I would consider the TH900 for a Japanese colored headphone ahead of the AT's, but the bass was a bit much during my trial period with it.

Lawton Audio can mod the TH900 to reduce the bass a bit.

Been reading the forums for awhile, but registered to reply to this thread.  My library is 90% female vocalists of various genres.

I think it all starts with the AT W3000ANV.  The headphone is definitely a specialist, and you probably can't live with it as your only headphone (depending on genres), but there is no better for female vocals.

Pair it with a vintage R2R DAC.  The Parasounds seem to be the most readily available on the used market, but find any well regarded one.  As for the amp, as close to wire with gain is best for the vintage R2R dacs.  From ones I've listened to, the Headamp GS-1 would be a very good choice.

Downside, you'll have to go to the secondary market for everything I've recommended.  $500 or less for the vintage R2R DAC, $800 or less for the GS-1, and $1200 or less for the W3000ANV.  Throw in a USB interface of your choice, and you should be under $3k.

My chain is the Gustard U12 -> Proceed PDP2 -> Headamp GS-X mk2 -> HD800/W3000ANV.  I probably split headtime 50/50 between the 2 headphones.  I've also owned a GS-1 and the W3000ANV doesn't improve much, if any, with the GS-X mk2.  I own the SR-007 mk1 and SR-009 driven by a KGSSHV and have chosen the dynamic chain for my female vocals over the Stax.

I was a W3000ANV owner myself. I agree with this recommendation if one is looking for a certain coloration to "enhance" female vocals. The W3000s with certain Sarah McLachlan, Pat Benatar, Laura Branigan recordings were nice. However, there are a lot of people who live around the area who would puke upon hearing the W3000ANV or would at least give you WTF funny looks.

In the context of the OP wanting to get away from "too warm" or "too accurate", I would say that the W3000ANV is way too inaccurate with its cupped hands coloration and "charming" or wonky mids. The OP's statement "too accurate (lacking euphonics)" would seem to imply that some level of accuracy is a requirement.

Also, I feel that a certain level of technical ability to reproduce micro dynamics and micro details, the "smoke coming out of throat", etc. is also a requirement. It is this which provides realism and makes the hairs on our backs stand up. Unfortunately, the W3000ANV does not scale well, as you have noted.

Finally, not to give you a hard time, but there is no such as thing as wire with gain. The phrase wire with gain is a meaningless marketing term. For the W3000ANV, I would simply recommend against high output impedance amps because of its impedance curve.

I realize I can stick this in the general recommendations thread, but I'm curious to see the different responses to this "problem". I've never been fully satisfied with how female vocals sound in any of my combinations. Either too warm or too accurate (lacking euphonics). Usually too accurate.

From source to headphones to tubes used, what would be your ideal rig for optimizing songs that feature female vocals. Nothing else, just songs with female vocals. If possible, please list both a "cost is no object" setup and one that is within the realm of affordability (say, under $3000-$4000 total).

I'm thinking primarily in the pop/rock mindset when I say female vocals. So Pat Benatar, Celine Dion, Laura Branigan, Kelly Clarkson, etc.

Thx!

This is what I would do:

1) Get a Yggy or [redacted] DAC when it is announced. Plug coax-out from your Sony HAP into the Yggy or [reDACted]. Using a highly resolving R2R DAC which can really DIG out the musical information without adding strange raspy or analytical bits goes a long way to enjoying female vocals.

Now you have two choices:

2A) Keep your HD600 / HD800 and get a euphonic tube amp with some modicum of accuracy. This could be DNA Stratus, EC Zana Deux Super, or Valhalla 2. I have excluded tube amps with super high output Z (over 20 ohms). Note however that your HD600 and HD800 (regardless of treble) do have a little bit of warmth in the form of a broad bump at 100Hz. However I'm thinking the Lyr 1 might be the cause of your ills (it's a very warm, but dull sounding amp.)

2B) Get an ortho like HE-400S or HE-560 (need mods for this) and a solid-state amp that isn't flat, etched, or strident sounding. Consider Ragnarak, BW, or Asgard 2. The PM-1 is too warm. The PM-2 still has that mid distortion. The AZ PM mod might be a possibility, but will kill your budget.

Except the TH600 is like TH900's ugly sister. They are like sisters who have interesting features, except the TH600 is the one where those features are just slightly off, making her the ugly one.