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Just out of curiosity, I decided to watch/listen to some DVD's using my Sennheiser 595 headphones, and I was blown away by the immediacy and detail of the sound! Dialogue was especially effortless and easy to hear, and sound effects were uncanny! Even though it is in stereo, and not 5.1, 6.1, etc., i've gotta say I enjoyed it so much, I will probably use headphones to watch DVD's most of the time now! Anyone else use 'cans' for watching movies?
Follow Ups:
Man, would this solve a lot of problems: No more hassles in finding a place for all of the speakers: Just a 2-channel amp and a good set of headphones, and good binaural recordings can sound frighteningly realistic--imagine watching horror movies this way ;-)
For me, the major justification for HT is the creation of a realistic sound environment that validates and enlarges the visual experience. For this reason, the inability of stereo headphones to recreate any soundstage outside my cranium disqualifies them from consideration. If you want loud, just turn it up.
Kal
The spidey BDs I watched over the weekend delivered such an occasion.
-------------"I have found that if you love life, life will love you back." -Arthur Rubinstein (1887-1982)
There are some available on the market. Always wondered what DVD-A, SACD and DVDs would sound like using them.
this is a great way to damage your hearing at an early age. Take the movie "Master and Commander, as an example. The dynamic range in that soundtrack is huge, and just when you think the dialog is at a comfortable volume, the sharp and deep cannon attacks at high volume happen. This is bad enough for your ears using speakers, but if you listen to a movie like this using headphones, you will be a candidate for permanent hearing loss and a hearing aid at a very early age.
I used to work in occupational health and safety and hearing protection is an issue in that field.
There are standards for occupational noise exposure which are intended to limit the risk of hearing damage. Here in Australia those standards are based on a maximum daily exposure (8 hours a day, 5 days a week) to a continuous level of 85 dBA. Varying levels need to be averaged.
Music and soundtracks do not have continuous uniform sound levels. Brief exposures to loud sounds, ie sounds of the duration of a cannon shot, aren't going to add much to actual exposure levels when 8 hour averaging is done. There is a problem with impulse noise like actual cannon shots but I wonder how close to reproducing genuine impulse noise a speaker system would go. Headphones would probably go closer due to the lower mass of the diaphragm, especially with sealed headphones, so I would think that caution would be needed with such sounds but otherwise the hearing protection picture with headphones is not going to be significantly different to listening with speakers. It's all going to depend on levels and time spent listening. If you listen at the same actual volume levels measured in dB at the ear, not listening with the volume control set at the same point, then listening with headphones should be no more dangerous than listening with speakers.
As for dynamic range, that problem exists with both speakers and headphones and many AV receivers have dynamic compression options (eg "night mode") which can reduce the dynamic range but depending on how they operate they may tend to make speech less understandable. One can only try such options on a disc by disc basis to see if they help.
It's worth noting that the OP said he prefered using headphones because of the greater immediacy of the sound which does not necessarily mean greater volume levels. In fact there's no mention of volume levels in his post, so you're really jumping to a conclusion about the levels he's listening at and their potential hearing impact with no evidence at all when you respond that using headphones is an easy way to damage hearing. As with speakers it all depends on sound pressure levels and exposure times. Yes, you can damage your hearing with headphones but you can damage it also with speakers. Do you tell anyone who says they listen to movie soundtracks using speakers that "this is a great way to damage your hearing at an early age"?
Headphones can be used safely as can speakers. Both can also be used unsafely. Apart from the possible impulse noise issue, movies like "Master and Commander" are going to be no more dangerous on headphones than they are on speakers when listened to at the same volume levels.
David Aiken
.....G’day,
First I will say there is no right in wrong in this so if you like using the cans then go for it!
However, for me, I like to feel the bass hit me in the chest when watching movies – cans simply can’t do that.
For that same reason I don’t use cans with music either, I like big speakers/drivers so you can actually feel the soundwaves hitting your body.
Smile
Sox
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