[Jeweltopia]

Hello everyone. I am still looking for my unicorn headphone for classical and opera. I think the thing that's most important to me is 1) natural timbre and 2) a round sound stage. I have several headphones in my collection but my favorite one for classical and opera so far has been the Aurorus Audio Borealis headphone. I guess what I like it is that it's neutral-bright, has a natural sounding rounded stage (not too dispersed, not too small, not too big, etc.) and it has a fairly natural timbre. I was wondering what other suggestions people would have, though, because I have also been recommended the AKG K702 which I have yet to try. Below, I will list some current and past headphones that I have / had and why I feel as though they are not my favorites for these genres.

So, I listen to a lot of classical and opera music and like natural sounding violins and pianos, as well as soaring vocals. For this reason, I don't mind if the headphone leans slightly bright and has some air in there.

HD800S - I own this one. However, I want something with a sound stage that isn't as big, perhaps. The sound stage makes things sound dispersed sometimes and it makes me feel further away from the performer, which might make me lose the emotional connection. The HD800S makes me feel like I'm sitting in the middle of a large concert hall whereas I'd like to be closer to the front. The timbre of the HD800S is also not as natural and life-like as I'd like it to be. Maybe I'm also looking for something that is more musical while these are more analytical if that makes sense.

Focal Stellia / Radiance - These are really gorgeous sounding cans but I am ruling them out for these genres because I seem to enjoy more airy open backs instead for these genres. But all other genres do really well on them.

Sennheiser HD600/HD650 - I own these and am very familiar with them. They are quite good, but, I didn't know what was putting me off with these and classical / opera music. Then, after all these years, I joined an audiophile group and someone described these as having a three blob way of imaging, and I can definitely hear that. If these were more spacious and had their notorious natural timbre but imaged a bit better in a 3D more rounded way, these would be better for these genres in my opinion. Also, yes, I've used these on extremely beefy amps and while I do agree with others that they scale and gain sound stage, layering, texture, etc., it's still not doing it for me.

ADX5000 - I sold this one. It had the sound stage I was looking for (less dispersed than the HD800S and a bit more intimate but still round and not claustrophobic) but the timbre and decay on it sounded a bit plasticky and artificial, which ultimately led to me parting ways with these.

Focal Utopia - So close. If the sound stage was a bit bigger and if the timbre wasn't metallic, I would have jumped on these. Auditioned these in a high end audio store and plugged them into several amps but they sounded tinny and metallic no matter what I did, so, I ended up with the Stellia instead. I love my Stellia but it's a closed back and doesn't do certain genres exceptionally well.

Abyss 1266 Phi TC - I'm saving for these, actually! Best headphones I've ever heard. I love them but felt as though they were lacking emotion with string instruments and piano. I am saving for a tube amp for these, so, feel free to let me know if tubes will add the emotion that I want to these or any headphones in my signature. However, in any case, I tend to work while listening to classical music and would want headphones for this purpose that perhaps aren't as finicky or heavy for the sake of long listening sessions. Also, I feel as though I prefer dynamics for classical and opera over planars.

Meze Empyrean - I own these and love them. Timbre is definitely more natural on these vs some other planars I've heard, but, they're just too rolled off in the treble for classical and opera. I can enjoy those genres with these for sure, but, it's lacking the treble extension I feel.

Hifiman Susvara - I don't own these but I did demo them. I seem to be sensitive to a 10-11K peak that they had because I found the treble to be a bit too forward and fatiguing for me. I was expecting to love them because so many people told me how great they were for classical. Maybe my demo pair was broken or having technical issues, but, I just found them aggressive and shouty. It might have been amp/dac synergy for all I know. But in any case, I just didn't enjoy them.

Focal Clear - Almost there. If it weren't for the small in-your-head type of soundstage and the slight metallic timbre, these would have been quite ideal.

Aurorus Borealis - I have these on demo right now and they sound quite lifelike, natural, and pleasing. Out of this entire list, these are the best to my ears for classical and opera. I am already highly considering buying these but just wanted to know what else was out there that could fit the bill.

So, that about sums that up. TLDR - looking for an open back dynamic driver with natural timbre, good treble extension (doesn't need to have an exceptional amount of bass), good imaging, good layering, a rounded medium-ish sound stage that isn't too narrow or too huge either. Not looking for anything too colored but not too dry either. A natural timbre would be nice. Budget is flexible so any recommendations will do. Top contenders so far are the Aurorus Audio Borealis, which I've had on demo for a week now and confirm that they sound pleasant with these genres, and also the AKG K702 which I haven't tried yet but have been recommended. Just looking for more recommendations.

 

[surfgeorge]

Your question contains a lot of excellent information the way you are comparing the different headphones and their strengths and weaknesses.
I haven't heard as much as you, but the one headphone I was missing in your discussion which I have heard and compared to Utopia, Clear, HD-800S and Empyrean is the Hifiman Arya. I really liked it's soundstage, a bit more intimate than the super wide HD-800S but with really good layering, separation and imaging.
The sparkle up top also worked really well with classical and acoustic music.

