Please help me out with headphones for classical music

[Tudorsounds]

Hello, I thought research would get me there, but I am very confused. I hope some of you here can help me out.

I've been enjoying my AirPods Pro (1) for a while, but when I used some old Bowers & Wilkins P7 headphones I realised how much I was missing out on (they really hurt my head tho ).

So I am on the hunt for some decent head phones.... budget up to $400 or so .... I ONLY listen to classical music... and only at home. I need a bit of sound insulation as in the next room family members will be talking or watching tv etc, but I don't really need noise cancellation. Wired is a must as I'd like to hear the high-res sounds of lossless in Apple Music on my MacBook Pro. Don't have an amp/dac and not planning on buying one for now (but you never know in the future).

I tried the Philips Fidelio X2HR to see what 'open back' is like. I loved the effect but realised I would be hearing too many sounds from around the house. Also, they're huge. Wasn't blown away, but it was nice.
Tried Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S2 and they are nice, but didn't love it, they are crazy expensive and they felt a bit claustrophobic. Not worth the money. I once had Sennheiser Momentum 2 but they were so painful on top of my head I sold them pretty quickly. I have a narrow head so need a bit of clamping.

I figure I need closed back audiophile headphones with a fairly neutral sound?

I should perhaps look into audiophile/studio sets such as Beyerdynamic DT 700 Pro X, or the older 770Pro. Then again Sony 1000xm5 (and 4) is recommended everywhere but it seems people talk more about the noise cancellation then about the sound quality, and I don't care about noise cancellation or any other features. Sound is all that matters.

I like classical music such as choral music, baroque, some opera, harp, piano, orchestra, etc.

Can anyone help me out? It seems the only way to figure this out is to just order half a dozen headphones and try them out but that seems a bit mad!
Thanks so much!

 

[Freddy]

Hello, I thought research would get me there, but I am very confused. I hope some of you here can help me out.

I've been enjoying my AirPods Pro (1) for a while, but when I used some old Bowers & Wilkins P7 headphones I realised how much I was missing out on (they really hurt my head tho ).

So I am on the hunt for some decent head phones.... budget up to $400 or so .... I ONLY listen to classical music... and only at home. I need a bit of sound insulation as in the next room family members will be talking or watching tv etc, but I don't really need noise cancellation. Wired is a must as I'd like to hear the high-res sounds of lossless in Apple Music on my MacBook Pro. Don't have an amp/dac and not planning on buying one for now (but you never know in the future).

I tried the Philips Fidelio X2HR to see what 'open back' is like. I loved the effect but realised I would be hearing too many sounds from around the house. Also, they're huge. Wasn't blown away, but it was nice.
Tried Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S2 and they are nice, but didn't love it, they are crazy expensive and they felt a bit claustrophobic. Not worth the money. I once had Sennheiser Momentum 2 but they were so painful on top of my head I sold them pretty quickly. I have a narrow head so need a bit of clamping.

I figure I need closed back audiophile headphones with a fairly neutral sound?

I should perhaps look into audiophile/studio sets such as Beyerdynamic DT 700 Pro X, or the older 770Pro. Then again Sony 1000xm5 (and 4) is recommended everywhere but it seems people talk more about the noise cancellation then about the sound quality, and I don't care about noise cancellation or any other features. Sound is all that matters.

I like classical music such as choral music, baroque, some opera, harp, piano, orchestra, etc.

Can anyone help me out? It seems the only way to figure this out is to just order half a dozen headphones and try them out but that seems a bit mad!
Thanks so much!

The B&W P7’s hurt my head too, so I bought the B&W P9 headphones second hand and they are way more comfy.

 

[Al ears]

Hello, I thought research would get me there, but I am very confused. I hope some of you here can help me out.

I've been enjoying my AirPods Pro (1) for a while, but when I used some old Bowers & Wilkins P7 headphones I realised how much I was missing out on (they really hurt my head tho ).

So I am on the hunt for some decent head phones.... budget up to $400 or so .... I ONLY listen to classical music... and only at home. I need a bit of sound insulation as in the next room family members will be talking or watching tv etc, but I don't really need noise cancellation. Wired is a must as I'd like to hear the high-res sounds of lossless in Apple Music on my MacBook Pro. Don't have an amp/dac and not planning on buying one for now (but you never know in the future).

