Best headphones for classical music
Aug 7, 2015 at 10:46 PM Post #136 of 176
diamondears said:
I'm in the car right now, iPhone 6+ in hand...plug the Apple CCK with USB cable into it, which on the other end connects to my iFi nano iDSD...plug the iDSD into the Aux in jack of my car...I open the Tidal app...aaaaahhhh...bliss...what classical recording any of you want me to play?
Click to expand...


Beethoven's 5th Piano Concerto -- the "Emperor".
Rudolf Serkin/ Bernstein NY Phil.
Fleisher/Szell/Cleveland
Zimerman/Bernstein/Vienna
 
beerchug.gif

 
Aug 12, 2015 at 1:34 AM Post #138 of 176
pokemonn said:
back on topic.
BTW paulinus, If you got spare money,  I highly highly highly(X3) recommend to purchase Sennhiser HD650 469$.
HD650 is one of the most musical headphone under 1000$ price range. also one of best for classical music.
Worth every penny. I bet.
Click to expand...

 

I'm not paulinus :wink: My name is Paul, my nickname is pauliunas (pro tip: copy&paste)
Anyway, I'm aware of those headphones and how good they are, they're recommended just about everywhere. But with this purchase I am hoping to stay at least 5 years without the need to fully upgrade (full upgrades are not for students, hehe...) I could get a new source, something that would improve the current sound a little bit and work with my future headphones -think of it as an investment - but not a whole ned headphone.
Thanks for the tip anyway :)
P.S I will receive the headphones I have ordered today or tomorrow, really can't wait to try them out! Unfortunately, we have visitors to come today and stay for 12 days so I won't have a lot of time to play with these toys during this period :p
 
Aug 25, 2015 at 4:44 AM Post #139 of 176
topazus said:
  Thank you! I'm thinking about getting a pair, and I'd love to hear what people think of it for classical.
Click to expand...

Well, here I am. Whew, these 2 weeks were so exhausting... When I got the headphones, I was so satisfied that I wanted to write this the same day. But I didn't have the time until now.
And they're so good I don't even know where to start :) so let's start from the least interesting part (to me), to leave the fun for the end... Since I asked my brother to buy the headphones in the USA, and he was returning on a plane without much space in his luggage, he unpacked the headphones and put them into a plastic bag before packing them into his luggage. As you might guess, he didn't put in any of the shiny stuff that I suppose were to be found in the original package. Not even the owner's manual.
Anyway, I was as excited as never to try them out. It was a really busy day so I didn't get the chance to give them an extensive listening session. At first I just put them on my ears to see what it feels like. And I must say, it's the most comfortable thing I've ever had anywhere on my body. Seriously, it's almost more comfortable than wearing nothing but hair on your head. The original Audio Technica headband does miracles. It's very light and soft, giving no pressure on your head top, but at the same time it is strong enough to prevent any pressure on your ears, or even worse, the cups falling below your ears. Seriously, the headphones appear to be 3x lighter when worn on your head than when held in hands. It's so amazing.
I have also examined the wings and from what I see by trying them out with my hands, they can fit any head perfectly. From this to this. Without the need of any adjustment, making them perfect for sharing with friends. Although that's not recommended, because they probably won't give them back. hehehe...
The only thing that let me down was the plastic parts connecting headband to ear cups. They appear to be made from some cheap plastic and there are a couple of weird spaces between parts that shouldn't be there... When I looked at them, I thought the wings or the connecting bands would fall out of their place someday, but after a week of usage the spaces didn't become any bigger nor smaller, so I'll just ignore them. It should be fine, but it still leaves a bad first impression, just like the giant MADE IN CHINA imprint on the inside of the left side. Oh well, at least they're not hiding that!
The fun part came when I finally plugged them in. At first I was listening from my smartphone, since I already had a collection of classical music in it. It has a downside - I immediately noticed it was lacking in bass. However, I quickly got used to that and I don't even know how to describe what I felt listening to them. And I won't even try because I already spent good 15 minutes trying to find the right word. Instead, I will tell you that I started to sing and dance listening to Strauss and my face got sweaty listening to Beethoven's 5th symphony. Can you imagine that? This symphony is a masterpiece, which I thought would never get boring. But I listened to it so many times I could almost rewrite it from my memory! (no I couldn't, I just wanted to emphasize it...) However, listening to it from these new masterpiece headphones, I was listening to a completely new piece which I had never heard in my life. A piece that could previously only be heard in live concerts. Something so amazing that I couldn't believe my ears. And I'm not emphasizing here - I don't even know how I can describe what I felt. Now when you're reading this, you probably think that before that I would listen to music from some crappy Nokia earphones? No, I never did that. Previously I used Sennheiser CX300II and would sometimes switch to full size speaker stereo system. But AD900X is incomparably better than any of these.
Later I plugged them in the stereo system. I didn't really have many CD's to choose from, but I found Beethoven's 1st symphony laying around. I put it in, pressed play, and... I couldn't believe it could be any better than what I heard from my smartphone. But it was. It was just slightly more detailed (and I think the CD comes from the same collection as the one I had digitally stored on my smartphone as lossless FLAC, 5th symphony) and the bass was more "alive". I guess the phone just wasn't capable to deliver the volume required for these headphones. And the stereo system has an inbuilt amplifier. The bass didn't make the sound less detailed at all. I was surprised. It just made the drums sound like drums, not like paper plates.
What I heard was enough. First time in my life, I felt like I'd rather buy a CD than go to a concert. First time in my life I feel that listening to a CD several times gives me the same impression as going to a concert once.
If somebody is reading this and considering buying AD900X, I extremely recommend them. Go ahead and take it. It's worth every penny that I paid for it, which I really rarely say about things... I even think that a $15 keyboard is overpriced (got mine for $5 and it does the trick for gaming and programming...), but I could pay twice the price for this Godsend Miracle that I'm holding right now and it would still be worth every single penny.
 
