Why do headphones sound so good...

Why do headphones sound so good...
Although the responses thus far seem diverse, I can honestly say that I agree with every single one of them to at least some degree. To add to the already excellent insights given above (not a loser in the whole lot, imo), I would say:

--Headphones USUALLY are able to retrieve more sonic detail than all but the very finest loudspeakers, as Itball mentions.

--In my experience, headphones do NOT provide a convincing soundstage, presumably for the reasons Shadorne alludes to.

--I personally own both Stax Lambda Signatures AND Stax Lambda 404's (it's a long and embarrassing story as to why I own both sets of cans....), and the speakers I own seem to outperform them in every arena-probably even including retrieval of detail(although I'd like to do more critical listening to test this point). That is saying a lot considering the legendary status of these headphones--Stax makes only one model of higher caliber, which is the Omega II's.

I agree with most of what has been said here regarding both the pros and cons of headphone listening. Just depends on your preferences, and I’m willing to accept their limitations; everything has weaknesses. Personally, I do all of my critical listening through headphones, and I couldn’t be happier. They involve me more in the music than any speaker-based system ever did—and I’ve owned some hyper-expensive ones. Granted, I’ve got a pretty costly rig, but, still, it’s a fraction of the price of my last speaker system.

I believe that it is much easier to reproduce life-like dynamics with phones than with speakers, probably for the reason oft stated above, that there is less air to move. Some experts believe that it is the gulf between the dynamics of live versus recorded music that make it easiest for us to discriminate between them. If that is true, then it follows that phones would get there easier than speakers and be preferred by many.

I also agree with most all of the above.

I would add excellent headphones have very little phase shift, as their single diaphragm moves nearly/almost as one solid piston through the range of 200Hz to >8kHz.

In that same range, most all speakers have hundreds of degrees of phase shift (time delays), which change with the frequency being reproduced.

A lack of time-domain distortion can also be called a high level of time-coherence. This is not the same as phase coherence.

Time-coherent operation goes a long way to revealing the touch on any instrument, the enunciation and inflection in any voice, intense dynamic contrasts, and clarity of the individual artists, almost regardless of what those headphones might be plugged into.

I use the word 'any' in the last sentence, for you should be able to track those characteristics of the performance through any tone range/any performer. Also, any image, as odd as it may be to hear it inside your head, should be stable in any tone range.

If you encounter a tone range where something isn't right about one of those characteristics, you are in a range where phase shift and possibly other distortions are high.

My first truly involving headphones were Koss ESP-9's. Still have them, now with a dead power supply, but someday...

Best regards,
Roy Johnson
Designer
Green Mountain Audio

I would add excellent headphones have very little phase shift, as their single diaphragm moves nearly/almost as one solid piston through the range of 200Hz to >8kHz

In that same range, most all speakers have hundreds of degrees of phase shift (time delays), which change with the frequency being reproduced.

Roy,

Agreed. Minor and gradual (smooth) changes in phase seem to be extremely important in tranducer design between about 300 and 4 Khz (preserving timbre over the senstive mid range frequencies ).

I suspect this is one of the reasons speakers with similar frequency response sound so different. I suspect that another reason stems from differences in off-axis response or dispersion.

So two alike speakers in on axis frequency response can sound totally different. So why do the audio magazines and specs all look primarily at on axis freq response?....go figure!!!

Other factors are IM and harmonic distortion ( again something audio mags rarely delve into and are often horrific in many speakers at higher or realistic listening levels and especially at low frequencies but also, suprisingly, bang in the upper mids/treble where it is most audible (ringing, breakup)...again nobody seems to look at this....go figure!!!)

Further factors are baffle and edge diffraction.....again nobody examines or measures these effects as a test on commercial products....again ....go figure!

BTW: I still have my trusty AKG 240's (1979 vintage Stucio headphones), the first headphones that really blew me away. I think the Koss were stunning too - although I found them a bit heavy/uncomfortable to wear. (However, I do find headphone listening an unnatural sound even if distortion is more easily heard. It is not just the "in your head" sound but the lack of reverberation that I don't like... a certain reverberation of a live room is quite essential, IMHO, in hearing more detail in the music as the reverberations help seperate sounds and let the brain/ear gleen more - so I rarely use headphones as a good pair of loud speakers simply wins hands down!)