Headphone Search - Six Years Later

[Sonnie Parker]

Todd has already measured them for me... too small for my ears. I need openings at least 2.5" high and about 1.75" wide... 3/4" deep is fine. The PM-3's are 2.25" high and 1.5" wide. The ATH-1100iS fit perfect and are 2.6" high and 1.875" wide and 7/8" deep. I am afraid the PM-3's will squoosh my ears too much for comfort.

 

[Jack]

I posted them above... scroll back up.

DOH !!

I never got the monophonic sound with anything I listened to. I sounded more in the middle of my head without any processing, then when engaging the processing, it added the spacial effect, but as you get into the pronounced settings, it seem somewhat muted, like it need a boost, which the equalizer easily cured. BUT... I am not sold on that sound, because it is not what I would call any improvement in sound stage... it does nothing at all for creating a more realistic sound stage like you get with speakers.

This was something I messed up in my connection, I was using a fancy 1/4" adapter on the 1/8" plug at the end of the headphone cable and it must have not consistently made good contact in the headphone amp I was using and on occasion it did make things sound very monophonic...kind of like listening through a pipe, nothing really gelled. I found the problem by removing the adapter and using a headphone that only allowed for use of a smaller 1/8" plug directly and when I listened to that, I felt kinda dumb. Once everything was up and running, You are correct here Sonnie, as I went higher in the processing it did add an effect, but as you say, somewhat muted. The drive and oft times percussive slam of drums or guitars, horns and what have you really make headphone use fun, however using the crossfeed just kills that for me.

There is no delay with the changes I make in JRM... it's instantaneous and like a switch. Uncheck the box and it goes away in a nanosecond. If you are getting delays, I can only assume it low memory or a slower hard drive. I can check and uncheck and hear the difference between any two settings. Same with the equalizer, which unlike many amps that only boost a single range of frequencies, the EQ in JRM has bands... and it also has a parametric EQ to pinpoint frequencies and set your own bandwidth Q. Pretty nifty... but again... it does nothing to help the sound stage, not for me anyway.

Again you are correct. I am used to working this program upstairs and certain changes can only take place once the music is stopped. Once the change is made, then you can start things again. I went ahead and did as you suggested and there is no delay in change using the point and click a choice method. Finally I agree, the sound stage is not for me either.

I am not going to buy any headphone amps or worry with JRM for helping with the headphones. I am holding out for the A16 Realiser from Smyth-Research. They actually work and will get the sound stage out front. I can duplicate exactly what I hear with my ML's. August can't get here quick enough for me to own one of those. It is expensive, but I think it will be worth it, even if my main use will be two channel. I could dig sitting in my recliner working on my computer while listening like that. Too cool!

I have never heard of the smyth realiser before now, that things sounds interesting. But I do wonder how it would sound with a blacklight in the room ??

 

[Leonard Caillouet]

The Smyth demo at AXPONA was significant to me for lots of reasons. The idea that you can reproduce a sound field with a stereo source that provides the experience of a three dimensional space was confirmation that height information can be reproduced from stereo. Subtle cues in balance and phase, combined with the way our ears physically capture sound and transmit it to the ear canal does provide spatial information that our brain can decode. The comparison of the ATMOS demo (which was pretty good itself) with the Smyth device was far better than I expected. I think we all came to the demo with the idea that it might be a reasonable facsimile of the actual speaker system, but when you go back and forth several times and really cannot tell a difference, it changes how you think about how sound gets from a source to our perception.

 

[Sonnie Parker]

I think the only thing we really miss with the Realiser is the tactile feel of the subwoofer, which headphones just simply can't produce... they aren't going to make my chair vibrate like a couple of big subs in the room will.

 

[Leonard Caillouet]

He actually suggested using a sub or a drive unit in your seating position to get that. For the difference in cost between the Realiser and many speaker systems you could put one heck of a sub system in a room. Of course to get the feel of the sound hitting you in the chest and moving your shirt (like the JTR demo recently) you would lose the advantage of not disturbing the rest of the family or neighbors.

