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RE: headphone advice

Posted by PAR (A) on October 1, 2019 at 06:30:20

In Reply to: headphone advice posted by Dr RAC on October 1, 2019 at 05:43:36:

I am sorry to learn of your hearing difficulties. What you ask is a hard question to answer. What you hear, of course, is not only subject to the headphone itself but also the source driving it.

I do not know much about the headphone output on either Leben or Macintosh amps. However even some quite prestigious brands still implement headphone output by attenuating the main output drive. This can result in odd impedance characteristics , at least for driving practical headphones.

If you are now to be dedicated to headphone listening only then ( subject to the Leben and Macintosh performance) I would consider a dedicated headphone amp along with the headphones. I have two friends also dealing with recent hearing difficulties and one has now totally abandoned loudspeaker listening together with his Spectral amplification and uses electrostatic 'phones with their dedicated electronics as well as dynamic types again with a dedicated headphone amp.

Incidentally, considering your condition, I use what is basically a piece of studio gear for headphone listening, an SPL Phonitor 2 headphone amp. This incorporates a very sophisticated crossfeed system with the ability to manipulate the soundstage ( locations) which may possibly be of interest to you.

In regard to your main question, what you should be looking for in headphones is going to largely depend upon budget and taste in music. Prices these days can range from a few dollars to $55K ( the Sennheiser Orpheus).

If your interest is in classical rather than rock music IMO the choice is more limited as many headphones have a deliberately engineered "smile" response which exaggerates bass and treble that apparently being the preference of many rock/pop fans. It is not so acceptable for classical music. However I am leaping ahead here being unaware of your musical tastes.

The last few years have shown some advances in headphone engineering and there are a number of new technologies on the horizon. Much research has been undertaken ( for example by Harman) into the preferred ear transfer characteristics of headphones compared to speakers and the result is not a flat response as that doesn't actually sound flat! So looking at response graphs can mislead.

If you can give some idea of music preference and budget then I am sure that inmates here may have some recommendations




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