Headphone Suggestions - Take 3!
- Thread starter Ermz
- Start date
Rogueleader
Bringer Of Rain
- Oct 21, 2009
- 246
- 0
- 16
I bought the M50s partly on the merits of the opinions in this thread, and I am quite satisfied with them. Good stuff!
Melb_shredder
Orpheus: Melodic Death
Yeah still loving my M50's, but I can definitely feel where they seem a bit unrealistic. The smooth highend on them makes them easy for long listens but goes further to adding to that extended bass response they seem to have. Great headphones for the price though, absolutely no doubt there 
PhilTheBeard
"The Beard"
I still want to grab a pair of m50s since Charles and my pairs of rp21 headphones are fucking broken!!!
ze kink
THE BLACK WIZARDS
Djabthrash
Member
Djabthrash
Member
Anyone knows a good pair of headphones for tracking guitars (and do some casual listening to some extent) that matches the following criteria ? :
-no need for extreme isolation / closed thing since outside volume is not an issue (dealing with "silent" recording mainly)
-i have a Beyerdynamc DT770pro which i find good to monitor drums and bass, but i hate my guitar sound and listening to casual music with it (it sounds weird and unpleasant), considering i often jam on backing tracks (which can be full commercial mixes or raw tracks)), whereas i love my guitar sound and listening to casual music with my focal cms 65 monitors. Guitar sound and casual music and backing tracks (full commercial mixes or raw tracks) sound fine through my super cheap (less than 20€ Sony mdr cd280 headphones and my Sennheiser CX-300 II earbuds (50€, but i guess i could get something better sounding for guitar tracking and casual listening, which means something flattering and pleasant, especially for the guitars (or at least that doesn't make my guitar tone sound weird and unpleasant), and still a bit accurate, without being too analytical like monitoring headphones are.
-budget : 50-500€ (i.e approx. 63$-630$)
-of course i'm gonna try headphones out in stores (listening to my raw mono guitar tracks, raw mixes, and also some finished full commercial mixes), but i could use your 2 cents on this
-no need for extreme isolation / closed thing since outside volume is not an issue (dealing with "silent" recording mainly)
-i have a Beyerdynamc DT770pro which i find good to monitor drums and bass, but i hate my guitar sound and listening to casual music with it (it sounds weird and unpleasant), considering i often jam on backing tracks (which can be full commercial mixes or raw tracks)), whereas i love my guitar sound and listening to casual music with my focal cms 65 monitors. Guitar sound and casual music and backing tracks (full commercial mixes or raw tracks) sound fine through my super cheap (less than 20€
Sony mdr cd280 headphones and my Sennheiser CX-300 II earbuds (50€, but i guess i could get something better sounding for guitar tracking and casual listening, which means something flattering and pleasant, especially for the guitars (or at least that doesn't make my guitar tone sound weird and unpleasant), and still a bit accurate, without being too analytical like monitoring headphones are.-budget : 50-500€ (i.e approx. 63$-630$)
-of course i'm gonna try headphones out in stores (listening to my raw mono guitar tracks, raw mixes, and also some finished full commercial mixes), but i could use your 2 cents on this
ze kink
THE BLACK WIZARDS
I got the ATH-M50's especially for tracking, but since you've already got the closed DT-770's, I wouldn't go the closed route personally.
Is there a store nearby, where you'd be able to compare higher end headphones? The contest I guess is mainly between the DT-990's, K701/702's and HD-650's - possibly the Denon D2000's too - which all do their own thing. Or if you're good at just adapting to whatever, you can pretty much just look at their graphs and user reviews, compare them to what you already own and go with that. That's what I did and got the HD-650's. I also used the CX-300II's as one reference BTW, as I'd listened to them for about 2 hours every day for almost two years until they broke, and I knew that I'd be pretty much set if I got something with a somewhat similar sound, only clearer and more detailed and with a less bloated bass.
And yes, still very happy with the HD-650's. The ATH-M50's pretty much never get used when I'm at home (I don't usually carry the HD-650's with me, the plastic build scares me a little), while they're good, I vastly prefer the HD-650's for everything.
Djabthrash
Member
Clark Kent
Member
- Jan 23, 2011
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Technology-wise the Sennheiser HD800 is supposed to be the most neutral = flat headphones on the market. They cost a thousand bucks literally.
The only headphones with a spectrum response close to the HD800 is the Beyerdynamic DT880 and it costs around 200-300 bucks. I own the DT880 PRO headphones.
