Looking for a Vocal Focused Headphone

[DEF]

After the most recent two threads I had opened, I didn't felt understood.
Therefore, I try to be more vocal about what I want.

Budget up to 6000 EUR
Comfort must be gentle to the apex / fontanelle of my head. I love Velour. Must be light-weight. Must be over-ear.
Cable must be flexible as much as possible and the splitter must be close to me.
A negative example is the 2019 Focal utopia, where the splitter was at 79cm or so, which would make it hang in between the table each time..
Focus Female Vocals. I put the "worst" example first - with the most voice - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gwvBrlUiw
But also consider Aimer and so on.
Focus 2 ASMR. I want to be able to locate sounds, and if a sound is super close to me, I want to hear that in the exact location.
Technicalities I would be able to equalize my Headphones.
Equipment available RME ADI-2 DAC FS
Previous Experiences
1. Focal Utopia 2019 - Somewhat to good comfort, too heavy - Amazing sound ... - Skyrim Soundtrack sounded like in a cinema - a bit 'too hyped'.
An old video Game now had so much sub-bass - that was - according to this Forum here not present at all.
So it must have added it.
2. Dan Clark Audio ETHER 2 - Good comfort - Boring. I could not like it for the price against a DT 990 Pro OR a DT 770 Pro.
3. Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro, DT 990 Pro with custom Custom one pro headband for apex comfort - Good comfort - clarity and definition miss here.
4. Audeze LCD X - I could feel some Songs of Aimer sounded somehow warmer. But it wasn't good enough for the price Tag
Additional Notes
https://headphone.shop/de/produkt-kategorie/kopfhoerer/ is nearby. I could make an appointment and test some headphones.
Are there any in the inventory that would be interesting according to my profile?

 

[DVDdoug]

I can't recommend anything...

Budget up to 6000 EUR

With headphones there is very little correlation between cost and sound quality. Your favorite headphone (in a "blind" listening test) would likely not be that expensive. Of course the higher your budget the wider your choice.

The thing that makes the most difference is frequency response and to a large extent that can be tweaked with EQ. But... Sometimes if you boost the bass you can end-up pushing the headphone or headphone amp into distortion.

Ideally headphones should sound "natural" like good speakers or monitors. And it shouldn't matter if you are listening to vocals, heavy metal, or classical music, etc.

I want to hear that in the exact location.

Your brain plays a BIG role in that. (The recording makes a difference too.) The "winner" in the the Headphone Soundstage Survey was "inside my head"!

 

[kemmler3D]

+1 to what @DVDdoug has said. With your budget you can get pretty much every headphone worth buying. However, as you've noted, the choice is very personal.

A headphone with relatively neutral response and low distortion (esp. in the treble) should treat female vocals as they should be. Harman is a fine starting point, but EQ will get you the "last mile" between the stock response and an ideal one.

However, as Doug mentions, spatial perception is very personal and can't be predicted easily. Crossfeed helps, head tracking with BRDF filtering will do a lot more if that's a priority. A good spatial illusion out of the box is rare IME.

With your budget you can even consider the new Genelec headphones which do offer this.

But more than anything I would suggest attending shows and/or going to shops to try different sets, using music you are familiar with. My advice is try as many sets as you have time for, without prejudice - the appearance of a convincing spatial image without DSP, if it happens at all, is a random synergy between the shape of your head/ears and the headphones.

As such, I suggest the "brute force" method - try everything - recommendations are always going to be based on measurements, or someone else's ears, but only your ears matter here. For a $6K commitment it's worth spending a few hours trying stuff.

 

[majingotan]

Your HRTF plays a huge role whether you'll get the vocals that you want. To me, the Hifiman Susvara Unveiled out of the box gives the best vocal experience to my HRTF but for your YMMV. It could be Sennheiser HD800S or other headphones and as such I garee with kemmler3D that brute force method is the best way

 

[DEF]

Your HRTF plays a huge role whether you'll get the vocals that you want. To me, the Hifiman Susvara Unveiled out of the box gives the best vocal experience to my HRTF but for your YMMV. It could be Sennheiser HD800S or other headphones and as such I garee with kemmler3D that brute force method is the best way

HD800S turned out to be unsuited.

 

[majingotan]

HD800S turned out to be unsuited.

I did see a lot of ZMF in your provided dealer, wish I had their dealer like them. Caldera Closed can be a good candidate for your HRTF as well

 

[brydon10]

HD800S turned out to be unsuited.

