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Topic: Headphone recommendation for female vocalists? (Read 5159 times) previous topic - next topic
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Headphone recommendation for female vocalists?

Hi there

My last headphone dropped dead. I'm planning to buy a new one.
I mostly listened to alternative pop like Lana Del Rey, electronic/industrial rock, or just acoustics.
Any particular recommendation for me?  :)

So far I found Sony MDR-1A, Bose Soundtrue AE2, ATH m50x, and.. AKG?

Indoor usages only and looking for something with comfortability & clear sound.

Re: Headphone recommendation for female vocalists?

Reply #1 –
budget: $150~250

Re: Headphone recommendation for female vocalists?

Reply #2 –
Beyerdynamic DT880 are also well worth trying. They're extremely comfortable, and have a very clear sound. Some would say that they have too much treble, but I think they're just right.

Re: Headphone recommendation for female vocalists?

Reply #3 –
Grado SR80e. Great in general and especially for voices.
lame3995o -Q1.7 --lowpass 17

Re: Headphone recommendation for female vocalists?

Reply #4 –
Go with the AKG Kxx from Massdrop ($200, but not currently on sale).  I use the K702 for female vocals but it lacks some bass impact compared to the Kxx so it's less flexible.  The Kxx is also more comfortable. 
The Beyerdynamic DT880 is a solid choice for all around listening with even greater long term comfort imo. 
Can't stand Grados personally, but only because the sponge pads feel gross, not because they sound bad.

Re: Headphone recommendation for female vocalists?

Reply #5 –
Thank you all for the recommendations!!

Re: Headphone recommendation for female vocalists?

Reply #6 –
I also looking for a headphone that suitable for female vocalist since most of my song is sang by female. I was thinking of Beyerdynamic custom one pro or ATH - M50x. Since they has the same price. Right know custom one pro has 18% promotion. I already has ATH - IM 50 which is great for female vocalist but that was just an IEM. I was looking for a full sized headphone. Any thought?
I will think about tomorrow's problem tomorrow

Re: Headphone recommendation for female vocalists?

Reply #7 –
I'd go for ATH m50x

Re: Headphone recommendation for female vocalists?

Reply #8 –
Currently I use the AKG K550 and I like it.

One thing I have to say about it is that it matters a lot what kind of amplifier you use for it. I have 2 Denon receivers. On one set it lacks "body", there is no bass present at all while at my other Denon set (With MF DAC, but that is not the cause) it sounds rich and it drives the headphones perfectly.

Strange thing is that de 2 receivers do not differ that much (Denon 2308 vs 1907

Re: Headphone recommendation for female vocalists?

Reply #9 –
I rather like the ATH-m50x myself. The headband was way too stiff at first, but after extending it a few times it's perfect.

Re: Headphone recommendation for female vocalists?

Reply #10 –
I am wondering why someone would seek headphones that are emphasizing rather than getting an as true of an representation of the material being played. I am seriously curious and not snarky if that is the correct English word.

Re: Headphone recommendation for female vocalists?

Reply #11 –
You can't really tell if what you are listening to is what the artist intended, or what the mastering engineer intended, anyway, so I just listen to the music the want I like it to sound. Some like emphasis on the vocals, some like more bass. Others like a neutral sound signature. It's just a matter of taste, really.

Re: Headphone recommendation for female vocalists?

Reply #12 –
Quote from: punkrockdude on
I am wondering why someone would seek headphones that are emphasizing rather than getting an as true of an representation of the material being played.
There's nothing wrong with seeking a headphone sound with a particular tonal balance which one personally finds pleasing however this means the person is no longer pursuing high fidelity, which mean high faithfulness/truthfulness (or accuracy) to the original source, ideally with a goal of complete "transparency" [audibly indistinguishable to the human ear].

Although it is true in many instances we don't have direct access to the original sound source for direct A/B comparisons, in other instances we do, such as when making a live recording of an acoustical ensemble.

Buying transducers, such as headphones or speakers, with a fixed, skewed spectral balance is a poor idea in my mind because there is no defeat switch to instantly return to a neutral, high fidelity mode. Changing the tonality to taste is best done in an electrical device, using an equalizer preset, manual EQ, or even just tone controls (bass and treble) because there one can instantly return to a neutral, accurate mode, at the very least for comparitive purposes, at the push of a button. [Not to mention much greater control to tweak as one sees fit instead of a fixed skewing of the tonality.]

Re: Headphone recommendation for female vocalists?

Reply #13 –
I'm in the neutral department myself when comes to headphones and speakers.  Headphones don't have the room issues that speakers suffer from that can affect the tonal balance and they probably will keep your neighbors happy if you live in an apartment.  I listen to a lot of female vocalists myself.

Re: Headphone recommendation for female vocalists?

