Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards HEADPHONES....What to consider when using w/ digital piano.

I'll chime in. I just got the casio px350 and using my 600ohm beyerdynamics, http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/614495-REG/Beyerdynamic_483966_DT_990_Premium_Open_Back.html that I use for my home studio the casio couldn't power them. Even with the volume all the way up it was not satisfactory at all. With my $100 klipsch earbuds the sound was MUCH more pleasing. But for listening when using an amp or powered mixed the beyerdynamics are phenomenal

How's this:

Well said. Thank you the information

Well closed headphones come in handy when you're recording and using the headphones for monitors, you don't want to hear the previous tracks bleeding out of the headphones and into your microphone.

If disturbing my wife at night with my music was not a problem, I may have gone with a different headphone; maybe not.

Kenboi brought up a very good point which is basically the concept of 'noise cancellation'. Remember what I said about Mrs Hunky snoring just a tad at night? Well, the 'tad' part is certainly subjective! Without going into detail,....I NEED noise cancelling headphones in order to escape into my own private world underneath the bedsheets at night. 'I' won't be able to jump into that empty front row seat listening to Mark Knopfler play his new tune 'Hard Shoulder' if at the same time I'm hearing the cat scream because his food has not been 'refreshed' in the last hour. Or the AC/heat comes on, tolilet gets flushed, on and on. You know what I mean.

I did listen to a pair of Sennheiser HD-650 cans and must admit they DID sound incredible. Not flat, but still incredible.

While the sound emitted from them was not much..i.e you probably would NOT wake up others in the house, they DO emit enough sound for the person sleeping next to you to clearly hear. 'Clearly hear' means that they could easily tell you the name and artist of the song being played even if it is not 'loud' at all. Just something to consider.

Again, I think the 'noise cancelling' effect has a much higher weighted value in your decision to buy open or closed cans than the amount of sound that leaks out does. Good point Kenboi2.

BTW, since we are still discussing headphones, in my research I had found that a lot of people like the Koss Porta-Pro headphones if you are looking for something portable (jogging, gym use, bike riding, whatever) but not as bulky as over the ear cans but something better sounding (or comfort) than shoving ear buds in your head. I wasn't looking for this type of 'portable' headphone so I can't give any personal feedback but this specific pair seemed to come up a lot as highly recommended if you want a pair of 'on the ear' phones.




I

Mr Super-Hunky, well said. Now, I am very confused of whether I should buy the close headphone or open headphone.

I have a question regarding Sennheiser HD600 300ohms. If I use these on Kawai CA95, do you think I need a headphone amp to power the 300ohms? I am thinking of buying either the HD598 or HD600. Someone with experience, please chime in. Thanks.

I have the HD595, which is essentially the HD598 and it's pretty dang great (both are easily driven by your piano at 50 ohms). I also have the ATHM50, which I like very much as well. The latter is very good at insulating me from ambient sounds, so I use it at work to block out my coworker noise and listen to some nice music. The sennheiser, with its open design, has superior sound, though, so that's what I use with my piano. It would be nice if you could get that nice a sound from a pair of closed headphones, but I kind of suspect you can't.

By the way, the HD595 is much, much more comfortable than the ATH for long listening sessions. Actually it's the most comfortable headphone I have ever used. I could literally have it on my head all day long and it wouldn't bother me. They both sound good, though, and I do get annoyed with room noises when I use my Sennheisers--I like to turn my volume down so I'm assured of no hearing damage--so I would not fault anyone for going the closed headphone route. I just don't do it myself.

Kenboi2, if you are looking for that perfect 'all-around' pair of headphones to be used with several different instruments/devices, my best suggestion would be to make a list of when and where you would be using these cans and see which ones meet that need.

Since 'noise cancellation' (both ways) was one of my criteria, that cancelled out the category of 'open' cans right away. If this wasn't important, I probably would have gone with the Sennheiser HD-600 or HD-650. Keep in mind the 650s are $500 cans. That's FIVE times the price of the ATH-M50s.

The M50s seem to be the blue jean basic staple of audiophile quality headphones. They only get better, and more expensive from there. From what I've read, you CAN notice subtle changes in the music reproduction but you're gonna pay to hear it.

At some point you need to call it just to keep things realistic. $100 ATH-M50s headphones can easily become $300 Senn HD-600. But if you want a little extra bass and highs, $500 will get you the nice Senn 650s. Then again, just a bit more will get you into the 800 series and so on. Just keep things
Compatible. Compatible with your equipment. Compatible with your living situation. Compatible with your wallet.

You may also want to consider a 'semi-open' design (which officially doesn't exist) like the Beyerdynamics DT-880 (250 OHMs). These cans may be considered to be the compromise between both the open and closed design even though they are officially considered open. They are also only 2-3 times the price of the M50s instead of five.

The middle OHM category (250/300 OHMs) will sound good with all equipment (MP3 players/devices, digital pianos, home stereo). The volume levels may not be as loud when using the lower powered stuff (portable devices) but will still sound very good. Since it is much easier for lower powered equipment to power headphones with less resistance like the 30 OHM category, they will do just that. Power them easier which will equate to louder volume levels and possibly a little fuller bass response. I think the only way to really screw up is to be completely incompatible like buying a pair of 600 OHM headphones powered by an MP3 player with no amp. Even under this situation, the music would still probably sound pretty good but be seriously lacking the power needed to present the music to the listener at its fullest potential.

Portable devices = 30-ish OHM category. (30-50)

Digital Pianos = Both 30 and 300 OHM category (30-300)

Home stereo/amp = 600 OHM category (30-600)

You will see that the home stereo/dedicated amp can play anything since they have plenty of power to do so. Portable devices on the other hand usually don't have the power to drive demanding 600 OHM cans to there fullest without extra power (amp).

Assuming the CA95 has a similar headphone output as my MP10 then the HD600s are fine on them without an amp (I used them a number of times when I brought them home from work).


Oh, and since another comment mentioned it, the HD650 isn't necessarily better than the 600. The 600 is more neutral and the 650 was purposefully tuned to be slightly more 'enjoyable' (whatever that means) with a bit of bass emphasis. Personally I opted for the cheaper one that is also more accurate, but whatever sounds good to you


And on the budget end, you're right, the Koss PortaPros are excellent. The Koss KSC75s also have a strong following.

Guys,

Thank you so much for the input. My budget is tight at the moment. If HD600 is not much of a difference from the HD598, then why would I spend another $200 for it? I think I would go with something that I can afford and I think HD598 would suit me for now. If nothing comes up between around the same price range, I'll be getthing the HD598. I really want to see how the open headphone is like.

For straight out of an ipod or computer I'd probably go with the 598s. However, if you anticipate upgrading to a dedicated amp in the future then it might be better to just get the 600s now. The 600s are a bit harder to drive, but driven decently they should sound more accurate/detailed than the 598s.

This is all my experience with them both to listen to music and play my DP. I suspect I'd probably be entirely satisfied with something like the 598s if they were just for DP.

While graphs certainly don't tell you everything about a headphone (especially not when this small and smoothed out), this does show that the 600s should have more accuracy and detail in the treble (that and they were one of Sennheiser's twin flagships for years until the 800 came out, and are good enough that they're still very popular today):

Yeah, I know it's the 595, they don't have the 598 in their database yet, but I suspect it's be similar.

Thanks ando for how to fix the image.