Are planar headphones better than dynamic headphones? I have shortlisted HIFIMAN EDITION XS planar headphone and AUDEZE MM100 planar headphone, to be used with HIFIMAN EF400 R2R DAC & Headphone amp. I mainly listen to western classical music. Previously I had NAIM 32.5/140 with KEF C80 speakers which I disposed off after 38 years of excellent music enjoyment. Cant afford new system as I am 71 years old. Any suggestion
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For me there’s no “better” it’s just what flavour that you prefer.
For Classical, I’d give STAX a shot first, but that does lock into an electrostatic specific driver (amp).
A Planar Magnetic doesn’t lock you into a specific amp. Hifiman are a solid choice as an around HP.
For me, my Focal Utopia that had a great dynamic driver has a very “close, narrow and intimate soundstage” as well as a punchy and dynamic sound that I just love.
Where a planar magnetic usually gives you a more spread out soundstage, while still giving a great, deep bass, that may be your preference.
Also look at Sennheiser HD800S, it’s a classical music lovers choice all around the world. It has a very, very wide soundstage that classical lovers enjoy. It’s a dynamic driver and it’s a bargain second hand for mint condition examples.
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A bit of a generalisation, but planar headphones can have a lightness and quickness that dynamic drivers aren’t quite able to match. The downside is that they can be on the heavy side making it uncomfortable for longer listening sessions.
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I’ve rarely enjoyed headphone listening - except on planes and trains with my Bose QC 25 Wired Noise cancelling headphones powered by an iPad.
I listened to some posh headphones the last two years at the Northwest Audio show.
They included the Meze Empyrian, but none of them made any positive impact on me.
I think the problem was that almost all the very good headphones are open backed, and in a big audio show there is loads of extraneous noise around you entering through the open back holes and ruining the sound quality within the headphones.
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Is it - i’m somewhat new to all this. Is there an example of said box?
Simpler, perhaps. Not necessarily better.
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Hi 
…
There is no reason to have such a box if you have good equipment.
I don’t think you would ever use an EQ in your 2-channel speaker system.
I have long experience with headphone-systems,.and have read with surprise some of the answers in the thread.
I will try to make time to answer you later,.but short comment…
Headphone-systems can definitely sound better than two-channel systems 
.
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About 3 years ago for practical reasons (connected with a house move) I had no alternative but to put my hifi in storage and use headphones for serious music listening. After a bit of shopping around I invested in a pair of Abyss 1266 headphones - they were the closest I could find to the experience of listening to speakers. I did very much enjoy listening to music through them - and they had the advantage of letting me listen whenever I wanted without disturbing the other occupants of my house.
After about a year, circumstances changed again, and I could go back to using my hifi with speakers. I switched back straight away and haven’t used the headphones since then. Whilst in many respects the headphones were more accurate than speakers, my view is that having music presented in front of you (through speakers) is preferable to music in the middle of your head (through headphones). For that reason, I would only ever use headphones when circumstances rule out speakers.
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Seems to be the consensus - surprised not more in favour. Interesting though.
I use Roon dsp in my 2 channel all the time to address some problem room modes.
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It’s not surprising to me. Headphones can be quite good from a hifi standpoint. But they can be limiting in comfort and mobility for extended listening sessions. Having a system that can adequately fill the room with exciting, detailed, and dynamic music reproduction makes headphones less attractive for me. They have their place for sure though.
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I prefer to play my music via speakers, when I can. But I listen to headphones a lot of the time for domestic reasons.
I have finally arrived at a pair of Sennheiser HD800S cans, after having had other headphones, that never really cut it with me. The HD800S headphones are very close to stereo speaker listening. For curiosity I have just bought a pair of Beyerdynamic T1 Ver2 headphones second hand, for a low price, as I was curious to try these headphones, which are said to be better than the HD800S for some types of music. They arrive tomorrow.
I have a Lehmann Audio Drachenfels headphone amp connect to my Naim amp.
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Trinov is one, possibly the top model but with s price to match. I don’t really know any specific models suited to headphones correction I suggest needs some online research.
