[Community of A/V Enthusiasts]
Dedicated Headphone Systems
Recently I've started to work on building up a dedicated headphone system to supplement my main AV system. As a programmer, I spend 8-10 hours a day staring at a computer screen and have to spend time in an environment where speakers would not be appreciated, or possible. Now it's pretty easy to build up a high quality headphone system for not too much money: computer storage is cheap enough that I have all 400+ albums stored as FLAC, USB DAC's can offer a considerable improvement in sound for $200 or less, and a set of headphones that you can get for $300 will offer far better sound than a pair of speakers you would buy for the same price.
I have one friend that has a dedicated headphone system for his work (using an iPod with lossless audio, a portable amp, and AKG headphones) and all of his coworkers look at him like he is crazy to spend $300 on headphones, though he has a work setup that probably sounds better than any of their home theater setups. Does anyone else run a dedicated headphone setup for their main or secondary systems, or are they just an afterthought for when they are not in front of their main theater?
I have one friend that has a dedicated headphone system for his work (using an iPod with lossless audio, a portable amp, and AKG headphones) and all of his coworkers look at him like he is crazy to spend $300 on headphones, though he has a work setup that probably sounds better than any of their home theater setups. Does anyone else run a dedicated headphone setup for their main or secondary systems, or are they just an afterthought for when they are not in front of their main theater?
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Thebesthereis on -
I spent "close" to $700.00 on my Grado RS1 just to commute back and forth to work via subway. I use them nearly year-round except for the summer months when wearing them can be a bit cumbersome (due to the length of the wire and nowhere to stash it) and thermogenic (due to the cushions) which leads to added sweltering conditions. During the summer months or whenever it's too hot out or just not practical (depending on where I'm going) I use my Shure SE530PTH earphones. I'm running it with my Archos AV500 portable DVR. About 40% of the music is ripped to a "loss-less" audio format due to HDD size. It's only a 100GB hard drive so in that aspect, I can fit more music in it if I compromise with MP3s for the music that doesn't necessarily "need" to be in a loss-less format.
-
Permalink Reply by T. Rodney Tatum on -
I own The AKG K701's, but not for a dedicated two-channel system. I use them in a dedicated theater system when listening to music during the wee hours of the morning. My sons use wireless Sennheiser's in their rooms for game playing. Everyone but me uses earbuds for portable music needs.
-
Permalink Reply by Chris Heinonen on -
Are you running a dedicated headphone amp for your AKG's? They are well known for being very bass-light (and compared to a pair I'm reviewing right now, they are very shy in comparison), but there are certain amps that they pair really well with that play to their strengths (soundstage, tonal balance) and can really help to make up for their weaknesses, mostly by improving the bass. A new amp for them is probably my next purchase, once I discover if my cubicle mates can deal with the open nature of them.
T. Rodney Tatum said:I own The AKG K701's, but not for a dedicated two-channel system. I use them in a dedicated theater system when listening to music during the wee hours of the morning. My sons use wireless Sennheiser's in their rooms for game playing. Everyone but me uses earbuds for portable music needs.
© 2009 Created by Secrets of Home Theater and HiFi
