Headphones vs Surround Sound Speakers

[Arkitech]

I've always wondered if a good set of headphones could be equal if not superior to a decent surround sound setup. Has anyone here attempted a comparison?

 

[TridenT]

I have attempted a comparison.. Slight comparison.. Z-5500 by Logitech and Sennheiser HD555s.

I liked the Z-5500 because of the surround sound and ability to not be conformed to headphones. (Headphone hair, only moving so far, not hearing the sound as you leave the room...)

Headphones I chose though because of privacy and ability to crank dat shit whenever I wanted.

OP is Arkitech

 

[SketchMaster]

Are you talking for 5.1 output like movies and games? If so then no, headphones are not a good replacement since you will not get 5.1 on two speakers.

If you are talking for music, then depending on what you are looking for they can be better. A good set of $120-$200 cans can make for a very good listening experience, but that's if you aren't looking for the chest pounding thump of a good sub.

 

[Soundmanred]

It's two different worlds, IMO.
If I'm at a place where I want it loud and/or don't want to disturb anyone, I use headphones.
I would not sit at home in front of my TV or computer (essentially the same thing for me) and use headphones.
Additionally, headphones won't shake the hell out of me with bass. 🙂

 

[uhohs]

a mid range speaker setup will beat a mid range headphone setup easily when it comes to sound stage. you need a very high end headphone setup to maybe compare to a mid range speaker setup. this is a generalization that i think is correct. i'm heavily invested in the whole headphone thing because my current living arrangement doesn't allow for a nice speaker setup.

/me goes back to packing up some headphones for canjam tomorrow. 🙁

 

[0roo0roo]

headphones give quality at relatively cheap prices compared to speakers of same clarity.
but really don't compare to a well setup stereo system, sound just is more natural in a room, assuming its not an acoustically disastrous one.

 

[zanejohnson]

it's kind of apples to oranges...

from my personal experience i've found that for sound quality (in 2 channel) headphones are superior, it would take a pretty high-end setup in order to recreate the detail/sound quality that a pair of high end headphones/amp can do...

and then there's the whole room size/shape issue.. with loudspeakers your gonna run into issues with the room your gear is in, the room is gonna cause some problems, you may be able to do 40hz @ reference level, but then have a huge spike at say 60hz, or a null, and not be able to do 50hz at reference level because of room size/shape.. this of course won't be an issue with phones.


that said, phones simply cannot compare to the "impact" a nice loudspeaker setup can have on you... even if it technically "sounds" better, the loudspeakers are gonna give you that nice thump in the chest that headphones can never give you...

and then there's surround sound... i dont care what you say, you're never gonna get 5.1 out of two headphones, it's just simply impossible... it's two speakers.


i run a Pioneer Elite 5.1 (120x5 wrms) receiver and acoustic research DL-501 speakers all around paired with a Acoustic Research sub (dont remember the model number and to lazy to go look) it has 2 8" drivers, it's powered by a Peavey 400x1 monoblock... it's not high end by any means, MAYBE fits in the bottom end of the "mid range" category... but it's pretty decent, it will put the thump in your chest in 2.1, has nice clear mids and highs at any volume (thanks to the pretty decent amplifier in the receiver) and in 5.1 it sounds pretty decent actually, the sub seems to perform better in 5.1 for some reason

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

I'll assume you mentioned "surround sound" instead of stereo to imply that the desired question is whether headphones can simulate surround sound effectively.

From almost every source I've read where people seemed to honestly compare a set of stereo headphones to surround headphones, the stereo headphones have won out. I have not used surround headphones to do a comparison myself, but what I've read seems to make sense... that the multiple small drivers inside surround headphones are of low quality compared to a good set of stereo headphones of similar price. Also, having multiple drivers inside the headphones doesn't work the same way as multiple speakers because we don't just take location queues about sound from what direction they're coming into our ears, but rather the relative volume of the sound from both our ears.

To simulate surround sound on stereo headphones, I have not tried what X-Fi (or similar) has to offer, but I have used Dolby Headphone from my AVP-7 Pre-pro. I can certainly tell that it's trying to give me the surround feel, but it just doesn't quite do it for me. I've experimented a few times with watching a movie on headphones deciding if I liked it better straight stereo or with one of the 3 Dolby Headphone presets my AVP-7 offered and it just seemed like stereo playback sounded the best. I didn't get the same kind of pseudo surround effect from the Dolby Headphone feature, but it sounded more balanced and natural.

As far as sound quality is concerned, it's pretty easy to get a good pair of headphones that sound excellent. $200 will get you a long way in headphones while that will barely scratch the surface for a surround sound system. On equal budgets, I think you get a lot higher sound quality from headphones. You also don't have to worry about setting up the speakers just right and don't have to deal with issues of room acoustics since a headphone setup basically isolates you from any negative effects that room acoustics might have.

Something that I read a couple of months ago sounded really interesting to me that's right up this alley if I got the point of your question.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1136269

 

[0roo0roo]

Originally posted by: zanejohnson
it's kind of apples to oranges...

from my personal experience i've found that for sound quality (in 2 channel) headphones are superior, it would take a pretty high-end setup in order to recreate the detail/sound quality that a pair of high end headphones/amp can do...

and then there's the whole room size/shape issue.. with loudspeakers your gonna run into issues with the room your gear is in, the room is gonna cause some problems, you may be able to do 40hz @ reference level, but then have a huge spike at say 60hz, or a null, and not be able to do 50hz at reference level because of room size/shape.. this of course won't be an issue with phones.


that said, phones simply cannot compare to the "impact" a nice loudspeaker setup can have on you... even if it technically "sounds" better, the loudspeakers are gonna give you that nice thump in the chest that headphones can never give you...

and then there's surround sound... i dont care what you say, you're never gonna get 5.1 out of two headphones, it's just simply impossible... it's two speakers.


i run a Pioneer Elite 5.1 (120x5 wrms) receiver and acoustic research DL-501 speakers all around paired with a Acoustic Research sub (dont remember the model number and to lazy to go look) it has 2 8" drivers, it's powered by a Peavey 400x1 monoblock... it's not high end by any means, MAYBE fits in the bottom end of the "mid range" category... but it's pretty decent, it will put the thump in your chest in 2.1, has nice clear mids and highs at any volume (thanks to the pretty decent amplifier in the receiver) and in 5.1 it sounds pretty decent actually, the sub seems to perform better in 5.1 for some reason

not to mention the sound in headphones always has issues with the weirdness of sending sounds to each ear so separately. closed headphones have an even more stuck in your head feeling. theres cross feeding if you got the equipment/support, but its always an inferior experience to a well setup speaker system of the same level.

 

[Crono]

Originally posted by: TridenTBoy3555
I have attempted a comparison.. Slight comparison.. Z-5500 by Logitech and Sennheiser HD555s.

I liked the Z-5500 because of the surround sound and ability to not be conformed to headphones. (Headphone hair, only moving so far, not hearing the sound as you leave the room...)

Headphones I chose though because of privacy and ability to crank dat shit whenever I wanted.

OP is Arkitech

I have Z-5300s, and had HD555s. For audio quality and ability to hear nuances in music, I would say HD555s were better. For bass and surround positioning, it would bet the Z-5300s. They serve different purposes, though, so it would be better to have both. I liked the HD555s for games, portable use, and low-bass music. I preferred the Z-5300s for the bass heavy stuff and movies.

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