Best headphone for quiet listening?

[spaceconvoy]

Listening to my ksc75, I always feel like I have to turn the volume up for them to sound their best - somehow they seem muddier and less clear at lower volumes. So, for the sake of my hearing, what's the best headphone for low-volume listening?

 

[Alu]

According to the headroom review the GS1000 is very good for lower listening volumes.

 

[tedtropy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by spaceconvoy Listening to my ksc75, I always feel like I have to turn the volume up for them to sound their best - somehow they seem muddier and less clear at lower volumes. So, for the sake of my hearing, what's the best headphone for low-volume listening?

I experience the same issue with my K81DJs and laptop. If the volume isn't high enough, they sound incredibly muddy, but once I reach a certain point this amazing clarity kicks in and they sound great. I guess I should probably look into getting some sort of mini-amp.

 

[manchau]

Closed phones IMO.

 

[GlendaleViper]

I find Grados in general seem well suited to low listening levels. On the SR60 through to the 225, I've found that at lower levels, the soundstage opens up, and the highs are more tame, with the side effect of less impactful bass. BUT, these are very open phones so not necessarily well-suited to low levels depending on your environment.

Generally speaking though, you need to get more refined headphones for better low level performance (which, to me, is the true mark of a decent speaker, same is true with how sloppy they get at high levels), but that could mean a price hike in upgrading. Can you offer some detail as to what you'd spend and your typical usage?

 

[spaceconvoy]

GlendaleViper:

Yeah, I had an HF-1 that sounded great at low volumes, but the bass just wasn't there (at least on my pcdp - I think it was a low impedance bass rolloff issue). Right now I have the Koss mostly for portability because I'm going to be moving around a lot this summer, but I'm keeping an eye to the future. Budget's around $300, but I'm flexible. Use is for every genre under the sun, mostly at home.

 

[ComfyCan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by spaceconvoy GlendaleViper: Yeah, I had an HF-1 that sounded great at low volumes, but the bass just wasn't there (at least on my pcdp - I think it was a low impedance bass rolloff issue). Right now I have the Koss mostly for portability because I'm going to be moving around a lot this summer, but I'm keeping an eye to the future. Budget's around $300, but I'm flexible. Use is for every genre under the sun, mostly at home.

You might want to consider a mini amp; I have the Xin SuperMicro III, which is the size of a 9 volt battery and runs on a single AAA battery. It sounds amazing with a Nano, and pushes my K-701's surprisingly well (although I normally use my ultraportable rig with IEM's). It would certainly be a good match--size wise--for the Shuffle.

The only caution I would offer is that the SuperMicro is not the most robust design in the world. My case cracked when I sat on it--they are hard plastic--and I also broke one of the copper contacts in the battery compartment by over bending it. Both problems were easily fixed, but it is a consideration.

I would be very surprised if you did not get significantly better low-volume performance with this amp (or any other small amp), and you would still have money leftover in your budget to either get new phones or save for better phones.

Caveat: I don't know enough about the shuffle to know whether you can get a line out to bypass the headphone jack; that makes all the difference in the world. If there is no line-out option, I wouldn't amp it.

 

[kramer5150]

RS1 bowl pads and a millet.

Garrett

 

[Alex M]

Quote:

Originally Posted by spaceconvoy Listening to my ksc75, I always feel like I have to turn the volume up for them to sound their best - somehow they seem muddier and less clear at lower volumes. So, for the sake of my hearing, what's the best headphone for low-volume listening?

GS1000, UE10 Pro, and possibly ATH-W5000. I am afraid they are not quite in ksc75 price range though.

 

[GlendaleViper]

A little amp that has good bass and treble is a great idea, and there are really good solutions on the cheap, like the PA2v2 ( www.electric-avenues.com ). If you want a good home phone though, well then the sky is the limit!

I'll limit my input on headphone choices for such a broad range though. I'll come off as either biased, or not familiar enough.

 

[kukyfrope]

I use the Senn HD280 at work for quiet listening (work in a mostly quiet office) and I think they sound great with many types of music, so depending on your music preference.... I will mostly listen to acoustic guitar/vocal (Andy McKee, Jack Johnson), electronic (Aphex Twin), trance (Armin van Buuren) and metal (Dragonforce, A Life Once Lost).

When listening at low volumes, the highs are very precise, great for acoustic guitar, classical and most electronic music. The lows are barely there, but add a slight warmth for most non-bass emphasized music. There isn't a LOT of punch in the mid-bass but it's more of a laid-back punch, so depending on your bass-head-ness you may or may not like it. It sounds good for trance, to me, and the low end is filled nicely by most songs.

At low volumes, the mids sound very artificial and are lacking the synergy of many other phones, like the KSC75 you're used to. If you primarily listen to Rock, I wouldn't recommend the HD280 at all really

Mid-trebel is a bit recessed too, making some guitars sound a bit funky in soundstage, and almost a bit artificial. Depends largly how much the mix is dependent on the sound of the guitar to fill out the frequency spectrum in your music.

Upper-trebel the phones are very precise, yet smooth without the harshness (IMO) of the KSC75. Old school Metallica sounds excellent on HD280s.

Overall, I like the bit of laid back sound of the HD280 at low volume, as nothing overly sticks out, it's a very smooth sound until you get to the upper-trebel and get the nice sparkle that keeps your attention. This allows me to get my work done without being too distracted by the music. Hope this helps!

 

[iancraig10]

[size=xx-small]Grados work well at this volume!!

Ian[/size]

 

[Skylab]

The Beyer DT770's are GREAT for low-volume listening, because they have that extra bass umph which at low levels really helps give the music a fuller sound. Also, when listening at low levels, a sealed headphone makes a difference.

 

[arto]

I have been reading up about Fletcher Munson curves and equal-loudness contours and on the basis of that it seemed to me that the DT770 with its fabled bass and OTT top end was almost custom-made for low listening volumes. This is especially interesting to me because I usually get ear-weary after an hour or three of full-bore listening.

Accordingly I turned down the volume on my 770/32s and after a few minutes of adjustment I'm hearing the music as if it were at its original volume. Except that the bass has a proper proportion and the highs are not at all shrill (as if!). All that fantastic space and separation is still there. It really improves that famous old midrange recess, that's for sure. Liking these cans even more as a result.

One thing that helps this whole low-volume listening thing is using replay gain on Foobar - at lower volumes it's even more important to have a consistent perceptual loudness level.