I tried the Philips Fidelio X2HR to see what 'open back' is like. I loved the effect but realised I would be hearing too many sounds from around the house. Also, they're huge. Wasn't blown away, but it was nice.
Tried Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S2 and they are nice, but didn't love it, they are crazy expensive and they felt a bit claustrophobic. Not worth the money. I once had Sennheiser Momentum 2 but they were so painful on top of my head I sold them pretty quickly. I have a narrow head so need a bit of clamping.

I figure I need closed back audiophile headphones with a fairly neutral sound?

I should perhaps look into audiophile/studio sets such as Beyerdynamic DT 700 Pro X, or the older 770Pro. Then again Sony 1000xm5 (and 4) is recommended everywhere but it seems people talk more about the noise cancellation then about the sound quality, and I don't care about noise cancellation or any other features. Sound is all that matters.

I like classical music such as choral music, baroque, some opera, harp, piano, orchestra, etc.

Can anyone help me out? It seems the only way to figure this out is to just order half a dozen headphones and try them out but that seems a bit mad!
Thanks so much!

Can I take it you don't have a store where you can audition closed back headphones??
If not then yes, you'll just have to order a load online.

 

[Tudorsounds]

Can I take it you don't have a store where you can audition closed back headphones??
If not then yes, you'll just have to order a load online.

Am afraid not. There's one department store where they have a couple of Sony's and Bose but that's pretty much it.
Any suggestions on what to order/try?

 

[Al ears]

Am afraid not. There's one department store where they have a couple of Sony's and Bose but that's pretty much it.
Any suggestions on what to order/try?

Shure SRH840 are pretty good. Depends a lot on what you can get for your budget wherever you are.

 

[twinkletoes]

byerdynamic, clear and precise and probably used by the mixers in the studio anyhow. above cheap but really good for the money

 

[Tudorsounds]

byerdynamic, clear and precise and probably used by the mixers in the studio anyhow. above cheap but really good for the money

Any in particular? I've been reading reviews of the 700 Pro X and the 770, 880.... hard to choose without trying!

 

[Al ears]

Any in particular? I've been reading reviews of the 700 Pro X and the 770, 880.... hard to choose without trying!

pretty much out luck I would say as nobody here can tell you what's going to sound good to you.
If you are only driving them with a MacBook, and I don't know how you do that, get the most efficient pair you can find as most require decent amplification

 

[Freddy]

Hello, I thought research would get me there, but I am very confused. I hope some of you here can help me out.

I've been enjoying my AirPods Pro (1) for a while, but when I used some old Bowers & Wilkins P7 headphones I realised how much I was missing out on (they really hurt my head tho ).

So I am on the hunt for some decent head phones.... budget up to $400 or so .... I ONLY listen to classical music... and only at home. I need a bit of sound insulation as in the next room family members will be talking or watching tv etc, but I don't really need noise cancellation. Wired is a must as I'd like to hear the high-res sounds of lossless in Apple Music on my MacBook Pro. Don't have an amp/dac and not planning on buying one for now (but you never know in the future).

I tried the Philips Fidelio X2HR to see what 'open back' is like. I loved the effect but realised I would be hearing too many sounds from around the house. Also, they're huge. Wasn't blown away, but it was nice.
Tried Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S2 and they are nice, but didn't love it, they are crazy expensive and they felt a bit claustrophobic. Not worth the money. I once had Sennheiser Momentum 2 but they were so painful on top of my head I sold them pretty quickly. I have a narrow head so need a bit of clamping.

I figure I need closed back audiophile headphones with a fairly neutral sound?

I should perhaps look into audiophile/studio sets such as Beyerdynamic DT 700 Pro X, or the older 770Pro. Then again Sony 1000xm5 (and 4) is recommended everywhere but it seems people talk more about the noise cancellation then about the sound quality, and I don't care about noise cancellation or any other features. Sound is all that matters.

I like classical music such as choral music, baroque, some opera, harp, piano, orchestra, etc.

Can anyone help me out? It seems the only way to figure this out is to just order half a dozen headphones and try them out but that seems a bit mad!
Thanks so much!

I have recently made my P7’s bigger for my head size so they are looser and they don’t hurt not nearly as much. You could try that too and save some money.