Could a separates Naim system match the audio fidelity of a £2500 portable player with £1000 earphones?

My kit for travelling (I'm on the road a lot) is a macbook pro running Amarra Symphony into a Chord Hugo with Audeze EL-8... it sounds really good... but doesn't come remotely close to the experience my 252/300 DR/NDX/Hugo TT/RP10/Proac D30R set up delivers.

Not. Even. Close.

I'd rather listen to pretty much any half decent system with normal speakers than anything with set of headphones. 

gary yeowell posted:

I'd rather listen to pretty much any half decent system with normal speakers than anything with set of headphones. 

+ 1

gary yeowell posted:

I'd rather listen to pretty much any half decent system with normal speakers than anything with set of headphones. 

+2, though I have experienced problems with KLM and others, trying to reserve an adjacent seat to accommodate my 552 etc. 

I'll get me coat then. 

gary yeowell posted:

I'd rather listen to pretty much any half decent system with normal speakers than anything with set of headphones. 

+3, my phones sound awesome through my Hugo, masses of detail and put you right in the middle of the music but real music has slam that and feeling that only a speaker can provide.  Phones are great for on holiday and for late night listening but can't compare to a full system imho

I don't understand this focus on detail, and would rather just enjoy the music, something which I find infinitely easier over speakers. 

Both can be very enjoyable and i certainly think a decent headphone system can provide as much enjoyment as a decent home set up. I really enjoy my home system and it's also a lot of fun listening to it with friends. I also run a reasonably high end portable setup that i use at work and this is a much different experience. Very enjoyable still but more intimate and absorbing. Interesting comment about missing the 'slam' of speakers. The Shure IEM's i use deliver very deep, tight bass and are the only phones i've listened to that give me a feeling of the physical bass that i get when i'm listening to speakers.

To be honest as i spend quite a bit of time working, i tend to get to listen to the portable setup more during the week with the home hi-fi reserved more for weekends but i get a lot of pleasure from both 

My own experience is that headphones can make for a good way to enjoy the sound ("hifi") but loudspeakers are the better way to get lost in the music and lose any sense of time. So I agree with HH.

best

David

james n posted:

To be honest as i spend quite a bit of time working, i tend to get to listen to the portable setup more during the week with the home hi-fi reserved more for weekends but i get a lot of pleasure from both 

At the end of the day, the music is indeed what it's all about.

best

David

I echo some of the sentiments presented above. Horses for courses as usual. One may get all the detail he wants with a pair of high quality headphones or earphones. The real question is whether he enjoys the presentation of the headphones or earphones as the listening experience is completely different from a proper loudspeaker-based system. I find the headphone listening experience to be uncomfortable and the sound is "unnatural". I cannot have headphones on my head for prolonged sessions, and I cannot listen at comfortable levels as I would get an ear-ache or headache if I listen at higher levels, whichever comes first.

I used to own a pair of Beyerdynamic T1s with a Meier amp. It was my first proper headphones as I just wanted to see if I would enjoy a proper headphone-based system. It just lasted for less than 6 months before I sold the whole set-up. I figured out headphones/earphones are not for me.

Speakers (at least, full range ones) have to be better at higher volume levels, when you feel the music through your body not just ears. Headphones could never have that lifelike effect. However if you are unfortunate enough to live somewhere with such poor noise insulation from your neighbours that you can't play at the higher levels you like, or have to play with curtailed bass, 'phones might possibly be better.

From the opposite angle, if you live in a less than perfectly quiet place, when you want to listen quietly headphones are likely to be better than speakers, especially closed back ones if particularly noisy environment.

Judging musicality with Hugo is not fair to world of headphones, Hugo is not known for its musicality. 

Try to have a listen DNA Stratus with HD800

Some headphones and some headphone amps are analytical - which is a preference - some are musical some are between. 

Try hi-end tube amp with a HD800, try DNA Stratus, Zana, Cavalli and other millions that i have not tried with HD800 and it will be a different experience from Hugo ( which is main trade is to be DAC and headphone amp is nowhere to compare with its DAC section and it is designed to be "portable" ).  Even Violectric 200 is " warm/musical" amp compare to Hugo which works wonders with HD800. 

It is not to fair also compare 15,000£ Naim stereo set up with a portable gig...  Try to compare it with decent headphone ( maybe a tube one ) amp and using same source. Spending 1/3.  Even my Walkman ZX2 is far but far musical from Hugo if this is the sound you are after, Hugo. 

Stereo and Headphones are like ice cream and pizza, both wonders of human creation  

I agree Dayjay, the Hugo is renown for its musicality and works well with some headphones, but best into a reasonably high impedance preamp in my experience.

I think you need detail with music - otherwise you are listening to some vague representation of the music rather than experiencing more the musical feeling. (Detail doesn't mean simply high frequency accentuation that you get on cheaper equipment - it means micro dynamics, breathability, timbre, subtle expressions, subtle mixing). This combining of real  detail, naturalness and above all musicality stands the Hugo out for me - and depending on headphones works superbly well  - but I do find for longer sessions more generally I prefer speakers - I like to move head around and hear the stereo image move - its just feels more natural. I also like to feel bass - and this apparently is an important part of the listening process for the brain if  the sound is to feel  natural.

However I also use an Apple iPad with a Little Dot MkIII headphone amp (with rerolled valves) driving a pair of Sennheisers HD850... sure its doesn't have the detail of the Hugo and its sheer musicality - but its not bad  at all - and the smoother valve performance compliments the more forward iPad nicely. Not very portable though - but great for bedroom listening

S

I dislike to listen to any headphone set-up, it always leads to cerebral enjoyment.

I don T know But I reckon ears are not the only senses involved in listening ,I believe there must be more affecting our body reaction.

Hd850, a mix of 650 and 800, that would be a star headphone 

I agree with David, HH, Simon and Gary 

I'd say it depends on the player.

If it's one of the Astell and Kerns with their glassy treble via either Sabre or Cirrus Logic chips than I'd say a Nait 5i/CD5i is a more musical performer. Etched treble is not more detail even if it is perceived as such by some people.

A more reasonable comparison for a Naim setup would be something like a Cowon S with a Burr Brown 1792A. The Cd5si uses a BB1793 so there may be more in common. Similarly the Dac V-1 with a BB1791 could be used.

I commute a fair bit (2 setups either AKG K3003/Cowon P1 or Campfire Audio Lyra/Chord Mojo/iPod)  and have a pretty good desktop system at work (Dac v-1/Senn HD650). None of these set-ups enables me to get as close to the music as the home rig. 

One of the issues that you do miss with headphones is spatial cues, which with some music is essential.

regards,

Giles