[AT83]

Hi all

New guy here. I just acquired a new Digital Piano and the built in speaker is a bit loud for the neighbors and wife. I have been going back and forth between crappy airline earbuds with an adapter and my old David Clark H10-13.4's. The X11's stay at work so I haven't tried those out with the piano yet. Although the DC's were $300 I was also paying for a mic, insulation and bulletproofing. Does anyone have any thoughts on what I might be missing by using those rather than a pair of under $100 headphones. I did some searching with the words "digital piano" and was thinking about the following:

ATH AD700
Grado SR60i
Sennheiser HD-555

Any suggestions on expanding my search or which might be the best for my setup. Also let me know if you think the David Clarks are fine.
David Clark Company H10-13.4

AT

EDIT:
Just got back from Guitar Center. I tried Beyer DT770 Pro-80's and some AKG K240's on a Roland FP7. These were both over my price range but sound so much better than my David Clark headset. Question is... should I get the Beyer's on Ebay for 150 or get one of the previous three mentioned for less even though I can't try them out? Also, the AKG's were not as comfortable as they did not have as much room inside the phone for my ears.

 

[AT83]

bump

 

[moonboy403]

Try the AKG K501, it might lack a little weight on the notes but it's got excellent tonality and the soundstage fits perfectly with piano. I personally wouldn't go with the SR60 as the soundstage is sorely lacking on it.

You can often find the K501 used on head-fi for around $150.

 

[rds]

An important question is what keyboard you're using. Almost all keyboards are really lacking in sound quality as a result of the samples and interpolation method used. So nothing you put after that is going to help.

If you're using the onboard keyboard sound spending over $100 on phones is fairly pointless imo. On the other hand, if you're using something awesome like The Grand (cubase) the sky is really the limit. Personally I like the hd650 as it gives appropriate weight to the piano.

EDIT - grados would be a really really bad choice

 

[AT83]

Thanks for the replies. I really appreciate it. I almost ordered the Grados this afternoon sight unseen. Must be okay for music and bad for piano.

The DP is the Roland DP-990. I picked it because the Roland samples always sounded better than the Yamaha and of course because the action felt better in my opinion.

Do the AKG K501's have more space inside the earphone like the Beyer DT770's or are they the same size as the K240's?

 

[dnichols]

I currently use the AKG K271 MKII with a Yamaha digital piano & think it sounds great. You should be able to find those at various places for ~ $150.

I would agree that the Grado's would not be a good choice here; I briefly tried playing with my sr225's & it did not sound good straight out of the piano.

 

[moonboy403]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AT83 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Thanks for the replies. I really appreciate it. I almost ordered the Grados this afternoon sight unseen. Must be okay for music and bad for piano. The DP is the Roland DP-990. I picked it because the Roland samples always sounded better than the Yamaha and of course because the action felt better in my opinion. Do the AKG K501's have more space inside the earphone like the Beyer DT770's or are they the same size as the K240's?

I believe that the K501 is as natural as it gets in terms of soundstaging wise for a piano. It gives you a room filling sound that's almost speaker like for digital piano. I have heard the DT770 but not using a digital piano and I can say for sure that it doesn't come close to the K501 in any way for digital piano use.

 

[rds]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AT83 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Thanks for the replies. I really appreciate it. I almost ordered the Grados this afternoon sight unseen. Must be okay for music and bad for piano. The DP is the Roland DP-990. I picked it because the Roland samples always sounded better than the Yamaha and of course because the action felt better in my opinion. Do the AKG K501's have more space inside the earphone like the Beyer DT770's or are they the same size as the K240's?

Oh, that is a nice keyboard. Quality headphones are in order

Grados are good for rock, but they make a piano sound thin and brittle - definitely not what I consider a enjoyable piano sound.

When buying headphones for piano you need to keep in mind its frequency range. Headphones with great high frequency response won't do much for you.

I find good bass and low midrange to be the most important. This is especially true when your keyboard is emulating a grand. I suggest the hd650, which are my keyboard favorites by a good margin.

 

[Michiyo-Fir]

Actually I was wondering about this as well. I have a Yamaha CP300 and I was wondering if the amplifier in the piano is enough to drive Sennheiser's HD600 or HD650? I kind of doubt it but haven't been able to find an actual exact number.

It just kind of annoys me to plug in a headphone amp into the digital piano and then earphones. Too many wires and too much trouble.

I usually don't use the actual piano samples from the piano though, I use either Akousktik Piano or Eastwest Quantum Leap(my favorite) which I use with a headphone amp and it works perfectly.

 

[AT83]

Thanks to everyone for all the responses! You've made the new guy feel very welcome, hopefully I can someday do the same for another.
Summary Before heading to bed:
2 votes HD 650 (keep in mind my original budget was less than $100)
1 vote AKG K501 (a very convincing and detailed vote although I still have the concern about space for my ears)
1 vote AKG K271 MKII (same concern about crushed ears due to experience with K240)

David Clarks are going to be replaced and Grado is definitely out of the running. Any thoughts on the other two from the first post? The ATH AD700 or the Senn HD555?

Thanks all. I'll check back in the morning.

 

[moonboy403]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AT83 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Thanks to everyone for all the responses! You've made the new guy feel very welcome, hopefully I can someday do the same for another. Summary Before heading to bed: 2 votes HD 650 (keep in mind my original budget was less than $100) 1 vote AKG K501 (a very convincing and detailed vote although I still have the concern about space for my ears) 1 vote AKG K271 MKII (same concern about crushed ears due to experience with K240) David Clarks are going to be replaced and Grado is definitely out of the running. Any thoughts on the other two from the first post? The ATH AD700 or the Senn HD555? Thanks all. I'll check back in the morning.

I'm not sure what you meant by spacing for your ear, but if I have to guess, I think you meant drivers pressing against your ears? That's not a concern for the K501 for any people with any ear size.

 

[AT83]

Not really the drivers so much as the ear pads. In my aviation experience the second comfort factor is having your entire ear fit in the space inside the ear pad rather than having the pad rest on the ear. My ear becomes sore after a while being pressed on by the pad. The first comfort factor for me is clamping force and then third is equal weight distribution on the headpad.

 

[mbd2884]

I have the cousins of the AD700 and HD555. So my comparison isn't exact.

But I find the HD650's presentation of piano a little better than the AD900. Some notes on the AD900 can be too forward.

 

[iancraig10]

If the Sennheiser HD650 is too expensive, the the HD600 is another option. Both deliver a nice feeling of weight in the bottom end of the piano that I haven't really heard in other headphones.

IMO, they work really well with electric pianos.

Ian

 

[moogoob]

Quote:

Originally Posted by iancraig10 /img/forum/go_quote.gif If the Sennheiser HD650 is too expensive, the the HD600 is another option. Both deliver a nice feeling of weight in the bottom end of the piano that I haven't really heard in other headphones. IMO, they work really well with electric pianos. Ian

Agreed. Higher-end Senns work very nice with piano, real or sampled. Also check out the HD280s are they are only about $100 and isolating and easy to drive, but sound a bit... honky... sometimes without equalizing.