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I have read most of the headphones threads here but I am still confused as to what to buy for my Casio PX330

Since I wear glasses I need an around the ear fit. I bought a pair of Stennheiser HD439. They sounded great in the store (not demo'd on a DP) and felt comfortable. I get them home, plug them into my DP and have to crank the volume all the way before I hear anything. I felt like I was in a tunnel. Come to find out they are actually for ipods and similar.

I listened to my old headphones and the sound was unmistakeably suburb. They have no name on them and probably came with my 25 yo Clavinova. The only thing I can see on them is Dynamic Stereo Headphones and elsewhere they read Digital Monitor. So I have nothing to compare them with.

What specs should I look for when choosing something that will be compatible with my DP. I don't need high end just something powerful enough where I don't have to crank up the volume before I hear anything and they don't sound tinny or weak.

Thanks

Hi Socalgal,

Headphones are obviously a very personal thing. You will hopefully get many comments from this forum on what you should try for DP headphones. Im sure someone will give you some in-depth technical reasons on what you should use with a DP. All I can tell you that you should look for headphones that are designed for studio instead of consumer grade ipod headphones. Studio headphones are very accurate and clean. Consumers level headphones tend to be a little more dynamic and enhanced to accommodate a broad range of prerecorded music. I've used both for a while with my DP and thought my simple consumer grade Bose buds were great, then I focused on my Sennheiser HD380 pro. I started to hear things so much clearer and pronounced that it actually improved my playing. The HD380 about $100 more than your HD439. They sound so great and detailed with a good DP more so than they would with an ipod.

For starters (IMO) look for headphones with wider frequency response range:
-Frequency response is the range of bass, mids and treble. In the example 20 to 20,000 Hz, the first number represents the bass end of the spectrum while the second number represents the treble end
-20 to 20,000 Hz is generally accepted as the audible frequency range, this is the standard for most headphones.
-Some headphones i prefer offer wider ranges (for example, 5 to 33,000 Hz), but many will tell you that better frequency response does not always mean better sound quality. Unfortunately, it's true
-Below 20 Hz bass frequencies can be felt more so than heard, treble frequencies over 20,000 Hz are not always audible to all, but still worth it.

So your HD439 are 17-22,500 Hz
My HD380 are 8-27,000 Hz

Again, hopefully a few others will jump in and elaborate on my very basic explanation as I only have minimal experience in this topic.

FWIW --

I just tested my Sennheiser HD280 Pro headphones, plugged into the phone jack of a PX-350.

. . . They're plenty loud enough.

Halfway-up on the volume control is comfortable; full volume is too loud for my taste, and near painful if I pound on the keyboard with the pedal down.

So the HD280's should be OK for your PX-330.

An alternative is getting a headphone amplifier, or a small mixer (Behringer 502 or 802) with headphone output. That will fix all your problems, for cheaper than a new set of cans.

. Charles

PS -- if you've read the headphone threads, you realize how individual the preferences are.

PPS -- if you could borrow a set of AKG K240's, or other "known-good" headphones, to try out, that would be useful.

Yeah I use AKG K240's with my PX-330, and it seems okay.

FWIW,

I bought a pair of Sony 7506's for the studio. They have a fairly flat frequency response (for reference) and hold the base well. Only $99....

Thanks to all for your quick responses and in depth explanations. It really is helping me.

I returned the HD439's and went to the instrument room to test a couple of headphones they had on demo. One was the Sennheiser HD280 and another was an AKG, not sure of the exact model. I brought my old headphones in to compare. They had a PX330 to test them on and the same thing happened. The volume just was not there until I plugged mine in. The sales assoc had thought it might be the difference between a 1/8" and 1/4" connection but my old phones have the 1/8", same as the other headphones. Plugging them into the back "line in" yields no better results and defeats the purpose of silencing the DP.

I will definitely look into a headphone amp. Is that something I can plug into my audio interface? I just ordered a Native Instruments Komplete Audio 6.

I did more research and find out my old phones are Panasonic Digital Monitors. Can't for the life of me remember when or where I got them but I am hanging on to them for now.

Thanks again for the help. I'll try searching more here for answers. Hopefully I can learn quick enough so I can start playing :-)

There's a headphone amp built into that. It should solve your problem.

There's no "standard" for headphone output that I know of. And there's no difference between signal levels on 1/8" and 1/4" jacks.

. Charles

As far as I've read, low volume issues are usually related to some unbalanced relationship between amp. and headphones' impedance.The higher the impedance is, the more power you need to make them sound at a given volume.Then, high impedance values need dedicated amplification when the internal DP amp or headphone output is not enough by itself.
Those Sennheiser you returned are 32ohms, wich is the standard for hi-fi and home use. This impedance can't be the cause for your lack of volume.
And every other models that have been suggested to you here, have higher impedance values (around 60ohms). If your DP can't (supposedly) 'move' 32ohms, don't you expect it to move 65.
How about asking Casio for a suggestion?
Some did it with Kawai and the answer was: buy something within a 50 to 100 ohms range.

Earlier in this thread the frequency range of headphones was discussed but one important piece of information was left out.

If you look at just about any company's claims regarding their headphones they all look just wonderful since they all go down to 20 Hz, some even lower, and they all go high enough to satisfy most music demands. Those numbers don't tell the entire story.

