[Adarsh]

How can you compare the sound quality of headphones with speakers.

Word was out that headphones were cheaper and produced much better sound. I used a Sony MDR-133 (very ordinary Discman earphones) with a Kenwood Amplifier (PC>Amp>Earphones), and I must say it sound excellent for a while, but then I fell victim to "listening fatique" and since then have never really been eager to put the headphones back on again or found it to be better. NOTE that those earphones sound good (no fatigue) with the Discman and I've been using that for more than 3 years.

My experience is based on a 65W 2.1 system, Sony earphones and Amp.

I find that even my very basic speakers have a more lively or natural sound than the headphones and amp...

Is my amplifier to blame??

I don't really see the sound quality as better it has actually degraded.

I was listening to MP3s ripped according to the Uberstandard.

Not clear about something?

[Smeggy]

Comparing headphones to speakers is difficult, I love headphones but I also love speakers. The presentation from each is so fundamentally different that comparisons are really pointless. You will never get the sense of space and the natural presentation from headphones as they are on or in your head. However, a decent set of cans can give you the range and dynamics few speakers in the lower to mid end of the spectrum can reach. Detail is one of the reasons some like headphones, they can be extremely revealing and give a feeling of effortless power.

[Rob Babcock]

I quickly experience fatigue with MP3 no matter what I'm listening to them on, irregardless of the bitrate.

[Mag]

My headphones are more detailed than my loudspeakers which consists of Studio 100's. I haven't had the experience of hearing very expensive speakers but I think that if there is a loudspeaker that compares they would be at least $5000 bucks or more.
   However wearing headphones for an extended time they begin to feel like wearing socks. Eventually you can't wait to get them off so you can air out your ears. And the other downside is you can't feel the vibes, except in your head. I always prefer loudspeakers. But if for some reason I had to sell the speakers. I would still keep the headphones my reciever that has tone controls for headphones and a cheap dvd player. Audiophile sound quality for less than $1500.

[Smeggy]

I'm experiencing something rather curious t the minute. After a long wait I finally got my ASL headphone transformer (speaker out to headphone converter) and even MP3's sound great  

I currently have my laptop outputting to my Panny reciever to the ASL into my Etymotic ER4s and Shure e5 'phones and the difference from the headphone socket is startling. The MP3's never really sounded all that good on an ultimate scale but a lot of the nasty artefacts seem to be much less audible and the dynamics and scale are amazing. Talk about bottomless pit of power and depth. Funny thing is that this is still way below what It will ultimately sound like. So far I'm extremely impressed with the ASL, it's expensive but worth every penny. CD's, MP3's and even Radio sound much better through it. Most headphone sockets are poorly implemented and this setup really shows what your 'phones are capable of. It's also a lot heavier than you'd imagine.

[Smeggy]

Double post