headphones
"Audio Empire" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 21 Oct 2011 06:13:08 -0700, Edmund wrote
I've heard a lot of headphones in my time. They all sound different (much
like speakers, how about that!). The best I've ever heard were the Stax
SR-007 MKII with the matching Stax amplifier. But at almost US$5000, that
ensemble ought to sound good! Next best were the HiFiMan HE-6 for
US$1200.
But again, for that money they should sound good. really good headphones
from
Denon, Audio Technica, Sennheiser, and AKG can be had for less than US$500
though and I'm especially fond of both the AKG-701s (US$350) and the
Sennheiser HK-650s (~US$400) even though I own neither.
If you understand how headphones work, the technical justification for
the use of electrostatic drive as compared to electrodynamic drive is
even weaker than it is for loudspeakers.
While the Stax electrostatic headphones are legendary, expensive,
heavy and bulky, there is plenty of evidence that these distractions
are unnecessary. I've compared Stax electrostatics to the better
Sennheiser headphones, and find their sonics to be comparable, albeit
a little different.
A friend of mine who worked for a leading electroacoustic measurement
company tells me that in laboratory tests and in controlled listening
tests, preferences among the better headphones are mixed. No doubt the
Stax are fine performers, but so are many others.
The leading problem with the best-performing headphones is the issue
of tailoring the response of the headphones to the particular
listener's ears. There is a wealth of positive experience with various
technical approaches to this problem that come out of the business of
fitting hearing aids.
If the listener is somehow able to use an equalizer to tailor the
response of a pair of some of the better headphones to suit his ears
and preferences, then he no doubt is way ahead of those who spend far
more time and money on random solutions. A major problem is that
proper use of equalizers is a learned skill that may take years of
experience to raise to a sufficient level of competency to provide
satisfactory results.
|