[googleli]

Which of HD800, T1, ED8 and PS1000 is the best for female vocal? Many thanks.

 

[hifidk]

IMO, I would rate HD800 > T1 > PS1000 for female vocal. I can't explain why but female voices on HD800 sound just right and natural. T1 isn't bad either. I haven't heard ED8 so I can't comment on that.

 

[earfonia]

Comparing T1 and HE5 LE, I would prefer HE5 LE for female vocal, more fluid kind of sound, with more body.
 
My2cents.

 

[majkel]

It depends what kind of vocal voicing sounds right for you. AFAIR the HD800 keep a safe approach of textural decomposition of human voices while the PS1000 do it right with no mercy, so some people rate is inferior because of more accurate than beautiful side of things. If you don't want this raw naturality, even the AKG K 701 will be better for you.

 

[Bilavideo]

I have the PS1000, the HD800 and the T1.  I'll give it a listen.

 
1. Alicia Keyes - Of the three headphones, the PS1000 has the most intimate presentation.  Vocals were silky with inflections clearest and most noticeable of the three.  The HD800, with its wider soundstage, had the most separation between the vocals and the surrounding music, even if the vocals were slightly less "live" than with the PS1000.  The T1 had the warmest presentation.  Vocals were silky, as with the PS1000, while the soundstage struck me as smaller, yet the separation between vocals and instrumentation remained very good.  I can't say there was a clear winner here, even after replaying the track four times.
 
2. Stevie Nicks/Fleetwood Mac - Landslide - Stevie Nicks has a famously raspy voice.  With the T1, Nicks' voice came across as the mellowest in what - on my M^3 - came across as the warmest presentation of the three.  On the HD800, that voice jumped out as much more distinct and resolved from the T1.  Between these two, I much preferred that of the HD800.  The PS1000, however, with its "live" rendered Nicks' voice with a definition that made the other two sound dull by comparison.  Even with the smaller Grado soundstage, Nicks' voice had a distinct crispness relative to the other two.  Both the HD800 and the PS1000 were revealing enough that a careful listener could infer when Nicks was singing directly into the mic and when she had moved her head, producing a less distinct articulation.  I found the effect slightly more pronounced on the PS1000.
 
3. Karina - "Can't Find the Words" - On the PS1000, both lead and backing vocals were magical.  Female vocals are their own animal.  Even though Karina's pitch is higher than either Alicia Keyes or Stevie Nicks, there's a center to her voice as well as an edge.  Vocals are quite liquid and natural, with even the subtle grit of glottal stops that begin vowels (like a gritty down-bow on a stringed instrument).  The HD800's rendering, while less intimate, is still very nice.  The top edge is not as apparent, yet the speed of the HD800 does justice to the complexity of the vocals.  As above, there's more separation between the vocals and the surrounding instrumentation, making it easier to focus on the vocals, even if they're further back (as opposed to the Grado's intimacy).  I had wondered how the T1 would compete against either the intimacy of the PS1000 or the soundstage/separation of the HD800, but I'm pleasantly surprised.  Despite the T1's warmer presentation, these vocals appear unaffected, perhaps because of the pitch.  The vocals are luxuriously silky.  While I prefer the HD800's overall presentation to that of the T1, I think I like the T1's vocals the best.  Switching back to the PS1000, I'm reminded that it's presentation is the crispest.  That goes for the vocals as well.  I think I still like the T1 best on this track - at least with respect to the female vocals.
 
4. Pat Benatar - "Medley: Suffer the Little Children" - This is a live-concert track.  The PS1000 renders it and Benatar quite "naturally."  Benatar, who has Stevie Nick's raspiness - but higher - is quite gritty on the PS1000, which is both revealing and crisp.  Switching to the HD800, with its larger soundstage, Benatar's voice comes across as more distant.  That crispness is lost but the HD800's speed and precision picks up some subtle nuances, inflections that make up for the loss of that top layer.  The T1 is like a strange mix of the two.  The T1's single treble spike runs right through the vocals, which have less body than on the HD800 but with a crispness the HD800 lacks.  The vocals are reedier; they resonated more, like a bow being drawn across a string.  Switching back to the PS1000, the whole recording is crisper, including the vocals.  Subtle echoes are most noticeable on the PS1000.  On the other hand, the bright rendering of the recording also picks up other artifacts, including the instrumentation, making such vocals perhaps less distinct.
 
