[Float]

hope this is helpful for you,

grados are more forward and brighter (being its sonic signature) something which I like and can live with, it has extended highs and powered properly, its details in mids would be emitted from the phones, meanwhile, I think its bass is reasonable if not adequate.

meanwhile, the senns is veiled when your amp is not up to the standard. But the nice thing about the senns is that with a Good amp, the senns is a very neutral headphones. though it does not have extended highs like the grados, you may like it that it is not bright sounding, meanwhile, I think that the senns is detailed but takes on the signature of the amp fairly easily. Just note, you may want to be wary about modding the senns, 2 reviews i got from modding who i know in real life REGRET modding the senns, and so you may want to be see if you could do a side by side test if you can grab hold of a mod and a stock.

 

[nickchen]

My vote for a higher tier AKG under that circumstances.

 

[That dude]

Go for the K501, it's simply built for that purpose. Spend the rest of the money on CDs.

 

[sonq]

Cymbal trailing off sounds quite real and airy on my DT880 with triode tube amp but I don't think it'll work well with SS amp. Female voices sound better than male voices (compared to my speakers) for some reason too.

 

[robm321]

K-1000 is the best I've heard on a headphone when it comes to the female voice. The Senns sound good, but the rolled off highs hurt them in this regard.

 

[LUMIERE]

I've heard a lot of these recommended headphones....
The best headphone I have heard to date for vocals would be the Qualia's or if that's out of the question... then the SA5000. Sennheiser's are too dark for the trailing edge of a cymbal.

 

[krmathis]

Ok, you have a budget of $500...
Then my recommendation have to scale down from the SR-007 to an SR-404. An amazing 'phone, especially for its price tag.

 

[BushGuy]

I play lots of female vocals/jazz............what works for me:
Joseph Grado HP-2/Joseph Grado HPA-1
Alessandro MS Pro (flats)/ASL mg head OTL/NOS 5751 Raytheon Windmill getter, matched Amperex EL84 D getter
and also,
32 ohm Darthbeyer/Xin Reference.

Pls note the ASL setup does not work with Hp-2, nor does the HPA-1 play well with the Alessandro's.
All are good toys

 

[Dutchess of York]

x2 for electrostatics

especially for female vocals

my lambda pros are a few levels above my HD650s (stock cable w/ tube amp) and each setup will cost you almost the same. You will have to spend significantly more on upgrades (cables/amp/tubes ect.) to bring the HD650s on a competitive level with lambda structure electrostatics (to my knowledge, which is limited) and even then im not sure if they can go head to head fairly.