Speakers vs. headphones

My ears are not between the drivers speakers and the enclosure of the speaker..

They are in the room...

My ears are not between the drivers headphone and the shell of the headphone..

The rooms is on each my ears here..

In the 2 case the "room" or shell, i must controls the SAME factors to optimize the experience...mechancal, electrical and acoustical...

Have you ever try to modify an headphone?

If you try you will improve it if you made the right changes..I modify my 7 headphones with success...

But at the end a room can deliver what most shell would never deliver : more lifelike experience of music in a real non confined space filling the room not filling the head...And the intimacy of headphone sound can even be reach in a room ... I did it...

Yes it is a question of tastes and needs... But it is also a question of experience and experiments... At the end any room could beat all headphones IF acoustically well controlled...IF not it is a matter of taste and convenience for sure... Most people dont have a dedicated room to begin with and to do experiments with it...

This is my point ...

Ok i apologize and will mute myself now.... 😊

My deepest respect to you frogman...

mahgister, no need to apologize and please don’t mute yourself.

I am not arguing that one can not improve the acoustic properties of headphone shells, just as one can do so with a speaker. Nor am I arguing that headphones are “better” in any regard; except perhaps in the case of a particular listener who simply prefers that sonic presentation, but that is a subjective call. I am ONLY arguing, that if one can not, or does not have the inclination to treat a room to the extent that there is not a single acoustic “problem”, as perhaps you have been able to achieve, the fact that the output of a headphone driver does not interface with the room acoustic (perhaps problematical, or at least less than perfect) that this is a potential advantage. Again, only relevant if one likes the different sonic presentation that headphones provide.

You are suggesting that the space between the headphone driver and your ears, typically one inch or less and which in high quality headphones is a very controlled “environment” per the headphone’s design, can be as acoustically problematical as a typical listening room with typically problematical dimensions, problematical construction materials, furniture, glass windows, dogs 😊, …..

I’m having a little trouble with that notion. Moreover, if one gives any credence at all to the deleterious effects of acoustic borne vibrations from playback on electronics and playback gear, particularly if one listens to vinyl, that is another potential advantage. This is the reason that home recordings of any medium always sound best when the speakers are not playing while recording takes place.  By extension, I think the same can be said of this potential benefit while listening on headphones.  

I understand your point and you are right frogman...

I salute you and appreciate greatly all your posts...

I am in ecstasy with your Pat Martino recommendation right now and i can forget headphones and rooms...

Thanks to you...

This is the reason that home recordings of any medium always sound best when the speakers are not playing while recording takes place.  By extension, I think the same can be said of this potential benefit while listening on headphones.  

But trust me, headphones vibrate a lot unbeknownst to us like a speaker encxlosure vibrate... And even the headphone band transmit vibrations and crosstalk... 😁😊

Frogman,

As a fellow musician, I certainly respect your judgement as to how real music sounds. I have an important question though:
Can I connect the phone/amp combo to my tablet to use as a streamer, or do I have to hook it up to my system?
I don’t want to have a wire extending across the room from my listening chair.

rv, I don’t see why not.  I use my IPad for headphone listening all the time.  I take the signal from its analog mini headphone jack which goes to RCA’s plugged into the headphone amp.