How often do you listen to music with headphones?

I really fall in between "rarely" and "never. hate 'em." I do hate 'em, but I use them sometimes -- like when I'm mowing the lawn. Since I've moved some COVID-19 refugees out of the big city and into my home, I've had to give up my listening room for the last couple of months so I've been doing a lot more headphone listening than ever before. I upgraded to some Drop/Sennheiser HD6XX phones and an Atom headphone amp. The sound is better, but I still dislike the experience. It really doesn't deliver any of the things I like about listening to music on the hifi and I find it physically distracting and cognitively dissonant. I'm done spending more on trying to get better sound out of the headphone experience, because putting headphones on my head to listen to music just is a turn off to me. I'm listening to less music than before, and I'm listening less deeply, and it's less emotionally engaging, because I'm relegated to an experience that I don't very much enjoy. I really can't wait until I can go back to never listening with headphones.

 

Aren't we all ?

 

I've been listening to headphones since the late 60's and it's news to me that music wasn't mixed for cans until 20 years ago.

 

Probably about 50:50 speakers and headphones, so I voted “Usually”

I actually prefer loudspeakers for listening, but living in an apartment I use headphones when listening to louder music.

My headphones are Quad ERA-1

 

I own and have owned good speakers but still enjoy headphones. I've been listening to headphones since the late 60's and those old albums mixed before 2000 always sounded good. I think it depends on the equipment a headphone listener is using.

 

And how much you don't mind deviance from correct stereo separation and spatial information. I never liked extreme stereo panning, like what you hear on the early Beatles stereo. It's totally unnatural and annoying. It interferes with my enjoyment of the music. That's mainly what you get with any stereo recording with any significant stereo spread on headphones, unless you own ridiculously expensive Stax cans or something.

But, if you like drums and vocals in one channel, and bass and guitar in the other, knock yourself out.

 

I’ve always enjoyed headphones as well as speakers, but these days they’re even more prominent. Due to the Covid-related crowded house, my wireless Sennheiser PXC 550’s have been handier than ever—both inside and on walks.

The serious headphones come out at night. I’ve got a sublime setup—Denon DL-103–>Thorens TD-160–>Parks Audio Puffin—>McIntosh MA5100–>Schiit Valhalla 2–>Grado extension cable—>Sennheiser HD600’s—for some seriously pleasurable listening. I hit it almost nightly.

Enjoy!

Bill

 

Sorry but a good set of headphones can create a wide, deep soundstage and they don't have to be ridiculously expensive ones. I hate extreme panning also. So thank you and I will continue to "knock myself out". And I hope you continue to "knock yourself out".

 

I think it's a psychological thing, this perception of a soundstage. Personally, with headphones and stereo recordings, I've never experienced anything at all similar to the experience of a 'soundstage' that I hear when listening to speakers (including when using signal processing like cross feeding etc). Binaural recordings can be very interesting on headphones in terms of portraying an illusion of a sense of space and location. But with stereo recordings, I don't anything I think of as a soundstage when I'm listening to headphones. It doesn't matter what phones or types of phones I've ever used -- in ears, closed back, open back. I hear people describe experiences like an impression of a soundstage in front of or behind their heads, when using headphones. Outside of binaural recordings, I've never heard anything like that. Listening to stereo recordings through headphones to me is always kind of like looking at something off in the distance through binoculars.

 

I hate Teams meetings...people are now scheduling these at my work on my off days!

 

This is one of the things I like about headphones.

 

I use headphones when I want to listen to something and my wife cannot be disturbed, or when I am doing some sort of work outside and want music. I by far prefer listening on speakers, but the past few months of her working at home have meant more headphone situations for me. I still said “rarely” because it’s a minority of my music listening, but it’s more than it was in, say, February.

 

I agree that the early Beatles hard panning is horrible to listen to on headphones, but proper stereo recordings simply do not sound that extreme on even modest headphones, and a decent pair of open back headphones in particular do a much better job of creating a soundstage. Not as good as a decent set of speakers, agreed, but not as bad as you suggest.

 

They weren't much better to hear on speakers.

 

I only chose "usually" because there was no option for "frequently". Spend too much time on my fat tuchis at the compyooter, typey-typin' on the HoffyBoard.

However, I still have this backlog of stuff I was auditioning for online radio play, that I never got around to listening all the way through...and most of the new stuff I've bought over the past year-and-a-half, are stashed back behind those! Since I never put away CD's until I listen under cans to them all the way through...I've still got good reason for headphone listening.

 

These days almost exclusively headphones, small kids in the house. I like the way you can really get into the details but I'd say for purely enjoyable listening I'd prefer a good speaker setup.

 

Only when I workout - I use in-ear headphone intended for sweaty use.

 

Since I got some Grado GH 2s, I have been listening on headphones a lot more. Its bliss.

 

I hear you Rockin. Working from home has advantages but I find I work more hours now as people schedule meeting early in the mornings and late at night with Asia.

Just got my daugther Bose NC700 headphones which came yesterday and she loves them.

 

Voted "never" but I don't hate them.

 

I only listen to headphones in the evenings and speakers every chance I get. The older I get the more I don't care for headphones. They make me too hot. I don't like the pressure and the heat on my head.

 

Use them a lot as I have small children and live in a terraced house so I save my hi-fi for weekends when I can crank up the volume and then use headphones most of the week.

Just a pair of PX7's - have to say they do sound geat but since getting my hi-fi they feel very secondary.

 

I have quality floor loudspeakers but my wife likes to go to bed early. I listen to music with Sennheiser HD650s in the evening.

 

I have heard music through headphones. It does not sound natural to me. I have never owned headphones.

 

I listen to music more often on headphones then on speakers