Thread: Best Headphones for SACD

Posts: 51
Page: prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 next

Post by canonical October 13, 2009 (11 of 51)
mahlerei said:

I had the MF X-Can v3 headphone amp and found it terribly fatiguing. I also had a Marantz 7001 and tried the dedicated headphone socket. It was fine on undemanding music but using a separate amp - such as the Lehmann - amounts to a quantum leap in terms of weight and detail, especially on organ, massed voices etc.

Many thanks, mahlerei.

The headphone amp I was given is the Musical Fidelity V-Can series. I don't think I use the headphones enough to warrant the extra connections / issues ... so I think i shall leave alone for the moment, even though tis very tempting :) Thanks.

Post by mahlerei October 13, 2009 (12 of 51)
canonical said:

Many thanks, mahlerei.

The headphone amp I was given is the Musical Fidelity V-Can series. I don't think I use the headphones enough to warrant the extra connections / issues ... so I think i shall leave alone for the moment, even though tis very tempting :) Thanks.

You're welcome.

Dan

Post by DSD October 13, 2009 (13 of 51)
I agree with the recommendations for Sennheiser headphones, I have the HD 580 and HD 265 Linear and have read the newer models are even better. Another plus is they are ideally suited for SACD and other high resolution sources do to their extended frequency response to 38kHz or so depending on the model.

Also I find them much more comfortable to wear over extended periods of time, the Grados are perhaps the most uncomfortable headphones I've owned. Most other brands fall somewhere in-between these two in comfort levels.

Post by FunkyMonkey October 13, 2009 (14 of 51)
Once again, thanks to all.

I listen to all kinds of music.

I think based on my hifi preferences, I want an open, airy sound, and I will isten to the headphones for hours on end, so comfort and unfatiguing sound are important.

I think headhpones are more forgiving to my ears than, say, speakers and amps, because due to their nature, they give a detailed sound, even in the cheaper models.

So it's more about getting the other factors correct, as expressed above.

I take on board everything that has been said, and, subject to other and more advice, and of course, personal listening, I think Sennheiser may be the way to go. In short:
1. Open, airy sound, therefore, open-backed?
2. Extended frequency response to make the most of SACD.
3. Neutral sound. The feeling of true-to-the-source soudn is more important to me than gettign a certain character, or the kind of music I will listen to. I can change the character usign my amp if I need. (Not that I would, cos that woudl be contradicting my natural-sounding aims!)

Post by Fugue October 13, 2009 (15 of 51)
I use Stax SRS 4040 headphones with my Sony XA5400ES. I've never heard a more natural or revealing headphone. They may lack the last ounce of bass slam, and they don't isolate the listener from his environment at all, but oh, what transparency and transient response!

Post by akiralx October 14, 2009 (16 of 51)
Fugue said:

I use Stax SRS 4040 headphones with my Sony XA5400ES....

Earspeakers, please! But seriously, Stax are very good but expensive.

Post by amatala October 14, 2009 (17 of 51)
FunkyMonkey said:

Very simply, what are the best headphones for SACD? I'm surprised I cannto find any threads on this subject (did a search).

I suspect an issue might be that before the signal is sent via the headphone circuit, it must be converted to PCM (on most players).

Although I suspect most players do not have headphone sockets.

The most important question is: How much are you willing to spend?
There are many makes and models of headphones out there - some of them costing thousands of $$$... Knowing what's your budget would help narrowing down the list of choices...

Post by Chris October 14, 2009 (18 of 51)
Having just had the opportunity to compare several high grade headphones concentrating on the Seenheiser HD 650 the HD 800 and the Grado GS 1000i,listening to DXD 24/352.8 recording masters during and after actual recording sessions via the DAD Sphynx recently, and also being able to directly compare the recorded sound to both orchestra and choir live,I came to the conclusion that all three are good headphones.

The HD 800 came out clearly on top IMO,as being the most transparent with a very full and realistic sound.

The HD 800 was,again IMO,quite closely followed by the Grados.

But their sound although similarly open and clear,was a bit thinner and with a bit of an audible treble lift.

The old HD 650 which used to be my reference for dynamic headphones for several years, was still surprisingly good in this context.

Sounding a bit dark, even slightly coloured, and not as transparent compared to the other two.

With the new Sennheiser HD 800 I would even say that you are in basically the same territory as some famous Electrostats when it comes to transparence, resolution and attack.

But with much better bass than I have heard from any Electrostatic headphones.

I still own a pair of Jecklin Floats.

The HD 800 followed by the Grados are my new references.

For those still stuck with old 580 or 600 Sennheisers the step-up to HD 650 is clear and even dramatic if you go all the way to the Hd 800s on acoustic hi- res material!
The 600 were also at hand but not quite in the same league as the other three.

I would say the differences between these headphones as perceived on DXD material,(DXD contains 4 times the data density per channnel compared to DSD on SACD)as ranging from,good Mid Fi to true HI FI into HIGH END and true Reference Standard, progressively.

The HD 800 was also used as the main headphones during these sessions by the producer and sound engineer.

All the best and happy Headphone listening

ps. reading Teresa´s post above I feel the need to add that both the HD 800 and Grados GS 1000i are very comfortable to wear.
If anything the Grados are much lighter and even more comfortable to wear than the Hd 800s.
I don´t know what Grados she is referring to ,but her observation certainly does not apply to the ones used here.
The Sennheiser 650s on the other hand, can get a bit uncomfortable to wear after a while .
Chris

Post by Fugue October 14, 2009 (19 of 51)
akiralx said:

Earspeakers, please! But seriously, Stax are very good but expensive.

Indeed. I think I paid around $1400 a few years ago...now they are $1800-2000, and the Omega "earspeakers" :-) are around $5000!

Post by mahlerei October 14, 2009 (20 of 51)
I had the Stax 2020s for a while but found the earspeaker design a tad awkward. Also, the lack of bass was an issue for me. I was surprised after buying the Sennheiser HD650s that, on balance, I preferred the tonal character of the HD600s. I replaced the flimsy leads with the more robust ones intended for the HD650s and found there was a noticeable improvement in detail and weight.

Page: prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 next

Closed