 

[AudiocRaver]

A couple more headphone related thoughts.

• The coiled cord is always an annoyance to me. Many headphones in the under-$200 range have a coiled cord, and most high-end phones do not. You usually don't have a choice, except with a detachable cord on more expensive models.
• The plug's outside diameter can be a problem if you want to use it on a phone with a protective case that restricts access to the phone's jack. A headphone with even a slightly larger diameter plug will usually not fit in a situation like that. A short Y-adapter or "headset buddy" that adapts a 4-conductor smartphone plug to two 3-conductor headset plugs, one for mic and the other for stereo headphones, will usually solve the problem.

 

[Sonnie Parker]

you would lose the advantage of not disturbing the rest of the family or neighbors.

That would be the drawback for me adding a sub... might as well just listen to a full blown speaker system. However, I get pretty good bass "sound" from my headphones, so I'm okay with that if I can get the sound stage out front.

Many headphones in the under-$200 range have a coiled cord, and most high-end phones do not.

I have now trialed over a dozen under $300 in a six year span... none have had coiled cords. I want even order one if it does not come with a straight cord. About half of the ones I trialed offered long and short cords.

So... I decided to try one more set... the Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro - 80 Ohm version. Wow! Now these sound fantastic compared to the A900's. I've been listening to these for about 2 hours now and stuck the A900's on for a few minutes, then came back to these... fairly dramatic difference. They seem to extend deeper and have more defined bass, while retaining super clear mids and highs. I tried the Brainwavz pads, but they don't really give me much more room, other than some depth, and they are a bit softer. The verdict is still out on whether I will keep the pads, but the phones... yep... I think we have a winner. No... they are not doing much for me on sound stage being out front, but just the sound is the better of what I've heard in this bunch.

 

[Mark C Flick]

I'm still really happy with my Sony Pulse Elite headphones. I really only use them plugged into my laptop and occasionally use them wirelessly with my PS3. So maybe I just don't know what I'm missing.

 

[Sonnie Parker]

I enjoy listening when I spend time on the computer, since most of time Angie it watch HGTV. So I have gotten to where I appreciate really good sounding headphones. I could probably be satisfied with any of the ones I tried, but a lot of the fun is trying them all out, and then some are definitely better than others, or should I say sound different than others, so "better" would be dependent on the individual.

 

[Jack]

So... I decided to try one more set... the Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro - 80 Ohm version. Wow! Now these sound fantastic compared to the A900's. I've been listening to these for about 2 hours now and stuck the A900's on for a few minutes, then came back to these... fairly dramatic difference. They seem to extend deeper and have more defined bass, while retaining super clear mids and highs. I tried the Brainwavz pads, but they don't really give me much more room, other than some depth, and they are a bit softer. The verdict is still out on whether I will keep the pads, but the phones... yep... I think we have a winner. No... they are not doing much for me on sound stage being out front, but just the sound is the better of what I've heard in this bunch.

This is very interesting Sonnie. The DT770 Pro sounds better than the DT 880. I guess the closed back is great option for listening with others around.

 

[Sonnie Parker]

I don't know that they sound better than the 880's... have you compared the two? I really like the 880's when I had them, but they wouldn't work because they were open back and my wife would not appreciate. I have not compared them side by side. I tried the 880's six years ago when I ended up with the A900's. I am fairly certain at that time I would have kept the 880's if they had been closed back. I am not sure why I did not try the 770's at that time. It may have been because they were not available on Amazon and I couldn't return them if I did not like them.

 

[Jack]

No Sonnie I did not, I made a bad assumption that you did. I do understand your reasoning and may look into them for when I listen in bed or while my wife watches tv. I do have a set of Pioneer SE A1000 somethings upstairs that are closed back and sound ridiculously good for well under $100.

 

[Sonnie Parker]

I'd be curious as to your thoughts if you ever get both pair to compare.

 

[Tonto]

How much is the A16 Realiser. If it's really that good, you may be able to keep the cans that you have.

 

[Sonnie Parker]

1700 if you order it before August on the pre-order special. Yes... it will work with pretty much any respectable set of cans.