Do you use Speakers or Headphones? Explain.

[legacy-Smaz]

Headphones...

1) Playing at 10 / 11 pm at night, my parents would kick me off the PC
2) Easier to pick out sounds, listen to which direction they're coming from than with speakers.
3) Voice chat, don't want everyone to hear it & the mic is on the headset

As for which ones, I've got some Plantronics cheapish ones... £17 / $30 roughly. They sound ok, mic is good and also they click back together when the earpieces come off after my parents throw them around, I sit on them or some other tradgedy happens

[Shambler]

Headphones, Sennheiser HD-430's. (they are 15 years old and still sound remarkably good...the leather speaker cover has been completly worn away )

Why?
Sound quality, more discreet, allow you to hear where things are more accuratly and you can play music real load without bothering other people

[Flak]

Headphones, because of VOIP and Teamspeak. I don't want to bother people.

[legacy-Mahalis]

Speakers at home, headphones at lan parties. The sound quality's better in the Creature IIs, but the headphones don't let people know where I am. :P

[MysTikal]

Headphones because:
I dont want everyone to hear what im listening to..(ahem)
Looks cool
Good sound, better quality then speakers.
Downsides:
Sometimes get uncomfortable
Dont get that "free" feeling when you move your head.

[legacy-SWG_Victim]

headphones for UT

z-5500s for everything else

[A_Spec]

I use headphones for several reasons.

1. If I don't then the roommate gets ******
2. 3d audio sound in the headset works much better then 5.1 surround sound.
3. Because c'mon, a headset makes you look totally cool.

[martinblank]

I'm just wondering, do you guys use speakers or headphones? Please explain why you use what you use, and also the brand model of the speakers/headphones you use. If you use both at different times, please explain why. I used to use speakers, the Klipsch ProMedia Ultra 5.1 to be exact. When I first got them, I didn't know much about quality audio, and I was all like "omgz lol 500 WATTS!! omG thats insane rof1copt3r!! these pWnZ j00!!". I eventually convinced myself that they were the best computer audio system that money could buy. But deep down, I always felt they were missing something, but I didn't know what. I eventually put it in the back of my head and tried to enjoy them. But I just couldnt. Something was missing, and I just knew it.

I started doing some research, and landed on a strange website called "head-fi". I registered, and started asking questions. This was one of the biggest mistakes of my life. Little did I know what would happen next. I was more or less told that with headphones, you can get the same quality audio as a much, much more expensive speaker system. This made sense to me, considering the size difference between speakers and headphones. I was persuaded into buying the $60 PA2V2 headphone amp, and the $200 Audio-Technica ATH-A900 headphones. After I recieved these items, I was blown away at how much better they sounded than the promedia ultra-5.1 (for games, anyway). I'm sure a lot of you will be saying "but you don't get surround sound with them", etc... Wrong. I did get surround sound. 9.1 in fact. How you ask? Well, I have an X-fi sound card, and as some of you may already know, the virtual surround sound on them with CMSS-3DHeadphone enabled is amazing. It emulates 9.1 surround sound, and may I add, it does a **** good job at it. You have a hard time believing that the sound is only coming from two drivers.

Anyway, with that aside, the headphones were not perfect. They had a very recessed midrange sound, which made listening to music with vocals not very fun or engaging. So I set out on improving them, by buying a used pair of A900LTD (limited edition of the A900, with supposedly better midrange) headphones. When I got them, I performed the "blue-tak" mod on them (which I won't go into detail on, but it's purpose is to further enhance the midrange and bass). After this was done, the midrange was noticeably better, but still not as good as I would like. After doing more research, and asking more questions, it was decided that the Sennheiser HD650 would best suit my tastes. Unfortunately, they have an MSRP of $549. Luckily (and when I say luckily, I really mean it), I was able to find them brand new on e-bay with a buy it now price of $288. Talk about a good deal. I bought them as fast as my hand could move the mouse. I recieved them yesterday. They were in fact, brand new.

Now, some of the sharper guys here may notice, the HD650 have a MUCH higher impedance than the A900/LTD (A900=40, HD650=300). For those that don know, it basicly means I am going to need a more powerful amp. So, I preordered the Corda HeadFive. Until that gets here, the PA2V2 is going to have to make due. It sounds very bass heavy and dark, but that is to be expected when using a low voltage/high current amp with a high impedance headphone. And this is where I currently stand. The sound is amazing, it rips the promedia ultra-5.1 a new one. If anybody is wondering what ever happened to the A900 and A900LTD, I sold the A900 and the LTD is currently for sale.

So, now it's your turn. Please vote in the poll if nothing else, and explain why you use what you use, and how you like it.