5.1 Headphones

Interesting Read.

http://www.tomshardware.com/newsletter/vol3/38/zalman.html

Wow - flashback!

JonUrban said:

Wow - flashback!

Click to expand...

What "goes around" (like surround!) "comes around"!

Guy Robinson said:

What "goes around" (like surround!) "comes around"!

Click to expand...

I've gotta hope they'll be better than the several sets of quad headphones I’ve got, all of which seem to be engineered to the following specifications:

1) take the leftover used speakers from the local drive-thru fast ffod window
2) cram them together to reduce separation as much as possible
3) make the containers as uncomfortable as possible to reduce listening time
4) don’t forget to make ‘em ugly!

Oh, well, it just makes me appreciate my speakers more…

Oh, give us some 5.1 electrostatic headphones somebody! Nirvana, here we come!
Scott

There are also other 5.1 headphones from AKG Hearo 999 or Sony MDR 8000, both digital wireless Headphons. The AKG Hearo 999, that I own has a licenced (not virtual) Dolby Digital 5.1 decoder. The sound is resonable but not perfect, probably like Dolby headphone. The Sony is according to tests I read better and has allso a DTS and Dolby Prologic 2 decoder. But you cannot leave the room without loosing touch with the transmitter, it is infrared not digital transmitting. The AKG Hearo 999 is digital.
Timm

Surround Headphones - always an interesting theme. But till now I have never heard with them a true surround-field like produced by loudspeakers. By original quadaphonic headphones the little membranes have back-front only a distance of only 1 inch and the modern will work with electronic circuitries - also not perfect. And how should work a real 5.1 headphone? For the woofer a "bass-shaker" or "tactile" above the head and another before the forehead? I think, we need only here 4 channels with louder membranes by more distance front-left of each side. Is that too difficult for the industry? So this will be a field for own activity. Has one of the readers built self such a real surround-headphone, which I will attempt too in the future? It would be very interesting. Dietrich

I have some big-ass honkin' 70's era quad headphones by Toshiba. They are the only quad headphones I've used that actually manage to give you a sense of quad. I imagine this is due to excessive size of the headphone compartments and the way that four speakers are arranged. While nowhere near as good as a full-room quad setup, they do offer a decent compromise. Unfortunatley, the speakers used are the absolute pits. I've always wanted to update these with modern drivers. I've disassembled them and it doesn't look like it would not be feasible unless I found drivers with virtually identical physical dimensions. So, I've been hoping a modern alternative would come along. These Zalman headphones look somewhat promising...

I have a set being delivered by UPS today . I will give them a try and report the results.

Cai Campbell said:

I have some big-ass honkin' 70's era quad headphones by Toshiba. They are the only quad headphones I've used that actually manage to give you a sense of quad. I imagine this is due to excessive size of the headphone compartments and the way that four speakers are arranged. While nowhere near as good as a full-room quad setup, they do offer a decent compromise. Unfortunatley, the speakers used are the absolute pits. I've always wanted to update these with modern drivers. I've disassembled them and it doesn't look like it would not be feasible unless I found drivers with virtually identical physical dimensions. So, I've been hoping a modern alternative would come along. These Zalman headphones look somewhat promising...

Click to expand...

Hi,
I'm looking forward to the report on these phones also.

I use the DolbyHeadphone algorythm presently and although they certainly will never replace speakers tome, if only because theres something on my head, they have made late nite movie watching much more authentic.

I was joking over at the Denon 5800/03 forum about Dolby and DTS interacting because when I'm watching a movie in DTS and plug the phones in, the faceplate of the Denon reads DTS + Dolby Headphone.

I wonder how that works??

Peter m.

carlane3 said:

I have a set being delivered by UPS today . I will give them a try and report the results.

Click to expand...

Did anyone try to update the drivers in the Toshiba quad headphones yet?

Another thread "out of the woodwork":bounce17:wave:woopie

The only convincing 5.1 and 7.1 surround that I've heard over Stereo Headphones is with the Symth Realiser system. Very realistic - much better than Dolby Headphone and the Quad headphones of the past.
http://smyth-research.com/technology.html