Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards THE best headphones?

I feel wholly unqualified to answer the question of "best"... however, I will say I am happy with my Grados.

I have a pair of AKG K340's (not the new buds, the old electro/dynamic hybrids). A very nice sounding phone, kinda unique, but an amp is a must have to get them going. They are also a bit heavy so again might not be ideal for long piano sessions.

They make a line of "monitors" that get good love from many folks so they might be worth a try.

I have AKG K501's with a Roland DP990. They are discontinued but a few US retailers still have them. Mine were around 200. I got them based on the advice at my head-fi thread at http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f4/digital-piano-headphones-428391/

Check it out and I hope that you find a headphone that will make you love playing your piano more. That's what mine did for me.

Headphones are such an important aspect of digital play. It's really hard to find a place to A/B them or even try them out individually in shops.

A comprehensive report on phones in different price ranges, listing closed and open separately, with comments on their different strengths and street prices for all those mentioned would make for a really useful article in pianobuyer. Now if I could only remember who that guy is that does the digital write-ups there, I could suggest it to him.

^Yeah, a thread listing what's available and pros/cons/prices would be a valuable asset in the DP forum. But it is such a personal thing. When listening to a digital piano a bit of coloring of the sound may not be a problem for most.

Personally, I've got a four-year old pair of old Sennheiser HD280 Pro used on a Roland Fantom X8. They are reasonable for sound and comfort, but I prefer hearing through the monitors. But this morning, while the wife sleeps, I'll use the headphones.

Yes, picking the perfect headphones is difficult since none are perfect. For neutrality, I would actually look at the old Sennheiser HD414. They do not boom in the bass as some like but they do present things in a very realistic way.

With the caveat being that, as with all things acoustic, opinions on strengths weaknesses are highly subjective. A bit of coloring is not only not a problem, it's inevitable, any/every headphone is going to add it's particular signature to the sound. After all, non of us have a line in connector to our brains to compare the original signal to what's coming through our ears. In the end we choose what we like, which may be a far cry from what the original signal looks like.

I just to share with you that I received my new DP headphones!
The winner was: Audio-Technica ATH-M40x

http://eu.audio-technica.com/en/products/product.asp?catID=5&subID=39&prodID=4599

After to read several reviews about ATH-M50x , MDR-7506 etc etc I decided for the ATH-M40x (the M50x little brother). Honestly: I don´t know why... I was really confused and puzzled and decided by instinct and nice price of 95€.

Fortunately, I am very happy: they´r very comfortable, clear sound and sounds perfect with Roland supernatural piano sounds. Perfect for me.

Something I'd like to investigate are the so-called "in ear" "headphones":
http://www.whathifi.com/news/best-in-ear-headphones-to-buy-in-2014

I can see several advantages of this style over the traditional heaphones.

1. Apparently you can buy the absolute best of the best for not that much dough. For one-person-listening, they apparently can replace all the higher-quality alternatives for a small fraction of the price.

2. For the piano player, I think they will be much more comfortable during hours of playing. I think that the player might not even know they're "in there" after awhile, whereas over or on-the-ear headphones can become uncomfortable over a lengthy practice session.

Anybody using these and, if so, what do you think about them versus headphones? For obvious reasons, I'm particularly interested in their ability to accurately reproduce the lower range of notes.

Headphone *amps* for c. $1500?

My, my, my...

I occasional use a pair of HiFiMan RE400 IEM's. They are quite neutral, and don't always get the best reviews by people using them for pop music looking for the bath tub shaped EQ curve. There are probably later versions available now.

I find them fine, comfortable, good sound with the DP, but when I want the full sound ambience via headphone I go back to the over ear open AKG.s.

I have AKGs, but what about these as a cheaper alternative?

HD 681

Hold on while I put my tin hat on.

I go back and forth between Shure SE215 in-ear monitors, and Sennheiser HD280 headphones. There isn't much different in sound quality, but I don't claim "golden ears". The SE215's are (I think) perfectly suitable for DP practice. They are reported to have a slight (not extreme) bass boost, but it hasn't bothered me.

The SE215's cost about $100, you can hang them in a small pouch from your belt, they're very comfortable, and not very intrusive. The HD280's cost about the same, but are worse on the last three attributes.

I might get some triple-flange eartips, to improve isolation from ambient sound. The SE215's are OK, but not completely sound-isolating, with their stock eartips.

The SE215's seem to work fine with battery-powered devices -- smartphones, and my MP3 player, and a Korg Koassilator.

Top-end IEM's -- with multiple drivers, and extended frequency response -- will cost you quite a bit of money:

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Shure-S...solating-Earphones-109727198-i3864567.gc

Whether you _need_ something like that is up to you. Shure (and some other companies) make them at all price points.

. Charles

PS -- if you want _real_ isolation from ambient sound, SE215's worn underneath industrial earmuffs are absolutely superb.

Sony MDR-7506 - this article sums it up: http://www.cnet.com/products/sony-mdr7506/

The sound is indeed great, there is plenty of everything. You can wear them for long hours, they do isolate you from surroundings and you will find coiled cable perfect for dp. Also, i actually havent heard of other headphones, that have full range of spare parts available - so they will serve you for a long time.