I had expected and assumed the same with headphones, but from various posts on this forum I have learnt that may not be the case, even with top audiophile models, there being correction DSP profiles (“convolution filters”) available at least for use with digital systems - apparently there are such correction filters for over 4000 headphone models available for Roon - your headphones may well be one!
A good few people on this forum do just that for room correction (if not also speaker EQ), though for room correction it should be secondary to getting room setup and character as good as possible, and any boost must be used with awareness of limitations.
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Interesting post.
I have similar thoughts to some of the reaponses here. 95% of my listening is done through my headphone system in the office. I really like my HD600’s, they’re very revealing and musical, and during the times I listen to them due to practical reasons I’m very happy with them.
For the 5% of the time I listen to my very modest Naim system I see it as a treat, and very relaxing. Because I use the system so in frequently I have a bit of a reverse mullet speaker wise! If my circumstances changed I would invest more in speakers, and perhaps the whole system, but at the moment I enjoy my headphone system very much.
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Prompted by something I posted in another thread earlier today, here is another thought re headphone-only listening:
To me, to class as good, speakers must be able of reproducing all music well, or at least any music you may ever come to play through them (in my case there are some fairly extreme differences between some styles I like).
Whilst hitherto I have always thought the same about headphones, it occurs to me that there is a fundamental difference in that with headphones, unlike speakers, it is easy to accommodate different pairs for different styles of music. And given the difference in cost, with even half decent speakers costing maybe at least £3k-£5k new and decent ones easily £10-£20k and upwards, the relatively low budget of decent headphones creates the potential for you to have several to cover every listening situation, even some closed back some open…
This is, I suppose, one option you’re considering, even now decided. Maybe it is a common approach in the headphone world without my knowledge not having been part of it!
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I’m on a Headphone Forum and a large number of members do have a number of headphones and IEMs.
DG…
I thought I had arrived at destination with the Sennheiser HD800S, but they leak sound like a sieve, and my wife hates the freer end of Jazz. So I bought on Fleebay a pair of Beyerdynamic T1 Ver 2 cans SH, which were/are a close rival. The do not leak sound but have a very different sound signature. Not better or worse than the HD800S.
I think having sonic fun with headphones might be a bit cheaper than speakers, and they are easier to sell on too. But like a lot of things with HiFi, the search for the holy sound grail is addictive. Thus it might be easy to become a can collector, and amass a collection.
PS I solved the HD800S leakage problem. When I sit on the balcony with the sun shades down, my music was being echoed back into the living room. So for my after work music, it is sunshades up first. ( I live in Italy where the sun is hot,hot,hot)
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Thanks for all the replies - as ever the only real thing to do is go and have a listen and perhaps home demo.
Cheers, Mark.
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From this thread, we can see that headphones don’t work at all for some people, including me. I tried to like headphones, bought a Beyerdynamic T1 more than a decade ago and sold it after few months although I tried really hard to like it. I don’t know why but I dislike the feeling of something resting on my head and clamping at the sides. For short periods it’s still fine but more than 10 or 15 minutes, I’m out.
I’d say, try it and see. It may or may not work out for you. FWIW I recently tried some mid-range IEMs and find the listening experience to be much better than headphones, both sound and comfort-wise. You may want to give it a try. The listening room does pose some challenge especially in getting a good and accurate bass reproduction even with costly high-end speakers, and I can totally understand. I actually find the bass response from decent IEMs to be somewhat admirable, sometimes better than loudspeaker based systems. I’m now trying some costlier IEMs to see what is the fuss about.
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I enjoy both headphones and my PMC Twenty26s. As always, the quality of the equipment can influence which is preferred. I have a dedicated headphone amplifier and at least three pairs of different headphones. Even if the house is empty, I enjoy putting on the headphones and lying back on the sofa, often drifting off to sleep.
Yes, for a more involved session, the PMCs are enjoyable, bouncing bass off your chest—you’ll never get that with headphones.
If, due to circumstances, I was forced to use headphones only, it would still be an enjoyable way to experience my music.
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