Headpones good? Options

[HTS]

Are headphones good for music listening? I put on a cheap plantronics one, and the sound was much clearer and detailed than my 5.1 system of pc speakers. And even the low frequencies are clear! So are headphones the best way to listen to music?

Even if so, do they cause hearing damage? I don't mean the cheap earplugs, I meant the good noise cancelling ones.

[Gow]

Yes, headphones are good for music listening. Best way is debatable but it has always depended on evironment and equipment.

Headphones will only cause hearing damage if you turn them up too high. Don't turn them up too high and clean the wax out your ear every so often if you used inner ear monitors (the little headphones that go in your ear). Do that and you shouldn't damage your hearing.

Noise canceling headphones can introduce a electronic hum that can be heard in quiet environments. An alternative is to stick heaphones into hear protection designed for extremely loud enviroments.

Like so: http://www.metacafe.com/watch/548578/headp...nating_headset/

[HTS]

Yes, headphones are good for music listening. Best way is debatable but it has always depended on evironment and equipment.

Headphones will only cause hearing damage if you turn them up too high. Don't turn them up too high and clean the wax out your ear every so often if you used inner ear monitors (the little headphones that go in your ear). Do that and you shouldn't damage your hearing.

Noise canceling headphones can introduce a electronic hum that can be heard in quiet environments. An alternative is to stick heaphones into hear protection designed for extremely loud enviroments.

Like so: http://www.metacafe.com/watch/548578/headp...nating_headset/

So what I don't understand is, why can headphones, with such small size, produce so much detail? I'm surprised to hear details in the music that my 5.1 speaker system didn't produce as clearly!

Is there some inherent advantage to headphones over loudspeakers? Because the PC speakers are bad because they are light and small compared to those large Klipsch cabinet sized speakers.

Another thing is, there are there "surround" headphones around, are they the best? If so, can you recommend one for me?

Thanks.