When you really want to listen to music, do you prefer headphones or speakers?
And what is a song or album that really lets you appreciate the quality of your headphones or speakers?
I have Sennheiser HD-800 headphones. They are $1000 and they have a very flat response.
They are also angled so it sounds like the music is coming from the front like speakers.
They don't color the sound. They let me hear the music as it was intended.
I use headphones. They say "Audio-Technica" and my house human got them for me so I don't know how much they were, they sound great though and they're really comfortable. It's weird to me when people listen to music and videos out loud, I almost always use headphones because I find it preserves the sound quality and I don't like to bleed into other people's space if I don't have to. If me and my partner listen to music together then I use a lil bluetooth speaker which sounds pretty good. Once in a while we put on music while writing together (if I'm writing alone, headphones are a must). For the most part I prefer headphones though I LOVE to go to a live music performance every once in a while and pick up some of THAT energy! It's been a while, I'm starting to feel the itch again... I don't do it a lot... but it's fun!
Most of the time when listening to music, I do so in my bedroom with an Amazon Echo (aka Alexa) personal assistant.
It is linked to my Amazon Music Unlimited account.
Though it doesn't have every song.
My headphones are open back, so they produce an open soundstage.
I do have a Sony Walkman which produces audio up to 192kHz quality. And my entire library is on that.
I have to use headphones with that.
I actually own 3 sets of headphones. I don't have computer speakers since my cheap pair went out.
So I listen to my computer with my middle-range Sennheiser headphones.
I also own a Google Home Max personal assistant. But I don't have the account paid to play music on it.
It does Google Play, but I don't get to choose the songs.
I have over 150 of my favorite songs on Amazon Music playlist, and around 100 love songs in another Amazon Music playlist.
But when I meditate, I use binaural beats, so I have to use headphones with those.
I am not that sophisticated in my hearing ability. To me a compressed mp3 sounds the same as CD quality.
Normally headphones but if it were possible I'd wear ear protection and be in a room with very good speakers so the sounds could be heard through the flesh.