[oqvist]

Ultrasone Pro 900 is amazing with piano. Capable for classical in general it really can tell stories though a bit to much low end at times. Not perfect but the best I found for this genre at 350$ or less open and closed.

 

[Super MANSKITO]

Get the 650s, they have better bass.   Everything else is equal too or better than the HD 600s.
 
http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-HD-650-Lightweight-Audiophile/dp/B00018MSNI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1312587664&sr=8-1
 
375 and ships for free

 

[Strat-Mangler]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MulberryMadness /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
But there is piano in this awesome youtube vid of the genius of Ryuichi Sakamoto, I prefer it for the strings/classical Chinese instruments...wish I could get a hi-def recording of this one.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcGY0dStHuA

Just to let you know, this is what's written in the "More Info" section of that video.
 
"Audio track of this concert is included in his live album "Playing the Orchestra" - Ryuichi Sakamoto 1988."
 
So it's not hi-def, but definitely of much better quality than this YT video.
 

 

[Strat-Mangler]

Quote:

375 and ships for free

I'm in Canada, so shipping won't be free for me, nor can I order it from Amazon.ca since they only have books, movies, CDs, and little trinkets.
 

 

[milosz]

Quote:

depending on the amplifier they will always have more then enough voltage to be dropped. also depending on age as well(cause around late 80's,early 90's 120ohm resistors became standard). lot of 70's and 80's amps used high value resistors and if anything they can be changed easily in value if you want or build a headphone box to speaker out adapter. speaker amps can be great for headphones and well suited as well. there is no such thing as ''headphone out was a second thought'' unless it was using an op-amp chip instead. to let people know all headphone amps are basically are just low powered ''power amps'' designed for just headphone use. i find speaker amps more versatile in my opinion cause you can easily build an adapter or swap the resistors used for better results while being able to drive speakers. IMO of course.

Sure there's usually enough voltage (although not really for HE-6, not in all cases; my '80's Yamaha integrated can't drive the HE-6 well) - the issue is that damping factor is compromised. In my A/B comparisons of several integrated amp's headphone jack vs. Beta 22 amp, I feel strongly that bass is not well controlled - not as tight, not as tuneful- with the integrated amps. The modestly-priced Fiio E9 sounded better in terms of bass "tightness" than the integrated amps I auditioned.
 

 

[svyr]

don't go for the DT48e or K701 or K271 mk2 or SA5000. I owned all 4 and mostly listen to piano + orchestra pieces... and they're all horrible for the lower octaves of the piano (or bits of orchestral works that have druuuums...) You'll be shooting yourself in the foot. To top it off K701 has an uncomfortable headband and it does have a strange mids quality to it... SA5000 is probably the least offensive of the lot (comfortable, durable, 'fast' but not too harsh), but the bass is still distinctly rolled-off.

 

[Strat-Mangler]

Quote:

don't go for the DT48e or K701 or K271 mk2 or SA5000. I owned all 4 and mostly listen to piano + orchestra pieces... and they're all horrible for the lower octaves of the piano (or bits of orchestral works that have druuuums...) You'll be shooting yourself in the foot. To top it off K701 has an uncomfortable headband and it does have a strange mids quality to it... SA5000 is probably the least offensive of the lot (comfortable, durable, 'fast' but not too harsh), but the bass is still distinctly rolled-off.

So which set of cans was *the* set that made you go "Wow!"?
 
To be honest, I've had some reservations about all the ones you mentioned except for the SA5000 since I've never heard a single set from Sony that I liked... ever. The reason why I've been skeptical (which is why I have yet to purchase a pair) is because all the ones mentioned in your list have very extended highs which promotes listening to piano & classical, but I don't want that to be at the expense of the lows either. When I'm listening to Mozart's Requiem or some Rachmaninoff, I don't want to hear detailed highs & mids, but almost no low frequencies. A live orchestra has *power* and that's what I'd like to get from a set of cans. A sense of "oomph" when the lows occur. Not boomy bass but punchy & accurate... just like an orchestra.
 