Have you ever tried an HD 650 or something else in the HD 6 lineup? They are known for having great vocals. I have the 650 and the vocals are quite intimate sounding. They are also well below your budget as I’m sure you are aware.

 

[DEF]

Have you ever tried an HD 650 or something else in the HD 6 lineup? They are known for having great vocals. I have the 650 and the vocals are quite intimate sounding. They are also well below your budget as I’m sure you are aware.

Yip yip. HD 650 were "good enough" at stock, but I couldn't wear them long because the plastic part hurt my ear on the upper right part of my ear.
Buut. They are not so much of a 'fun' headphone, sadly

 

[brydon10]

Yip yip. HD 650 were "good enough" at stock, but I couldn't wear them long because the plastic part hurt my ear on the upper right part of my ear.
Buut. They are not so much of a 'fun' headphone, sadly

Yes, I agree. They aren't super "fun" because of the treble and bass being a bit neutral/rolled off. But it gives them this silky smooth sound that is hard to find in other headphones. To me the 650's are the sound equivalent of a warm cup of tea on a cool fall day. They do have a bit of clamp though, especially the 6XX (which is the same sound as the 650) but I believe it clamps a little bit harder.

 

[AnalogSteph]

HD 650 were "good enough" at stock, but I couldn't wear them long because the plastic part hurt my ear on the upper right part of my ear.

Would you mind elaborating on that? At no point should the ears be directly in contact with hard plastic on HD6xx, they have foam inlays and velour earpads. The earcups should also provide enough space even for relatively big ears. I could not get along with ATH-R70x' but HD6xx family cans have never been a problem for me in that regard (the old HD580/600 headband padding is a different story).

 

[DEF]

Would you mind elaborating on that? At no point should the ears be directly in contact with hard plastic on HD6xx, they have foam inlays and velour earpads. The earcups should also provide enough space even for relatively big ears. I could not get along with ATH-R70x' but HD6xx family cans have never been a problem for me in that regard (the old HD580/600 headband padding is a different story).

Sure. Use your pinky and clamp below the round plastic thing inside and feel, there should be a groove / plastic thing protruding somewhere.

 

[AnalogSteph]

Ah, that's the plastic ring that serves as a base for the pads. Your ears made it in there?! And it couldn't be mitigated by different positioning? That's unfortunate. If you've got problems with Sennheisers then I'm not sure what will work.

 

[womanofscience666]

After the most recent two threads I had opened, I didn't felt understood.
Therefore, I try to be more vocal about what I want.

Budget up to 6000 EUR
Comfort must be gentle to the apex / fontanelle of my head. I love Velour. Must be light-weight. Must be over-ear.
Cable must be flexible as much as possible and the splitter must be close to me.
A negative example is the 2019 Focal utopia, where the splitter was at 79cm or so, which would make it hang in between the table each time..
Focus Female Vocals. I put the "worst" example first - with the most voice - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gwvBrlUiw
But also consider Aimer and so on.
Focus 2 ASMR. I want to be able to locate sounds, and if a sound is super close to me, I want to hear that in the exact location.
Technicalities I would be able to equalize my Headphones.
Equipment available RME ADI-2 DAC FS
Previous Experiences
1. Focal Utopia 2019 - Somewhat to good comfort, too heavy - Amazing sound ... - Skyrim Soundtrack sounded like in a cinema - a bit 'too hyped'.
An old video Game now had so much sub-bass - that was - according to this Forum here not present at all.
So it must have added it.
2. Dan Clark Audio ETHER 2 - Good comfort - Boring. I could not like it for the price against a DT 990 Pro OR a DT 770 Pro.
3. Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro, DT 990 Pro with custom Custom one pro headband for apex comfort - Good comfort - clarity and definition miss here.
4. Audeze LCD X - I could feel some Songs of Aimer sounded somehow warmer. But it wasn't good enough for the price Tag
Additional Notes
https://headphone.shop/de/produkt-kategorie/kopfhoerer/ is nearby. I could make an appointment and test some headphones.
Are there any in the inventory that would be interesting according to my profile?

if you've got additional budget for source gear I can highly recommend susvara, nothing does vocal timbre and realism like it and the staging and imaging is amazing. The OG's price is getting pretty fantastic nowadays so maybe you could get a used susvara OG and a Holo Bliss. As for the cable the stock hifiman one sucks so getting an aftermarket one is a must, plus a decent one will improve the sound somewhat too. Hope this helps