Sep 5, 2024 at 9:03 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 26

DavidLai

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Hi everyone!

This is David. Last time when I posted in here, you helped me find my next Android-powered audio player, bang for buck and with TalkBack screen reader as accessibility. So, thank you all for the HiBi Digital M-300 recommendation!!!

Here I have a new little problem. At home I use a Babyface Pro FS from RME, and I'm now looking for a pair of headphones that when I'm playing the piano on my midi keyboard, I can be close to the sound source. Since I'll be using the headphones at home, I thought a pair of open-back headphones would be better than closed-back ones (unless you have a different opinion / suggestion on that point).

I live 3 hours by car from Sweetwater, a big music retail and online store in the US. So I can try the headphones out, but I do need to plan ahead. That said, I'd love for some suggestions, or even narrowing down the search field from you.

I've filtered the headphones to show ones with an open-back design and detachable headphone cable. The Babyface Pro FS has a quarter inch (6.35 MM) and eighth-inch (3.5 MM) headphone jacks. Both, I believe, are unbalanced jacks.

I'm not sure what a bang for buck cost is, so I don't yet have a set budget. But I'm definitely not paying more than $600. I don't think a pair of open-back headphones would be that expensive, but I may be wrong.

The headphone list is below, please help me narrow it all down here, thank you very much!

Sennheiser HD 600, 650, 660S2, 560S, 599, 490 Pro and Plus, 400 Pro, and 800 S.
AKG K702, K712 Pro and K812
Audio-Technica ATH-R70x and ATH-AD500X
Avantone Pro Planar Headphones and Pro Planar the II
Behringer Alpha and Omega
Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro and DT 900 Pro X
Focal Clear Mg and Utopia 2022
HEDD HEDDphone Two, Mackie MC-450, Neumann NDH 30, Sony MDR-MV1 and Shure SRH1840
 
Sep 5, 2024 at 9:38 PM Post #2 of 26
Since you're just listening to your own MIDI piano -- not fully produced, full-spectrum studio recordings where you're trying to separate layers of instruments and hear tiny details -- you may not need to get anything too fancy.

And comfort is going to be really important if you're trying to be creative and productive while recording.

I am a complete fan of the ATH-R70X for comfort, clarity and timbre, and I would expect your Babyface has enough amp power to drive them at their best. Definitely give them a try at Sweetwater.

I also have the Beyerdynamic DT700 Pro X, the closed-back version of the DT900 Pro X -- a little tighter on the head, but also good and comfortable and and clear. But even those might be overkill for your needs.

AKGs are studio mainstays.

I haven't heard the AKG K702 in a long time, and reviews tend to call them slightly light on bass -- typical of studio headphones aiming for accuracy and clarity -- but I remember them being comfortable and clear, and you are not looking for bass slam from your MIDI piano.

Word to the wise, however -- Sweetwater (and AKG itself) want something like $400 for them, while you can find them for $131 on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/AKG-K702-Reference-Studio-Headphones/dp/B001RCD2DW

AKG K701 are --whoa!--$500 at Sweetwater and $184 at Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/AKG-Ultra-Reference-Stereo-Headphone/dp/B000EBBJ6Y

But even the AKG K240, $64 at Amazon, might do the job for your MIDI piano.
https://www.amazon.com/AKG-K240STUDIO-Semi-Open-Professional-Headphones/dp/B0001ARCFA

https://gearspace.com/ is where studio pros congregate, and a search over there might find recommendations for your exact use case.
 
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Sep 5, 2024 at 9:48 PM Post #3 of 26
If you are strictly using these headphones for your keyboard and midi equipment, then the Shure SRH1840 should provide the most neutral sound for your budget (funny, I do remember seeing this particular model on an actresses head during an episode of Nashville many years back). However, since you are trying stuff out at the Sweetwater retail store, try to compare the SRH1840 with the Sony MDR-MV1, Audio Technica ATH-R70X, and Sennheiser HD660S2, and see if you prefer those for your intended uses or not.

As for trying out stuff well above your budget, do use the high gain on your DAP for high-impedance or low-sensitivity headphones, like the HD800S or Heddphone Two.
 
Sep 5, 2024 at 10:02 PM Post #4 of 26
Thanks for your replies! Now that you've reminded me to add a few more details, let me try and add them so you can know my listening preferences.

I use a pair of Focal Shape 65 studio monitors for music-listening and everyday computer work. I like how they reproduce orchestral instruments and the piano very well, and the sound stage and imaging is superb. The reason I'm saying this now is, though I might not be looking for studio monitoring headphones, I'd love the headphones to be able to handle acoustic instruments well, especially the piano. And since the sample libraries I have are mostly concert grands, the bass extention on the headphones will need to be of some quality / depth. No, not a bass head, but I want some bass still.

What I'm looking for in a pair of headphones: light weight, cables detachable, comfortable (is a given), and with some bass extention, hopefully.

However, I've never owned passive headphones before. I'm an owner of Sennheiser Momentum 4 active noise-canceling headphones, and I love them when traveling. They sound just like what I'm looking for, and though sometimes the bass can be a bit heavy when listening to some symphonies, it's generally great and not overpowering bass.

Hope this helps somewhat. Thanks again for your replies!

David
 
Sep 5, 2024 at 11:04 PM Post #5 of 26
Thanks for your replies! Now that you've reminded me to add a few more details, let me try and add them so you can know my listening preferences.

I use a pair of Focal Shape 65 studio monitors for music-listening and everyday computer work. I like how they reproduce orchestral instruments and the piano very well, and the sound stage and imaging is superb. The reason I'm saying this now is, though I might not be looking for studio monitoring headphones, I'd love the headphones to be able to handle acoustic instruments well, especially the piano. And since the sample libraries I have are mostly concert grands, the bass extention on the headphones will need to be of some quality / depth. No, not a bass head, but I want some bass still.

