Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards 2015 Headphone Choice?

Hi there,

For my second thread on here, I was just wondering what headphones are people using these days?

Thanks and any replies much appreciated

Jay

Grado SR 325is (and AKG K271 Mk II when I need noise isolation).

The AKG came free with my DP; the Grado I bought after reading reviews a few years ago - it's the best headphones I've ever owned, not just for DP and MP3 use, but also for my hi-fi sound system.

Another vote for AKG K271 mk IIs, truly excellent headphones delightfully absent is this almost ever present overdone base that's so endemic with many headphones, these days.

In my opinion they're and ideal choice for use with a digital piano, and with the velvet / cloth ear pads, don't get too hot and sweaty on your ears if you've had them on for a couple of hours.

Beyerdynamic DT770, since 2007. Still great seller to this day. If interested, I recommend the DT770 Pro (I think) which have lower input impedance. The one I have is 250 ohms and won't be very loud in most cases.

Hi Jay,

really depends on what you are looking for. I use two headphones (Sennheiser HD 480 II and Audio-Technica ATH-M40fs) for different usage and they really are totally different!!!

The Sennheisers are open-back, comfortable fitting, sounding kind of warm and I can listen to them for a long time without getting tired. The Audio-Technicas are the opposite: closed-back, not really comfortable, analytic sound and I can not stand using them for anything but analytic listening for a short to medium period or recording (the Sennheisers would bleed too much into the mic).

I would not like to practice piano using the ATHs, but it's really useful to have them for recording and transcribing other peoples stuff.

Additionally, we always tell people here to try if they like the action or the sound. With headphones it's most likely the same. How they sound and how they fit depends a lot on you :-)

EDIT: the DT770 and the K-271 recommended by Lester and Cue are excellent headphones but both are closed-back. I personally would prefer ones that are open-back for normal playing.

Thomas

I second this. I've always been a Sennheiser fan, we also have Grados and my boyfriend has the Audio Technicas, they are less comfortable and can be irritating/painful on your ears for extended wear (2+ hours) depending on the person. For him, it's quite bad and the closed back, fairly small headphones are not as comfortable as the Sennheisers.

I'm currently using the HD 598, but I've used the HD600 and HD650 as well over the years. I like these 3 more than the newer/better ones due to price. All three, but especially the HD600/650 are very very reasonably priced now because they are quite a few years old, but they are still amazing, especially if you're just going to be using it with the piano and not listening to a lot of other music. The soundstage is very wide meaning even with headphones, the piano sounds like it's not coming from the headphones but from all over the room.

I also have the Grados GS1000 but these make my piano sound very bright, and even harsh in the upper register so I never use it to play piano. Plus they are quite heavy on the head and less comfortable than the Sennheisers.

HD650 are absolutely fantastic for DPs. Spot-on about the sound-stage being very wide. Only caveat is a quiet environment is needed to truly appreciate how good they sound. The sound is just slightly on the warm side (which I like). Mostly, they are extremely complimentary and pleasing with AP sounds. Best with CP4 and ES7 as their AP samples tend to be slightly on the bright side

I also use the closed back Shure SRH1540 occasionally. By far the most comfortable headphone on the market IMO. Very detailed, flat, and precise. Best with RD800 as its AP samples are slightly warmer. VERY good with non-ap sounds, ie. synths, brass, drums, etc.

Above is my opinion and discovery only - YMMV. Regardless, Both cans are easily powered without amp on CP4, RD800, and ES7.

Hi Jay,

After long thinking and pondering, I bought a pair of Sennheiser HD598 for my DP, and I'm truly happy with them (I fully second the accurate comments above).

Ciao,
Paolo

Anyone tried the Superlux HD668B, or any of the Superlux headphones? Many people compare them to Beyerdynamic DT770, Audio-Technica ATH-M50X and various models of Sennheiser.

I the Samsong SR850 which probably are a rebrand of the Superlux HD 681 with minior changes on the drivers and stuff.
I haven't tried the Superlux HD668B but i hardly doubt they would be better than the Audio-Technica ATH-M50X or Sony MDR7506.