Same with piano. Hard-hitting chords in the low range need to have that oomph or else it'll sound like a poor imitation.
 
So I'm looking for something that will be tailor-made specifically for this ; piano and orchestra music... but mainly piano.
 
Which ones would you recommend? How would the Senns HD600 fit in there? At this point, I'm seriously considering a tube amp to expand my choices.
 

 

[svyr]

Quote:

So which set of cans was *the* set that made you go "Wow!"?
 
To be honest, I've had some reservations about all the ones you mentioned except for the SA5000 since I've never heard a single set from Sony that I liked... ever. The reason why I've been skeptical (which is why I have yet to purchase a pair) is because all the ones mentioned in your list have very extended highs which promotes listening to piano & classical, but I don't want that to be at the expense of the lows either. When I'm listening to Mozart's Requiem or some Rachmaninoff, I don't want to hear detailed highs & mids, but almost no low frequencies. A live orchestra has *power* and that's what I'd like to get from a set of cans. A sense of "oomph" when the lows occur. Not boomy bass but punchy & accurate... just like an orchestra.
 
Same with piano. Hard-hitting chords in the low range need to have that oomph or else it'll sound like a poor imitation.
 
So I'm looking for something that will be tailor-made specifically for this ; piano and orchestra music... but mainly piano.
 
Which ones would you recommend? How would the Senns HD600 fit in there? At this point, I'm seriously considering a tube amp to expand my choices.
 

SR-507 is capable of doing mids, highs and lows extremely well (personally I like to have mids accentuated a bit more, but that's not really a consesnus of any sort )....But it's blasphemously expensive (and the headband is somewhat uncomfortable/the mesh on the earcups pushes into the ears), so I'm still looking for a good/cheap set of dynamic headphones thare are closed. GMP450PRO with a second set of pads of oval pads on top of the stock ones sound very nice from my old MD11, but in general I can't recommend either the stock amp/dac or the HP (that said, GMP450 pro with the pad can probably be had for < $300 )... I think it's more of an amazing coincidence.

Unfortunately I haven't heard HD600 or 650 to date despite attending meets with them (people who had them looked mean ? They were also hugging their Burson amps, further scaring me away) . Same goes for Beyer DT770. (I've heard 880 and 990 and they sounded mostly horrible.)
I'd really advise you to go to a meet and a have a listen yourself before you buy., because I really had the problem with lows not being their for classical as you describe (it's fairly evident in the beethoven, mozart, rachm piano concertos among others )...You'll go - those are some nice mids and highs... Wait what, wasn't there a drum here and some lower 2 octave bell like notes (yes there were)

Anyone who tells you 'yea classical needs nice mids but forget the bass' - tell them to %(#%*#... You'll just waste money on headphones you don't want. What you really want depending on your prefs is probably something fairly even across the FR (to ear, not on the Fr graph), WRT all 3 - bass, treble mids. possible with a slight accent on mids. it also has to have good comfort and low mids distortion/bass distortion (usually implies either fully open, or good seal closed HP) and a fairly good impulse response (hence why recommending SR-507 and most likely 407 that similar to 507 from first hand accounts).

anyway, you can follow my HP for classical journey that's so far pretty disappointing for closed HP here http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/535729/closed-hp-for-classical-300-800-list-of-what-i-don-t-want-inside-d

 

[RexAeterna]

Sure there's usually enough voltage (although not really for HE-6, not in all cases; my '80's Yamaha integrated can't drive the HE-6 well) - the issue is that damping factor is compromised. In my A/B comparisons of several integrated amp's headphone jack vs. Beta 22 amp, I feel strongly that bass is not well controlled - not as tight, not as tuneful- with the integrated amps. The modestly-priced Fiio E9 sounded better in terms of bass "tightness" than the integrated amps I auditioned.
 

i would try different amps for experiments cause i find yamaha amps only good for some orthos(specifically yamaha's and cause yamaha designed them around their orthos for advertisement) cause they can be bottom heavy in my experience with lot of headphones and they usually don't have high output impedance resistors(which determine the amount of voltage to be dropped down from the power amp. higher value usually means better cause it means more voltage is dropped).

i find some orthos to sound great on my sansui 5000x and my akg 240 sextetts lp and 240DF's sound wonderful as well with more then enough power reserve for these. you can always check out kenwood,sansui,pioneer or others like rotel and H/K to experiment with. just a thought.

