Over the years I have drifted towards headphones as my main way of listening to music.
No problems with the neighbours. My wife hates Jazz and portability are my main reasons for this. If you can live with the downsides, it is also a cheaper way of reaching really good sound quality. I have 4 sets of cans for different music. €2000 with buy you the top end of headphones.
Who else here mainly uses headphones, and why?
I occasionally use them as in our Sydney apartment my partner’s study is next to the sitting room where my system is.
Also, for more spirited listening, which might annoy the neighbours as well as my partner, I use my Focal Utopias.
Speakers are still my main preference.
I don’t like headphones. To an extreme. Music is open air for me. Even outdoors I turn up the volume of my iPhone a bit. Yes, other people can hear my music. That’s no problem.
Last year I put together a modest system in the lounge for (my) personal listening.
Raspberry Pi digital streamer → Musical Fidelity V-DAC2/V-PSU1 → Headline2/NAPSC2 → Sennheiser 800S cans.
It’s nice.
if my family are around then I’ll use headphones, which headphones I use depends on what type of listening I’m doing, I currently have some Focal Elegia closed back, Grado SR325X open backs and then some Sony WH1000XM3 and WF-1000XM5 if I want a bit of mobility. If I’m not using the headphones plugged into my main system (Naim Uniti Star) then I use a portable DAC (one of iFi Hip-Dac2, iFi Go-Blu or iFi Go Link Max). I like the Focal’s but they take some time to get used to as I find them very precise and can feel “clinical” initially, the Grado’s are warmer but not as comfortable to wear for long periods. The iFi DACS really elevate listening via my iPhone (which is mainly Tidal).
I drifted away from the HD800S cans, but they are becoming my favourites again, with their wide soundstage.
Never been much interested in “cans of the month”, so for the last 45 years my cans have been Sennheiser 420, then 600 and latterly 800S - with a small foray into B&W Pxx wireless, for “mobile use”, until I got the Airpods - which are well good enough for the ten minute walk to Waitrose and the pharmacy to collect my “old bugger’s” meds!
Focal eLears in use here. My wife is quite tolerant of my music but we have an open plan home so she can hear it wherever she is so I often wear headphones to give her a break or if she is watching TV. The eLears are open back though, so if she is in the same room the sound sometimes bleeds out. I really should get some closed back ones.
I love the Focals, they sound fantastica nd are very comfortable even when listening for several hours.
Headphones are inherently limiting sound-wise in that you cannot feel the bass, and I don’t think that I would use normally at home even if I had a pair with sound quality on a par with my soeakers. Against that I know that for the same sound quality headphones can be a lot less expensive than speakers and so a good option budget wise of only listening alone, and no need at all for any consideration of the room.
I don’t presently have headphones suitable for use at home (I have some Bose noise cancelling headphones I use when flying, which for sound quality are way short of my speakers), and haven’t had since I was 19 and left the parental home giving more freedom to play music through speakers at times I wanted - at the same time recognising the risk to my hearing of playing music as loud as I wanted through headphones.
I have loosely contemplated getting some for use in the campervan: its sound system is too limiting with no space at all for hifi speakers, also my wife doesn’t appreciate much of the music I like, while playing at any half reasonable level if in a campsite would be antisocial especially in a warm place with windows open. They’d have to be closed back, and it would be great to have sound close to my syestem at home with speakers. I’d also have to get a player of some sort - the idea of something like the Chord Poly+Mojo is attractive, when I could put my entire music collection on a memory card and have it with me, that then opening the door to wider use when away from home.
I use from time to time a Hifiman HE1000 Stealth with my SPL Phono E, very pleasant to listen to but I prefer listening with the speakers, it’s more live!
I had compared the 800s with the Focal Clear, I had largely preferred the Focal with a more balanced bass-treble and without that stéreo image that I find superficial because it overdoes it, after, as always, it’s a matter of taste!
Occasional use here, I find the experience quite restrictive and tend to prefer to listen at lower volumes than go for headphones. I have some Hifiman Anya organic headphones that sound great but after an album I find my ears are pretty warm!
Gary
I’ve been using the train much more to go up and down to London, so I’m regularly using my AK380 and a pair of Sennheiser PX100s. I love the Senns - they slip inside a jacket pocket and are like a mini portable set of HD600s, just a little bit scaled back, but always really engaging. Despite being open, they don’t leak too much so perfectly useable when travelling, and still allow you to remain aware of your surroundings and environment. I have a set of B&W P7s and P9s but they’re just a bit too bulky for travel use, so it’s the PX100s that usually get chosen. In fact, I love the PX100s so much I have three pairs, including a NOS pair for when the current ones I’m using get damaged, broken, or lost. Sennheiser should never have stopped making them.
Same reason (over 78yr ears) pit as my Sonus Faber Lumina 11 Amato’s sound fab have had most of the Focal flavours apart from the Utopia my current ones as per photo both open backs the Grados are very dynamic is slightly harsh great looking only downside is the cups being on ear can feel uncomfortable over a long listen my Audeze LCD 2s while needing a bit more oomph from my headphone amp is better long term listen albeit a heavier ‘phone but more comfortable!
I use mine in specific situations, and specific pairs for different music as well. Sometimes it is convenience but they can give me the most intense and concentrated listening experience at times, I think possibly more than (or at least different to) using my loudspeaker systems.
When you get the right mood and music the complete lack of distraction and internal focus of a really good headphone session is hard to beat.
Bruce
ZMF Verite closed, ZMF Atrium Open, Grado HP100 SE, JH Audio Sharona Custom IEMs
I have the SPL Phonitor SE. The Cross feed device is brilliant for badly recorded tracks.
I am using a separate headphone system mostly for late night listening: Burson Conductor 3X Performance with BlueSound Node N130.
Collected a number of headphones over the years:
I live in an apartment surrounded by neighbors. I can only play my main system at low volumes. The headphone system is an alternative. Listening without bothering anyone.
This is very true. I too find it easier to concentrate on what I am listening to. I can hear all sorts of little details with headphones that I miss with speakers.
A familiar problem…
My management draws a red line when I start listening to prog and classic rock.
The solution - GRADO GS 1000+H.L/H.C…
I don’t like things covering my ears … I use a pair of Shokz Open Move for listening to podcasts whilst walking the dog, and I can still hear nature around me. But they are not great for music; newer models are reputed to sound better.
