Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Headphones for classical music?




Piano Play


Hi, I want to buy headphones for listening to classical music. I dont have a specific preference, but comfort is an important factor, and I cant pay more than 150 dollars.
Thanks alot in advance!



Answer
It's difficult to answer the question without a bit more information about what you'll be using the headphones for. In particular, a key question you'll have to decide is whether you want "closed" headphones (a closed back covers the ears -- ideal if you're using the headphones to listen to music in a crowded environment or late at night in an apartment building) or "open" headphones (the headphones have an open grille which both allows for reduced distortion and allows much more sound to leak out. Great if you're alone at home, awkward if other people are around).

The only headphones I can speak to from personal experience in your price-range are the Sennheiser HD-280, which currently run about $75-90 on Amazon in the US. They fit my criteria exactly -- very clear sound for the price, good portability (they fold for travel), and amazing at blocking out outside sounds and keeping sounds from leaking at 3am. This last property is accomplished by having the headphones fit very tightly around the ear. I personally don't find it uncomfortable at all, but if you're sensitive to that sort of thing you'll definitely notice this.

Alessandro MS1 headphones for classical music?




asquil


I've been thinking in getting a good pair of headphones, specially for opera and classical music, reviewing blogs, I found out about the GRADO's and Alessandro's headphones, but specifically about the Alessandro's MS1, I've found that other brands like Pioneer and AKG offer greater frequency range at a lower price, should I go for the cheaper Pioneer's or go for the MS1's or other GRADO's?
These are intended for classical and opera mostly.
I currently own a pair of BOSE's IE2 which I use for the gym, but I want something better for classical.



Answer
Don't choose based on frequency range, all the good brands have a range wider than human ears can hear.

From what I've read on head-fi the ms1 are good with classical, maybe with the exception of songs played by full orchestras, which benefit from soundstage (grado/alessandro's lack soundstage).

Possibly a better choice would be the Audio-Technica AD700's, people say those are great for classical and also good with a variety of genres.

Other options:

- A Sennheiser pair (the 555's are around the same price).

-Maybe an AKG pair like you said. People like the k701's with classical so maybe a lower AKG model is also good with it. I have the k701's and am also a big fan of classical (however mostly piano).

- Creative Aurvana Live. These are essentially the same as the Denon d1000/d1001 which sound great (I own the d1001) with all genres and definitely do well with classical.


I realize I've probably made your decision harder than before you asked the question! But shopping for quality headphones is difficult because you don't get to sample them, and it's very much a matter of preference. So your next step now is to read further on head-fi.org (use the search bar) about each of those headphones (and comparisons between them), and if you have to you can ask a question.




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