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This is sad. But it's quite true.

Well... But, still. Imagine if the cable is semiconductor. OK, probably a semi-semiconductor then. You get the idea. You never know. It’s best to trust your ears!

Thanks. It is a consideration.

However, note that one of the first things I do when modifying a VST (Pianoteq) or a sound on my MP11SE is to reduce the bass volume and eq.


Now, that may not mean that speakers with more bass capability wouldn't help (headphones have more bass capability) in some "mysterious" way so it is still a consideration.

Any idea is considered at this point.

Even if you often turn down the bass, I would still agree that you need larger cones to get the best out of Pianoteq. In any case, the sound coming from headphones with never be the same as the sound that comes from monitors. Two completely different animals. That's why people, in creating a mix, listen both through monitors and through headphones.

That is true, apparently.

The question I have is ….

Will anything approximate the sound the comes through headphones ?

Or is that just a fantasy perpetrated by the sound industry to generate sales ?

Or is it possible to do but just so encumbered by such a multitude of variables so as to render it basically impossible to achieve by one without an sound engineering degree ?

+1.

Expecting your monitors to sound as your headphones is unreallistic. But, I'm still pretty sure that you should get a sound you like with them.

Also as stated above, it never hurts to have as low a possible bass extention, even if you use to turn the bass down (flat frequency extention of course, otherwise boominess can ruin everything). Maybe the warm frequencies are in that low region your current monitors can't reproduce.

Perhaps it's worth a shot trying monitors with bigger woofers somewhere, or buying and sending them back if you don't like them if that's possible.

My bookshelf speakers and headphones sound similar to me. That is probably a function of: setting specific audio goals, the room, my personal preference for a "type of sound," and plenty of luck.

The speakers have "improved" crossovers and are connected to a class a/b amp; both are decent quality and were inexpensive when I purchased them a decade ago. I spent a lot of time measuring and setting up the room. Luckily the room sounds pretty good on its own so that was more of a vocational education than anything. You can search my posts for simple speaker setup and room tweaks that worked for me. This is more voodoo than any science.

The Sony headphones are open-backed, have big 70mm drivers and some odd-ball resistor network. They sound very similar to speakers but are less visceral than loudspeakers are, particularly for loud music with lots of low-frequency content. Alas, these were only sold in Asia.

PD - I also use a big subwoofer on occasion; that wakes things up and is a lot of fun. The headphones don't play in that arena. The subwoofer was expensive and very difficult to setup properly (it is easy to plug in but difficult to integrate into the room). If you go down that path you might research such impact as: proper placement, house curves, the old loudness buttons for low volume listening, and maybe dropping the "volume" a bit after set up so the sub disappears into the room. For piano, where there is not so much low frequency material, larger speakers/monitors might just be easier than smaller speakers & subs.

This gets expensive and complex and time consuming...fast.

What are the differences between your headphone sounds and the speakers you're looking for?

Hopefully, no differences.

What was the atmospheric pressure like when you tried? And can you confirm you didn't try it on a Thursday? These things only work on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, as long as Venus isn't too close to Mars that is.

Couldn't this have just continued in the other thread?

DMD, you should just get a real piano

What happened to your spacestation that went only down to 100Hz but you were really enthusiastic about ( which to me seems very strange) ?.

You also liked the ES8 internal speakers, while they may be okay I can't follow why they are okay and a set of monitor such as your focals are falling short. I am completely lost about your journey and the rational why you like A but not B.

It is a fact that is hard to beet any headphone even at modest price for detail/ resolution,that will be one factor for you perhaps.

Have you tried to measure the room and then EQ your speaker to be like the hd555 perhaps ? Personally I think eq here on the forum is often overrated and hyped as if "flat" is everything, it is not going to make one speaker sound the same as the next in any case, but it will help with some issues, perhaps add some room treatment if possible.

Anyway, you wont get the extension out of the 4 inch cms, but there again if you were happy with the spacestation bass extension who knows ... I am once again lost.

It's like a meandering river

.. but I hope you work it out .. good luck.

That's a good point.

He likes his es8's internal speakers which probably have less low end than his current focals. Maybe it's not related with low end then, and more related to over bloated mids. I don't know about the es8 speakers but generally slab dps can't reproduce high and lows frequencies very well, which may result in a warm, lo-fi sound (but also muddy and muffled).

It is puzzling to be sure.

Well, here is my latest meander …..


During my "Testing and Comparing" sessions I wanted to be sure I was comparing apples to apples and oranges to oranges.

I discovered that I was not.

I was listening to the sound through my headphones which were attached to my headphone jack on the MP11SE.

I was listening to the sound through my Focal 40s which were attached to my LINEOUTs in the back of my MP11SE.

It appears that those sound sources are not identical.

When I attach my headphone jack to a mixer and my LINEOUTs to the same mixer and then the mixer to Focals and attach my headphones to the mixer ….

I hear the SAME SOUND in the headphones and through the Focals.

Maybe not perfectly the same but close enough so I am not displeased to the level I was previously.


So, now …. I think my Focals are probably fine. LOL …..

I cannot attach any particular logical meaning to this but it is what it is …. for now.

As you say ….. meandering.



As for my Spacestation …. I still like the sound it delivers but do not really need it anymore …. I will sell it.