That's part of it. The other part is that they work as an impedance transformer.
That 'auditorium' can be quite small and still benefit from minimizing (early) room reflections. Like a living room or a den, for instance. Or a home theater.
Bill
If you want HiFi you want headphones. Speakers in rooms is an ill-conceived concept.
This may be true for many. But IMHO you may still have some way to go with speakers, as a good speaker system has the weight and the sound unlike good head phones. Headphones are no substitute.
No room exists that does not significantly distort the signal emitted by the speaker. No speaker or speaker concept will prevent that from happening. One would need to build a near-anechoic chamber in order to significantly suppress that distortion (reverberation time about <200ms). That is simply not practical.
With headphones all of this is irrelevant. Headphones also make you sit in the sweet spot any time, all the time. Individualized HRTFs will allow any room and number of speakers to be virtualized.
"Joy of music"? Can be had with any speaker concept. Just depends on personal preference. HiFi is not a matter of preference though.
With headphones all of this is irrelevant. Headphones also make you sit in the sweet spot any time, all the time. Individualized HRTFs will allow any room and number of speakers to be virtualized.
"Joy of music"? Can be had with any speaker concept. Just depends on personal preference. HiFi is not a matter of preference though.
We listen with more than our ears. There's an acoustic disconnect when listening to headphones, where your acoustic space won't sound "right" because the sound doesn't match the familiar acoustics of the space. This can be more or less of a distraction depending on room, listener, and recording. Additionally, sound is passed through the skin and bones, not just the ear canal, this is especially true of bass. A friend of mine describes headphones as "Solo Sex". They have their place and can be great but the absolutism is just silly.
Regarding horns being the only serious option, some people reach their audio nirvana with fullrangers, and are more sensitive to crossovers than to nonlinear distortion and other artifacts from fullrangers. Speakers ARE a personal thing, and while we can say that they are something where some objective standards of performance are likely to make for a better sound, it's never going to be 100% universal.
Regarding horns being the only serious option, some people reach their audio nirvana with fullrangers, and are more sensitive to crossovers than to nonlinear distortion and other artifacts from fullrangers. Speakers ARE a personal thing, and while we can say that they are something where some objective standards of performance are likely to make for a better sound, it's never going to be 100% universal.
Not sure where this is going. If you cannot feel the music then it will lose some of its content. If you prefer headphones there is another blog that may suit you better.
Hear a different auditory space than the one you're in. Isn't that the holy grail of sound reproduction?
Our job, as recording, mixing, mastering engineers: Take all of the above into consideration. Mixes and masters are primaily done via flat speakers in relatively median and accurate rooms. We then cross check on headphones and earbuds. Reverb timing is almost certainly a product of the "speaker in the room" portion of the mixing/mastering. Phones, though important, are not the primary consideration. The vast majority of all music recorded was intended to be heard through speakers, and the reverb "field" almost certainly reflect this. Were headphones the primary monitor, the vast majority of all mixes would sound quite different. The safest way to hear the mix as intended is through a good flat speaker in a good room, not through phones, although if the eng. Did his job well, they should also sound acceptable. This is just the way it is.
I guess that I'm the "odd man out" on this topic. I really like well recorded Binaural recordings through good, comfortable headphones. The primary problem is getting good binaural recordings of music you enjoy.
The only other problem I've experienced with binaural (or anything else heard through HPs) that aggrivates me, is when you turn your head, eveything turns with it. However, I certainly believe that Binaural is perhaps the only medium that closely resembles the original sound that was recorded.
Just my opinion,
TerryO
The only other problem I've experienced with binaural (or anything else heard through HPs) that aggrivates me, is when you turn your head, eveything turns with it. However, I certainly believe that Binaural is perhaps the only medium that closely resembles the original sound that was recorded.
Just my opinion,
TerryO
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