Is there a specific reason for not having it on your list?

 

[Jeweltopia]

Your question contains a lot of excellent information the way you are comparing the different headphones and their strengths and weaknesses.
I haven't heard as much as you, but the one headphone I was missing in your discussion which I have heard and compared to Utopia, Clear, HD-800S and Empyrean is the Hifiman Arya. I really liked it's soundstage, a bit more intimate than the super wide HD-800S but with really good layering, separation and imaging.
The sparkle up top also worked really well with classical and acoustic music.

Is there a specific reason for not having it on your list?

I found the Hifiman Susvara to even be a bit too forward in the treble for me. I think it has a 10k peak somewhere I'm sensitive to. Although, this was the first time I've been treble sensitive to anything. Either my demo unit was bad or my amp/dac pairings were throwing it off. That being said, I asked someone about the Arya and they told me that if I found Susvara fatiguing then Arya would be more so due to being even more forward in the treble. And on top of that, so far I've enjoyed dynamic drivers with classical and opera over planars for some reason. So that's what I have to go off of based on my somewhat limited experience.

 

[flatmap]

Well, I'm not sure I have much to offer in your search. You're already listening to headphones
I might move to in the future! Also I think your hearing may be better than mine.

But I'm keen on the same classical and operatic genres that you like and for years I've been
using the Sennheiser HD 650 and AKG K-702 as my preferred headphones. Also, both of these
are very comfortable for me, with the AKGs being the better fit on my head.

I'm very fond of the Sennheisers, especially the rendering of tonality. I like how they blend
the sounds across registers and how they match voice to voice. When I first put them on,
I feel like I enter into their "space" and the music happens once I adapt to that encompassing
environment. Perhaps that's true of all headphones in one way or another. Once attuned to their
delivery, I really am able to get a lot out of the music I'm listening to. Mahler, Verdi, or Mozart... bring it on!

I got the AKGs because I wanted to hear deeper into the orchestration and get more of the nuances in the singing.
For one reason or another, and not excluding fit and comfort, I use the AKGs more hours out of the day
and more days out of the week. Sonically, they provide more insight into the details of the performance.
With a good amp pairing, these lay out the detail of coloratura and enhance the subtle shaping of
notes.

Anyway, this gives you an idea of where I'm coming from.

I wanted to raise the question of synergy between headphone and amplifier.
Neither of my headphones impress me without using a amplifier. I listen
quite a bit out of my massively restored Fisher 800C receiver. And, for
example, the AKG K-702 sounds pretty great with the Lyr 3, but not all that
impressive out of the Ayre Codex. On the other hand, using the Sennheiser
with a balanced cable out of the Codex is truly and deeply satsifying.

From your signature I get a certain feeling for what you like in terms of
amplification. I've heard one of the big HeadAmps at a headphone meet with
(I think) a HiFi Man HE1000. Oh so nice! But I wonder -- would you be receptive
to adding a tube amp to your arsenel?

Tubes can have quite an effect on the soundstage, the treble, and
the quality of tone. I mean, running out of the Fisher, I feel like I know
right away just how much rosin the cellist has on his bow. So to speak.
And, in my experience, voices are never so humanly liquid as they are with tubes.

Maybe it is worth trying a high spec tube amp on 30 day grace period or
some such? Or buy something like the Lyr 3 which won't break the bank
and would be easy to sell? I feel like you'd get another perspective on your
current stable of headphones and maybe this would give some of them a...
fuller dimensionality and a more liquid top end. So sorry for the wording.

I know some listeners just can't stand solid state amps and others just
can't get along with tubes. I understand. But, just an idea to try as you
already have some nice headphones that are close to what you want. It
might tweak one or two of them in the right direction. Probably will
move others in the wrong direction, of course.

 

[Deolum]

Uff i just thought Utopia is so close while reading what you like but thought the timbre is maybe not natural enough for you and you wrote exactly the same.

Did you try Utopia on a tube amp? I'm not a tube fan but the Utopia benefitted greatly from it. Made the timbre more natural, less fatiguing and loosing a few details on the Utopia is not a problem at all.

K702 is an excellent headphone but it will not compete with something like a Utopia and also doesn't have a natural timbre. So if you're looking for that this isn't the right headphone. K702 is extremely fast though roughly at Utopia level and soundstage is excellent.

HD600 like you said has just weak imaging and is also a bit sluggish.

One option i'd consider is the Grado PS2000e. I found it very uncomfortable and wouldn't spend that much on Grado quality but soundwise it was very good. Especially pianos impressed me which usually no headphone can reproduce really good.

Soundstage is exactly like you want it. Very three dimensional, a bit larger than the Utopia with maybe a bit weaker imaging and details. Timbre is much more natural. What you lose against the Utopia is speed. PS2000e is average there imo.

What i'd also consider are electrostats. Trying a Hifiman Jade II shouldn't hurt you even though soundstage there is probably not what you like because it's only two dimensional horizontally.

The Shangri-la Jr. is said to have a smaller but better soundstage but never heard that.

 

[Mightygrey]

AKG K812 might fit the bill.