George Marshall wrote: >What I do notice is that some recordings, and some labels, sound better >on headphones than others, though the same may not be said of hearing >the same records through loudspeakers. But I have the idea (tell me if >it is false) that recording engineers who mix the sound do so with >headphones over their ears, and, if that is the case, the argument that >commercial recordings are designed specifically for loudspeaker listening >seems a bit unconvincing. > >Meanwhile I will not part with my Sennheiser HD600s, even though I did >confuse Rossini with Weber while wearing them. Rossini's heavy reliance on double bass is a dead giveaway. I own a HD600 (amongst many others) and it is not particularly bass shy. I find headphone listening to be both uncomfortable (as in tied down with a leash, plus having a clamp on my head) and unnatural. While listening to music be it live or recorded via loudspeakers, turning and moving my head about produces expected changes in the sound sensation; with headphones in place the sound "uncannily" remains the same. Norman Stony Point, NY USA