Important advice needed: new headphones for person suffering from Parkinson's!

[acheron32]

Hello, everyone!  I've posted in here before, but i've always followed Head-Fi's forums and site regardless.  For myself, I purchased an EL-8 open-backed headphone this year (3 or 4 months ago, I think) after inquiring on here about them.  They were absolutely the best choice for me and descriptions I was given of their sound and fitment were about dead-on for me.  However, I have a very important question that I wish to ask of people here, so bear with me as I try to be very thorough for anyone that is kind enough to weigh in.
 
For some background, my father has suffered from Parkinson's since the symptoms showed up about 7 years ago.  Interestingly enough, the source was found to be Agent Orange exposure in Vietnam, too.  It is mostly in his legs, but his hands do shake periodically as well.  Thankfully, he can still do his wood working from time to time.
 
Ever since his diagnosis, he has understandably developed a lot of daily anxiety.  His longtime love of music has led to them discovering an effective way of managing his anxiety: classical music.  He has always LOVED classical and it is generally what he listens to these days with his computer or iPad Air 2.  He often spoke of putting on his old Bose Triport headphones and being able to forget about his Parkinson's as long as he has his music playing.  He has always struggled to find a good pair of headphones because he has an above average head size.  He prefers over-ear headphones because they seal out the world and are easy for him to put on.  For the record, noise canceling headphones do hurt his ears with the pressure, so those are out of the question.  His Bose headphones have broken, and he has been quite down about not having a good pair of headphones.  Considering he is using them to aid in treatment of his Parkinson's symptoms, it would be a perfect Christmas gift to surprise him with headphones better than what he could think of.
 
In order to figure out what works, my brother loaned him a pair of V-Moda M-100 headphones he had, and the results were disastrous for sure.  The ear cups weren't big enough and he never liked the overall feel of the headphones either.  He has been using some Philips CitiScape Uptown headphones someone else gave him, which happen to fit him incredibly well....but sound terrible, he says.  I let him use my Oppo PM-3 headphones for a few days to see how they feel to him, and the results were encouraging.  Aside from obviously loving the audio performance, he said they were incredibly comfortable and fit his ears  quite well.  He does have a bit of a large head, but he felt they were very comfortable for him and was enthusiastic in that description.  Unfortunately, my siblings weren't willing to go above $300 for a pair of headphones, so the $400 Oppo PM-3 is out.  
 
Considering the Oppo PM-3 did feel comfortable for him, does anyone have any ideas for headphones?  One that crossed my mind was the Meze 99 Classics.  I see decent reviews, but I haven't really looked too far into those reviews.  Another that has popped up are the NAD Viso HP50 headphones.  But again, I just don't know personally how they feel compared to my Oppo PM-3.  I guess I will have a better idea after I visit a Best Buy near me with a magnolia home theater, too.  
 
I'm looking for ones that around ~$300 at most (not rigid, i'm sure we can go up 20 or 30 dollars if necessary), which are closed over the ear headphones that would be comparable in fitment to the PM-3 headphones.  He is the type of person that would notice if headphones aren't performing well with his classical, as he describes the Philips pair as having 'thin' sound with classical that distort on more dynamic tracks.  
 
Thank you for taking the time to read this and offer some advice!  Any personal experience or advice would be GREATLY appreciated.  

 

[Monsterzero]

You can probably get a used pair of PM-3s from the FST section of this site for at or near your budget.

 

[PL4Y3R 0N3]

I wouldn't get the meze 99. I haven't heard them and don't own them, but the main complaint people seem to have with them is that the ear cups are too small. They sell larger pads, but I haven't heard much about them, maybe check on the thread. All I know is that they may be too small, and that would be bad.
What about open back? I was able to spend a few days with the sennheiser hd598 and they were the lightest and most comfortable headphones I've tried. (Although I haven't tried many)
They have a sound signature I think would be very good for classical music, but I didn't like them personally for metal.