All I can say is that I trust these headphones more than any studio monitors I've heard. Using monitors depends a lot on what room they are in while headphones will always sound the same no matter where you are. That's just my philosophy. I'm sure using headphones for mixing will feel weird if you are used to studio monitors.
If you tried the DT880 headphones and didn't like them, my next question is what headphone amplifier did you use? Those have a HUGE impact on tone.
The only headphones with a spectrum response close to the HD800 is the Beyerdynamic DT880 and it costs around 200-300 bucks. I own the DT880 PRO headphones.
All I can say is that I trust these headphones more than any studio monitors I've heard. Using monitors depends a lot on what room they are in while headphones will always sound the same no matter where you are. That's just my philosophy. I'm sure using headphones for mixing will feel weird if you are used to studio monitors.
If you tried the DT880 headphones and didn't like them, my next question is what headphone amplifier did you use? Those have a HUGE impact on tone.
Djabthrash
Member
Is this post aim at me or someone else in this thread ? I'm asking since i mentioned using a DT770pro (not a DT880), and not looking for headphones for mixing/monitoring purposes, but more like tracking guitars with a pleasant sound and doing some casual listening as well.
Just to be sure.
I'm plugging my headphones in a RME FireFace UC interface (not the shittest interface if you ask me) so i guess my tone should be OK.
gabriel g.
Member
I was in the same situation last week. Checked them all in the studio-shop. Super disappointed of the m50, closed 770 and ALL AKG models. Wanted to buy the 701 in the first place.
Ended up with the half-open 990 and loving them!!! They have to burn in a couple of hours (hooked them up to itunes in drummer loudness) and now they sound fantastic
Ended up with the half-open 990 and loving them!!! They have to burn in a couple of hours (hooked them up to itunes in drummer loudness) and now they sound fantastic
Djabthrash
Member
4Eyes
Member
- May 29, 2011
- 58
- 1
- 8
Hi folks,
I was about to buy ultrasone pro 2500, our dealer had a good sale price, because of the discontinued model. they went out of stock so he offered me discount prices for pro 750 and pro 2900, there is about 65EUR difference in price between them. Which would you take?
I was about to buy ultrasone pro 2500, our dealer had a good sale price, because of the discontinued model. they went out of stock so he offered me discount prices for pro 750 and pro 2900, there is about 65EUR difference in price between them. Which would you take?
Melodeath
Moonbow
4Eyes
Member
- May 29, 2011
- 58
- 1
- 8
they seem like interesting choice, but I bet they won't be for about 219,- EUR like ultrasone pro2900 that was offered to me
Uros
Sonic Incision
I use KRK KNS8400. Really good for finding good guitar sound (then again, bad guitar sound will sound bad on these), but they are no good for casual listening if you listen to badly mixed music
Clark Kent
Member
- Jan 23, 2011
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It all comes down to what you want. For mixing you want NEUTRAL = FLAT frequency response so you have a realistic sonic picture. And if you want that there are two choices: Sennheiser HD800 or Beyerdynamic DT880. They released the Sennheiser HD700 this month so I'm not sure if it's also as flat as the HD800.
Anyways here's a good comparison program that show us the frequency curves in a comparison situation: http://www.headphone.com/learning-c...raphType=0&buttonSelection=Compare+Headphones
So people that think Dr Dre Monster Beats are the best out there, you have just been scammed by product placement. Also I added the KRKs that were mentioned above... and the sad truth is that it's like mixing your songs with a 10dB low end boost all the time. I wouldn't choose those.
Ofcourse... the spectrum isn't everything there is to these. A proper headphone amplifier costs at least 500€. So if you are choosing headphones to save money, it might not be the way to go.
In the end you want headphones that your ears are used to. For some people it's best to use those old cheap headphones just because your ears are used to hearing music in a certain way.
Anyways here's a good comparison program that show us the frequency curves in a comparison situation: http://www.headphone.com/learning-c...raphType=0&buttonSelection=Compare+Headphones
So people that think Dr Dre Monster Beats are the best out there, you have just been scammed by product placement. Also I added the KRKs that were mentioned above... and the sad truth is that it's like mixing your songs with a 10dB low end boost all the time. I wouldn't choose those.
Ofcourse... the spectrum isn't everything there is to these. A proper headphone amplifier costs at least 500€. So if you are choosing headphones to save money, it might not be the way to go.
In the end you want headphones that your ears are used to. For some people it's best to use those old cheap headphones just because your ears are used to hearing music in a certain way.
