[JohnFerrier]

Quote:

Originally posted by AdamZuf always remember that there are "useless voters" that vote with no true experience of testing and comparing... ...(though i'll get there if i stick in here too long..)

You mean we are supposed to actually listen to the headphone we vote for? Next you'll be telling us to vote only once. (Just kidding.)

You are right it is not a scientific poll. However, there certainly is some amount of validity in the collective insights.

For me, I think I will be able to narrow down which headphones to focus on during a listening.


JF

 

[AdamZuf]

this is just as far as a poll should affect. well said, John!

 

[NeilPeart]

I should also mention my experience with the other cans on this list (that didn't make my top 5 cut):

CD3000 - A fun phone that does well in many genres, but it is too colored to enjoy with most classical (can be better-behaved when used with ZOTL or HP4).

DT880 - Great for operas; it is truly amazing with female vocals (I love listening to Carmen with this 'phone). The Corda PreHead has good synergy with this headphone.

*EDIT*

I neglected to mention the K1000, which when used with the RKV MKII (especially) or the Antique Sound Lab AQ1005 can be truly magical. It is the only headphone that has made me wanna throw away my speakers during certain arias.

That said, it is still too metallic to work with warmer, more intimate pieces.

 

[MoLtoSoLo]

The best thing about K1000 is not the deep bass. If you need to have deep bass, I would recommand the CD3000.
The K1000 beats all others because of the soundstage, the balance, the detail. The string just sound so real.
The metalic sound can be solved by change the stock extension cord. It's a very easy DIY and well worth the effort.

 

[DanG]

It depends on the classical music -- it's so varied and requires reproduction of so many different instruments, ensmebles, tempos, and dynamics, that there's no one-size-fits-all solution for the very best "classical headphone".

The AKG K1000 is great at reproducing the sound of large ensembles like orchestras and large vocal ensembles. It's also very neutral which I enjoy in classical music, which is often recorded far better than other types of music. For chamber ensemble and solo music, my favorite is of course the Alessandro Music Series Pro or the Grado HP-1000. I've found the HD600 to be a very poor choice for classical music as it is far too polite and without the cable has a veiled treble and deep and loose bass. With the Cardas cable, the bass tightens and the treble is a little clearer, but the politeness remains -- dynamics are still poor and little of the heart of the music comes through. It's a good headphone for classical music if you're not too big a fan of it and simply listen to it as background music. I listened to the CD3000 several times and hated it every time -- either it was too sluggish and sloppy with good tube equipment (Wheatfield HA-1, Holmes Powell DCT-1) or very bright and screetchy with solid-state gear (Headroom Maxed-Out Home).

The Etymotic ER-4S seems to come closest in my view to the sound of the HP-1000/MS Pro in terms of dynamics and neutrality. You'll lose some bass, but you get a different kind of bass which is very tight and fits in well with the rest of the Etymotic sound. Plus, the isolation makes for an advantage that few other headphones have. That would be my choice if I had to choose one.

 

[Rameish]

Heard most of them and for classical (which is a difficult cat because of the different types of classical from orchestra to chamber) however here's my choice in order of preference.

Senn HD-600 with mogami cable
Senn HD-600 with Equinox cable
Senn HD-600 with Cadas Cable
Senn HD-600 with stock ties with HP-1
Beyer DT-880 ties with Sony CD-3000 (they are different but they do tie).

Not the above is only for classical music.


Also I voted wrongly for Senn HD-600 with stock without realising there were other Senn HD-600 options.

 

[AdamZuf]

Quote:

Originally posted by NeilPeart CD3000 - A fun phone that does well in many genres, but it is too colored to enjoy with most classical (can be better-behaved when used with ZOTL or HP4).

please explain the color of the CD3000!

 

[fewtch]

Quote:

Originally posted by DanG I've found the HD600 to be a very poor choice for classical music as it is far too polite and without the cable has a veiled treble and deep and loose bass. With the Cardas cable, the bass tightens and the treble is a little clearer, but the politeness remains -- dynamics are still poor and little of the heart of the music comes through. It's a good headphone for classical music if you're not too big a fan of it and simply listen to it as background music.

