LF "forgiving" Headphones

[JediMa]

I've few good Headphones (my fav ones HD600 and EDXS ..) to listen the best music, quality wise because they won't be forgiving with bad quality one. So I'm searching for headphones for casual listening that still can sound nice (i know that's not so clear but I can't find a better way to explain it...)

 

[DVDdoug]

I don't know what that means... Forgiving of what? Distortion? Frequency response?

Do you want more bass? Less bass?

"Two wrongs" usually makes it twice as wrong, unless you've got noise in a certain frequency range and you want to filter it out. But you won't get much of that from headphones.

 

[solderdude]

To me Foster made headphones are quite 'forgiving' and 'smooth' the sound over a bit.
They also can be a bit sharp sounding on some recordings though.

Think Creative Aurvana Live, Denons, Fostex (the larger ones that look like Denons) and some others that use similar biodynamic drivers.
These also are a bit on the warm and bassy side (but a bit wooly) which helps with pop and rock recordings of poorer quality.

 

[JediMa]

I don't know what that means... Forgiving of what? Distortion? Frequency response?

Do you want more bass? Less bass?

"Two wrongs" usually makes it twice as wrong, unless you've got noise in a certain frequency range and you want to filter it out. But you won't get much of that from headphones.

Bad quality recordings or just average ones

 

[charlielaub]

AKG371

 

[Soria Moria]

Forgiving just means good sounding as far as I know.
'Unforgiving' is usually ascribed to headphones that are harsh or lack bass while forgiving is ascribed to headphones without harsh treble and with real bass.
Hifiman Arya isn't 'unforgiving' because it's so 'high quality', it's 'unforgiving' because it's not great ( = too much treble).

 

[markanini]

Forgiving just means good sounding as far as I know.
'Unforgiving' is usually ascribed to headphones that are harsh or lack bass while forgiving is ascribed to headphones without harsh treble and with real bass.
Hifiman Arya isn't 'unforgiving' because it's so 'high quality', it's 'unforgiving' because it's not great ( = too much treble).

I don't think it means that to most people, but it should.

 

[nerdemoji]

Bad quality recordings or just average ones

In my experience, metal with bad production means mostly badly recorded drums, and poorly mixed. The bad mix you can never really predict, but the badly recorded drums are often deep in the mix or masked by overly treble forward guitar tones. Perhaps a bright headphone might fix this, but honestly the most forgiving headphones is the one with the most neutral sound, least resonances and distortion. This way, you will be on average closest to good sound. If a recording is dark, then boost treble with EQ.

 

[Soria Moria]

I don't think it means that to most people, but it should.

It subconsciously means that to almost everyone.

 

[b7676]

Dt990

 

[Dazerdoreal]

I still think "forgiving" does not mean exactly the same as good. You have a very safely tuned headphone so that it does hardly ever sound harsh but boring on certain recordings, or you can risk a slight harshness on a few albums in exchange for a slightly more spectacular sound on most recordings. One is not definetely better than the other.

 

[Soria Moria]

Dt990

Super peaky/sharp treble.

 

[b7676]

Super peaky/sharp treble.

Yes, EQ them darker like with the 560s oratory curve.
The treble lift seems to give bad/average/live recordings the best chance to sound like what the monitor thought he was listening to. Instead of being overstimulated by information about the recording rig, room, or mastering, the dt990 is straightforward with amp stacks and cabinets.

 

[Dazerdoreal]

Yes, EQ them darker like with the 560s oratory curve.

If EQing counts he (or she) could just tune the phones warmer/darker he already owns.. I suspect he doesnt want to do so.

 

[b7676]

If EQing counts he (or she) could just tune the phones warmer/darker he already owns.. I suspect he doesnt want to do

You can't make a sennheiser do treble lift with EQ, you have to buy the 800.

 

[Dazerdoreal]

You can't make a sennheiser do treble lift with EQ, you have to buy the 800.

But he is looking for a "forgiving" headphone..

 

[solderdude]

DT990 is a 'forgiving' headphone. At least to me it always was.
If the treble peak is bothering just but some toilet paper between the driver and foam disc.

 

[jwmitchell]

It subconsciously means that to almost everyone.

I fully agree! High quality should show the strength of good recordings and the flaws of bad ones. Masking flaws is not high quality in any way.

 

[Deleted member 21219]

Yes, EQ them darker like with the 560s oratory curve.
The treble lift seems to give bad/average/live recordings the best chance to sound like what the monitor thought he was listening to. Instead of being overstimulated by information about the recording rig, room, or mastering, the dt990 is straightforward with amp stacks and cabinets.

Instead of transducer changes, I firmly believe that modifications to the recorded signal are to be made via the line-level circuits. This applies to two circumstances: recordings that the listener doesn't like and headphones (or speakers) that the listener doesn't like.

In both cases, use of a different transducer applies a difference to everything that the listener hears. Whether they like it or not, they can't get away from it. OTOH, line-level EQ can cure the problem when and if the listener desires, and is (with the correct choice of equipment) instantly reversible.

I advise trying EQ first, and see whether one can achieve the desired effect.

Jim

 

[solderdude]

Just reviewed the Sony MDR-7509 (the early one) which also qualifies as a 'forgiving' headphone.

MDR-7509

back to Sonyback to measurementshome published: Nov-23-2023 NO SMOOTHING is applied to the shown plots. Most measurement sites have some smoothing applied which ‘irons flat’ sharp peaks and ‘wiggle…

diyaudioheaven.wordpress.com

No idea why Sony thought this should be their TOTL studio headphone though.