You really want to know how flat the frequency response is. The headphones might go down to 30 Hz but the perceived output will probably be considerably less than the output at a higher frequency.

This new set of numbers will show the deviation in the form of something like 30 to 15,000 Hz ± (plus\minus) x number dB.

And even with that information you can't always believe what the manufacturer states.

When the OP said she couldn't get adequate loudness from the HD439, my first reaction was that these must be high-Z phones. But on Sennheiser's web page, they say these are 32 ohm phones. So it seems odd that there should be a problem. Anyway ...

socalgal: I'd recommend OPEN phones over closed. (The HD439 is a CLOSED design.)

I find open phones sound better than closed. I've tried the HD280, also from Sennheiser and also a closed design, and I disliked them. I opted instead for open Beyerdynamic phones, at the same $100 price point. AKG also has some good open-phone choices at that price. So does Sennheiser.

OPEN headphones are great if you just want to listen, however if you are recording your self singing with those on you'll get the sound from the headphones bleeding into your recording. So if you are using them for monitors then you need the closed variety... Personally I would choose reference headphones, ones that have a flat frequency response especially if you may do any recording.

I emailed Casio and got this canned response:

Thank you for your inquiry. Unfortunately we have no information to guide you on a set of headphones for the PX330 or any of our other keyboards. All we are provided with is that the units are fitted with standard head phone jacks.

The least they could have done would have been to include the headphones specs. I have seen that with other models, just not mine. Sigh.........I will probably have to utilize the audio interface, I just did not want to go that route but may have to. I am still researching and some ppl are having the same problem. The most likely solution would be to get a paid of hp that have low impedance, less than the 32 ohms and high Db level of the Sennheisers. I just have to figure out the proper combination.

Thanks again to everyone for their input

Your headphone's resistance is too high. Buy an amp or buy a different pair of headphones. (Look for pair that fits you well and see if the ohms rating is low.)

For details read here: http://nwavguy.blogspot.ca/2011/02/headphone-impedance-explained.html

Stop your whining, it is buying a pair of headphones, if you really can't manage something so simple it is your fault, not Casios.

adak, I think you're being a tad too hard on our new member.

I've been around for quite a while and only recently understood what headphone impedance meant.

One advantage of buying locally, you can always try out equipment and some stores will let you take the item in question home; I had that experience with headphones.

+1 That was a very trollish response and not warranted.....

Originally Posted by adak

Your headphone's resistance is too high. Buy an amp or buy a different pair of headphones. (Look for pair that fits you well and see if the ohms rating is low.)

For details read here: http://nwavguy.blogspot.ca/2011/02/headphone-impedance-explained.html

Stop your whining, it is buying a pair of headphones, if you really can't manage something so simple it is your fault, not Casios.

Just because YOU understand the technical ins and outs of headphone impedance, resistance and/or ohms level does not mean everyone else does.

Listening to headphones through a Digital Piano are far different than other sources so I thought I would come to this particular forum looking for help. Most ppl here HAVE helped and for that I am grateful.

Am I whining? maybe, but I am frustrated because I don't understand the terminology that YOU seem to and I DID read the article you mentioned previously, but I had a hard time understanding it.

I know for a fact that I don't need a headphone amp because the pair I have now works well without one, it is just getting old and uncomfortable. The least I was looking for was someone who had a similar experience chime in and say they bought XYZ headphone and it worked well and to look for XXohms and xxxDb level.

I hope you feel better now that you offered nothing in the way of helping someone.

Be quiet, buying a pair of headphones isn't rocket science. And there is no reason to take out your anger on Casio. That is the point I was making, do you understand? Leave Casio out of this, they did nothing wrong. You are wrong, you got that?

As for your issue with me, you are the first person I have met that had trouble buying a pair of headphones. Perhaps you are special, however it is not my place to judge. I did tell you exactly how to buy a pair, and I will write it again just to give you the benefit of the doubt. Look for a pair of headphones that fits you well, and then look for a low ohms rating on the package. Or buy an amp.

So I did help you, twice. And I do feel better.

So do you feel better for taking out your anger on a corporation that did nothing wrong?

My AKG 240's are comfortable and sound good. (55 ohms)

Yes, I also use AKG240's which are great quality (bought them in 1978 - still going). They are just about loud enough with the Roland HP302 headphone output, volume on full.

I think you often have to sacrifice the loudness of the phones (in dcB) for better quality. This along with the higher OHM rating of many headphones means a lower volume of sound. So a headphone amplifier may still be the best solution in your case, socalgal.

I've certainly noticed that different brands of DPs - and possibly different models within the same brand - have their own range of output which in some cases suit only a limited range of headphones, unless you add a headphone amplifier.

I own three pairs of headphones (Grado SR325is, AKG K241 Mk II, Bose QC 2) and a pair of earphones (Klipsch Image X10i). All give a realistic volume (i.e. equivalent to that of a small grand/big upright) with my V-Piano with its volume control set at mid-point, with the Bose and Klipsch requiring slightly lower settings for the same volume.

On some other DPs (- including some high-end ones), I find that even with the volume control set at maximum, I still don't quite get a realistic volume.