Headphones vs speakers?

[M3thod_Man]

Hello everyone!
I'm new and i've got a ton of questions, so bear with me. First, I'm thinking of getting a sennheiser HD-580 headphones instead of desktop speakers in the next comp i build. Are quality audiophile speakers going to sound good on a computer with whatever high end sound card I get? ANyone have these headphones or similar top of the line and had problems driving them through a sound card? FOr high end sound quality, what cards do you guys recommend? also, anyway i can find out the specs for that specific sound cards power output to a headphone?

Also, on my soundblaster live theres 2 cords going to my sub. I use headphones instead recently and only plug into the light green one... Is it ok to do this? is this output low enough in signal for both my altec subs/speakers and my headphones? the altecs are ACS54's....

Please answer as many of these questions as you can, especially if you personally only use headphones for soundquality purposes on your computer... THANKS!

[LnxMad]

I say get the desktop speakers and work up from there. I think headphones are stupid. You can get way better sounding speakers then headphones.

[M3thod_Man]

None of my questions had anything to do with how dumb you think headphones are... quality headphones can provide much better sound quality acoustics than speakers, especially in my case where there isnt room/ ways to position those speakers correctly for good imaging, etc... can someone who has some actual knowledge under their belt answer some questions?

[Brangwen]

M3thod_Man:

A comment or two, but no specific answers:

I enjoy headphones, as they cannot be beat for "almost studio" sound quality, though the discomfort I derive from being tethered to my computer mitigates in favor of a good speaker system (unless you know of a worthy cordless headset ... I have not looked as I capture and burn CDs on my computer but listen on a nearby stereo).

The quality of judiciously matched and configured soundcard & speaker systems these days rival standalone stereos (IMO). I would search out the 24bit cards on the market, e.g. Creative. Run a "Search" on these forums for many ideas!

Good luck & Welcome to TechIMO!

Brangwen

[shawshank62]

I believe for heaphones, sennheiser is pretty much tope of the line. Good thing about headphones is the space, and nice sound, not to mention you dont bother anyone else.

I have klipsch 4.1 PM for my regular music listening and for gaming i use headphones, just some $30 plantronics with a mic attached and they work great.

For soundcard i suggest Turtle Beach Santa cruz, it is a quality good priced card with many features.
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...118-101&depa=1
To be honest, imo, the difference between 24bit and 16bit is nothing that you would even notice. I wouldnt spend the extra money on 24bit atleast.

You said that space was an issue, i suggest for desktop speakers getting Klipsch PM 2.1
http://store.klipsch.com/details.asp?prodID=36
I have bought PM 2.1 and then PM 4.1 and they are IMO the best 2.1 and 4.1 systems avaialable. And the link i gave you is a great price for those speakers, 200 wats can really kick some ass.

I hope this helps some.

Welcome to Techimo.

[pinipig523]

i dont know but to me, multimedia speakers - no matter which... do not sound good at all. this is due to the limited cabinet size, limited woofer size and bad build quality (i mean you call plastic audiophile quality??? give me a break!).

if you want real good sound on a low budget, go for some quality sennheiser headphones. hd-500 series or 600 series if possible.

as for multimedia speakers... eh.. maybe the promedia 5.1 ultras... but i say you would be much better off buying some quality floorstanding speakers and hooking it to a receiver and then to your computer's soundcard (via digital out and 6channel input).

if you want to see my setup.. just search the my gallery... it is the button right below!!!!!! you wont be disappointed.

[PresterJohn]

Originally posted by pinipig523
but i say you would be much better off buying some quality floorstanding speakers and hooking it to a receiver and then to your computer's soundcard (via digital out and 6channel input).

i think this is going way beyond what the original poster intended. frankly, once you all all that up, that's a fair chunk of change.

i prefer a pair of good speakers over headphones if this is going to be your only music playback method. w/speakers you can 'share' the sound if you have friends over, etc. i have a pair of promedia 2.1s hooked up to a turtle beach sc and get nothing but compliments about how good it all sounds. imo, it rivals mini-sound systems costing $3-400 easily.

[MD1032]

Originally posted by LnxMad
I say get the desktop speakers and work up from there. I think headphones are stupid. You can get way better sounding speakers then headphones.

Care to retract that statement? For 200 bucks, the 580's are audiophile quality. Now, for 200 bucks, find computer speakers that have the same quality or better. NO WAY IN THE WORLD is that going tohappened.

Go with phones, man. If I can't convince you, the people of Head-Fi can.

[RedFury]

Headphones have a great advantage over desktop speakers. Space limitations are null, audio positioning is null, and annoying your neighbors is null.

The wife and I have competing computers in our living room. Imagine what it would be like with me playing BF1942 at the volumes I like ( loud ) vs. her Dark Age of Camelot ( medium ) and the kids watching tv through my stereo system ( substantial ).

Headphones keep the peace. And I share my game experience with my boy by running a splitter in the headphone jack running a couple of half decent $20 headphones....no problems there.

Now, a question back at you.... as you currently have your system set up...are you getting the sub punch while listening to your headphones? IE. the green connection your 'phones are hooke up to normally would be the patch to the satellite speakers?

[PresterJohn]

>The wife and I have competing computers in our living room.

well of course, in a situation like that, headphones would be the sensible way to go...

me, i figure if i'm going to spend a couple of hundred bucks for a sound system, i want to hear the music in other situations other then just when i am sitting in front of my computer, ie. if i were using headphones.

there's pros & cons to either setup...