 

[SDBiotek]

If you don't need a closed back headphone, the Sennheiser HD 598 would be a nice choice for classical, and the earcups are very roomy (if the Oppo PM-3 cups were large enough, the Sennheiser cups are even larger). Sometimes you can find refurbished Oppos directly from the Oppo website, and also Audio Advisor, closer to the $300 mark. If you don't need headphones that fold up, or need to be used portably, the HD 598 I think is a better value for you. They do sound a bit more open and enable you to hear more instrument separation compared to the Oppo. I have had both for several years.

 

[acheron32]

I agree, i think he'd love the HD 598, but it seems it also needs to be a closed back headphone.  Upon investigating, it seems the people he's around on a daily basis want the sound to be isolated when he's listening to it, and he also needs exterior sound to be minimal when he's listening to music.  I thought about a noise-canceling headphone, but when i brought it up, apparently he's used them before and the pressure hurts his ears.  Good call on the Meze 99 Classics, too.  It seems like it may not exactly be the right size.  What are those Sennheiser Momentum 2.0 headphones like?  

 

[PL4Y3R 0N3]

The sennheiser momentum 2.0 have had similar complaints about small ear pads, but they seem to be pretty good.
The akg k553 may work as well. The ear pads are massive and they sound very very good. The only problem I can think of is that they may be a bit heavy, but if that isn't a problem and they don't need to be extremely mobile, the k553 are great. The short amount of time I tried them gave me a great first impression and I really wanted more, but they were just too big for me, which seems like a plus in your situation.

 

[atarione]

while they are not the best looking headphones... by a wide margin.. despite my own fondness for their unabashed ugliness..  The beyerdynamic DT770's have been quite inexpensive on amazon lately.    I have a pretty big head and they fit me quite well and are comfortable for me,  Personally I quite enjoy the sound quality also.
 
 
when i just looked it was like $137 for the Pro 80's and $133~ for the 250 Ohms model..

 

[SDBiotek]

acheron32, the newer closed back Sennheiser HD 598c is on sale today at Amazon for $99.. I've not tried these, but apparently they are tuned similarly to the open back HD 598.
https://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-HD-598-Cs-Headphone/dp/B01JP436TS

 

[acheron32]

I didn't realize the Best Buy just north of me actually had the Sennheiser Momentum 2.0 as well as the Sony MDR-1A available and on display, as well as other products.  I know that my ears are similar in size to his, but he has a larger head.  He has borrowed the M-100s and they were uncomfortable and too small for him.  I was able to try out all three, and the Momentum 2.0 fit my ears quite well, actually.  It fit them clearly better than the other two, despite that the padding on the MDR-1A feeling slightly more comfortable.  While it wasn't huge around the ears, i didn't feel like I had to cram my ear into it.  I know I don't have a small head, and when I adjusted the headband to its largest setting, it was easily too big for me, so I felt it was the best choice.  I know there were other headphones that might be slightly heavy but great sounding with a good price, but he can't use heavier headphones.  He's used my Audeze EL-8 Open backs once to see how it sounded, and after 20 minutes, he had issues with his neck.  So, I decided on the Sennheiser Momentum 2.0 over-ear headphones for the fitment, sound as well as the lightweight nature.  Best Buy was matching Amazon's sale price that day, too, so it was on sale for ~$214 instead of $350.  Thanks for the tips, especially with the Meze 99 Classics....I almost bought those for him, too!

 

[SDBiotek]

acheron32, glad you were able to find something for your needs. The Momentum 2 might not give quite the same sense of "air" between instrument as the 598 series, but it is quite comfortable and a decent performer for the price you paid.

 

[acheron32]

@acheron32, glad you were able to find something for your needs. The Momentum 2 might not give quite the same sense of "air" between instrument as the 598 series, but it is quite comfortable and a decent performer for the price you paid.

Indeed, I definitely agree with that assessment and feel that it would have also felt very comfortable, too.  What part of it boiled down to is this is a Christmas gift for our father, and my siblings preferred the Momentum partly because of the good price but mostly because they were able to actually try it on and see what they liked.  But, it is very lightweight with headband adjustments that should suit his head quite well, both important for someone with Parkinson's.  When you consider he's been using some old Bose TriPort headphones this whole time until they recently broke, I think either choice would blow his mind .