What I'm looking for in a pair of headphones: light weight, cables detachable, comfortable (is a given), and with some bass extention, hopefully.

However, I've never owned passive headphones before. I'm an owner of Sennheiser Momentum 4 active noise-canceling headphones, and I love them when traveling. They sound just like what I'm looking for, and though sometimes the bass can be a bit heavy when listening to some symphonies, it's generally great and not overpowering bass.

Hope this helps somewhat. Thanks again for your replies!

David

So it sounds like you would like for something to match your Focal Shape 65 with orchestral works, which are actively powered monitors. Well, you will need a desktop headphone amplifier, which this one has the most bang for your buck:

https://www.amazon.com/Fanmusic-Topping-Balanced-Headphone-Amplifier/dp/B0BKGJSLT6/

In your setup, you can connect your Babyface Pro FS to the RCA-in and your DAP 4.4mm out to the XLR-in. With demoing, you can test this amp out with your Momentum 4’s 3.5mm jack to see if it work properly, then bring it to Sweetwater with you to try out those orchestral works with the likes of the Sony MDR-MV1, Audio Technica ATH-R70X, and Sennheiser HD660S2. Remember to set the gain on the amp to high as well, just so you don’t have to toggle the gain when trying stuff out and have the amp’s max power readily available just at the turn of the volume knob. If you don’t need the instrument separation and detail clarity between instruments, then just go back home and purchase a Drop x Sennheiser HD6XX (slightly warmer sounding Sennheiser HD650) on drop.com for $199, which should basically sound like an open-back Momentum 4.
 
Sep 5, 2024 at 11:15 PM Post #6 of 26
Thanks for your reply. My main instrument is piano, I hope that wasn't too confusing.



I'm not exactly thinking about matching sounds, but I'd love the sound to have the character of my speakers, which I think the Momentum 4 does have. The problem is, it has a built-in DAC, and there's a delay when I turn the headphones on and connecting to the 3.5MM jack on the Babyface Pro FS.

I believe my audio interface Babyface Pro FS should be able to drive headphones with high impedance, if I'm not mistaken, and I'm looking for a simple setup as possible, so no extra hardware like a headphone amp, if that can be achieved.

I might not always use the open-back headphones for everyday music-listening, the speakers will do just fine. But I can't bring the speakers from the desk to my keyboard, which is located to the left of my desk. So I thought a pair of headphones would be the next best thing to having speakers at the listening position near my keyboard as I play and teach piano.

Hope this makes sense... Thank you!
 
Sep 5, 2024 at 11:20 PM Post #7 of 26
Okay, then just bring the Babyface Pro FS, AC Adapter, and cables with you to Sweetwater and demo all that was mentioned above. ☺️ Hopefully, they have a keyboard for demo as well.
 
Sep 6, 2024 at 2:05 PM Post #11 of 26
For Piano, the best value is the Thieaudio Ghost, I have two pairs and they sound a fit like the Sennheisers but dramatically lower cost. We have the AKG K371 also and it's a great closed back, if you want isolation. The Hifiman HE5xx or Deva wired pro are both wonderful out of the box for piano, and not that hard to drive. I have all of them if you have other questions on them. Beware the Heddphone, I had that and it's so heavy it felt like a motorcycle helmet :)
 
Sep 6, 2024 at 4:42 PM Post #12 of 26
For Piano, the best value is the Thieaudio Ghost, I have two pairs and they sound a fit like the Sennheisers but dramatically lower cost. We have the AKG K371 also and it's a great closed back, if you want isolation. The Hifiman HE5xx or Deva wired pro are both wonderful out of the box for piano, and not that hard to drive. I have all of them if you have other questions on them. Beware the Heddphone, I had that and it's so heavy it felt like a motorcycle helmet :)
Thanks for your reply. Well I'm definitely looking for something light weight and has good value for money. I'd love some bass on the headphones, but it shouldn't be overpowering. It should be more neutrally tuned (though honestly, a bit of a high frequency boost is the actual way the tuning is described). :) Hope this makes sense. Really flat audio is actually boring to listen to in my opinion.
 
Sep 6, 2024 at 7:30 PM Post #13 of 26
If you do end up smitten with the Sennheiser HD 660S2, there are a handful in the Classifieds at the moment for around $300. Seems like some people tried them and had second thoughts, but since you are already in the Sennheiser universe -- and Sennheiser is generally good for acoustic instrument sounds -- you might like them. But the HD6XX at Drop is a famous bargain.
 
Sep 6, 2024 at 9:02 PM Post #14 of 26
If you do end up smitten with the Sennheiser HD 660S2, there are a handful in the Classifieds at the moment for around $300. Seems like some people tried them and had second thoughts, but since you are already in the Sennheiser universe -- and Sennheiser is generally good for acoustic instrument sounds -- you might like them. But the HD6XX at Drop is a famous bargain.
Interesting. I never saw that listing at Sweetwater. I wonder if it's exclusive to that platform?

And yes, Sennheiser has the most headphone models out of the 26 open back headphones with detachable cable listed on Sweetwater, and I listed all available models in the original post. Hopefully I can find good deals when the holidays come along.
 
Sep 6, 2024 at 10:37 PM Post #15 of 26
Interesting. I never saw that listing at Sweetwater. I wonder if it's exclusive to that platform?

And yes, Sennheiser has the most headphone models out of the 26 open back headphones with detachable cable listed on Sweetwater, and I listed all available models in the original post. Hopefully I can find good deals when the holidays come along.
I'm talking about Head-Fi classifieds.
 

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