5. Aimee Mann - "Ghost World" - Aimee Mann is rendered very naturally, as naturally as if she were in the room conversing.  The presentation is quite clear.  On the HD800, the vocals are quite liquid.  The T1 renders it equally well, despite the smaller soundstage.  I'm not sure which of these I like the best.  There's no clear winner or loser here.  Switching back to the PS1000 for another pass, I'm reminded of the Grado's lower impedance and hence it's higher sensitivity.  Cutting back the volume, I'm again reminded of the crisper presentation of the PS1000.  It sounds really good.  Mann's vocals share this quality.  They come equipped with both body and edge.  The HD800, with its more polite presentation, presents a lush and perhaps more seamless rendition, sounding less live but so silky I want to eat it.  The T1 actually blends the vocals with the instrumentation, so much so that they seem, at times, outshined by instrumentation.  There's nothing shabby about it but I've decided that, for this track, the T1 will likely finish third to the PS1000 and the HD800.
 
6. Angela Gheorghiu - "O Mio Babbino Caro" - The good news is that the T1 doesn't send Gheorghiu's operatic voice, like spikes, through your head.  It captures it with lots of inflection, but it sounds a little dull.  Switching to the HD800, the whole presentation is much more open and spacious.  I'm not sure Gheorghiu's lyrics are much clearer than they are on the T1, but because of the more open soundstage, the whole presentation is much more enjoyable.  On the PS1000, with its increased treble extension, Gheorghiu's vocals are clearest and most transparent right down to an extended roll of her "r's" that makes her performance more delectable.  Little breaths are also more apparent.
 
7.  Britney Spears - "Gimme More" - On the PS1000, this is a very dynamic track.  Spears' recording engineer went for a more plastic, synthetic sound which sounds very clear on the Grados.  In some ways, I wish it weren't as there are only so many Britney moans I can listen to without wanting to hit a confessional.  I was going to say the HD800 renders them less distinct but the HD800 just gives new meaning to lush.  The T1 splits the difference, seamlessly combining crisp and lush.  It's not as crisp as the PS1000 or as lush as the HD800, but in splitting the difference, it combines the qualities in an effective way.  I'm again at a loss to determine a winner or loser here.  
 
8. Astrud Gilberto - "The Girl from Ipanema" - You have to wait for the second verse but it's worth the wait.  Gilberto has a voice so sexy, she makes me go "Ahhhhh."  The T1 effectively renders her in a neutral presentation that's quite pleasant right before a saxophone solo that could cure cancer.  The HD800, with its wider soundstage, again upstages the T1 (It's so good, I could weep).  The rendering of Gilberto's vocals are clearer, even heavenly.  Oh my God, this is so good, you just want to hug the world.  On the PS1000, the presentation - as before - is crispest.  It's very close to the HD800, so close I can't tell right off which one is best.  The PS1000 sounds the most "live" of the three, and most intimate, but I'm not sure I'm as moved by it as the HD800's.  Listening to the HD800 a second time, this is the one.  It has slightly more body and the soundstage creates such a cool 3-D effect.  The PS1000 has that crisp edge the others don't have, but the HD800's larger soundstage really creates a placement that's more euphonic, especially during Gilberto's duet with the saxophone (following the sax solo).  This is more of a thumbs up for the whole presentation, but for two remarkably fantastic renderings of female vocals, the rest of the presentation can't be ignored.

 

[Shahrose]

Great detailed impressions Bila. Despite the apparent difficulty in answering such a question, I'll ask; which pair of headphones do you prefer overall?

 

[Frank I]

Nice comparison. From what I am reading all three sound different. It IMO would be what is more to your musical taste. I only have heard the T1. To my ears it does so much very well. I like the overall balanced sound and I think it is very transparent. 

 

[hifidk]

Wow. Wonderful response from bilavideo. I mostly agree what he said but I don't have PS1000 anymore so I can't compare all of them. I still think HD800 has the most realistic voice reproduction and PS1000 has a bit of coloration but once again, it really comes down to personal preference.

 

[Bilavideo]

I'm a Grado man, and there are things the PS1000 does that neither of these two do.  Listening to it, I feel as if I'm in the room, and maybe even in front row or on stage.  I don't feel an envelope around the musical experience.  I feel totally "in" it.  That said, I can't help but express how enthralled I am with the HD800.  I'm not really a Senn guy but the HD800 is so freaking phenomenal that it won me over - again and again.
 
That said, I love all three of these headphones and found the "female vocals" issue really hard to judge.  It's virtually impossible to judge the vocals in isolation.  To me, all three phones were doing much the same thing with the vocals.  What was really different was the sonic context in which these vocals were placed.  The HD800 had the most euphonic presentation - full-bodied, wide, three-dimensional, refined but not dull, almost as crisp as the Grados but never strident.