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Are you a headphone or speaker user?

Which way do you consume your music?

  • I mostly use speakers.

    Votes: 238 53.6%
  • I mostly use headphones.

    Votes: 109 24.5%
  • I use headphones and speakers equally.

    Votes: 97 21.8%

  • Total voters
    444

nm4711

Member
Joined
Mar 18, 2019
Messages
96
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142
I'am definetly a speaker guy, but I do listen to Headphones quiet often, mostly when traveling by train and doing sports.
 
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bunkbail

Addicted to Fun and Learning
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Feb 27, 2018
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520
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662
Used to be a headphone guy, but since I got my Q350 my headphones get very little of use time. Always impressed how the sound images from the back of the speakers, like, how?
 

frogmeat69

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Apr 25, 2018
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Location
Western New York, USA
Mostly headphones, don't really turn up the volume in my building as much as I would like, try to be nice to my neighbors. Plus, my headphone gear is pretty sweet sounding.
 

MattHooper

Master Contributor
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Jan 27, 2019
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I have to say: the fact I always listen to music on speakers is due somewhat to circumstances that allow that. It just occurred to me how lucky I am to live in a full, detached house. I remember when my wife and I moved in to this house (our first - we skipped the starter-home thing) from an old apartment, the first thing I did was set up my system, crank the volume, and step outside to listen. Pure silence. Nothing that could ever bother neighbors. Coming from an apartment where we always had to be mindful of music volume and neighbors above and below us, this was
F-R-E-E-D-O-M at last!

I can certainly see how high quality headphones can be a nice option for those in situations where playing as loudly on speakers will bother other people.

(I'm also very fortunate that my wife sleeps like a rock. My system is actually right below our bedroom and if she goes to bed early and I stay up listening, she sleeps blissfully through it. A talent I wish I had as I'm not a great sleeper).
 

dkfan9

Member
Joined
May 15, 2019
Messages
54
Likes
26
Location
Columbus, Ohio
I have to say: the fact I always listen to music on speakers is due somewhat to circumstances that allow that. It just occurred to me how lucky I am to live in a full, detached house. I remember when my wife and I moved in to this house (our first - we skipped the starter-home thing) from an old apartment, the first thing I did was set up my system, crank the volume, and step outside to listen. Pure silence. Nothing that could ever bother neighbors. Coming from an apartment where we always had to be mindful of music volume and neighbors above and below us, this was
F-R-E-E-D-O-M at last!

I can certainly see how high quality headphones can be a nice option for those in situations where playing as loudly on speakers will bother other people.
We got our first house last November after apartment living for years. This feeling is very fresh in my mind.
 

cjfrbw

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 5, 2018
Messages
410
Likes
472
I use both. My headphone use would be less, except at the second home, which is smaller and is close to the neighbors, I can't let a speaker based system rip very often, so I mostly use headphones there.
 

Bob-23

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 3, 2019
Messages
425
Likes
379
Location
Berlin, Germany
Having found good headphones (Sennheiser HD6-Series) about 7 years ago, I stopped listening to speakers nearly completely. I like the clarity and intimacy of headphone listening. No room interferes, you're always in the sweet spot, and, apart from that, no neighbor disturbed in the night. Crossfeed is essential for me.
 
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D

Deleted member 4987

Guest
Much prefer speakers but public transport necessitates that 50% of my listening is on headphones and I love them too.
 

Kal Rubinson

Master Contributor
Industry Insider
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Joined
Mar 23, 2016
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NYC
I have to say: the fact I always listen to music on speakers is due somewhat to circumstances that allow that. It just occurred to me how lucky I am to live in a full, detached house. I remember when my wife and I moved in to this house (our first - we skipped the starter-home thing) from an old apartment, the first thing I did was set up my system, crank the volume, and step outside to listen. Pure silence. Nothing that could ever bother neighbors. Coming from an apartment where we always had to be mindful of music volume and neighbors above and below us, this was
F-R-E-E-D-O-M at last!
We are fortunate to have both an apartment and a fully detached house and, although I am aware of and respect my neighbors at both locations, I do not realize any constraints on how loud I play my music at both locations. There have been no complaints from neighbors so far. It is certainly possible that my system could play loud enough in the apartment but that would be louder than I would enjoy. The only limitation is that I do not play the system loud in the middle of the night and the reason is that I, too, am asleep then. So, no need for headphones.
 

zoozilla

Member
Joined
Feb 11, 2019
Messages
9
Likes
4
Location
Japan
As someone who is young, poor, and living in a small apartment, I listen almost exclusively with headphones.

