WHY MUSIC SOUNDS BETTER IN HEADPHONES THAN FROM SPEAKERS
We all know the amazing power of music. It can boost a person’s productivity, inspire, improve mood, or even pull someone out of depression.
But what is the best way to listen to music – through headphones, or from speakers? If you ask your friends this question, you will probably find many people among them who prefer headphones to speakers. And there is nothing surprising in this. The fact is that headphones provide a closer experience of “communication” with your favorite song. When a person tells you that music sounds better with headphones, it’s partly due to the psychological effect. Unconsciously, a person realizes that at the moment no one except him hears the music. That is why the composition is perceived as a kind of “soundtrack to life”. Wherever the listener is – in the crowd or all alone – his own music is with him.
But listening to music through headphones has another side that is not related to psychology.
What does physics say?
In headphones, music really sounds better, and this has nothing to do with the game of consciousness. This has a very physical justification. The secret lies in the noise isolation and in the location of the speakers.
When a person listens to music through headphones, the speakers are located in close proximity to their eardrums. Headphone housings are usually designed in such a way as to suppress background noise. Thus, only music enters the ear canal. This creates a special interactive effect that allows a person to isolate the smallest details from the composition, which he most likely would not notice while listening to music from the speakers.
The way you experience stereo sound with headphones is also very different. According to Carroll Moore, headphone designer at Audio46.com, the separation of the left and right audio channels creates a particularly crisp 3D effect. For example, the composition assumes that the lead guitar sounds to the left, and the bass sounds to the right of the listener. At the same time, the lead guitar sounds louder than the bass in the left channel, and vice versa in the right channel. When listening to music through speakers, you perceive both channels with both ears. With the left ear, you hear not only what is meant for the left ear, but also what is meant for the right. Turn around, tilt your head – and the sound picture will change dramatically for you. In headphones, one ear hears only one channel, and no matter how the listener turns, the location of the virtual sound source relative to the head does not change in any way. Consequently,
On the other side
On the other hand, the speakers create a more realistic sound picture. Imagine a song in which the guitar sounds at first only in the left channel, then smoothly moves and begins to sound exclusively on the right. Undoubtedly, this can be a beautiful 3D effect. But in reality, you would never hear anything like that. Imagine a live guitarist who starts playing to your left and then moves to your right. At each moment of time you will hear it with both ears, first a little louder on the left, then on the right. But there will be no silence in one of the ears.
A special selection of the sound range allows you to level the monotony inherent in some game actions. This applies to such games in which there are the same type, often repeated moments.
Nowadays, many owners of large casinos have already come to the conclusion that they not only hire specialists in the selection of musical accompaniment, but also order composers to create unique, specialized works.
Musical melodies, of course, should raise the mood of visitors, but not bring them to euphoria with subsequent unpredictable actions. The background music in the casino is selected in such a way that the player’s positive emotions contribute to his gambling behavior, but do not disturb his concentration.
A variety of constantly changing music distracts the player’s attention. However, if it is of the same type and cyclic, and its repetition periods correspond to the pace of the game, then this contributes to the involvement of a person in the game process.
If a person liked both the game and the accompanying musical composition, then this leads to the development of a certain conditioned reflex in him. The player associates such music with a successful game and, in the future, he will begin to focus on it.
That is why sound engineers always work with headphones, but the final version of the composition must be listened to through speakers. The sound in the headphones is very easy to control. By finely controlling the left and right channels, some ideal sound can be achieved, but it is impossible to predict how this ideal composition will sound in a real environment with undefined acoustics.
By the way, acoustics is another thing that headphones are not able to convey. There are, of course, software settings that allow you to emulate sound in different types of rooms. But still, no software setting can compare with the natural reflection of sound waves from walls and objects.
Nice spoon for dinner
Most audiophiles will agree that there is both music that is better suited for headphones and music that is meant exclusively for speakers. Headphones really allow you to disconnect from the rest of the world and enjoy the smallest nuances of sound. But they will never deliver the truly powerful bass that makes the walls tremble and the insides turn over. Because, as is often the case, the choice between headphones and speakers is ambiguous and driven by particulars. In some situations, the first is appropriate, and in others, the second.