 

[Strat-Mangler]

Quote:

anyway, you can follow my HP for classical journey that's so far pretty disappointing for closed HP here

 
I have to admit that your thread kind of deflated my enthusiasm, svyr. I too would like closed headphones as I don't wish to hear noise occurring around me while I play or listen.
 
My standards are high but thankfully not as high as yours. The headband of most HPs are bound to not be a problem for me. I have a small head anyway.
 
In all seriousness, though, I'm really wondering at this point if there is any pair of cans that would suit me ; true closed HPs that are great-sounding for piano (85% of the time) and orchestral music (15%). It really sounds as if any purchase will be a compromise. Either I'll have great bass but not detailed highs, vice-versa, and/or a host of quirks such as strange mids, not very detailed, close-up soundstage, etc.
 
It's probably be easier to find some good banging rock HPs, but for piano it seems like an episode of Mission : Impossible!
 
I hope somebody has the answer for us both. *crossing fingers*

 

[svyr]

i'm not a big fan of giant soundstage (a-la k702 or beyr t5p),since IMO it makes the sound somewhat diffused and unnatural.

i don't think rock/metal, piano or orchestra are mutually exclusive in hp with a balanced fr and natural imaging either (some dual and triple armature IEMs do well with all 3).

with headbands it's more about how the weight of hp is distributed on your head. and whether there are bright ergonomic decisions like sharp point bits resting square on your head with all the weight. in that sense head size doesn't help much

 

[Strat-Mangler]

Quote:

i don't think rock/metal, piano or orchestra are mutually exclusive in hp with a balanced fr and natural imaging either (some dual and triple armature IEMs do well with all 3).

Can't stand to have something wedged into my ear canal, which is why I'm looking for some closed HPs that can at least do piano & classical properly. Good rock HPs will most likely be a breeze in comparison.
 
If anybody else has any feedback/comments to offer, don't be shy. The more valid options are presented, the more I'm likely to find what I'm looking for.
 
At this point, I've decided to get myself a HP amp as well (most likely a LD MK IVSE). Good cans to compliment this amp for piano won't be too hard to find, I hope?

 

[cya147]

The best headphone for piano only i've heard is t50rp. I've heard hd600 and 650 as well but in different setup.
 
pro's for t50rp :
- semi closed headphone
- accurate bass (i've listened some files that can reproduce 50 hz to 20 hz and this headphone have excellent result in this area)
- for piano only, for me this is the best headphone
 
con's for t50rp :
- narrow soundstage
- need a lot of current to shine
- a little plasticky sound while stock (unmodded)
 
Just want to share .

 

[Strat-Mangler]

Quote:

The best headphone for piano only i've heard is t50rp. I've heard hd600 and 650 as well but in different setup.
 
pro's for t50rp :
- semi closed headphone
- accurate bass (i've listened some files that can reproduce 50 hz to 20 hz and this headphone have excellent result in this area)
- for piano only, for me this is the best headphone
 
con's for t50rp :
- narrow soundstage
- need a lot of current to shine
- a little plasticky sound while stock (unmodded)
 
Just want to share .

For the bass, does it give enough oomph so that heavy chords don't sound shallow, yet not boomy?
 
Which mods would be required to make them more interesting?
 

 

[svyr]

For the bass, does it give enough oomph so that heavy chords don't sound shallow, yet not boomy?
 
Which mods would be required to make them more interesting?
 

Keep in mind, T50p have small cups and go on ears. Comfort wise combined with a strong grip that's quite annoying or at least could be so for long term wear (I couldn't wear HD25-i for over 30m).