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Re: Headphone recommendations
MarkSJohnson #253328 03/23/09 11:28 PM
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A mutated Ferengi?


Half of communication is listening. You can't listen with your mouth.
Re: Headphone recommendations
Zimm #253352 03/24/09 02:54 AM
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 Originally Posted By: Zimm
I hate to do it, but i have to hate on the Grados a bit (SR 80s). First complaint, comfort. I may have freakish ears, but the driver surface rubs on my ears and aggravates me after...I don't know how long, but not long enough. Say 30 mins. But putting my freakish ears aside [cue Mark to add pic of crazy ears being put on the side] I don't prefer their imaging style. I could not put my finger on it until I read a pro review that put the problem characteristic into words. I prefer the imaging associated with stereo speakers - i.e., an image in front of you. The Grados are fantastic at sound reproduction freq by freq, but, as the author put it, they sound as if you are in the middle of the band, not looking at the band. Not sure how to better describe it - people love them - but for me the imaging is distracting.



No wonder, you have those little bitty baby ears \:D


Rick


"A fear of weapons is a sign of retarded sexual and emotional maturity." Sigmund Freud

Re: Headphone recommendations
Zimm #253376 03/24/09 12:55 PM
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Hi Zimm,

Of course, what you point out is the downside of all headphone/earbud listening--the totally artificial image that spreads through your head from one ear to the other. At times, the intimacy is lovely, but overall it's peculiar and quite unlike how most of us (except band musicians) hear music.

There have been various attempts over the years to electronically alter the headphone presentation to move the headphone image out front, like a loudspeaker presentation. Dolby Headphone is a recent processor mode that attempts that and more. My own AV receiver isn't equipped so I haven't been able to try it out to see if it's effective.

Has anyone else on the forum tried Dolby Headphone??

Regards,

Alan


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Re: Headphone recommendations
alan #253407 03/24/09 04:06 PM
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Alan, am I wrong to believe the Grados have this "centered" characteristic more than their competitors? I thought it was just their style. I have a pair of ear-buds that make a better image, but not in the same class in terms of accuracy. If most higher-end phones have the same imaging as Grado, then I can only complain about the comfort, because the actual sound is very accurate, even through my AVR headphone output. (And again, I have the 80's; that is far from the best they have to offer.)

I'd like to try the Dolby headphones for surround sound, but don't see how they could pull it off with drives so close to your ear.


Panny 3000 PJ, 118" Carada, Denon 3300, PS3, Axiom QS8, PSB 5T, B&W sub, levitating speaker wire
Re: Headphone recommendations
Zimm #253440 03/24/09 06:18 PM
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The "in-your-head" effect is the nature of the beast. You can't get around it without creative mixing and/or pychoacoustic processing (Pink Floyd!) to move the sound outside your noggin. In fact, if any headphones do NOT suffer from this effect, I'd guess there was something wrong with them. ;\)

Re: Headphone recommendations
pmbuko #253459 03/24/09 07:06 PM
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Don't know about that from my experiences with headphones. But I don't claim to be a headphone expert so I'll sit back and learn a bit.


Panny 3000 PJ, 118" Carada, Denon 3300, PS3, Axiom QS8, PSB 5T, B&W sub, levitating speaker wire
Re: Headphone recommendations
Zimm #253463 03/24/09 07:16 PM
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 Originally Posted By: Zimm

…Grado, then I can only complain about the comfort, because the actual sound is very accurate.


Comfort was my only complaint about the Grados. Having those things sitting on my “Yoda” ears was just to distracting.

As Peter said the “in-your-head” effect is to some degree unavoidable. I have noticed a couple of things about it. For me it’s much more noticeable if I’m switching back and for between headphones and speakers. However, listening exclusively on headphones for a month I’ve pretty much forgotten what I’m missing not using speakers. Also, open air headphone help to minimize this for me though others mileage may vary.

I’ve also noticed that a couple of the Digital Signal Proccessing (DSP) modes on my Denon do greatly enhance the spacial presentation of some recordings. For example the “Jazz Club” mode sounds very good for recordings that belong in that type of environment. The “Virtual” setting really enhances some movies and TV shows. In some cases sounds do seem to come from the front or back and high or low but certainly not to the extent that the QS8s are capable of. This setting is more variable I guess depended on the recording.

I don’t have the “Headphone” setting that Alan mentioned. However, although I don’t have one I understand that some headphone amps have a setting that allows crosstalk between the L/R channels to simulate sound reaching both ears from each speaker. As I understand it this is supposed to help things sound more “speaker-like.”


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Re: Headphone recommendations
grunt #253472 03/24/09 07:57 PM
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Cool.


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Re: Headphone recommendations
Zimm #253490 03/24/09 09:37 PM
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It's always about being "cool" with you, isn't it Charles?

If your friends jumped off a cliff, would you do it too?

Can we all chip in and get that baby on the patch??


::::::: No disrespect to Axiom, but my favorite woofer is my yellow lab :::::::
Re: Headphone recommendations
MarkSJohnson #253503 03/24/09 11:54 PM
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He ate the patch - and yes that worked!


Panny 3000 PJ, 118" Carada, Denon 3300, PS3, Axiom QS8, PSB 5T, B&W sub, levitating speaker wire
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