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I sometimes like to do comparisons late at night without necessarily waking up the neighbourhood and so thought a pair of headphones would be useful. My brother swears by the Sennheiser HD650, and I managed to find a new pair at a great price which arrived today from the UK ... and ...
1. The clarity does seem super. You can hear things you can't otherwise normally hear or don't pick up - like people breathing, or certain spacial issues. But, the bass is not as good as speakers, and overall, I don't find the listening experience to be natural or pleasant. And my guess is, it's probably unhealthy for more than a few minutes, since my ears are now ringing, and the volume was not particularly loud.
2. But what I find puzzling is that ... whereas over my speakers, I hear a clear difference between the SACD and CD layers, and whereas I thought headphones would exacerbate or magnify the difference ... in fact, I find that with the headphones, everything sounds good, and I am not sure I am hearing any difference between SACD and CD anymore? Very confusing. Maybe the headphone sound ... wrapped around ones eardrums ... is so overwhelming, or overwhelming to me, that my brain is swamped by it all? Have others found this?
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Post by ww17vssk April 8, 2009 (2 of 10)
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canonical said:
I sometimes like to do comparisons late at night without necessarily waking up the neighbourhood and so thought a pair of headphones would be useful. My brother swears by the Sennheiser HD650, and I managed to find a new pair at a great price which arrived today from the UK ... and ...
1. The clarity does seem super. You can hear things you can't otherwise normally hear or don't pick up - like people breathing, or certain spacial issues. But, the bass is not as good as speakers, and overall, I don't find the listening experience to be natural or pleasant. And my guess is, it's probably unhealthy for more than a few minutes, since my ears are now ringing, and the volume was not particularly loud.
2. But what I find puzzling is that ... whereas over my speakers, I hear a clear difference between the SACD and CD layers, and whereas I thought headphones would exacerbate or magnify the difference ... in fact, I find that with the headphones, everything sounds good, and I am not sure I am hearing any difference between SACD and CD anymore? Very confusing. Maybe the headphone sound ... wrapped around ones eardrums ... is so overwhelming, or overwhelming to me, that my brain is swamped by it all? Have others found this?
Most of your experiences are quite contrary to mine.
1.
a) As far as bass is concerned: headphones are said to need several hours (up to 50 or more) of 'burn-in' after which they produce more bass (mine did produce bass right from the beginning although it became a bit more pronounced later on).
b). I indeed do find the listening experience very pleasant and I often listen for hours using my AKG headphones - even with loud volume.
2. The difference between SACD and CD layer is even more clear when using the AKG.
3. I actually decided in favor of AKG (and against Sennheiser) because some people said the Sennheiser dampens high frequencies (which is said to be more pleasant to most people's ears).
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canonical said:
I sometimes like to do comparisons late at night without necessarily waking up the neighbourhood and so thought a pair of headphones would be useful. My brother swears by the Sennheiser HD650, and I managed to find a new pair at a great price which arrived today from the UK ... and ...
1. The clarity does seem super. You can hear things you can't otherwise normally hear or don't pick up - like people breathing, or certain spacial issues. But, the bass is not as good as speakers, and overall, I don't find the listening experience to be natural or pleasant. And my guess is, it's probably unhealthy for more than a few minutes, since my ears are now ringing, and the volume was not particularly loud.
2. But what I find puzzling is that ... whereas over my speakers, I hear a clear difference between the SACD and CD layers, and whereas I thought headphones would exacerbate or magnify the difference ... in fact, I find that with the headphones, everything sounds good, and I am not sure I am hearing any difference between SACD and CD anymore? Very confusing. Maybe the headphone sound ... wrapped around ones eardrums ... is so overwhelming, or overwhelming to me, that my brain is swamped by it all? Have others found this?
Some years ago I settled in for some late night listening of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony at concert level volume, turned on my electrostatic headphones, which took a few minutes to warm up, and turned up the volume. After a few minutes, the sound muffled and still not very loud, I increased the volume. Shortly thereafter I was compelled to turn my attention in the direction of a finger that was repeatedly (Da Da Da Daa) poking me in the back, and met the gaze of the decidedly unhappy face of "she who must be obeyed". It seems I forgot to press the headphone input on my integrated amp and was playing through the loudspeakers. The very loud, loudspeakers.
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Post by RobM April 8, 2009 (4 of 10)
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I recently purchased a Sennheiser HD595 headset and have enjoyed listing to certain pieces more so than others. I can hear a great deal more when listening to richly orchestrated pieces, but others (Beethovan's 5th for one) sound better on my speakers.
Also, I enjoy the headset, but I can't wear them for more than 90 minutes at a time.
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Post by hiredfox April 9, 2009 (6 of 10)
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ww17vssk said:
Most of your experiences are quite contrary to mine.
1.
a) As far as bass is concerned: headphones are said to need several hours (up to 50 or more) of 'burn-in' after which they produce more bass (mine did produce bass right from the beginning although it became a bit more pronounced later on).
b). I indeed do find the listening experience very pleasant and I often listen for hours using my AKG headphones - even with loud volume.
2. The difference between SACD and CD layer is even more clear when using the AKG.
3. I actually decided in favor of AKG (and against Sennheiser) because some people said the Sennheiser dampens high frequencies (which is said to be more pleasant to most people's ears).
Which AKG's are you using?
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Post by hiredfox April 9, 2009 (7 of 10)
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Post by ww17vssk April 9, 2009 (8 of 10)
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hiredfox said:
Which AKG's are you using?
AKG K 701. Bought it from amazon.de last November for € 225.
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Post by Fugue April 9, 2009 (9 of 10)
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I use Stax SR 404 headphones--I can definitely hear greater detail and ambience with them compared to speakers.
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Fugue said:
I use Stax SR 404 headphones--I can definitely hear greater detail and ambience with them compared to speakers.
My brother - the same one who recommended the Sennheiser HD650 - used to have a pair of Stax electrostatics, which he was very proud of, and which, from memory ... I think I preferred. Alas, they broke.
Anyway - my ears have been blocked for the last 24 hours, and my head is spinning === I'm an obvious headphone noob. Must have overdone the volume. Meh.
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