Reply #14 –
Quote from: mzil on
Quote from: punkrockdude on
I am wondering why someone would seek headphones that are emphasizing rather than getting an as true of an representation of the material being played.
There's nothing wrong with seeking a headphone sound with a particular tonal balance which one personally finds pleasing however this means the person is no longer pursuing high fidelity ...
A headphone which really deviates from neutrality will not be good for a hifi lover in the long run. However if you compare different neutral headphones you will find out differences. I'd call my B&W P5, Grado SR80e, Philips Fidelio X1, Stax SR202 all neutral, but they do sound pretty different. Maybe it can be best expressed by the emotional response to the cans. I like my P5 for laid-back listening while reading when I don't want to disturb my wife, I like the SR80e when I want to be totally with the music (which is the case most of the time when I listen with headphones). I also like my other cans for special situations (which occur rarely).
That's why I find it essential to look for a headphone which works best for the music listened to the most as does the OP.
lame3995o -Q1.7 --lowpass 17
 

Re: Headphone recommendation for female vocalists?

Reply #15 –
Quote from: halb27 on
That's why I find it essential to look for a headphone which works best for the music listened to the most as does the OP.
I  obviously feel quite differently:
Quote from: mzil on
Imagine a world where record producers apply a different, let's call it "tonal pre-emphasis curve" to recordings by genre, or record label, or for female vs male vocalists: British Pop gets one EQ curve, jazz another, female blues singers a third. What a nightmare!

"I'll have you know my loudspeakers aren't in error, sir, but rather they were designed for female blues vocalists on PolyGram, not this male folk music on Atlantic. Please, before passing judgment on the recording itself, claiming it to be 'subdued', allow me to connect these alternate Folktronic speakers with the correct response for this category of music, made specifically for this style of recording."  Oy.

Crutchfield, not to mention others, used to market speakers this way ["jazz ready", "rock ready", etc.] in the 1980s. It was absurd then and it is absurd now. If one wants to apply EQ to their music (for any number of good reasons), that's perfectly fine, but doing so in a fixed, irretrievable manner (by building an intentionally skewed response into one's electro-acoustic transducers) makes little sense to me. [Do it electronically, if need be.]

Anyone ever heard of speakers being talked about as having a "British sound"? How about a "west coast sound"? or a "New England sound"? More stupidity, in my view. [Not that I'm denying trends in designs may exist, unfortunately, and may (perhaps) have rough geographical boundaries; I'm just saying that a good speaker shouldn't have any "sound" of its own, at all; it should be neutral and invisible to the listener. High fidelity sound reproduction should be as accurate and faithful to the recording as is possible (warts and all)  and without any editorializing or tonal alteration. The goal is to be as transparent as possible and not introduce any "sound".]

Re: Headphone recommendation for female vocalists?

Reply #16 –
Quote from: mzil on
Buying transducers, such as headphones or speakers, with a fixed, skewed spectral balance is a poor idea in my mind because there is no defeat switch to instantly return to a neutral, high fidelity mode. Changing the tonality to taste is best done in an electrical device, using an equalizer preset, manual EQ, or even just tone controls (bass and treble) because there one can instantly return to a neutral, accurate mode, at the very least for comparitive purposes, at the push of a button. [Not to mention much greater control to tweak as one sees fit instead of a fixed skewing of the tonality.]
I see the sound signature of a headphone more of a starting point. It's true you can't go back to neutrality at a push of a button, but you can get relatively close to it using EQ - if you want it, that is.

From my (admittedly, limited) experience with "neutral" headphones, they all sound "lifeless" to me. Which usually translates to under-emphasized bass. In some cases I could EQ it out, in some cases I couldn't. Are AKG K702 considered neutral?

Also, "high fidelity" doesn't mean the headphones having a neutral frequency response to me, but "high sound detail resolution". I've been finding new details (and mastering artifacts, which satisfies @mzil 's "warts and all" criterion) in nearly every song I listened to ever since I got myself these headphones (which says a lot about my previous pair, I guess). This means the sound reproduction is faithful in the sense of all the musical information being there, but certain parts of it being emphasized. I'm sure there are better headphones out there, but for what price?

In any case, I must admit I did wonder why the OP specified female vocals as their criterion, but I guess everyone is listening to music in different ways.

Re: Headphone recommendation for female vocalists?

Reply #17 –
I understand that because I also like a lot of songs sung by women.
To me too a headphone must have a very good reproduction of female vocals.
lame3995o -Q1.7 --lowpass 17

Re: Headphone recommendation for female vocalists?

Reply #18 –
I tried and owned a few of the headphone usual suspects (ATH M40X/50X - lifeless, muddy, zero soundstage, just terrible for the price),  (ATH-A900X - IIRC better but still lacking bass), (Superlux 686B - Overly shrilling highs) on iPhones and all of them sounded worse than a ~$250 pair of LSR305s or a $20 Xiaomi Pistons 3/Pro IEMs to my ears in addition to the physical discomfort.

YMMV, of course but my own journey with headphones was a complete waste of time and money.