Headphone Tutorial


Folks:

I'm looking to get into headphones but know little about them and could use some assistance. Some questions: Do I need a separate head amp? Maybe they are old school since I do not see any for sale with a separate amplification unit. Are they offered with and without? If so, is one approach better than another? Do I need a separate headphone jack on my linestage or can I connect to one of the "out" jacks on the rear panel of my LS36.5? Do they make "noise canceling" versions like the Bose? Do the non-noise canceling versions block out environmental noise? I'd like to use them while my wife is watching TV in the next room and do not want to have to turn them up to block out the tube. Next, I see some are available with higher quality connecting wire--worthwhile? What models should I be looking at--the Sennheiser 650 looks like it is the default high quality set from what I can tell.

Thanks for the help!
dodgealum

Showing 1 response by solman989

I was in your boat a while back and decided to invest in my first high-end headphone setup. I decided that it would never replace my speaker rig but here's what I learned.

A headphone rig uses a true full range single driver that usually provides more details, good dynamic contrast, and a purity of sound harder to find in a lot of speakers. It is these qualities that make the listening experience of headphones superior to speakers for some people. Headphones are nice for late night listening when I do not feel like firing up the main rig.

On the other hand a speaker rig can do a lot of the things headphones can (maybe not quite as well or cheaply) but is also able to project an image into your room, fill that room with sound and even small monitors provide at least some dynamic impact. Headphones cannot do any of this and it is these qualities that make the listening experience of speakers far superior to headphones for me.

You will have to decide if the tradeoffs are worth it to you, but no one says you can't have both systems!