I have about 70 Linda Ronstadt albums, both original & compilations. CD & vinyl, remasters & standard, audiophile & awful, from European to Japanese releases. But I want to hear Linda loud & clear, not her band & backing vocalists drowning her out. Please can you recommend any good pairs of headphones for me to listen to my favourite songstress singing.
If you buy quality headphones and quality amplification, then you'll get greater separation between the singers and musicians. That widening and deepening of the soundstage, allowing greater distance between, will allow you to follow the part (Linda) you want to focus your mental listening on better. I'd recommend that line of approach over trying to get something that restricts bandwidth or any other idea. Do yourself a favor and try to get to a shop that sells quality and try them for yourself. Headphones are very personal in there sonic appeal (or not) and the comfort of how they happen to fit your head and ears. How clear you can hear into music with good equipment is very revelatory! CJ
You'll probably get close to your desired results more easily and inexpensively by tweaking the EQ in her vocal range, but even that's not gonna work across the board.
This looks like a job for...Schitt Loki. That and a decent pair of headphones that won’t let Linda rip your eardrums out. HD-650?
LOL I consider the Sony MDR-V6 to be the worst "good" headphone for music listening. I put good in quotes because it manages to get recommended as a good music listening headphone. Somehow. The MDR-V6 and MDR-7506 are monitoring headphones. Best used for monitoring live in mono. It's actually a good headphone for monitoring in mono in live environments. It is good for highlighting sibilance and for evaluating EQ in mono at the soundboard for a live performance. But it fails for stereo listening. It is one of the very few headphones I've tried that mess up binaural stereo recordings. A headphone that messes up the sense of space and sense of localization in binaural recordings is a spectacular style of fail for a headphone. Spectacular level of fail. How does a headphone mess up binaural? Even the original Apple ear buds that shipped with the first iPod managed to do binaural better than the V6 and 7506. The MDR-V6 is just fail. It fails at imaging separation and depth. It fails at anything involving stereo imaging and separation of sonic layers. It is one of the worst recommendations possible for the OP. Meanwhile, I consider the HD600 one of the best affordable headphones when paired with paired with a good amplifier and source. The HD600 does stereo imaging and layering and binaural wonderfully. It just requires a suitable amp that costs more than the headphones.
There needs to be a greater appreciation for hearing music flat. Not affected by a sound signature. Burn in your ears on it for a while. Sit in front of Yamaha, Genelec, Adam, Blue Sky, and then pop on Sennheisers, and it's like someone turned up the "mud" knob. My preference over cans is IEMs; Shure 3 or 4 series, or as a second choice, Klipsch or Etymotic. Dial them in to your head with the "olive" foam tips. Then your binaural (recorded with some other dummy's outer ear) will also work.
LOL The claims of the Sennheiser veil that sounds like mud. There is no Sennheiser veil if you use a good audiophile amp. Listen to the HD600 with an SPL solid state amp, or HeadAmp GS-X. Or a high-end audiophile tube amp. There is no veil. The HD600 actually measures closer to the subjective headphone neutral than the V6 or 7506. I know what subjectively flat sounds like with headphones. I'm not willing to chase flat frequency response if that means flat imaging, flat layering, and uninspiring listening. I listen for music enjoyment. Not for chasing flat frequency response. I'll choose enveloping headstage and immersive 3D imaging over flat frequency response. Nobody listens to Genelecs or Yamahas or Adams for listening enjoyment. The purpose of those monitors is to allow the audio engineer to do a job. To be able to make recording and mixing decisions that translate to other listening gear. They aren't intended for audiophile listening enjoyment. Same with the Sony V6 and 7506. They're headphones designed to do a job and for people who need them to do that job. They aren't designed for music listening enjoyment.
What level of budget are you able to do? A good option is likely to be a headphone with a clean midrange that does vocals well An amp suitable for those headphones An outboard graphic EQ so you can bring out the vocal (it will need to be an outboard EQ so you'll also be able to EQ the records) What to suggest will depend on budget
Say £500 GBP My most modern headphones are Bose QC25s, run off my CD player or integrated amp. I wear glasses so need long but not too broad cans. Open or closed, whichever is better. Sony have been too broad fitting in the past. NC & wireless are not needed. I have 2 Audio Fidelity Linda CDs remastered by Steve Hoffman (Heart Like A Wheel & Greatest Hits I, am looking for an affordable GH II). The rest are MFSL & Japanese remasters, or standard releases. "What's New?" DVD-A is awesome.
Ah yes! I don't see a system profile-what are you powering the headphones from? Headphones are very tricky because most headphone sources have a not-zero output impedance, and that affects the frequency response. Then the headphones interact with your ear, and that affects the frequency response. So yes something like a Schiit Loki or ha ha a Cello Palette could be useful. But a better strategy before spending on a Loki or even an amp is blow all the money on really good headphones, then save up if you need a special amp and EQ. With such idiosyncracy, a simple return policy is indispensable.
In 2018, I went from Bose QC25s to a Schiit headphone amp and Massdrop Sennheiser HD6xx, and it really was like night and day. I’m still thrilled with what I hear out of those. (The HD6xx is basically the HD650) Get a Schiit Vali 2+, the Massdrop (now just Drop) headphones I mentioned, and a Loki mini + and you’ll be all set. The whole setup will be a little over 500 US. I don’t know if Schiit sells in the UK, though. I think they might.
The Focal Elegia is around £599, is very easy to drive, and has an upper mid-forward sound that compliments female vocals. For a closed back the soundstage is pretty good too.
I agree with your previous posts in the main, but with thousands of hours listing on my Genelec studio monitors under my belt, I'll dissent from the position that these aren't designed for audiophile listening enjoyment. Yes, they are used mainly in studios by audio engineers--that's true--but they also serve as exceptionally good near-field monitors IMO. I also enjoy my non-muddy Sennheiser 6xx (650 variants) driven by a Schiit Asgard 3. Together one of the great values in audio reproduction in my estimation. Listening to the Linda Ronstadt/Nelson Riddle album What's New at the moment and she sounds fantastic. Bill