I agree completely with Newbee. The phones are jaw dropping stupendous, however, they are not real sound in real space. As my room gets better and better, I listen to my earphones less. Although the sound of good earphones are incredibly good, they also are just not real. I always recommend them - especially to those with small budgets for this crazy hobby, or small rooms. I certainly would rather listen to earphones then poor speakers, or improperly set up speakers, or a room that has slap echo, boomy bass, etc.
Headphones vs loudspeakers
Could you tell why headphones sound better than loudspeakers in general? When listening to music through headphones you hear more details, more ambiance and at the same time the sound is more pure than through loudspeakers. It's also as if you can listen to inferior CD-player without sacrificing much of the sound quality. Even with an excellent audio system the sound has less immediacy and is not so detailed as with headphones. What is the problem with audio systems? Are we dealing with psychoacoustics or...?
Chris
Chris