[s1mp13m4n]

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If you're at 320kbps MP3 you are catching 99% of all the quality you can hear. Usually streaming is low quality, but recently Spotify bumped up to 320 via desktop, and mobile can be configured to be 320 in settings. MOG is also 320. Other than that I don't know of any other streaming services off the top of my head that stream high quality audio. But to answer your question: if your MP3's are at 320+, you're good to go. 

Thank you for that.  

 

[calaf]

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I am asking out of curiosity. One of the points of classical music is quality, right? Would that make listening to it via MP3 or streaming Internet a bit of a contradiction? I am asking simply for adive purposes. Thank you for leading me to the list as it is a greta place to start.

I have compared some of the best-sounding classical recordings I know of alternating between spotify and my CD version (ripped to flac). This was done  with a Corda Opera in USB mode and a Beyer T1 (pretty revealing setup). I am not able to consistently pick which is which. Must be because my hears are not what they used to be 

 

[bbophead]

Quote:

Quote:

I am asking out of curiosity. One of the points of classical music is quality, right? Would that make listening to it via MP3 or streaming Internet a bit of a contradiction? I am asking simply for adive purposes. Thank you for leading me to the list as it is a greta place to start.

I have compared some of the best-sounding classical recordings I know of alternating between spotify and my CD version (ripped to flac). This was done  with a Corda Opera in USB mode and a Beyer T1 (pretty revealing setup). I am not able to consistently pick which is which. Must be because my hears are not what they used to be 

Too many Nessun Dorma's?

 

[calaf]

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Too many Nessun Dorma's?

indeed! Or too many phone meetings...

 

[juantendo8]

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My top mid-fi recommendations would be a used AKG K501 which would work OK off your Bithead (I owned the combo). It will sound unbearable with less than well-recorded music, but luckily classical music is almost always well recorded. The K701 and Senns 600 are superior technically but (much) harder and hence expensive to drive.

 
Let me just correct you on one thing. The AKG K501 is actually very power hungry and demanding on an amplifier. It fact it is very noticeably harder to sufficiently drive than the K701 and HD600/650. I own and love the K501, but if you are looking to get away with a miniscule amplifier (power-wise), the K501 is one of the worst headphone choices. Its harder to drive than my planar modded T50RP.

 

[calaf]

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Let me just correct you on one thing. The AKG K501 is actually very power hungry and demanding on an amplifier. It fact it is very noticeably harder to sufficiently drive than the K701 and HD600/650. I own and love the K501, but if you are looking to get away with a miniscule amplifier (power-wise), the K501 is one of the worst headphone choices. Its harder to drive than my planar modded T50RP.

you are right about the K501 being rather inefficient and hence requiring a headphone amp, But they offer the amp a fairly high impedance load that any entry level amp with enough juice can deal with correctly (I was very happy running the K501 off a PIMETA).
The K701 are more efficient than the K501 but have a middling impedance (62 Ohm): I am no expert but it is apparently harder for an amp to provide enough current than enough voltage, and low impedance requires more current for a given power level.
Here is a good thread on this
http://www.head-fi.org/t/587289/head-fi-psa-the-impedance-of-a-headphone-is-not-how-hard-it-is-to-drive
 
FWIW, I got my first "top-end" amp (a Corda Opera) because I was not happy with how my (beloved) Woo 3 drove the K701.

 

[llvhhui]

I would recommend K701 for classical music. The wide sound stage is perfect for classical.