Should I buy these headphones?

[DRuM]

Budget cans, so might sound rubbish.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sennheiser-Or ... 8578894188

[Eraser]

Ask xer0s, he's probably got his opinion about them from a random person somewhere.

[GONNAFISTYA]

lol even shipping it costs 10x the normal price.

As they say in that horrible Bruce Willis movie,"Fucking rich people."

[plained]

only 1 pair?

LOL POORIANS!

[[xeno]Julios]

jesus hehe

these are what i have:

[Psyche911]

I've always been afraid of that design Julios. Does the exposed wire take unnecessary strain?

[[xeno]Julios]

not at all - there's enough slack that even if you pivot each earpiece to its full range it never gets taut.

[ToxicBug]

You can have a banging sound system for that amount.

[DRuM]

Julios, I was thinking of buying a pair of Beyer DT770's at some point. Any idea how the 990's compare?
Scratch that, just found a good thread on it. Seems yours are more fun than the 770's.
http://www.head-fi.org/t/513393/guide-s ... odels-more


The same seller had another pair of Orpheus headphones yesterday, now sold it seems, without the amp, for £9000.
My Sennheiser HD580's look basically the same with cheaper plastic materials and is worth about £180 now I think. Great sound, extreme comfort for hours. While the Orpheus would sound amazing I'm sure, there's no way it would be 45 times better. That's the thing with audiophile gear, it's the law of diminishing returns. Spend hundreds or thousands for relatively small improvements.


Also, a vintage wooden stand for the Orpheus at the cost of $923 lollars. I mean seriously..
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-headp ... 46113812ea

[[xeno]Julios]

not sure how they compare. I went to an audiophile store in toronto and spent a good 45 minutes testing their headphones. I've never owned a decent pair and wanted to get something nice. Ended up getting the 990's for about half the retail price as it was their last model (and their demo model). Really love the open sound - some of the closed headphones felt like I was in a coffin with speakers right next to me - tiny soundstage... listening to binaural recordings with these opens are incredible. I've no experience to compare these to other cans, but they do sound lovely - everyone I've shown them to likes them too.

http://www.headfi.org seems to be a good source of discussion about these things


as for the orpheus, check out some of the youtube reviews - interesting stuff.

[DRuM]

not sure how they compare. I went to an audiophile store in toronto and spent a good 45 minutes testing their headphones. I've never owned a decent pair and wanted to get something nice. Ended up getting the 990's for about half the retail price as it was their last model (and their demo model). Really love the open sound - some of the closed headphones felt like I was in a coffin with speakers right next to me - tiny soundstage... listening to binaural recordings with these opens are incredible. I've no experience to compare these to other cans, but they do sound lovely - everyone I've shown them to likes them too.

http://www.headfi.org seems to be a good source of discussion about these things


as for the orpheus, check out some of the youtube reviews - interesting stuff.

As there were only 300 made of the Orpheus, they're now collectors items. Apparently one pair (probably with the Sennheiser paired amp) went for auction for $60,000. Totally agree about open back headphones. My 580's are open and yes, also nice wide airy soundstage.

[ToxicBug]

Coming from a guy who has a $1000+ pair of headphones, spending over $2-3k on a pair is silly IMO. $5-6k gets you a decent sound system that will give a sound no headphones can match (i.e. true stereo).

[[xeno]Julios]

What do you mean by true stereo?

[GONNAFISTYA]

Pfft. You dunno? It's not that "fake" stereo.

[ToxicBug]

What do you mean by true stereo?

By true stereo, I meant hearing both speakers at the same time from each ear (with the phase difference creating a true soundstage). I can't explain it well enough, but just read about stereo online please.

[obsidian]

Have you tried actually knowing what you're talking about?

I think what you mean is stereographic projection, but you're explaining it like an idiot who doesn't really knows how it works. This has absolutely nothing to do with headphones since cheapos can still reproduce stereographic projection. It has to do with how the source is recorded and mixed.

[Tsakali]

did you pay $1000+ for a pair of headphones? no? then you don't know shit.

Now all we need is someone with $2000 headphones to come and clear things up.

[ToxicBug]

Have you tried actually knowing what you're talking about?

I think what you mean is stereographic projection, but you're explaining it like an idiot who doesn't really knows how it works. This has absolutely nothing to do with headphones since cheapos can still reproduce stereographic projection. It has to do with how the source is recorded and mixed.

No, I'm talking about the sound from each speaker being slightly out of phase with each other, which creates stereo imaging. You can't reproduce it with headphones simply because each ear only hears one stereo channel.

Stereophonic sound attempts to create an illusion of location for various sound sources (voices, instruments, etc.) within the original recording. The recording engineer's goal is usually to create a stereo "image" with localization information. When a stereophonic recording is heard through loudspeaker systems (rather than headphones), each ear, of course, hears sound from both speakers. The audio engineer may, and often does, use more than two microphones (sometimes many more) and may mix them down to two tracks in ways that exaggerate the separation of the instruments, in order to compensate for the mixture that occurs when listening via speakers.

More info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereophon ... d#Playback

Plus, besides stereos imaging, headphones also lose the physiological bass punch that you feel in your lungs, on your skin, and on your clothes. You can feel it on the skin on your ears, but you're missing out on 90% of the experience

[ToxicBug]

did you pay $1000+ for a pair of headphones? no? then you don't know shit.

Now all we need is someone with $2000 headphones to come and clear things up.

