🎹Best Headphones For Digital Pianos | Shure SRH840 vs Meze 99 vs AKG K171 vs Roland RH300🎹

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#PianoHeadphones #Meze99Classics #ShureSRH840

Timestamps
0:00 - Intro 1:19 - Opening Playing Demo
1:38 - Headphone Technology Review
3:15 - Piano Used in Video Kawai NV5
4:54 - Headphone Models Used in Video
6:25 - Playing Demo (Low/Mid Range)
7:24 - Duplex Scaling Mention
8:14 - Shure SRH840 Headphone Review
11:58 - Shure SRH840 Headphone Results
13:11 - Roland RH300 Review
13:49 Roland RH300 Results
16:41 - AKG K171 Review
18:32 - AKG K171 Results
19:19 - Meze 99 Classics Review
21:14 - Meze 99 Classics Results
23:29 - Conclusions After Comparison
24:07 - Stu Harrison's Advice
25:03 - Video Recap

Hello and welcome back to the Merriam Pianos YouTube channel. In today’s video, we’re going to explore whether it’s worth it to invest in a high-quality set of headphones to use with your digital piano.

The answer a few years ago was a no - the fidelity of the headphone output simply wasn’t capable of rendering a better experience regardless of the headphones you were using. This is no longer the case - digital piano headphone outputs are much better today, which brings us to the question of today’s video.

Background
Digital piano headphone technology has come a long way in the past 5 years. Virtually all digital pianos above the $2,000 or so price point offer lots of control and editability over various headphone-related parameters. This paired with a massive increase in overall headphone output fidelity has significantly changed the sonic experience of playing a digital piano with headphones.

This being said, from our observations in our showrooms, we’re finding that despite this massive improvement in technology, it hasn’t yet shifted customer behavior in terms of the types of headphones most people select to go along with their digital pianos, with headphones still being more of an afterthought.

So naturally, this led us to ask - does it make a difference if you wear a basic set of headphones or a high-end set when playing a digital piano with advanced headphone technology?

Stu is going to be testing out various headphones of differing price points and quality levels on his own Kawai NOVUS NV5. For context, this is of course one of the most advanced digital pianos on the market and as such, has some of the best built-in headphone technology available. Yamaha and Roland options available at around the same price have equally sophisticated headphone technology.

Shure SRH840: $129 USD
The experience with these headphones was quite good overall. There’s no boominess or woofiness in the bass, though things do get muddy when playing thicker chords in the mid-range.

Depending on your repertoire, these are still capable of a very good overall musical experience. The stereo image is clear, and the upper register doesn’t have any unwanted harshness.

A sense of air or 3D space isn’t really coming through with the SRH840's.

Roland RH300: $189 USD
These are EQ’d quite differently from the Shure’s so the experience is very different off the hop. There’s more 3D space in the mid and upper ranges here which is really nice, though there is a bit of a loss of power in the treble.

The bass isn’t as warm and there’s still some lower range distortion, but the greater detail in the midrange makes it feel more like you’re at a real piano.

AKG K171: $249 USD (Original Edition, Made in Austria, Inflation adjusted)
The detail we were hearing through the mid and upper ranges on the Roland’s is now present throughout the entire range of the piano with the AKG’s. Everything feels tighter and more focused.

The lower range distortion we heard with the first two headphones is greatly diminished here. This is definitely the best playing experience so far.

Meze 99 Classics: $309 USD
There’s more complexity on each individual note coming through that we did not perceive with any of the three previous headphones. The treble has this sheen that greatly resembles an acoustic piano.

The biggest difference is this same shimmer from the upper range is present in the mid range as well, along with greater detail.

There’s still a tiny bit of bass register distortion, but definitely the least amount of the four sets.

Closing Thoughts
If you’ve got a digital piano with the technology to drive a good set of headphones, there’s definitely a huge difference as the quality of your headphones improve.

If you’re investing in a nice digital piano and you plan on playing with headphones fairly frequently, it’s absolutely worth it to explore some finer headphone options to see if the difference is enough for you to justify the extra cost.