Topic by Pianoteqenthusiast

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Topic: I wonder, why is it so hard to find right headphones?

- I have learned that some things don’t change, that is, we hear different. And people are used to hear pianos and headphones in a certain way, and we all, hear very differently. And personal preference have influence on how we make a decision, good or not so good  headphones.  And we have different headphones, and even if we all have the same headphones, we still hear differently with them.
   
I wonder, why is it so hard to find right headphones? Do we listen too much to what other people say? Or….?
If headphones could individually adjust their sound settings to the user's ears and head, so that sounds would sound like they were coming from a specific direction outside the head, rather than inside the head as usual - Well, I’m waiting for that day!

I think I have, at least, my seventh headphones now. As I see it, it is difficult to compare the sound from different headphones. And hearing a difference is not necessarily same as one being better.
You should have at least a week with each headphone to notice differences.  Those significant diffirences. How does it feel after a week…?

But with headphones the sound is in our head, and headphones gives left sound channel sound only to left ear, and right sound channel sound only to right ear(unlike standing beside a real piano where the sound come to both ears, maybe not at the same time, and with  that rooms acustics, not at same time to both ears from different directions a.s.o.).

Headphones also can sound different in different ear canals, earflaps, and the size and shape of the head have effect on how headphones reproduce the sound(also interesting, in Ptq binaural mode you can increase the the size of the head, and btw Binaural recording is intended for replay using headphones and will not translate properly over stereo speakers.

But, as with pianosounds, so it is with headphones too. There is no ”one” right, we are all different and hear different.  Different people like different headphones. But thanks to Beto-Music for his question in the other post, It made me think through the problem again and maybe my thoughts will help someone see things they hadn't thought of before.

Best wishes,

Stig

Reply by rasaru

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Re: I wonder, why is it so hard to find right headphones?

I had the same problem, but if you are a Linux user, you can try JamesDSP to improve the sound quality of your headphones.
(I don't know if it's also available for Windows.) You can integrate a database with
measurement curves for numerous headphones. My wife's gift (Bose) sounded much better afterwards.
Best regards

Reply by Key Fumbler

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Re: I wonder, why is it so hard to find right headphones?

Load Pianoteq into any DAW rather than running the standalone. Some DAWs are light on resources and it's basically a click or two extra and that's all.

You can run Reaper with all manner of your own saved templates so Pianoteq could be opened immediately after opening the DAW with memorized EQ curves/FX applied to compensate for any frequency response differences you desire.
Reaper opens instantaneously like the Pianoteq standalone so there is no real convenience difference.
With those templates you could apply internal effects or any manner of third party plug-in effects.

Comfort is the biggest bugbear for me with headphones. Second biggest is the tendency (even at fairly low listening volumes) to hear my tinnitus after spending some time listening via headphones instead of loudspeakers. This happens to me with any and all headphones so I try not to resort to them.

Reply by Pianoteqenthusiast

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Re: I wonder, why is it so hard to find right headphones?

Key Fumbler wrote:

Second biggest is the tendency (even at fairly low listening volumes) to hear my tinnitus after spending some time listening via headphones instead of loudspeakers. This happens to me with any and all headphones so I try not to resort to them.

I also have tinnitus which has gotten a little worse and I live in an apartment where the sound is easily heard by the neighbors. Unfortunately I have to always use headphones.

Best wishes,

Stig

Reply by YvesTh

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Re: I wonder, why is it so hard to find right headphones?

Very interesting. I would add that an essential element of listening with headphones is that, regardless of the quality of the headphones, of the soundstage, or of the binaural signal, information about spacialization due to head movements and even micro-movements is missing. When you play Pianoteq with a binaural preset, your piano moves with your head, preventing true spatialization. When you play without headphones, your head moves continuously and seeks out sound informations through changes in position. The only solution to get around this shortcoming is a head tracker system linked to a software. Nx Wave Head Tracker for example gives very interesting results.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

Reply by sigasa

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Re: I wonder, why is it so hard to find right headphones?

YvesTh wrote:

Very interesting. I would add that an essential element of listening with headphones is that, regardless of the quality of the headphones, of the soundstage, or of the binaural signal, information about spacialization due to head movements and even micro-movements is missing. When you play Pianoteq with a binaural preset, your piano moves with your head, preventing true spatialization. When you play without headphones, your head moves continuously and seeks out sound informations through changes in position. The only solution to get around this shortcoming is a head tracker system linked to a software. Nx Wave Head Tracker for example gives very interesting results.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

I have Waves NX Head Tracker. It works very well.

Warmest regards,

Chris

Reply by Pianoteqenthusiast

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Re: I wonder, why is it so hard to find right headphones?

YvesTh wrote:

. The only solution to get around this shortcoming is a head tracker system linked to a software. Nx Wave Head Tracker for example gives very interesting results.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

Yes, head tracker / head movement system….or..
Video recording ?

By equipping the recording head with a small video camera, its movements could be recorded synchronously with the recording. This would make it easier to listen to the recording, as there would also be information about the position of the head provided by the sense of sight.
……or am I completely misguided? Don’t know about NS headtracker…
(sorry if bad english, using Google translate)

Best wishes,

Stig

Reply by YvesTh

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Re: I wonder, why is it so hard to find right headphones?

Wave nx ht simulates the sound of monitors in a recording studio, and the tracker follows your head movements, so when you listen while turning your head, the virtual monitors remain fixed in space (sensation is very impressive). To be perfect with Pianoteq, the tracker would need to control the position and orientation of the headphones in the binaural preset. A long discussion in the forum suggested some ideas. https://forum.modartt.com/viewtopic.php?id=9602
Yves

Reply by dubc

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Re: I wonder, why is it so hard to find right headphones?

Key Fumbler wrote:

Load Pianoteq into any DAW rather than running the standalone. Some DAWs are light on resources and it's basically a click or two extra and that's all.

You can run Reaper with all manner of your own saved templates so Pianoteq could be opened immediately after opening the DAW with memorized EQ curves/FX applied to compensate for any frequency response differences you desire.
Reaper opens instantaneously like the Pianoteq standalone so there is no real convenience difference.
With those templates you could apply internal effects or any manner of third party plug-in effects.

Comfort is the biggest bugbear for me with headphones. Second biggest is the tendency (even at fairly low listening volumes) to hear my tinnitus after spending some time listening via headphones instead of loudspeakers. This happens to me with any and all headphones so I try not to resort to them.

That's my DAW of choice also. Its really amazing.