Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards What are the best headphones for an HP-207?

First of all, I would like to thank everyone for their frequent invaluable assistance. It is like having hundreds of very attentive teachers.

Thanks, everyone!

I would like to purchase some headphones for my HP-207 and I'm looking for some suggestions. I saw some posts here where people talked about the Sennheiser HD600 but I have some questions about it. I see that these headphones have an impedance of 300 ohms. That's a very high value and though I'm not a sound engineer, I suppose it means that you must connect them through an amplifier. I couldn't find the impedance output in the piano's specifications, so I would like to ask also for this information here.

I also read about the Sennheiser HD 595 and HD 555. Any opinions?

Once again, thanks.

Haven't any experience with the Senns but it seems a lot of people like them.

My go to phones for at least the last 10 years have been the AKG K240s. They are pretty much a recording industry standard. You should be able to pick up a pair for around $100. I think a lot of people are sick of them or just want something new so I see a lot of talk about the Audio Technicas ...the ATH -M50s
http://www.audio-technica.com/cms/headphones/0edf909675b1be4d/index.html

Personally they sounded a bit harsh on my DP, I still preferred my 240s.

I just heard these and they sound great. I'd like to A/B with my AKGs. They are more dough though.
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/DT880/

Many engineers prefer the Beyerdynamic 770s over the 880s because of the fact they are closed back. I just used a pair in the GC to listen to different DPs. The 880s made the Casio Privia PX-330 sound excellent.

I use AKG K240 when I have to use cans, but prefer to use monitors. Simply turn down the volume enough!

Lawrence

I just sold my Bose headphones and purchased the
AKG K240's ..... very happy with them (sound & comfort)

Note there are 2 versions :
Studio 55 ohms
Monitor 600 ohms

I went Studio 55 ohms.

I just checked, and have the 600 ohms model.

I connect a pair of Senn HD600s directly to my Motif's headphone output and have no problem driving them. They do sound great if you don't mind the open design. One of my other pair of headphones are the Senn HD280pro, which are also fine, but when they need to be replaced I will be giving serious consideration to the AKG K240s since I continue to hear only great things about those cans.

I have a pair of AKG K271 Studio cans (not the latest MKII). They are the best sealed phones I've tried in terms of flatness of frequency response and comfort, though they do make me sweat with long-term use (as will most phones).

Sealed works both ways - they work better for recording vocals as there is less bleed into the environment from them, and they work great for blocking out much of the sound of my wife giving piano lessons upstairs.

Here's the forum that helped me select AKG K501s with the help of the headphone geeks at head-fi.

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f4/digital-piano-headphones-428391/

I have to say that they are really nice with my Roland. You won't be disappointed if you can find them.
AT

Sweetwater is sell K240 for $99. Buy those. Maybe buy some otherone tooo but don't pass up such a great deal.

Before you buy headphones think about if you need sound isolation of not. The K240 are "open" headphones. these syles will have the best sound but they do not block sound from the environment like the TV in the next room. "Closed headphones block some of this sound.

Also if you are in a recording studio with an open mic sound in your monitor headphones can spill into the mic. Closed headphones are best if there is a mic nearby.

The K240 are open headphones designed for use by studio recording engineers. They have a flat, accurate and transparent sound. With a DP they sound like you are not using headphones.

It's best to buy two pair of headphones. Get a closed set for us what you need to block sounds and the open set for when you want better sound and don't need the blocking.

They said, for practice you don't need great headphones. My AKG K77 work fine block external sound and I think I paid $35.

A also use Sony EX71 earbuds. These fit inside the ear like earplugs and block most external sound. The quality is not bad and they cost about $25 at Amazon. I use these mostly when I'm not at home because they are so easy to transport, fit in a shirt pocket.

Thanks for all the responses.

For the moment, I have been using an old Phillips SBC HP-800 for my late night practices, but I don't feel I'm getting the best of the piano.

For those who have high impedance headphones, which amplifier do you use to drive them?

I would think most DPs and certainly all pro audio gear could power 600 ohm headphones into the "hearing damage range" iPods and most other consumer gear with 3.5mm jacks don't seem to be able to do this. My older AKGs were 600 ohm and the smaller battery powered devices would not play really loud. My new 32 ohm headphones work fine even on a little iPod "nano".

I've got the Sennheiser 650's and a Headroom Ultra Desktop amp. I hooked up the line outs on the HP-207 to the RCA inputs on the amp. Overkill for sure, but it really sounds great. I also use the setup for listening to music through the other inputs, so it wasn't just for the piano.

I'm thinking about getting the Pianoteq software one of these days. I think you hook up Midi outs to the laptop, then hook a optical out back to the amp. The Headroom amp also has pre-amp outs to feed back into the piano or powered speakers.

So many toys!

Ray