Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards headphone suggestions please for yamaha P155 sennheiser 598?

Btw, P-155 owner's manual has an apendix where some accesories are shown, cheap discontinued 32ohms cans among them if I'm not mistaken.
I played this model with those "bad" senns (hd 205) and didn't like it, neither other DP models and brands, so my advice would be: avoid headphones that rise middle and high frequencies too much.This makes every piano sound unbearable, ringy as heck.

My advice is not to stress the detachable cable thing. That requirement drops out a lot of really good headphones. And really, I don't see why it's such a big deal. The way to make stuff last (in my opinion) is to take care of it, not to buy stuff made only of adamantium.

I've had to recycle a few headphones simply because I either got up and walked away while they were still attached or I accidentally stepped on the plug. If I could have easily replaced the cable I'd still have them.

In one instance a Sony headphone that I had had for 20+ years would have cost more than the headphones originally cost to have the cable replaced by Sony. I've tried to solder those wires myself with no luck.

It's been my experience that if anything fails it will be the cable or plug. I bought three sets of headphones in the last year (HD 598, HD 280, and AKG 240MKII, ) ... all of them can have their cables easily replaced. Also, the cushions can be easily replaced as well. I'll never go back.

My experience is quite the opposite. The only cable failure I've ever had was a loose connection inside one of the cans. A detachable cable would not have alleviated that.

Further, the detachment point on the left can is just an extra, unneeded point of failure. Phones that lack this connector cannot fail at that point. So I won't ever buy phones with a detachable cable.

The rare, but somewhat more likely failure point is in the end connector. But that's an easy $3 fix with a replacement phone plug, far cheaper than a replacement detachable cable.

My experience is that children love to chew plastic, so I'd buy detachable and gross cables. My Denons were chewed to death by my daught some years ago. Now she's grown up (perhaps there's someone else inside her, attending to her current size, shape and humor) but, who knows why, she still takes some plastic snack here and there.

The rare, but somewhat more likely failure point is in the end connector. But that's an easy $3 fix with a replacement phone plug, far cheaper than a replacement detachable cable.

Mac, I've always soldered my own cables. I've soldered my own speaker cables, mic cables, instrument cables, but I could not successfully solder a headphone cable.

Have you actually done that? It's not as easy as you might think it is.

On the topic of soldering a new end connector; it's pretty tricky indeed! I successfully replaced two connectors using this Radioshack part: http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103400
One on my old Denon headphones (wonderful headphones, but cracked due to plastic), and on a pair of Sennheisers.

It's difficult because everything's so tiny. If you don't get it just right (too much solder globbed on, or wires not trimmed to the right length), the connector won't screw together properly.

Another big plus on the Sony V6's: the sliding mechanism where you adjust the headphones, is *metal*. On my Denons this was plastic, and I can't even remember how many times it broke and I superglued it back together. IMO, metal is key. But then again the Sony headphones were designed as monitor/ studio headphones that can take a beating.

Regarding open versus closed, the forums talk about the "soundstage". Open headphones sound like a big stage. The music sounds spacious and spread out. Closed headphones sound like all the instruments are in a closet. A closet with really great acoustics, but still a closet.

Closed will give you access to every last detail of the music and block out the rest of the world. Like a producer in a studio perhaps. Open will give you the feeling of sitting in a bar and listening to music, but also hearing other sounds in the room.

Of course that's all primarily regarding music. And while digital pianos are certainly making music, practicing on the piano is not the same kind of experience. You need to hear your timing and the dynamics. But I'm not so sure that when you're practicing you need to be impressed (or annoyed) with every last detail of the richness (or lack of richness) of the fake piano sound. Also, for my Casio at least, the sounds it generates are designed to be played through speakers into a room. When I listen on headphones (the cheap ones I have now), I feel like I've stuck my head inside a piano. I think closed headphones would only increase that sensation.

After all that, for me the primary factor is pragmatic - I want to hear the phone, my wife, my son, the laundry buzzer. But not everybody does.

tom

Yes, I've done it, both the right way and the wrong way. It's really tricky with two hands holding a connector, a cable, a soldering iron, and some solder.

The right way is to use a clamp or vise to hold the connector.
Use a proper stripping tool to get the leads sized properly.
Use a crimping tool to fasten the cable inside the connector's gripping points.
Then attach the wires and solder them.
And remember to slip the connector sheath onto the cable BEFORE doing any of that!

Same here.

I have a pair of Sennheiser HD580's that have lasted 20 years. I have replaced the cable 2 times after similar accidental tugs or falling asleep and binding the cable.

Now on the 3rd cable I have discovered upgrading to the HD650 cable is the way to go. It has a substantially tougher cord and plug ends. I just replaced the ear and headband pads. These headphones will probably last another 20 years.

I also have a new pair of HD600's.

After much reading up here and elsewhere I went for a pair of HD598s and I'm very pleased with them.

They sound great and are very comfortable to wear for extended periods since they cover the ears, rather then press down on them.

I've used them on the two DPs I have regular access to (Kawai CL36 and Casio CDP100) and both are much improved using these headphones.

I can't detect any problems with driving them, and they work fine with my ipod too - it's never sounded better actually.

Previously I used (pretty decent) Sennheiser SPs, and while their closed back design probably makes them better for listening to music on say, a busy train (no leakage, better external noise blocking), these open HDs sound much more natural when playing a DP, or listening to music in a quieter setting.

Hi BluesInLondon,



I use a pair of closed back Sennheisers with my DP, and I can't help thinking that the closed back is making the bass sound somewhat boomy. Did you have the same impression with your previous heaadphones?

Thank you,
Paolo

i ended up getting the HD380 as well. in the end i realized i can't have open ones right now living with so much ambient noise around. i might get an open pair down the road when i move to a quieter neighbourhood. i like the sound coming out of these headphones and they're very comfortable and hopefully durable. i used the $30 discount coupon so got it for $170.

one thing though: the padding of display unit at guitar centre was completely worn out so i'll likely have to replace that part in a year or two which runs around 30 bucks.