Aug 25, 2015 at 4:52 AM Post #140 of 176
 
Aug 25, 2015 at 5:02 PM Post #141 of 176
Hello paul!
I did recommended HD650 once, but i change my mind.
I did A/B testing between HD650 and HD600 today. I noticed that HD600 slightly better than HD650 for classical music.
Now I recommend HD600 for classical music. and good news is HD600 are much cheaper than HD650.
HD600 are Tyll's  recommend headphone. please check Innerfidality site.
 
http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/innerfidelitys-wall-fame-full-size-open
 
cheers! Have a nice day paul!
 
Aug 26, 2015 at 2:22 AM Post #142 of 176
pokemonn said:
Hello paul!


I did recommended HD650 once, but i change my mind.


I did A/B testing between HD650 and HD600 today. I noticed that HD600 slightly better than HD650 for classical music.


Now I recommend HD600 for classical music. and good news is HD600 are much cheaper than HD650.


HD600 are Tyll's  recommend headphone. please check Innerfidality site.


 


http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/innerfidelitys-wall-fame-full-size-open


 


cheers! Have a nice day paul!
Click to expand...

 


Thank you, but I have already bought AD900X and I'm not planning to throw them away for at least 5 years :) I could only buy aa portable source...
 
Aug 27, 2015 at 4:19 AM Post #144 of 176
Thank you for the detailed response, Paul. 
 
Had I read what you wrote in time, I probably wouldn't go for the DT770 32ohm and would buy the 900x instead. Guess I'll have to live with that now.
 
Aug 27, 2015 at 5:26 AM Post #145 of 176
topazus said:
  Thank you for the detailed response, Paul. 
 
Had I read what you wrote in time, I probably wouldn't go for the DT770 32ohm and would buy the 900x instead. Guess I'll have to live with that now.
Click to expand...

 
If you only listen to classical then I'm a bit curious as to why you bought the DT770 
tongue.gif

 
Aug 27, 2015 at 5:53 AM Post #146 of 176
Something about that deep sub-bass... I liked that full sound a lot when I auditioned them with symphonic works. The rich timpani sounds and the impressive sound stage.
 
I think I enjoy bass with classical works. I always got my hd600 if I need a more neutral experience. 
 
But the 770 32 doesn't seem to be a basshead can, anyway. I think it's actually closer to neutral than we think, with just a tiny bit of smiley face curve.
 
Aug 27, 2015 at 6:16 AM Post #147 of 176
diamondears said:
I'm in the car right now, iPhone 6+ in hand...plug the Apple CCK with USB cable into it, which on the other end connects to my iFi nano iDSD...plug the iDSD into the Aux in jack of my car...I open the Tidal app...aaaaahhhh...bliss...what classical recording any of you want me to play?
Click to expand...


Wouldn't it be just a little simpler to just slip in a CD!?!? What a convoluted route to enjoying music (EDIT not to mention potentially dangerous)

Back to the headphones;; open not essential the Beyer DT150 £100/€140 euro has a sound stage to die for. My current Focal Spirit Classics (the clue's in the name) are very nice for classical. As are my open DT990s. A little extra bass and treble emphasis doesn't do any harm in bringing drama and reproducing the scale and power of a full scale classical piece.
 
Aug 27, 2015 at 6:41 AM Post #148 of 176
topazus said:
Thank you for the detailed response, Paul. 


 


Had I read what you wrote in time, I probably wouldn't go for the DT770 32ohm and would buy the 900x instead. Guess I'll have to live with that now.
Click to expand...

 

No problem... Sorry I didn't write it in time.
Anyway, I guess DT770 is also good as long as you're using something more powerful than a smartphone :)
 
Aug 27, 2015 at 6:46 AM Post #149 of 176
pauliunas said:
 
topazus said:
  Thank you for the detailed response, Paul. 
   
  Had I read what you wrote in time, I probably wouldn't go for the DT770 32ohm and would buy the 900x instead. Guess I'll have to live with that now.
Click to expand...

 

No problem... Sorry I didn't write it in time.
Anyway, I guess DT770 is also good as long as you're using something more powerful than a smartphone
smily_headphones1.gif
Click to expand...

 
Although it has a large sound stage for a closed can and is almost universally considered to be comfortable, the DT 770 has very recessed mids as part of "V" shaped sound signature.  Most will find that less than optimal for classical.
 
Aug 27, 2015 at 10:06 AM Post #150 of 176
Originally Posted by diamondears

I'm in the car right now, iPhone 6+ in hand...plug the Apple CCK with USB cable into it, which on the other end connects to my iFi nano iDSD...plug the iDSD into the Aux in jack of my car...I open the Tidal app...aaaaahhhh...bliss...what classical recording any of you want me to play?

396629 said:
Wouldn't it be just a little simpler to just slip in a CD!?!? What a convoluted route to enjoying music (EDIT not to mention potentially dangerous)
.
Click to expand...


Distortion maximus with that long a signal path length.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Back
Top