I mean the SR850 are a killer for its price and probably the Superlux HD668B are too.

Another vote for the HD650 or HD600 (they sound quite different, with the HD650 perhaps being more accurate in my view but the HD600 nevertheless sometimes preferred). Do note that both require quite a lot of juice. They sound quite a bit better if driven by a substantial headphone amp via a DP's line outs.

As they are open back, sometimes I use them and speakers simultaneously. This gives me a sense of piano physicality via the speakers, and accuracy via the headphones.

Hi Jay,
I use the Sennheiser HD598 also and give them a big thumbs up...
Cheers

These topics have come up quite a bit lately, so I'll not repeat, big thumps up from me for the sennheiser open backs for piano, classical but are good all rounders anyway.

That being said it depends on the recording and type of music too. An extreme example, For me I like to listen to didgeridoo music now and again. Anyone familiar with the longer didges will know about its heavy deep tones, you can really feel it in the chest and bones from a distance. For that music I use quite a cheap specialist headset, it is an old sony XB500 ( no longer sold), it has drivers optimised for bass, but are generally very insensitive and hard to drive. Mid to high response is only very average to subpar I would say, however, for that particular application,the didge, nothing comes close to replicating how that instrument sounds compared to the real deal in my collection, it delivers bass in a very clear detailed fashion.

At the other extreme I had (briefly at one stage some grado sr80e, great phones in that price range for certain things ) but they could not handle the sound of a didge convincingly, even at fairly low volume bass cannot be delivered cleanly without some distortion, the drivers simply lagging behind, too slow a response, the bass frequencies really roll off rapidly below 60 Hz or so in prestige range as well ( even the higher end prestiges like 225, 325, but they are slightly better with that ). It is not an uncommon issue with some open back designs in the cheaper to midrange price range anyway, again, depending on application it doesn't matter, depending what you want, normally I am not a bass junky myself.

but, Sometimes, different courses for different horses.

I have had a Grado RS2i set for about a year. They are very nice for classical music. (Got them on sale, now discontinued I believe.)

These topics might not come up so often if headphone selection were easier. It's difficult because you generally cannot try before you buy.

Even beyond the very limited selection of phones available at music stores, there seems to be an even lower limit on the number available to try. At some stores it's precisely zero. At other, it's a half-dozen ... of the off-brand crap, while the good ones remain locked up.

Because of these limits, Bose comes out on top (imagine that!) ... only because it's just about the only one you can try!

Lucky man, I'd love to hear those one day, the reference series, rather different beast to the prestige series, costly though, but I can imagine they'd be great, even the cheap sr80e for what they do in that price range are incredibly detailed and sensitive easy to drive phones, works nice with jazz vocals classical, not good all rounders though ... IMO, and depending on application, they are very aggressive and fatigue prone up top( for me, but also it is a common complaint).

Grado certainly has got its place with it unique approach to sound signature, some get on with it, some love it, some also hate it.

Interesting. This is in agreement with many reviews. My next pair will probably be Superlux, then, despite the terrible name. I'm going to try to repair my AKG K240 one more time (I bought them in 1978 so they are quite moth-eaten) then I'll go for a new second pair (first are the cometent but not brilliant Sennheiser HD215).

I use the AKG K712, but I realize I need to buy a headphone amp. Even if I have a Propellerhead Balance interface, which is supposed to have a somewhat powerful amp, the headphones chews that output up for breakfast.
Was thinking about the FiiO E09K, another $100-$150 -.-

AKG Q701 - extremely accurate. I've used them to mix recordings and found that the mixes translate perfectly to various different sound systems. No mean feat for a pair of headphones. Also amazingly comfortable and not fatiguing on the ears.

AKG K701 and Sennheiser HD 600 on my Kawai MP-7. On my rig, I prefer the AKG for monitoring while playing. For music listening, I might sometimes prefer the HD 600, though the 701 has greater clarity.