Most Amazing Headphone Experience Yet

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ajzepp

Most Amazing Headphone Experience Yet
« on: 31 Oct 2014, 04:44 am »
Hey guys...

I just had the most incredible experience with headphones...I received the new 4th generation Kindle Fire HDX today. The HDX version is equipped with Dolby Atmos, and I admit I was a bit skeptical. But now that I've spent an hour or so with it, I have no hesitation saying that this is the real deal. I have no interest putting tons of speakers in my room to create an Atmos theater at home, but no matter...the headphone experience is amazing. Never have I heard imaging like this through headphones. I've always loved the synergy between the Kindle Fires and my Grados, but this is a very big step up.

Here's the info I posted on headfi in case anyone wants to read more about it...

http://www.head-fi.org/t/740315/kindle-fire-hdx-with-dolby-atmos

charmerci

Re: Most Amazing Headphone Experience Yet
« Reply #1 on: 31 Oct 2014, 08:33 am »
Are you talking about listening to music or watching a video on the Kindle?

FullRangeMan

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Re: Most Amazing Headphone Experience Yet
« Reply #2 on: 31 Oct 2014, 10:18 am »
Do the soundstage are bigger than the HD800??

ajzepp

Re: Most Amazing Headphone Experience Yet
« Reply #3 on: 31 Oct 2014, 12:52 pm »
Hey guys...

To answer your questions, I haven't fired up any music yet...just sampled a bunch of movies that I was familiar with on Netflix so far. I'm going to experiment with some music this weekend, since I'm pretty sure the Atmos is always engaged and applied to all stereo signals. (Haven't confirmed this yet, but pretty sure...)

As far as the sound stage, I'd say it doesn't really make the sound stage larger, what it does is enhance the imaging so that objects in space are better delineated and more 3D in terms of their placement around you. The other thing I've noticed that I'm really intrigued by is that certain sounds - particular vocals/dialogue - are much more natural and realistic. Im guessing it's the fact that the processing better approximates how we naturally hear, but again, Im still learning about this. I'm trying to form as many impressions as I can first and then research everything as to why I'm hearing what I'm hearing.

All I can say is that if you watch a lot of movies with headphones, you will very clearly hear the difference. At least I did...obviously it's subjective just like anything else. And since someone on CNet apparently made some ridiculous comment about how he didn't feel Atmos on a tablet was the same as a fully-equipped Atmos theater, I'll point out the obvious - this is a nice improvement over regular dolby plus/stero with HEADPHONES. As we all know, speakers and headphones provide very different experiences. Nobody in their right mind would ever assert that this is meant to replace an Atmos theater. That's just ridiculous.  :duh:


Noseyears

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Re: Most Amazing Headphone Experience Yet
« Reply #4 on: 31 Oct 2014, 07:17 pm »
Interesting, i also thought the Dolby Atmos was a gimmick after reading this:
http://www.reddit.com/r/audiophile/comments/2agg91/is_dolby_atmos_a_gimmick/

but seems like they have done things right on a mobile environment.

dB Cooper

Re: Most Amazing Headphone Experience Yet
« Reply #5 on: 31 Oct 2014, 07:25 pm »
I hope something comes out for OSX and/or iOS. So far the best thing I have found for OSX is buried in the Vox player prefs and CanOpener for iOS. Looking to learn more about this.

ajzepp

Re: Most Amazing Headphone Experience Yet
« Reply #6 on: 31 Oct 2014, 09:05 pm »
Interesting, i also thought the Dolby Atmos was a gimmick after reading this:
http://www.reddit.com/r/audiophile/comments/2agg91/is_dolby_atmos_a_gimmick/

but seems like they have done things right on a mobile environment.

Given that the state of home theater and cinema audio is already pretty well advanced, I would almost venture to guess that the jump up in the headphone experience will be greater than the jump up in the other. I know not all areas are this way, but I'm fortunate to have some amazing theaters near me, including a state of the art IMAX. So I'm not sure I'd really notice a huge improvement with Atmos at the theater. I could be wrong, but as it stands now the experience is pretty great when I go to the movies. 

I'm excited to try some music out after work tonight. I spoke with Amazon (with the Kindle HDX you can get a little window to pop open with a live person so you can ask tech questions...it's very cool!) and they confirmed that the Atmos processing is always engaged, so I'm curious to see if I notice any difference with music. I'm guessing it will be very dependent on the recording, so I'll try a variety of stuff.

ajzepp

Re: Most Amazing Headphone Experience Yet
« Reply #7 on: 31 Oct 2014, 09:06 pm »
I hope something comes out for OSX and/or iOS. So far the best thing I have found for OSX is buried in the Vox player prefs and CanOpener for iOS. Looking to learn more about this.

That would definitely be cool. I'd love to add this to my iPhone.

dB Cooper

Re: Most Amazing Headphone Experience Yet
« Reply #8 on: 1 Nov 2014, 02:57 am »
Apple doesn't allow 'plug ins' so that means standalone apps would be required. The crossfeed in Vox (Jan Meier parameters) and CanOpener are both very good though.