. are "bouncing" around the room. It has helped "Fix" my room and completely cleaned up the sound. When I hit the "Bypass" button now, the sound is very congested and loud. Just something to think about to help your "Room" problems. Oh and I am sure the Headphones work out well with the Baby, as you won't be able to hear the baby cry!! wow. amazing stuff . dennie youve given me eyes again. id sure look t up in the market . coz i know this kindda stuf , i mean equalizers are commonly seen lying around collecting duct but something that does room acoustics through its built in mic ,i may get lucky if i find something like this .thanks a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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