Best headphones for piano?
Apr 29, 2023 at 9:53 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 28

ezkcdude

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I am currently using a pair of HD650 for my digital piano setup but am wondering if I could substantially upgrade. Obviously I am mostly interested in what will make my setup sound the most realistic and authentic. To give some background about the setup, I have a Kawai VPC1 controller and am using Pianoteq 8 as my VST. I have the output from my Mac going to a Topping DX7 Pro+, which I will be using its headphone output (for now).
 
Apr 29, 2023 at 10:16 AM Post #2 of 28
One of the first things I noticed when I got my Beyerdynamic DT-880 / 600 ohm was the way they bring keyboards to life. There is a richness and layering to the harmonics that none of my other headphones can quite match.

They're a bit demanding to drive but if my HO200 can manage (on high gain) I'm sure your DX7 will do fine. For the price, the DT-880 is a steal IMO.
 
Apr 29, 2023 at 10:37 AM Post #3 of 28
I am currently using a pair of HD650 for my digital piano setup but am wondering if I could substantially upgrade. Obviously I am mostly interested in what will make my setup sound the most realistic and authentic.
I don't think a substantial upgrade will be possible. The Sennheiser HD650 has a wonderful timbre and midrange which presumably is where all your digital piano resides. More expensive headphones tend to be obsessed with soundstage which tends to recess part of the midrange and vocals. If you find the sound a little too thick then going backwards to the HD580 or HD600 might be a consideration.
 
Apr 29, 2023 at 6:34 PM Post #5 of 28
Definitely not HD650/600/660/660S2/6xx - way too slow to reproduce hammer action. Also a piano player here. The answer is a system-level approach and there are few choices but everything depends on the rest of the system.
 
Apr 29, 2023 at 6:57 PM Post #7 of 28
Is this for practice or for enjoyment?
 
Apr 29, 2023 at 8:02 PM Post #9 of 28
Custom IEM (probably should be wireless) for practicing, and Focal Clear or Utopia 2022 or Spirit Torino Pulsar for enjoyment. Ideally Grado HP1000 or PS1 would be better with your current setup or HE6 if you are willing to spend more on amp and source.
 
May 10, 2023 at 7:28 PM Post #11 of 28
If you already like HD650 you're going to struggle to find a better headphone that does piano better. ZMF Atrium is very good for timbre and realistic reproduction of instruments.
 
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May 10, 2023 at 7:39 PM Post #12 of 28
Definitely not HD650/600/660/660S2/6xx - way too slow to reproduce hammer action. Also a piano player here. The answer is a system-level approach and there are few choices but everything depends on the rest of the system.

Not sure what system you've used them on but HD6++ series is far from being too slow to reproduce "hammer action." If anything they nail it perfectly fine, but not necessarily as good as much more expensive systems.
 
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May 10, 2023 at 10:30 PM Post #13 of 28
Not sure what system you've used them on but HD6++ series is far from being too slow to reproduce "hammer action." If anything they nail it perfectly fine, but not necessarily as good as much more expensive systems.
Piano player?
 
May 11, 2023 at 5:26 AM Post #15 of 28
I agree with chesebert about HD650 (and HD600) dynamics, not that they are bad, they are just not outstanding for me. I have had and sold both, preferring my Monolith M1570 to them (both for dynamics and timbre). When you play a piano, even a digital one, you are creating and controlling yourself in real time the sound and the dynamics, not simply listening at a recorded performance: You may not know what the intended dynamics are on a recording, while you know very well how your own digital piano should (and could) sound on headphones and the dynamics it should express, expecially if you have a good reference speaker system in a good treated room (and I have both).
It may well be that transients are on some headphone somehow overstated compared to your reference speaker system, this happen to me with my ETA Mini C, to the point that it could sound sligthly unnatural (but... sligthly): In this case I could prefer something less aggressive. HD650 is just a preference, for some piano players it could be dynamic enough, in my opinion you can find better as to dynamics, nowadays.
Just to say, I prefer KPH40 to Mini C and M1570 just for piano playing. Pianoteq 8 is particulary good in expressing the full dynamic range, probably the best thing besides a real piano, so it's a good test bench.
 

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