[bhanja_trinanjan]

Hello,
To make a musical instrument sound like itself is in my opinion, of utmost importance… far more crucial than sound stage, timing, transient response etc…

I would like everybody, and in particular, musicians to judge reference cans like T1, HD800, PS1000, W-5000, D-7000, K702 (highly controversial, I know) in terms of tonal accuracy.

I wish to exclude all out-of-production cans… so sorry, no K501/K1000 love here… only the current ones.

Let’s have one hell of a thread going!

Cheers!

 

[Halluci]

As a violinist, I have to say the k701 (I'm pretty sure other than color change it's identical to k702) is about as close as it gets with string instruments. Even more than the HD800 which I've admittedly only gotten a chance to listen to once.

 

[nickchen]

My wife is a violin player, she prefers the MS Pro, no matter which alternatives I offered her.

 

[Mink]

I find Denon D5000 excellent with acoustic instruments, especially strings and woodwind instuments.

 

[K_19]

RS1 for me out of my three main reference cans.

 

[MomijiTMO]

I'm hoping people on here aren't just recommending things they THINK but rather they know. If so, this thread is particularly interesting to me

.

 

[FrederikS|TPU]

The HD800s sound the most convincing. Haven't heard the T1 but early reports say sound somewhat similar to the HD800s in terms of details and lack of coloration.

The Denons sound bloated and a little congested comparison, so do the W5000s. The K701s/702s are no match in any aspect to neither Denon or Audio-technica headphones you list.

Been spending a lot of time with the HD800s lately and it really shines with well recorded acoustic tracks still getting goose bumps when I hear Ottmart Liebert's Not One Not Two.

I play guitar btw..

 

[nickchen]

Problem with many cans is that they either pronounce the string- or the body-part too much, a perfect balance seems to be delicate.

 

[majkel]

Grado PS1000. Techradar.com in their reviews makes comparisons between freshly recorded sounds heard live and their playback on headphones. These were the winner and I could confirm the PS1000's accuracy. The HD800 - no way, AFAIR the K701 are closer to the true timbre, indeed.

 

[Uncle Erik]

No love for the DT48 yet? I started playing clarinet at nine (am 37 now), and also picked up the bass clarinet, tenor sax, bassoon, trombone, and tuba along the way. I've played in quite a few marching bands and community orchestras.

The DT48 is very good at getting acousics right and is one of very, very few headphones that is totally accurate with piano.

I also find the HD-800 to do very well with acoustics, too, and you get a better soundstage.

The rest of the headphones you listed all sound colored to me. Not that I dislike them (save for the K-701/2, which can't even make coloration sound good), but they're not accurate compared to what I've heard over the years.

 

[musicman59]

From your list I own the T1, HD800 and D7000. all three are excellent cans but for pure acoustic music I think my vote goes to the HD800 specially they way I have them in balanced configuration and copper DHC Complement cable.

 

[Geek]

It all depends. The fidelity of unaccompanied music is more often than not ruined by some doofus in the studio, so you're better off just using a pair of HD650s most of the time that mask recording flaws and stupid noisy cuts. If you don't mind living with recording mistakes, the HD800 are better headphones and my personal choice for reference; anything brighter is NOT natural - I've spent more than 20 hours over the last two weeks in rehearsals as an orchestral musician, anything brighter than HD800 is brighter than BEING IN THE ACTUAL ORCHESTRA, anything with more bass than HD800 HAS MORE BASS THAN SITTING NEXT TO THE BASS SECTION IN THE ORCHESTRA!!! - Add to this that most recordings are equalized a bit or sound too bright from mic placement and you pretty much have to stick with "laid-back" (I'd call them "realistic" but then again some people spend more time than me playing in Orchestra so my opinion is relative) Sennheisers to get the right sound.

 

[pp312]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Geek /img/forum/go_quote.gif It all depends. The fidelity of unaccompanied music is more often than not ruined by some doofus in the studio, so you're better off just using a pair of HD650s most of the time that mask recording flaws and stupid noisy cuts. If you don't mind living with recording mistakes, the HD800 are better headphones and my personal choice for reference; anything brighter is NOT natural - I've spent more than 20 hours over the last two weeks in rehearsals as an orchestral musician, anything brighter than HD800 is brighter than BEING IN THE ACTUAL ORCHESTRA, anything with more bass than HD800 HAS MORE BASS THAN SITTING NEXT TO THE BASS SECTION IN THE ORCHESTRA!!! - Add to this that most recordings are equalized a bit or sound too bright from mic placement and you pretty much have to stick with "laid-back" (I'd call them "realistic" but then again some people spend more time than me playing in Orchestra so my opinion is relative) Sennheisers to get the right sound.

I've just posted something similar to this in another thread---namely, that most popular phones are too bright and the Senn 650 is realistically balanced for live instruments heard from a reasonable distance. I've no doubt the HD800 is accurate for the balance as heard in the orchestra pit; I feel the 650 is the most accurate as heard from, say, 15 rows back.

 

[JaZZ]

For me the HD 800 – which has replaced the K 701 in this role. It's clearly the most honest, realistic and neutral headphone I've heard. (I don't know T1, PS1000, W5000, D7000.)
.

 

[regal]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nickchen /img/forum/go_quote.gif My wife is a violin player, she prefers the MS Pro, no matter which alternatives I offered her.

MS-Pros X2