Best headphones for Beatles music?
Oct 17, 2009 at 12:09 AM Post #33 of 54
D5000 with norwegian wood cups
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Oct 17, 2009 at 5:33 AM Post #37 of 54
HF-2 and Stax = Beatles bliss!
 
Oct 17, 2009 at 6:15 PM Post #39 of 54
Not having a decent headphones amp right now, the Beatles "1" album (MP3's 320kbs) sound great with my Audio Technica A500's, overall better than with my expensive Denon D5000's

The guitars in Come Together for instance, which are mixed in the left and right channel are placed very widely, and far beyond my ears with great texture and 'grind'.
The D5000's place those guitars right in both ears and with less texture.
The cymbals (hi-hats?) are splashy with the D5000's but do sound more real though than with my A500's

My Audio Technica M40's are the better headphones overall for these MP3's, true the sound is flatter and with little 'air', but it is a well integrated sound for these Beatles MP3's, with the M40's they sound more analogue, more like how I enjoyed the Beatles in my youth, on LP and Casette, low-fi (with lots of bass and little treble) on a cheap system.

I must say that the remastering of some songs on "1" is a tad too bright and aggressive, the tonal balance is bit screwed up.
Ticket to Ride for instance sounds dry and hard and with some sibilance.
 
Oct 18, 2009 at 11:26 AM Post #40 of 54
if you like the ms-1s dont even think about upgrading imo. I don't consider the Beatles to be a headphone dependent band, even the new remasters, I wouldn't think about mixing them with up with equipment, the only thing i could think of w/ the new remasters is I would try listening to them on a mountaintop or in a car with some other people through the stock stereo speakers, I think they would probably sound just as good.

ps- if it's through headphones I definitely prefer the MONO to the really obvious and alarming and artificial sounding separation of the stereo version for most albums especially the early ones ( but most notably for sgt pepper, help [so-so source--youll know if you read any kind of review], rubber soul [so-so source], please please me, and beatles for sale ). However, through speakers, stereo all the way.
 
Oct 19, 2009 at 12:47 AM Post #41 of 54
Now listening to the MONO 2009 remastered BoxSet through my Stax - all you need is love.
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Oct 19, 2009 at 6:44 PM Post #43 of 54
Quote:

Originally Posted by Justin19954 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Hi all, first post here, and I was wondering how much better the Beatles would sound on Sennheiser HD280 Pro compared to the iPod buds. Thanks.


Welcome! I can tell you that The Beatles, and most music in general, will sound better through the HD280 than iPod buds. I would recommend them as an upgrade. I still own my HD280's despite getting nicer pairs because I need a pair of closed cans for public/noisy environment listening, and the HD280 are great at isolation, blocking external noise and keeping the music you're listening to from getting out. I feel some songs even benefit from the closed design–"Come Together," for example, will have a great reverberating, vibrating undertone to it.

I also own Alessandro MS-1's, and I feel any improvement over the HD280 is less noticeable. Although, these would generally be considered better headphones for rock, which would fit with what you indicated–The Beatles, Grateful Dead, and The Who. I'd say music from the '60s and '70s will sound better on the MS-1 (in terms of the way they were recorded). One thing they will do is expose poorly recorded/mastered songs, so I'd say the HD280's are the more versatile choice, especially if you are a student, travel a lot, or like to listen to music in public (which you cannot do with the leaky MS-1's).

I know I didn't really reach a conclusion there, so the best I can say is that I started with the HD280's, and found them to be a good entry point.
 
Oct 19, 2009 at 7:09 PM Post #44 of 54
Quote:

Originally Posted by Ronald Lee /img/forum/go_quote.gif
i think beatle sound nice with my MS 1. Had yet to try with MS 2. BTW, what program you guys use to play the CD? my itune cant seem to work.


I have a Mac, and I used iTunes to rip and play the CD's, new ones included. If you have a Mac, another program I'd suggest is Songbird. Mac or PC, I can't tell you what would be causing that problem. One solution might be to use a different program to rip the CD, and then import the files into iTunes to play. For PC's, a good ripping program is Exact Audio Copy. For Macs, there's Max (Max from sbooth.org).

Quote:

Originally Posted by SethSil /img/forum/go_quote.gif
if you like the ms-1s dont even think about upgrading imo. I don't consider the Beatles to be a headphone dependent band, even the new remasters, I wouldn't think about mixing them with up with equipment, the only thing i could think of w/ the new remasters is I would try listening to them on a mountaintop or in a car with some other people through the stock stereo speakers, I think they would probably sound just as good.


I upgraded from the MS-1's to the Grado RS-1i recently, and there is a noticeable improvement, even with Beatles music, when I A-B the two cans. I feel it has enhanced my enjoyment of the music, however, the RS-1i's improvements can be better appreciated with higher-res music.

I'm always bothered by the misconception that Beatles music does not sound all that great. The better masters, including the new ones, prove that their sound has its subtleties, especially in the different textures of the guitars. I've been listening to their music for years, but I never noticed the beauty of the scratchy, raw, opening guitar lick from "You Never Give Me Your Money" until a few months ago. What also becomes clear is how sophisticated Paul's bass playing was. I hadn't really appreciated this until I got the MS-1's, and the SQ has only improved with the RS-1i's, especially on songs like Paperback Writer, Rain, With A Little Help From My Friends, Getting Better, Cry Baby Cry, Come Together. Discovering all of the elements and characteristics of their deeply layered music is really rewarding, and this requires detailed, precise listening; I feel picking through all of the simultaneous sounds in "I Am The Walrus" is much easier on headphones than with speakers. Although, I agree that the hard stereo panned music will sound better through speakers.
 
Oct 19, 2009 at 9:29 PM Post #45 of 54
Ah, you went up the Grado way. I'm pleased. I hadn't followed the thread after my initial post, but I would've re-asserted (contrary to others) that I enjoy the Beatles through my SR325i and MS2i far more than through my HD580 (which is close to HD600) and D2000 (which is an upgrade from D1001, obviously) and K601 (which is...well, not really like K701, but you hear a family resemblance).
 
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