Interesting how opinions vary on the HD580/600. One thing a lot of people seem to fail to note is that these cans are diffuse field equalized -- they don't call them "precision" for nothing. They are specifically voiced to sound "outside of head" and as if music were coming from all directions... thus the tradeoffs in a few other areas. In my opinion they do this extremely well, but will undoubtedly sound polite and distant to some people, lacking the intimacy of other cans. They're still among the more neutral dynamic cans floating around, afaic... despite your observations on some minor colorations, do instruments sound unreal to you? They don't with my HD-580s with stock cable... piano in particular has been a revelation for me with these cans, I'd never thought I'd hear a pair of cans that reproduced a piano the way it really sounds.

What you call loose bass, I'd term relaxed bass (deep... sure, these are full range cans). Try listening to any kind of ambient stuff with the 600/580, it's like waves of sonic energy washing over you -- incredible. Admittedly the bass could be a little more focused with some stuff, but that's not the way Sennheiser designed the headphones -- I don't think the bass characteristics are unintentional, despite perceived improvements with the cable upgrade. My main gripe is the slightly veiled upper midrange/lowertreble you mention, but then we'd get to listen to one person after another complaining about "brightness" and how their ears hurt after extended listening...

 

[KR...]

I have heard them all and HD600 with upgrade cable is the very best for classical music.

 

[AdamZuf]

Quote:

Originally posted by fewtch My main complaint is the slightly veiled upper midrange/lowertreble you mention, but then we'd get to listen to one person after another complaining about "brightness" and how their ears hurt after extended listening...

my HD600 made my ears hurt. the much more treble friendly DT880 did not. on the HD600 they are heavy - the higher trebles are rolled off, leaving the lower to sound too sharp and pain my ears. the DT880's highs were a great releaf. they made me really love that part of the frequency, until i fell in love with trebles and developed a personal technique of listening from the trebles down into the music. and i thought i was a bass person (not a basshead)
i don't think it's the treble presence as much as the treble character that can hurt the ears - at least from my experience.

DAMN, KR...
which upgrade cable

 

[fewtch]

Quote:

Originally posted by AdamZuf my HD600 made my ears hurt. the much more treble friendly DT880 did not. on the HD600 they are heavy - the higher trebles are rolled off, leaving the lower to sound too sharp and pain my ears.

See any higher treble rolloff there? I see the well known upper midrange dip most evident around 7-8 KHz, but no upper treble roll off to speak of... more like a bit of unevenness, but it's all there.

 

[AdamZuf]

i did experiment a lot to equalize the senns. infact, it's much more then to say: "the problem with these phones can be fixed if we just take "X"Hz and raise it up by "Y". it gets very complex with differnt regions - i had about 60 EQ versions, it was impossible to reach "the one". there's a lot of "zoom in" to judge here. the headroom graph was useless for me, and i (think i) know what neutral and natural is - i grew up playing multiple instruments, in quite a few different enviroments! (playing concerts too)
maybe i lack experience with the technical side of music tuning, but i trust my ears, not a graph that even headroom now want to replace because of the (relative) faults of the old measurement way. i'm sensitive to high frequencies - and this is my experience and overall description for the "problem".
take is as you like - it's my ears that hear and hurt, not the graph.

just to add: the high frequencies were EXTREMLY in need for repair, and i actually used a 10 band paragraphic DSP equalizer to be able to reach the right "pinchs" in the trebles by gathering up control points in the very upper registers.

 

[fewtch]

Fair enough... everyone's ears and inclinations are different, which must account for the vastly differing impressions of various cans. For some reason, I see a pair of electrostatics in your future somewhere... (I hear the devil is trading souls for Orpheus systems, limited time offer only, get it while it's "hot")

 

[AdamZuf]

don't say that, man!
i think i'm going to save the money to get my first decent SPEAKER SETUP and betrayal you guys

but that's going to take some time.. i hope i can cure my addiction to head-fi in the meanwhile.. it's not a good place for this plan!

though the omegas looks nice..

 

[JohnFerrier]

Quote:

Originally posted by AdamZuf i think i'm going to save the money to get my first decent SPEAKER SETUP and betrayal you guys...

Here are a few choices for you: Orpheus HE90 versus ATC SCM150ASL Pro versus $15,000.

http://www.transaudiodirect.com/scm150aslpro.html

(A connection between the ATC monitors, Sennheiser (microphones), and classical music is found here: "ATC & Sennheiser In Romeo & Juliet" http://www.zioshow.com/viewnews.php?id=2553.)

I will read your review with enormous interest.


JF