Headphones most suitable for kpop? - Page 2

correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't kpop very similar to female vocalist electronic pop generally? At least the stuff I listen to seem to be that way. You might want to look at electronic pop recommendations.

Example: 4minute - Muzik

+ YouTube Video

Where are you located, Seoul? Korea charges alot for imported headphones, so that might affect your decision. Please give your location, as that has affect on what recommendations one would give.

Where will you be using the headphones? Home or on public transit, or both?

Would you want open or closed headphones? Do you want more emphasis on low frequencies, or do you want headphones that bring out the vocals more?

+1, with Grado SR80s the treble is a bit overpowering on a lot of kpop songs. I usually listen to Kpop with my A900s.

Are you wearing a mickey mouse shirt? Sorry my bad jk

Kpop isn't my alley, but my experience with Chinese pop / rock is that they're usually not that amazing recorded. My old HD595 / Micro Amp combo felt like overkill, as does my current Icon / K701 combination (not a great combo, I know) or even my IEMs. $150 seems like good budget for Asian pop cans, but I can't tell you which one, sorry.

Yeah, there's been bit of a wave of electro/dance pop over the last year or so. Hasn't caught on entirely yet though, and 4minute's actually known for concentrating on that genre specifically... bit different from WG that OP is a fan of.

Yeah, I'd say the ES7 would be the best start for you on your budget. Forward mids (low mids mostly, so it will still sound good with peaky female vocals) but with nice bass and crispy top end.

Can't say I'm the biggest fan of WG but I do like them also. It's too bad about Sunmi, though.

I have not listened to the srh440, but I have the Senn HD280's and really like them. I personally enjoy open headphones, as they allow for a greater sound stage. But if you want a pair of headphones too keep the sound from leaking out, and keep sound from coming in, the HD280s would be great.

Closed phones will tend to color the lower frequencies a bit, but if you go with a studio closed headphone, like the srh440 or HD280 you will have a bit more flat and neutral response, which is good for vocals. So I would say your initial guess was in the correct direction. See if you can find a headphone store and try these out. Some headphones stores in malls might not have these phones since they are aimed more towards the 'professional studio'. I think you should be able to find both for pretty cheap online. I got the HD280s for under 80 USD I think, and I use them for recording, and thing the build quality is quite good. I fold them up, and throw them in my bag with out worrying to much about them breaking. For public transit I actually prefer some type of open headphone, so that I can be aware of my surroundings (but I'm strange like that). But the HD280s would do a wonderful job a reducing subway sounds.

Good to see fellow Korean here. I rarely identify with the 'id'.

In any rate, if you can score TF10 or TF10vi for $99 (from Amazon sale), then that's one of the best valued IEM for kpop. I don't listen much to kpops, but when I do, iem is pretty good ones.

If you can stretch your budget a little, I'd go with full sized headphone.

Try Jaben? IIRC they carry some AT cans, and I believe they are located in Singapore.

Otherwise, you could always try the For Sale Forum here on Head-fi to see if anyone is willing to ship it off internationally. You should be able to buy it well used for $70-80 ballpark and even with shipping I doubt they'd be over $100 (marked as gift, you would prob avoid custom fees also, but you'd have to talk that out with the seller).

Shrug, in case you or a friend drop by Hong Kong in the near future the ES-7 is everywhere, and not just the in headphone specialty stores either.

I find that senns work well with kpop.

 

As mentioned before, some production trends in kpop (especially when dealing with female vocals) get a bit iffy on the high end of things so you want something that can calm it down. my grado experience when listening to 4minute was not a good one.

WGkeon: The best Kpop headphones are easily Audio Technicas especially if you appreciate music from Clazziquai, Wondergirls, Epik High, Lee Soo Young, Davichi, 2ne1, Boa, Big Bang (btw I hate 2ne1 and Big Bang. I would kill them if I was able too.). Audio Technicas have an emphasis on vocals and the punchy bass needed for asian pop.

 

I would highly recommend you to try out most of the headphones available in Seoul. There's a very good store that my girlfriend took me to when I was there. They had highly demanded headphones such as HD800, T1, W1000X, ESW10JPN, ES10, AKG K501 etc etc for demoing

 

http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/515003/calling-koreans this was my thread when I was in Korea looking for headphone stores.

 

Congrats: Seoul has some of the best headphone auditioning stores in the world.

But, sorry the prices are ridiculous

 

 

EDIT: This thread is a 9 month old bumped thread...

Edited by wind016 - 11/28/10 at 2:58pm

One thing I'd recommend with K-pop is that you will want to really be careful with headphones that may have boosted lower treble areas, from my personal experience.  From listening to various K-pop songs through my reference headphones (HD800, LCD-2), I've noticed that certain studios tend to artificially boost that region, making it very harsh on the ears if you have wrong headphones.  For example, I've noticed that most SM Entertainment records (SNSD, Boa, etc) boost lower treble regions... it's probably just how their studio do things but that's what I've heard with my ears.  Companies like Core contents are even worse in that regard (T-ara, Davichi, etc... try listening to T-ara on HD800, ugh... sibilance central). JYP (Wonder Girls, 2PM, Miss A etc) on the other hand tend to be really tame on the region.  So it does depend on the record company but in general I'd probably get something that is relative tame with lower treble.