Favourite albums for Headphone listening (and WHY!)

There are some other headphone album threads, but they seem to be just lists of albums that people like (and I'm sure for good reason).

It'd be interesting to discuss what it is about your favourite 'headphone albums' that make them good for listening in such a fashion. Cheers! (Why not include your favourite headphones while you're at it! )

 

I went into Fry's recently and they had a whole entire aisle dedicated to headphone displays so I was able to do some great research. I have to say that, as popular as they are in my neck of the woods, I was extremely disappointed with the Beats headphones. They were very bass heavy of course, but everything else sounded kind of flat and I didn't really notice a marked improvement over my $40 Skull Candy cans. In fact, they sounded a little worse to me (no offense Dr. Dre!). After much experimenting, I settled on a nice set of Bose over ear cans - they are super comfortable and the entire range of sound is excellent to my ears. I even sprung the extra $50 to get the noise-cancelling model. Not sure how much I will use that feature, but it's nice to know I can. I mostly use these headphones with my crappy little I-Pod shuffle at work but I can't get over the difference in quality it makes. Whatever headphones you like, it's well worth spending the extra bucks to get a reasonable quality pair.

As far as favorite listening, I have to go back to the 70's for really good headphone-specific music. I think they just cared more about that stuff in those days and could do a lot more cool and interesting aural maneuvers in a professional studio environment. Records like Pink Floyd's Meddle or Animals or Genesis' The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway just sound fantastic on headphones.

All time fave headphone record is probably 'On Land' by Brian Eno.

 

A Wizard/A True Star (lots of headphone-friendly stereo mix effects there).

 

Melon Cholie and the Infinite Sadness

 

Axis: Bold as Love, Jimi Hendrix Experience and Revolver, The Beatles are two great albums to enjoy through headphones in their stereo versions.

Mono plays best through speakers for these though!

 

If you have open back headphones, I highly suggest Eagles-Hell Freezes Over. Very well recorded and a HUGE soundstage. Hotel California is a standout. It really sounds great on headphones.

 

The last 3 years or so I have been listening to my audio on headphones most of the time. You hear so much more music detail on phones than you do on speakers, which I really appreciate. The main reason for listening to the headset now is that the kind I use are very comfortable, but most importantly they are wireless & use Kleer as the source to transmit. The headphones I have are Sennheiser model #HDR-180, I have to sets w/transmitter. The sound of these, at least to me are as good as my Bose QC2's which are nice headphones, but are not nearly as comfortable, also there's that cord to deal with.
I listen to a lot of electronic/ambient music, so headphones are ideal for this stuff, I listen at low volumes on all music. I like lots of different kinds of music as well.

 

Obviously Dark Side of the Moon.

I have two pairs of headphones. One is a pair of Grado 125s and the other Klipsch noise canceling with bass boosters (I don't really like these that much).

 

Yep, DSOTM wins by a mile. Perhaps this thread should be "Favorite albums for headphone listening, besides DSOTM." In that case, my pick is Jeff Beck's Blow by Blow, although other contenders include Tool's Lateralus and Jethro Tull's Thick as a Brick.

 

Welcome Back My Friends to the Show That Never Ends - Emerson, Lake and Palmer
Why? A lot of things going on here to hear......especially the keyboards.

 

I enjoy the original stereo mix of the "We Are Ever So Clean" album by The Blossom Toes
(on U.K. Marmalade) because I feel like I'm: (1.) In England (2.) on LSD (3.) in 1967. Fun!

 

Floyd - Dark Side, Meddle
Stones - Sticky Fingers - Worth it for Can't You Hear Me Knocking and Moonlight Mile alone
Radiohead - Ok Computer/Kid A/In Rainbows
Steely Dan - Aja
Fleetwood Mac - Rumors - Phenomenal headphone album start to finish
Hendrix - Electric Ladyland - Voodoo Chile & 1983 (Merman)
Parliament - Mothership Connection
Miles - In A Silent Way
Beatles - Abbey Road
Kraftwerk - Computer World

 

Odelay and Midnight Vultures
In SeArch of the Lost Chord

 

Why?

 

What is the model # of the Bose that you got?

Thanks for the review, I'm looking for a new set and they are in my price range.

 

Led Zeppelin II
I always liked the panning on the album.

 

Headphones: Grado SR325is.

Favourite headphone listening: Any mofi Dylan on vinyl (Blonde on Blonde, Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 etc) because of the detail and closeness of the sound. The mofi take out the shrillness of the harmonica, making headphone listening a pleasure.

Other favourites: Cat Stevens Tea for Tillerman Analogue Productions 45 rpm; Pixies mofi (any of the four albums done by mofi); Zeppelin I and II (japan pressings); and all 7 of my NYA (neil young archives) vinyl. All of these sound amazing with my grados. I like detail and presence in my sound, and I get it this way.

 

Mine?

I like visiting the Outer Planets.

 

Never appreciated Bitches Brew until I listened with headphones.

 

Bose QC 25 BLK SMSG Noise Cancelling - Easily the most comfortable cans I've ever worn and the sound is really great as I mentioned. Everyone is different of course, but that's why it's cool you can try before you buy. I think they also make a non-noise cancelling model that is $100 cheaper. These retail for $300 but I got them on sale for $250. It's a lot for me to spend on headphones but I don't regret the purchase at all as I know I will have these forever.

 

When I was a kid I'd babysit at my uncle's house. He had a really nice Dual turntable and McIntosh receiver and a pair of huge headphones (cant remember the make). He usually played Mantovani, Sinatra and Jerry Vale. I would bring a few LPs over and when the little ones were finally in bed, I'd slip on an LP and listen on the cans.

I liked stuff like Led Zep 1 and 2 and Are You Experienced, but the one that always knocked me out was The White Album. What was lovely about all those Beatles cuts were the busy sound of them, all sorts of sounds buzzing past your ears while you listened and at the same time, the glorious plushness of the recordings. I listen to it today on my own system and headphones, and as great as it sounds, its not quite as astonishing as the first few times I heard it at my uncle's place.

 

Trust me, I love my Bose QC 15s, but they went on me after about 2.5 years of pretty steady use. The good news is that Bose has a take-back credit, so I ended up paying just $100 for a new pair. You may own a pair of QC 25s your whole life, it just might not be the same pair.

 

I have the 180's and the 170's.
Don't forget that the 180's have the added feature of a balance control. Fantastic cans.
Avoid Amy Winehouse on them....distortion-ville!!

 

Pet Sounds (1996 Stereo Mix)
I just have a thing for angelic vocals,layered harmonies and inventive instrumentation.