All I meant was that I'm not a headphone hater

[andyman]

jesus hehe

these are what i have:

nes.jpg[/img]

cool man i have the MMX 300's with the mic... basically the same headphone but there are no air slats on mine. they are so damn awesome... I keep them paired with a FiiO amp at all times because they deserve it.

too this crap picture after i got them


love them

[[xeno]Julios]

No, I'm talking about the sound from each speaker being slightly out of phase with each other, which creates stereo imaging. You can't reproduce it with headphones simply because each ear only hears one stereo channel.

Humans infer the location of a sound source based on many different cues. One of them is difference in time of arrival to each ear (the phase difference you're referring to). If someone on your right is talking to you, the sound will reach your right ear before your left ear. Your brain is sensitive to this difference and can use it to localize the sound source. There are other cues, such as differential attenuation of the signal due to the increased distance the waves have to travel to the different ears, and due to the head shadow.

With a speaker set up, you can get these cues, because each speaker is positioned a distance a way from your ears.

The interesting thing is that with headphones, you can recreate "true stereo" even more precisely than with speakers, by using binaural recording techniques. Using either a dummy head, or a real person's head, you place a separate microphone in each ear. The results are astounding. There are plenty of youtube videos that demonstrate this. The idea is that you can recreate the sound almost exactly as you would have heard it had you been there. It's very similar to 3d video recording techniques.

Here's a good one that explains it too (and uses a real head):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0uGsAksBaY

To summarize (based on my understanding):

Speakers can create stereophonic sound without binaural recording techniques, but it's an artificial (and static) rendering, unless two microphones were used. Binaural recording + headphones = ultimate fidelity in 3d sound reproduction.

Plus, besides stereos imaging, headphones also lose the physiological bass punch that you feel in your lungs, on your skin, and on your clothes. You can feel it on the skin on your ears, but you're missing out on 90% of the experience

interesting, never thought about that. I'm less of a bass whore than most tho

[[xeno]Julios]

cool man i have the MMX 300's with the mic... basically the same headphone but there are no air slats on mine. they are so damn awesome... I keep them paired with a FiiO amp at all times because they deserve it.

love them

nice - from what I understand those are essentially the DT 770 with a mic added. Great cans. I don't have an amp myself - I just plug them into my computer speakers. Would an amp do anything other than allow me to get more volume?

[andyman]

cool man i have the MMX 300's with the mic... basically the same headphone but there are no air slats on mine. they are so damn awesome... I keep them paired with a FiiO amp at all times because they deserve it.

love them

nice - from what I understand those are essentially the DT 770 with a mic added. Great cans. I don't have an amp myself - I just plug them into my computer speakers. Would an amp do anything other than allow me to get more volume?

it will open the full potential of your headphones. buy it!!

http://www.amazon.com/Fiio-E17-USB-Head ... words=fiio

[ToxicBug]

No, I'm talking about the sound from each speaker being slightly out of phase with each other, which creates stereo imaging. You can't reproduce it with headphones simply because each ear only hears one stereo channel.

Humans infer the location of a sound source based on many different cues. One of them is difference in time of arrival to each ear (the phase difference you're referring to). If someone on your right is talking to you, the sound will reach your right ear before your left ear. Your brain is sensitive to this difference and can use it to localize the sound source. There are other cues, such as differential attenuation of the signal due to the increased distance the waves have to travel to the different ears, and due to the head shadow.

With a speaker set up, you can get these cues, because each speaker is positioned a distance a way from your ears.

The interesting thing is that with headphones, you can recreate "true stereo" even more precisely than with speakers, by using binaural recording techniques. Using either a dummy head, or a real person's head, you place a separate microphone in each ear. The results are astounding. There are plenty of youtube videos that demonstrate this. The idea is that you can recreate the sound almost exactly as you would have heard it had you been there. It's very similar to 3d video recording techniques.

Here's a good one that explains it too (and uses a real head):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0uGsAksBaY

To summarize (based on my understanding):

Speakers can create stereophonic sound without binaural recording techniques, but it's an artificial (and static) rendering, unless two microphones were used. Binaural recording + headphones = ultimate fidelity in 3d sound reproduction.

Plus, besides stereos imaging, headphones also lose the physiological bass punch that you feel in your lungs, on your skin, and on your clothes. You can feel it on the skin on your ears, but you're missing out on 90% of the experience

interesting, never thought about that. I'm less of a bass whore than most tho

I'm aware about binaural recordings and I agree that they are really awesome when they are available. The thing is that usually music and movies are recorded with normal mics (either A-B technique or X-Y technique) and those are played back best with speakers.

When I watch movies on my 2.2 speaker setup, I don't see the need for surround because the imaging is already so good. When I listen to live music recordings, they sound amazing, I feel like I'm there with the band.

In the end, I find that headphones definitely have their place and they are great for what they are. At the same time, I haven't used my headphones at home since I bought my 2.2 speaker setup. I still use them at work, though.

[andyman]

I'm aware about binaural recordings and I agree that they are really awesome when they are available. The thing is that usually music and movies are recorded with normal mics (either A-B technique or X-Y technique) and those are played back best with speakers.

When I watch movies on my 2.2 speaker setup, I don't see the need for surround because the imaging is already so good. When I listen to live music recordings, they sound amazing, I feel like I'm there with the band.

In the end, I find that headphones definitely have their place and they are great for what they are. At the same time, I haven't used my headphones at home since I bought my 2.2 speaker setup. I still use them at work, though.

used to have this on a CD when i was a kid and would listen to it over and over... sounded so cool in binaural. was scary back then too.

google the number ISBN-10: 0743571282