CMH said:
Its true that I can't compare it like that, but I posted that fact so you know what influenced my decision.
Fair Enough.
CMH said:
I believe that having a set of phones clamped over your ears is the best listening experience, as you don't have to build a room to spec, and cover with acoustic foam and all that, as well as having the speakers positioned properly to enjoy what would really be the best listening experience possible.
As I said, the first part of my original reply deals with the unfortunate side effects of dealing with other people, not with the methodology of supplying music via loudspeakers. For me anyway, "the best possible listening experience", varies with , source, mood, and whatever else I may be doing simultaneously. Accordingly, I use my sound system appropriately. IE; 5 channel surround for serious movie (and concert DVD) watching, and simple 2 channel stereo for getting me up, and out of the chair focused on doing something productive.
CMH said:
As for turning them up to way loud, really, you can do the same with speakers as well, with the same effect on your hearing, with the addition of the hearing of those around you. The point is kinda moot there.
In this case, music listeners tend to be their own worst enemies. The potential for abuse is readily available for headphone listeners, since they don't have to answer to other people, and normally listen at much higher volumes. Headphones don't require the same amount of amplifier and speaker cone area to produce a much higher amplitude of sound. They're firing right into your ears at "point blank" range. The effect that headphones have of "making it seem like you're right there", is a byproduct of a small drivers' dramatic transient response, coupled with the extremely close proximity to the eardrum. I agree completely, that you can also ruin your ears with loudspeakers. But the point isn't totally moot, since you're much more likely to do so with phones.
CMH said:
Also, with the right pair of headphones, they are really comfortable. They might be a little bulky with padding, yet I've never heard anyone complain about weight (5.1 earphones are a different story, those aren't really "good quality").
Modern multi-channel sound recording techiques, (especially for movies), is oriented around the ability we have to localize sound. For example, a well recorded concert DVD should place you in the middle of the crowd when it's time to applaud, and in the front row when Mettalica (or whomever) is playing. You really can't develop this sound field with headphones, not even the crappy 5.1 kinds.
CMH said:
Thinking about it, I cannot figure out any application in a professional setting where the use of speakers is preferable to headphones when good sound quality is required.
Professional sound engineers use loudspeakers to do their final mix, for a variety of reasons.
Sound from loudspeakers is delivered to the whole body in general, and quite a bit of it reaches the ears through bone conduction. Large loudspeakers move large quantities of air so this aspect of "listening" just isn't present with headphones. To be sure the drivers in headphones will fake low bass, but they won't deliver the fact of it. Basically, with a set of full range decent quality loudspeakers, the sound washes over your whole body, and (for me at least) it doesn't get any better than that.