Are you a headphone or speaker user?

[MattHooper]

Those of us with bad tinnitus and/or hyperacusis are very warey of headphones. They seem to very easily exxacerbate the issues. For one thing, it seems harder to know how loud you are actually playing the volume with headphones, relative to speakers. That's my experience anyway, and I know many others.

 

[Bleib]

Loudspeakers are a far better experience but headphones come to quite a lot of use.

 

[Deleted member 48726]

Both here. Always has been. Now in-ear wireless technology is very good. It was like magic when I tried Apple's airpods pro and turned on active noise cancelling. It's surreal when on a plane or driving and put them in. I have mine calibrated to my hearing loss data (audiogram), which is crazy to me to think is possible. The sound is sublime.

I must say that even though the quality of sound is out of reach compared to in-ears, I still like speakers more. More "physical". Good looking, membranes that move, the mechanical, physical and emotional combination and the fascination that sparked in me as a child is still present. Also the technical side of me loves the infinite options of tinkering and adjusting, searching for the optimal sound that will never exist.

 

[Palladium]

Speakers; I prefer tactile and room filling sound over microdetails.

 

[TonyJZX]

i've always been more about speakers

you know, power amps, preamps, subwoofers, crossovers and HT

but the only reason i got into more serious portable audio is that i spent more time at work with headphones on

i used to listen to music on a work laptop hooked up to a cheap USB dac and IEMs but since I moved to an industry that is noisy then i got into ANC headphones and BT.... I am sometimes left alone that I can listen to a few albums end to end and not be disturbed... except its over 100dB constantly

so I used ANC headphones... which is actively bring it down 30dB and then add music

and really good brand name ANC headphones are so competant now

my go to is the AKG N700NCM2

 

[Somafunk]

Live by myself and have my living room primarily set up with my speakers sub and room treatment so naturally that’s 90%+ of my listening, I do have £2kish of headphone/iem stuff but not used any of it in over a month so thinking of selling it all and just keeping AirPods Pro/max, which to be perfectly honest is just as good for my listening.

 

[617]

I have nice headphones and enjoy the wireless ones while gardening or whatever, but most of my listening is at my computer using monitors!

 

[Steve Dallas]

I suppose I will be late to this party since others are.

Headphones at work and speakers at home.

One thing I do love about headphones is, the isolation allows me to pick out details that are difficult to hear with speakers. I also enjoy higher frequency extension through headphones.

 

[valerianf]

I am using headphones only for Teams meetings.
I cannot enjoy the pressure and heat of a headphone cup on my ears.

 

[Leporello]

I am 30 years old and grew up listening to music via headphones since my early teens. Thus I am very accostumed to it, including the extreme horizontal spacialization. I'm also used to the extreme detail retrieval that headphones make much easier. As bad a headphone may be, it doesnt have to deal with room issue

I find headphone listening much more immersive. I do own a decent Genelec speaker system but it is rarely used. Because of the acoustical challenges of my tiny apartment it is much more convenient to just grab my HD600s and enjoy. Sure, I miss the tactile aspects of sound only speakers can provide but sound reproduction is full of compromises anyway.

 

[Deleted member 48726]

I find headphone listening much more immersive. I do own a decent Genelec speaker system but it is rarely used. Because of the acoustical challenges of my tiny apartment it is much more convenient to just grab my HD600s and enjoy. Sure, I miss the tactile aspects of sound only speakers can provide but sound reproduction is full of compromises anyway.

I agree. I currently have hi-fi components in use in the living room (stereo) for nearly 6.000 USD in new prices. It's sounds good. But I find more immersion and detail in my ANC airpods pro with audiogram adaption. Which I guess is kind of crazy if you think about it, which I tend to not do too much.. Of course I bought everything second hand, but none the less.
I tinker with a minidsp 2x4 HD I bought recently. It has really changed the sound in ways I didn't think was possible.