Question Seeking advice: headphones for opera & classical music

[Vincent Kars]

If I found added warmth beautiful (I don't know yet)

Have a look at EQ
You can use this to "tune" any headphone.
To much bass, just EQ a couple of dB's off (although Sennheiser is consider bass shy, I always do as I do think the bass to pronounced for classical)
Need warmth? A slight emphasize of the mids will do (even better, leave them as they are and lower the rest to is avoids clipping).

As I'm on Win & Android, can't advice you on OSX but maybe this one gets you started.

6 Ways to Apply an Equalizer to Your Music in macOS - Make Tech Easier

Applying an equalizer in macOS allows you to take control of your audio playback. Learn these six ways to apply an equalizer in macOS.

www.maketecheasier.com

 

[AVDude]

Hello all,

I am a newbie and am honestly confused by all the reviews I read, I have read some of the very helpful threads here, but they were either several years old or the requirements differed from mine, so I hope it is is ok to renew the question:
Which headphones would you recommend most for opera and instrumental music?
They are mainly going to be used in a quiet environment at home, and the source is a macbook pro (question there as well: which is better value for the money: should I stick to low impedance - or buy a DAC, which means I could spend less on the headphones themselves?). I can spend a max. of 250 USD in total, whether with DAC or not.
It would be nice if they are somehow also suitable allrounders, as I can't currently afford a separate pair for the occassional movie or other genres I also listen to, but less frequently.
I have been looking into the Beyerdynamic DT 880 Edition and 990, but am unsure with which DAC in this price range those would work well. The DAC shouldn't be too bulky.

Thank you in advance - I'll be grateful for any advice!

I recently acquired a pair of HiFiMan Sundara's and having owned the BD DT770 (exact same hardware in the DT 990). I have to vote in favor of the Sundara, it's blown away the BD's I used to own.
These are perfect for the kind of music you are proposing, mid's and highs super clean, lows are good but not overexaggerated.
I've been listening to them with all day today with hip-hop, new age, drum and base, vocal trance etc. They are much more comfortable to wear than any other headphone I've owned so far, they are open back headphones so you can hear your own environment but I don't notice it intruding on my listening experience unless it's very loud. The open back design makes the sound mellow out a bit too. As you can see I use an external DAC from Motu.

 

[AVDude]

Have a look at EQ
You can use this to "tune" any headphone.
To much bass, just EQ a couple of dB's off (although Sennheiser is consider bass shy, I always do as I do think the bass to pronounced for classical)
Need warmth? A slight emphasize of the mids will do (even better, leave them as they are and lower the rest to is avoids clipping).

As I'm on Win & Android, can't advice you on OSX but maybe this one gets you started.

6 Ways to Apply an Equalizer to Your Music in macOS - Make Tech Easier

Applying an equalizer in macOS allows you to take control of your audio playback. Learn these six ways to apply an equalizer in macOS.

www.maketecheasier.com

OS's really f'ed up when they changed how sound is routed and mixed, windows of old was much more flexible but had less interoperability.
OSX Lost it's fancy sound capability a while back.
There is a program called virtual wires that may be a viable hack for custom routing & EQ of application sounds but I wouldn't count on it. The last time I toyed with it was in 2013 IIRC.

 

[miss_sophie]

Have a look at EQ
You can use this to "tune" any headphone.
To much bass, just EQ a couple of dB's off (although Sennheiser is consider bass shy, I always do as I do think the bass to pronounced for classical)
Need warmth? A slight emphasize of the mids will do (even better, leave them as they are and lower the rest to is avoids clipping).

As I'm on Win & Android, can't advice you on OSX but maybe this one gets you started.

6 Ways to Apply an Equalizer to Your Music in macOS - Make Tech Easier

Applying an equalizer in macOS allows you to take control of your audio playback. Learn these six ways to apply an equalizer in macOS.

www.maketecheasier.com

Thank you, I'll give it a try!