Songs best listened to with headphones

#22
Too tough to narrow down, but as far as songs not best listened to with headphones...

Recordings with instruments panned completely left or right, especially if it's several instruments. I'm not a fan of hearing guitar in just my left ear and horns in just my right ear, to give an example of what I mean. Those recordings are better listened to with speakers. Just make sure you're not too close to one speaker and too far from the other.

All IMO, of course!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jeff Scott and jerry
#23
Mannyinnewyork said:
I think everything sounds better with a good pair of phones but I'll play along:

Blade Runner soundtrack (Vangelis)
The Yard Went On Forever (Richard Harris /Jimmy Webb)
Theme from the original Magnificent Seven (Elmer Bernstein)
My Name Is Nobody - Main Theme (Ennio Morricone)

There are about 10,000 more but . . .
Click to expand...
That is me, my listening habit is mostly headphones. Since I was a kid it was my daily world-go-away ritual.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mannyinnewyork
#24
FilterFunk said:
Too tough to narrow down, but as far as songs not best listened to with headphones...

Recordings with instruments panned completely left or right, especially if it's several instruments. I'm not a fan of hearing guitar in just my left ear and horns in just my right ear, to give an example of what I mean. Those recordings are better listened to with speakers. Just make sure you're not too close to one speaker and too far from the other.

All IMO, of course!
Click to expand...
I'm on the other side of that, I still dig listening to albums recorded when stereo first came around and producers were pan-heavy. I loved it as a kid, still do. I actually think using the whole spectrum is missing in today's overly dense mixes, in my opinion.😎
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jeff Scott and FilterFunk
#25
jerry said:
I'm on the other side of that, I still dig listening to albums recorded when stereo first came around and producers were pan-heavy. I loved it as a kid, still do. I actually think using the whole spectrum is missing in today's overly dense mixes, in my opinion.😎
Click to expand...
I'm more a fan of what I call the judicious use of panning, but to each his own!
 
  • Like
Reactions: jerry
#31
When I bought my first stereo in '69 or '70 my Pop very wisely sprung for a set of Koss K6 headphones, probably to keep the peace in the household but it led me down a path of discovery and blissful listening that continues to today. I have a bunch of sets of headphones, mostly Koss that get daily use.

Sgt Peppers always takes me back to the moment I discovered that Music is my drug of choice. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - Wikipedia
 

Attachments

  • Koss K6 headphones used by Jimi Hendrix.jpg
    Koss K6 headphones used by Jimi Hendrix.jpg
    227 KB · Views: 2
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: jerry, WRM, Jaygetsreal and 1 other person
#37
Mannyinnewyork said:
I think everything sounds better with a good pair of phones
Click to expand...

I used to concur...until I had the good fortune to start hearing remarkably high-quality 2-channel audio systems set up and calibrated in purpose-built listening rooms and/or control rooms. Good speakers -- really good speakers, not like "oh this is BestBuy's top-of-the-line" but more like "this is what Bob Ludwig uses in his mastering studio" -- in a properly treated room can provide superior detail, immersion, fidelity, and sheer excitement to even the very best headphones, without the My Ears Are Getting Sweaty! downside.

Of course, it also costs a metric crap-ton of money to achieve that superiority, so I totally get the appeal of headphones. If I had unlimited wherewithal, I could either have myself one of these superior 2-channel speakers in purpose-built treated room systems, or I could have a pair of Stax's top-of-the-line electrostatic headphones ...with enough money left over to take a vacation cruise around the world. Three times.

But in answer to OP's question: Any of the recordings on the Telarc label. Their engineers' ability to capture natural ambience and soundstaging is uncanny.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jerry
#38
Bob_Ross said:
I used to concur...until I had the good fortune to start hearing remarkably high-quality 2-channel audio systems set up and calibrated in purpose-built listening rooms and/or control rooms. Good speakers -- really good speakers, not like "oh this is BestBuy's top-of-the-line" but more like "this is what Bob Ludwig uses in his mastering studio" -- in a properly treated room can provide superior detail, immersion, fidelity, and sheer excitement to even the very best headphones, without the My Ears Are Getting Sweaty! downside.

Of course, it also costs a metric crap-ton of money to achieve that superiority, so I totally get the appeal of headphones. If I had unlimited wherewithal, I could either have myself one of these superior 2-channel speakers in purpose-built treated room systems, or I could have a pair of Stax's top-of-the-line electrostatic headphones ...with enough money left over to take a vacation cruise around the world. Three times.

But in answer to OP's question: Any of the recordings on the Telarc label. Their engineers' ability to capture natural ambience and soundstaging is uncanny.
Click to expand...
Well, maybe you are correct, but I can take my phones out onto my porch, into my bedroom, into the living room etc. - anywhere I want. So there's that.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Bob_Ross and WRM
#39
Bob_Ross said:
I used to concur...until I had the good fortune to start hearing remarkably high-quality 2-channel audio systems set up and calibrated in purpose-built listening rooms and/or control rooms. Good speakers -- really good speakers, not like "oh this is BestBuy's top-of-the-line" but more like "this is what Bob Ludwig uses in his mastering studio" -- in a properly treated room can provide superior detail, immersion, fidelity, and sheer excitement to even the very best headphones, without the My Ears Are Getting Sweaty! downside.

Of course, it also costs a metric crap-ton of money to achieve that superiority, so I totally get the appeal of headphones. If I had unlimited wherewithal, I could either have myself one of these superior 2-channel speakers in purpose-built treated room systems, or I could have a pair of Stax's top-of-the-line electrostatic headphones ...with enough money left over to take a vacation cruise around the world. Three times.

But in answer to OP's question: Any of the recordings on the Telarc label. Their engineers' ability to capture natural ambience and soundstaging is uncanny.
Click to expand...
A lot of the Telarc recordings were also direct to disc without any overdubs. Great sounding stuff!😎
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Bob_Ross
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back