Absolute Best Vocal Detail?

Audio Technicas are some of the most vocal oriented headphones around. The W11JPN is the most impressive that I have heard.

 

However, I have not heard the LCD2 nor the HE6.

For me it's a tie between the Koss Pro DJ 100 (when properly amped) and the AKG k601.

 

The Shure SRH-840 is also pretty good and comes close.

 

This is probably my main priority in a headphone too, so I'm always looking for other headphones that could top these for vocals.

Edited by tdockweiler - 11/25/10 at 12:56pm

Akg K701's are good performers on vocals also. 

Some to look at are:

Beyerdynamic DT48
Sennheiser HD-800
AKG K-501, K-1000
Grado HP-1000

And while I'm not up on electrostats, they're worth looking into, as well.

For the price, however, I think you'll find the DT48 excellent.

I haven't heard the LCD2 or the production HE6 yet, but midrange is very important to me, and these would be my choices-

 

K501

K240 Sextett

New or vintage Orthos

Stax

Grado HP1000

 

IMO nothing else that does vocals as well as these

Everyone seems to be suggesting out of production headphones. The in production headphones that have been suggested have laid back vocals imo.

 

I guess headphones that focus specifically on vocals are not the "in" thing right now.

 

BTW the DJ100, AKG k601 (and probably k501) and SRH-840 all have forward sounding vocals. The DJ100 probably has the most forward sounding vocals out of them all and many won't like that.

Vocals on the k501 and k601 are supposed to be a bit different then those on the k701. I haven't compared the three though.

 

Just thought I'd get this out

I think this may be because in the past, headphones were voiced by ear more than they are today, and so vocals were the focus.  Plus AKG was always good with vocals.  But there's more fancy equipment today and I think the focus is more on measuring well, and things get lost in the process.  Just a guess though this could be BS.

The orthodynamic headphones are going to give you an amazing midrange which is great for vocals.  

The DT48 is still very much in production. Has been for something close to 50 years at this point. If you want something that focuses on vocals, give the DT48 a try.

As for the out-of-production headphones, I think the emphasis was different in the past. Bass overemphasis wasn't a consumer priority until
the mid 1990s or so. That's when a lot of rap/hiphop went mainstream as well as electronica with low bass. Around the same time, we got blasted with crappy car subwoofers affordable to any dingus who wanted to kill his hearing.

Before that, musical genres weren't so bassy and most consumers would have not found much appeal in something like the Beats. They would not have been taken seriously.

So manufacturers changed with the times and music. Today, people want thumping bass because that's what they've been exposed to and they don't want "bass light" headphones, even if they are accurate to real life. I'm not happy about it; a lot of new headphones are tonally off because people want to listen to rap or house or whatever. But back when the K-1000 (and many others) were developed, that kind of music didn't exist. AKG voiced them for classical, jazz, acoustics, etc. and they aren't (IMHO) half bad with well-recorded rock. But other than organ music, the engineers didn't see a reason to voice for subterranean bass.

This is why you're seeing so many older headphones being recommended here. The good old days really were good old days - assuming you prefer acoustic music. The DT48 is a throwback still in production. And I feel blessed that Sennheiser gave us the HD-800, which is voiced to please this segment of listeners. That is also why you'll find people throwing stones at the HD-800 over its bass. I'm just glad at least one manufacturer found it worthwhile to develop a headphone with natural bass in today's environment.

As a vocalist, you'll need some studio hps, like the K-702, or the Fostex T-20. For both hps you'll need hps amp or a minimum sound card that can drive them well.

Whoa, if you want anything for piano and vocals, K701 is the thing to avoid. It's more unnatural than 'natural' apple juice.

Edited by Trysaeder - 11/26/10 at 1:03am

The source you have for them is a good factor, i always said that the K701/702 are good vocal and acoustic performers. 

But yes, the 702's are better. 

 

You have to try both!