Slightly OT - The joy of music without headphones

[Bif_]

Working late a few nights, I recently plugged the phone into my Korg plugkey and fired up Spotify on my music room setup. I rarely listen leisurely on that setup (Event monitors with a sub). Wow, I was so accustomed to listening through earbuds or in the car, I forgot how great music sounds in a room, through nice speakers. REFRESHING!

 

Back in the day, with my home stereo/big a$$ floor speakers, listening to music was something you did. Now, for most people, listening to music is something you do while doing something else. 

 

Yeah, I'm working while listening, but it's so much nicer hearing sound "in the room", enveloping the whole space. 

[Leroy C]

Oh, yeah.  When I was growing up, my Dad had a whole room devoted to his hifi system, with four (!) Marantz Imperial G6 speakers mounted in the four upper corners of the room.  We'd hang out there and just listen to music, maybe while playing pool, but often just sitting and listening to Moody Blues, Supertramp, Beatles, you name it.  

 

I need to turn off the damn TV and do more of that sort of thing ...

[TommyRude]

3 hours ago, Bif_ said:

Working late a few nights, I recently plugged the phone into my Korg plugkey and fired up Spotify on my music room setup. I rarely listen leisurely on that setup (Event monitors with a sub). Wow, I was so accustomed to listening through earbuds or in the car, I forgot how great music sounds in a room, through nice speakers. REFRESHING!

 

Back in the day, with my home stereo/big a$$ floor speakers, listening to music was something you did. Now, for most people, listening to music is something you do while doing something else. 

 

Yeah, I'm working while listening, but it's so much nicer hearing sound "in the room", enveloping the whole space. 

From Chatbot:

 

It's great to hear that you had a positive experience listening to music through your Korg plugkey and speaker setup! Listening to music through high-quality speakers can definitely be a more immersive and enjoyable experience compared to listening through headphones or small speakers. The sound quality and depth of sound that can be achieved with a well-designed speaker system can bring out subtleties and nuances in the music that may be lost when listening through other sources. Additionally, listening to music in a room can create a more relaxed and intimate atmosphere, allowing you to fully enjoy and appreciate the music. So, I'm glad that you found this experience to be refreshing and enjoyable!

[BenWaB3]

Some of it can have to do with the "novelty" of the change. My usual morning routine is reading the paper (and if that statement doesn't age me I don't know what will 🙂 ) while listening to the stereo. A recent change has brought about the situation where I sometimes need to wear headphones instead of listening through speakers. It opens up a level of detail not achieved by the speakers themselves and I really like that change. I can remember though when I had to use headphones all the time and what a novel (and positive) difference it made when switching to speakers. We can get used to something, in this case speakers vs. phones, but it can apply to many other areas of life and trying something different can be very refreshing.

[bill5]

Frankly I hate headphones or anything else anywhere near my ears, always sensitive that way, so unless I'm recording, speakers are the only way I go...in a way I guess that's lucky. 

 

OK so sometimes it's PC speakers but mine rock   

[o0Ampy0o]

I invested in an audiophile system because I love music and wanted to protect my hearing. It is so stimulating and misses something significant if it is not open air in the right environment with a quality system. But I had to eliminate it due to practical matters.
 

Apple eventually did do a lot to advance portable sound with iPods and iPhones (I only tried earlier earbuds and wasn’t impressed but they receive attention for getting better but I have no experience with newer versions). This even considering so much of the material is compressed. I have tried top tier headphones. Sometimes I am surprised at how good a consumer level kiosk display can sound when I have searched much more pricey gear for a similar headphone experience. Maybe those are using much better gear than I expect? But what I have ended up buying has been disappointing.

 

I would have an open air system if I lived where I could listen and not be heard by anyone. People are their rudest when it comes to playing music around other people. Babies cry and are possibly traumatized at a stop light when some weenerhead pulls up with thumping bass. I have not forgotten when I was with my parents at a fair and what it was like once the fireworks started.  I tried to climb under the seats to get away. I was maybe 3 or 4 and it seemed like bombs exploding. There was nothing like contemporary car bass speakers in those days.

[Theo Verelst]

Tommy you ought to quit with textbot AI and sh*t, Elon warned us it's a dangerous enemy!

[PianoMan51]

Great subject. One question for everyone is “have you listened to headphones with SLAM?”

 

I have two nice, but not ‘ultra-level’ headphones.
 

The AKG K701 sounds great with classical and acoustic tracks, but misses the physical impact of great speakers with bass and drums. You hear the lows clearly but you don’t feel them.

 

The Hifiman HE6se v2 sounds almost as good as the K701s for classical, but brings a whole lot more of the ‘slam’ of the bass and drums to your ears. By slam I mean that physical kick you get by being near a bass drum or bass amp on stage. You feel the kick drum as well as hear it. This brought listening pleasure to tracks that I had lost interest in when listening with the K701s. I spent weeks re-listening to recordings that had become fun again.

[Anderton]

Has anyone tried the "virtual control room" plugins to get more of a room sound with headphones? Of course, it's not the same thing as speakers, but it's not the same as headphones, either.