Vote

I live in a headphone free zone, aka single with neighboring homes about 100' from mine.

I hardly ever use headphones anymore. The reason is that i have the house all to myself now. There is no more need for private listening. Sometimes i will take my Grado or Stax phones to the store for critical listening. Hi Fi establishments can be notoriously noisy,and phones can help with new hardware evaluation.

I have a pair of Grado Sr-325i's that I drive with a Ray Samuels Emmeline "The Predator" USB/DAC, I upgraded the Grado's to the larger GS-1000 ear pads, which give a huge increase in comfort, and I think improves the sound. I have re-ripped my entire Cd collection in apple loss-less. This combo has revitalized my love of music. The resolution and sound quality this gives me fits my meager budget, and for what Ive spent, I doubt I could get better sound. Every time I sit down to listen I'm overjoyed with the detailed sound. many of my CD's that used to sound harsh are sweet and musical, putting me into the recording studio, bringing out little details and room acoustics I never heard before. As a USB source, I have an MSI netbook that I upgraded to a 500 gig hard drive. When going mobile I use the predator with my iPod 160 gig classic and a nice IEM Sleek Audio SA-6's, which I upgraded to comfy foam tips Tx-100. In short, I'm loving it. P.S. Ray is a Genius, Cheers Ray, I love you.

I voted hardly at all but then I realized I actually use them more than I thought at first. I have an electronic keyboard and a guitar amplifier that I use my Sony headphones with when I practice. I find my playing is much less inhibited if only I can hear it. I have played things for my wife and she is much impressed. Much more than if she heard me play it badly 500 times over.

As far as using headphones for prerecorded music, I use the headphones probably no more than a couple of times a month. I enjoy music "in the room", more than "in my head".

Over the last couple of months, I have switched almost exclusively to HP listening. (That's music - movies are still from the speakers.)

Why? I did it at first for the practical reason of getting good sound for not much money. That kept me listening until I got past the "it's inside my head" feeling that always turned me off.

Now I'm finding detail I didn't know was there in almost every recording I listen to, and am delighted by that. Not that it's 'analytical,' for the most part. A good amp and HPs are very musical.

Finally, there is lots of interesting, affordable HP equipment to try, and I'm having fun messing around with it.

Scott A.

I use my iPod Touch on the subway, but that's it. OTOH, as my kids get older, my oldest is a college freshman, I have increasingly less quality listening time. So it looks like I will need a quality headphone setup in a couple of years or so.

Back home in Minneapolis and Portland, I was just starting to get into audiophile equipment. I'd purchased a few pieces and played around with small setups for my bedroom, but decided to sell when I moved to Korea for a year.

Here in Seoul, there is ridiculous noise pollution. From the trucks that run through my neighborhood throughout the day that sell food or collect junk, announcing their arrivals via loudspeakers, to every store and restaurant blaring horrible k-pop, and bus rides with my students (I teach English at a K-6 school here), the only reprieve is to slip on a pair of cans.

I have a pair of either SR60s or PortaPros with me at all times. I know, not the best, but serviceable, portable and block out a surprising amount of noise with a little volume. They're great at home too, because the neighbors and stray cats take over when the trucks are done and the stores close down.

I have a HeadRoom desktop amp/DAC hooked up to my PC in my office driving Denon AH-D5000 cans. I probably spend about 8 hours a week listening to FLAC files at work.

I work in a bustling environment and can be soooo nice to retreat into the cans (listening to Tilson-Thomas'SFO recording of Mahler 5 as I type -- ooops, busted reading SP at work!). I got the Denons a few years ago and I love that they are a sealed design: block out outside noise and my co-workers can't hear my tunes.

But, after several hours of listening to cans during the day I can't wait to plop down in front of my Vandy 3A sigs when I get home. I would never choose to listen to cans over speakers in my home environment.

Since I live in an apartment I am forced to limit myself to headphones. I have speakers here, but they are not much of a big deal: a 42 watt subwoofer and a silly (what I thought) 2 watt front speakers, both from Trust. I use them occasionally, but I have to turn the volume down considerably or I'll have neighbours knocking on my door in a matter of minutes. Overall, I prefer good, balanced speakers, but if I really want to relax and dream away into music I'm listening to, I prefer headphones.

so after 11PM off go the speakers and on go the Sennheiser headphones.

Got a pair of Grado 325is headphones to cover all aspects of my primary system. Nice to have a quality made in the USA pair.