I look forward to turning up the volume on a high quality speaker system in my own house 20 years from now.
 

Nango

Major Contributor
Joined
Aug 6, 2018
Messages
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985
Location
D:\EU\GER\Rheinhessen
I am a a speaker guy forced by circumstances to listen mostly to headphones ( I have several, but the mainstays are HifiMan HE560 and HE6) . I have never been annoyed by the "music in the head" presentation but long very much for a return to full range, high accuracy speaker system in my life.

In-head-localisation with headphones is indeed an issue for the most of us.
 

JJB70

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Aug 17, 2018
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Singapore
Both, but more headphones than speakers. I like speakers but it is difficult to use them as I would like because the time of the day when I get "me time" tends to be after the kids have gone to bed. Most of my speaker use (other than car audio) is the KEF active speakers in my home office when I work at home. I also travel a lot so I use headphones a lot more than speakers.
 

Bob-23

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 3, 2019
Messages
425
Likes
379
Location
Berlin, Germany
In-head-localisation with headphones is indeed an issue for the most of us.
When you're used to listening to headphones you may not notice that at all - I don't have the slightest problem with that, but, of course, we're all different... A crossfeed-filter may also be very useful, at least for me it is!
 

Bob-23

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 3, 2019
Messages
425
Likes
379
Location
Berlin, Germany
As someone who is young, poor, and living in a small apartment, I listen almost exclusively with headphones.

I look forward to turning up the volume on a high quality speaker system in my own house 20 years from now.

As long as you're waitiing - in the case you're not satisfied with your current headphones - you might try the Superlux Hd662-Evo, which have an incredible (sound)value for the money. They are easy to drive, you don't need a particular amp (36 Ohm impedance) - a laptop should be sufficient. But do Solderdude's (very easy and reversable) mod which is described on his website DIY Audio Heaven. The phones have one weakness though: the cable is goin' to break just behind the earcup after a year or so - repair is no problem at all if you have a soldering iron or know somebody who has one, and there's also warranty, of course...
 
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Sgt. Ear Ache

Major Contributor
Joined
Jun 18, 2019
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4,150
Location
Winnipeg Canada
Thanks to divorce a few years back, I'm in a 2 bedroom apartment now and I'm very cognizant of noise. When I moved in I decided I was going to be a headphone guy and I got myself a set of HE400i's which I think sound absolutely great. I've since added a couple other sets of headphones and a couple different amps and dac's and I'm mostly very happy listening to them. However, recently I decided it would be nice to listen to music "over the air" without being tethered to anything so I put together a cheap little micro system consisting of Micca MB42x speakers and one of those little chi-fi amps. Considering the cost and size of the rig it sounds shockingly good and it fills my bedroom with sound very adequately. I enjoy listening to music the "classic" way again. But I still have to keep the volume down pretty low...
 

Tim6622

Member
Joined
May 11, 2019
Messages
35
Likes
51
Location
L.A. area california
Headphones were my first investment into this audio hobby in late 2017. I started off with cheap dac and the ATH m40x (now I have the takstar pro 82, hd58x,) that inspired me to invest $1k in a"budget speaker" system with the elac f6.2 and their sub3030s to match.
I prefer those speakers much more than my headphones.

Nowadays it's 70% speakers and 30% headphones.
 

kn0ppers

Active Member
Joined
Jul 4, 2019
Messages
192
Likes
258
Location
Germany
Since I have near-field studio monitors on my Desk, I listen to those quite often. Should be about 50/50 overall.
 

RedFuneral

New Member
Joined
Jul 9, 2019
Messages
3
Likes
0
I've been a headphone listener since the start with a few year long honeymoon into speaker land. I'm operating out of a bedroom and space is at a premium, I returned to speakers when I realized how critical the room was to get the speakers sounding right and how much space was wasted arranging the room around proper acoustics. That and sitting in front of a computer monitor pretty much mandates headphones unless you're ok with a nonexistent center image.
 
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