What are your top 5 headphones for classical music? - Page 3

Quote:

Originally Posted by forsberg 

What made you get the HD600 instead of HD650?
 

Familiarity. In the past I'd owned the HD580 and for a short time, the HD650 (when it was first introduced). At that time I believe I had an Eddie Current HD300, and I just didn't take to the sound of the 650 with the old drivers.

I still haven't experienced the current HD650, but am open to give it a try if my equipment combo seems to lean in its direction. 

I guess you could say that I'm not looking much further than Sennheiser for classical music. In fact I may very well end up with a WA-5, at which point it would be an appropriate time to give the HD800 a try.

Quote:

Originally Posted by pp312 

 

If that's true then it's a serious flaw. Much of the music out there, particularly in the classical field, is archival, and that's not counting individual's archived recordings--stuff copied from old tapes, LPs etc.  
 

 

Well, that depends on individual preferences - if you listen to old recordings, HD800 won't satisfy your needs. Under "old recordings" I mean those, that were made in 30-s, 50-s, 60-s. E.g. Beethoven's Symphony №9 conducted by Wilhelm Furtwangler (in 1954) doesn't sound pleasing to my ears. The recording of this symphony with Karl Bohm (in 1981) sounds very good, and the recording of №9 with Philippe Herreweghe (in 1999) sounds absolutely phenomenal.

I, personally, listen mainly to authentic perfomances (Harnoncourt, Herreweghe, Koopman, Pinnock, Savall, Hogwood, etc.) - all recordings I've listend to until now were perfect (or near perfect).

I won't recommend HD800  to anyone, unless the person understands what "exact sound reproduction" means. These headphones, like good studio monitors, deliver precise, uncoloured sound, as true to the recording as it can possibly be. If you can't stand this - look elsewhere.

Very nicely done. 
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by forsberg 

here's a post from 5 years ago I was reading just now:

link: http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/195589/classical-music-shootout-ad2000-hd650-600-k701-k501-sorry-longwinded

Classical Music Shootout: AD2000, HD650/600, K701/K501
(sorry, this is a very longwinded read)

I’ve thought about doing something like this for a while, and now that I’ve accumulated a nice stable of highly regarded cans to play with, it’s fun to listen to them all and compare how they deliver different types of classical music. I picked some cuts from a few of my favorite CDs. All are great musical renditions captured on clear and ambient recordings. I thought about mixing in other genres as well, but maybe that can be another thread sometime. I don’t care for the vast majority of studio recordings through headphones, so I’m not going to venture too deeply into those waters.

Coda

If I had to live with one pair, it would have to be the HD600’s. They were very strong in every test. The K701’s have not been my favorite from the time I got them, even made a deal to sell them once that didn’t work out. I’m surprised at how well they sounded to me in the head-on situations. The HD650’s – I’ve had these the longest and I do prefer the 600’s in most situations. They could have been better than the 600’s – maybe they are, but I prefer the music that comes out of the 600’s. I’ll be very eager to hear Sennheiser’s next top model, whenever that will be. The K501’s are special little cans that pulled some surprise finishes in my tests. I’d like to think of what they would be like working in concert with a small but deep-reaching subwoofer and a carefully tweaked crossover. Maybe I’ll mess with that – could be fun. The AD2000’s are my newest cans, and I’m still trying to get my head around them. I do like the spaciousness of them, and their bass is the deepest of all. There is a colored sound to them that I don’t mind - until I compare them to other cans. They showed themselves esp. strong with vocals. I will branch out and listen to some other genres with them soon. Maybe I should sell everything else and listen to them exclusively. I would be happy then? Yea right.

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrisjackson 

I guess if you can afford an HD800 you can afford another headphone for the historical stuff. Something like the famous 1944 Furtwangler recording of Brucker's 9th needs to be played though speakers and listened to in the next room...

Absolutely agree! These recordings require another kind of equipment.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Finnegans 

Well, that depends on individual preferences - if you listen to old recordings, HD800 won't satisfy your needs. Under "old recordings" I mean those, that were made in 30-s, 50-s, 60-s. E.g. Beethoven's Symphony №9 conducted by Wilhelm Furtwangler (in 1954) doesn't sound pleasing to my ears. The recording of this symphony with Karl Bohm (in 1981) sounds very good, and the recording of №9 with Philippe Herreweghe (in 1999) sounds absolutely phenomenal.

 

I, personally, listen mainly to authentic perfomances (Harnoncourt, Herreweghe, Koopman, Pinnock, Savall, Hogwood, etc.) - all recordings I've listend to until now were perfect (or near perfect).

 

I won't recommend HD800  to anyone, unless the person understands what "exact sound reproduction" means. These headphones, like good studio monitors, deliver precise, uncoloured sound, as true to the recording as it can possibly be. If you can't stand this - look elsewhere.

In my experience the HD800 cannot reproduce the sound of a piano even remotely accurate. It was the main reason for me to sell them again.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Erik 
 

For what it's worth, I also find the Beyerdynamic DT48 very natural. Those are hugely polarizing, but I find them tonally accurate and transparent. I think the DT48 remains Beyerdynamic's flagship, even after 50+ years and the T1. The T1 is bass-heavy. Smart marketing strategy (can't blame them) but the DT48 remains accurate.

We don't hear things the same, and that's an understatement.

The DT48 was the most un-natural sounding thing I've ever listened to. There was nothing about its abilities that I found realistic in any way. Perhaps this is why it's so 'polarizing'... because to those who hear as I do, it's simply awful. It is rolled off severely at both ends, its mids are bumpy with emphasis at 1-3k to make the spoken voice very forward, and next to the SRH840, the most uncomfortable can I've ever worn.

But hey... that's just my opinion.

EDIT... just one more illustrative point. To my ears, the DT48 sounded like cardboard.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrisjackson 

I guess if you can afford an HD800 you can afford another headphone for the historical stuff. Something like the famous 1944 Furtwangler recording of Brucker's 9th needs to be played though speakers and listened to in the next room...

Or perhaps on a pair of 1944 headphones.

x2 on billinkansas's thread.  It's one of the best threads on head-fi.  If you look at his signature, he's sold everything except the HD-600 and Yamaha YH-1, YH-2 orthos.  The Yamahas are very good at classical too, they just don't have a very expansive sound stage.

I also agree on the unforgiveness of the HD-800.  I listen to to many archival recordings to make them worth owning.  I need headphones that are much more forgiving.

I listen almost exclusively to planar headphones.  The Stax Lambda is my favorite but I listen to the Yamaha and Fostex orthos a lot.  I also believe the LCD-2 would be good for classical, but I only listened to one briefly at a meet.

Quote:

Originally Posted by grokit 

 

 

Or perhaps on a pair of 1944 headphones.

Good point

Grado SR80i is my recommendation for the calssical side of music, tried a pair on in a store last week!

Seriously surprised that the HD600 and HD650 are being mentioned - for classical music I much prefer the DT880 (600ohms). I LOVE the HD600 but more for jazz and rock. The DT-880 are perfect for very detailed and wide sound stage for full orchestra as well as chamber music...

For a long-time-running the Grado GS-1000 was considered "the" phone for classical. I haven't seen it mentioned yet, funny. I owner them and I thought they did classical very well. 

Yes - I did here them one and thought they were amazing - I was listening to Bach and Vivaldi on those!