This does seem a bit of a zombie thread resurrection, but I'll chip in here - my favourites, that are very reasonably priced, would be AKG 271 MkIIs.

Not bass heavy (which to me, seems a good thing - especially for use with a digital piano, but good at other times, too), but seem rather consistent and realistic across the spectrum of frequencies - for digital piano use I've found them perfect. And the velour ear pads are still quite pleasant to wear, even after a few hours.

I'll chip in too, for the software pianos I noticed the more costly cans I have had really shine through , but for a piano like the one I have with the Casio sample I may have perhaps something controversial to say, but I'll say it anyway, just my opinion.

The samples are rather thin and particularly artificial sounding IMO around midrange (around middle C) in particular when played through the more flat detailed headphones and you will notice it. I heard it often said on the forum about Casio samples not being liked and sounding thin, plasticcy, call it what you will, to me it sounds fine through the console speakers, but when it comes to headphones I agree why people might say this, and since my console piano has no build in EQ, believe it or not I find the best fit are my old cheaper Sony XB series ( bass enhanced ) the best for the Casio piano sound ( my missus agrees incidently )

the Sony have has that typical bathtub or V shape EQ, it suppresses that artificial sound in the mids, they are not as detailed as some as my other cans like the grado I had, and now the ATX-M50 I use mostly, but for this one purpose the sony XB300 is now a permanent fixture hanging on the piano hook and used for just that when I use the Casio sound only for a quick practice and when not using software pianos.

Incidentally to my ears the sony I have also sounds the closest to how the piano through the console speakers, even though they are certainly not flat or reference quality headphones. When I plugged the grado into the Casio, regarded highly by many, but are very bass thin like a lot of open back headphones can be, or the ATH-m50 for that matter, but particularly the Grado, quite frankly I thought it was awful for the Casio, no bass hardly, mids brought the weaknesses in the Casio sample, it was a bad combo for me, almost sounding more like an epiano. On the other hand the Grado for music listening were absolutely fantastic, especially when EQed a bit due to the lack of bass in some cases. The grado also sounded very different in the mids, like a different piano almost compared how it sounds through its own speakers, but then grado prestige are quite coloured anyway IMO


Now, Software pianos, entirely different story, If I switch to painoteq, Ivory I use the ATH-M50, they are also slightly bass boosted, but software pianos can be easily EQ adjusted and the better headphones enhance the details quite clearly, the grado worked nicely there too, lovely highs and mids for that. In this case my cheaper Sony XB300 is the least favourite very clearly.

In the end best is what we like personally and what is a good combo of phone + piano sound that work well together .. IMHO.

I am just glad I owned those XB300 already when I got my piano, because it not something anyone would have recommended, but for me the Casio sample without EQ, and that particular combination in headphone is easily my favourite.

Anybody using these particular IEMs for digital piano practice and, if so, what do you think?

Alpha & Delta AD01

One review:
http://www.headfonia.com/review-alpha-delta-ad01/

Paper-wise, they appear to be a really good bang for the buck, but of course this may mean nothing. That's why I'd be very interested in reading what owners who use them for piano practice have to say.

Thanks.

A long thread on the A & D AD01:

http://www.head-fi.org/t/773148/alpha-delta-ad01

Comes with double-flange eartips (as well as some others). If I didn't own Shure SE215's, I'd be tempted to investigate.

Thanks, Charles.

I read through that thread and now they seem even more of a bargain, considering their supposed performance.

When I read reviews of headphones in general I find that they are pretty much subjective, as expected, especially because they almost always discuss specific recordings, which is fine, but I think that the ultimate review would be from someone using them when practicing on a digital piano.

The reason I brought this up is because yesterday I took a chance and bought a set of Panasonic RPTCM190K. The specs seemed good, but when I tried them out with our Roland RD800, as I expected, the piano's bass notes were not, for lack of a better expression, "accurate" -- nowhere near as accurate as our Grado SR60 on-ear headphones.

But I must admit that they are pretty good buds for general, non-critical listening on a portable device.

The thing is that I don't even know if ANY buds can reproduce piano bass as well as a decent set of headphones and, again, this is why I've resurrected this thread. I'd limit the discussion even further to those who presently use Grado on-ear headphones as well as the AD01, but I fear that there would be very few people in that situation.

Incidentally, Charles, I used the Panasonics while running on a very noisy treadmill today (to listen to the audio of a movie that I watched on a TV in front of the treadmill) and I worn industrial muffs over the buds. In short, I could not hear the treadmill at all. All I could hear was my footfalls on the treadmill as big "thumps" through the bones of my body. For this purpose, the Panasonics are just fine.

I just tested the Shure SE215's (with double-flange eartips) against my Sennheiser HD280 headphones:

. . . I think the bass (lowest notes on the keyboard, through Pianoteq)
. . . was a bit louder through the SE215's, than through the HD280's.

Certainly, either one would be adequate.

You need a good ear-seal for decent bass through earbuds. Any leakage, and the low bass just disappears.

I'll have to try the earmuff trick in the gym -- never thought of it before. Thanks!