Headphones Tips??

[tgs]

I want to buy some new headphones for the studio but I'm not sure what to get. The primary feature I'm after is for them to be closed, I'm always having problems with the drummer not hearing enough so I have to raise and raise the volume and it always ends up with distortion in the cans and the drummer STILL not hearing anything.

So I wonder if anyone here has any tips about what to get. I have looked at models from VicFirth and Koss (QZ99). I'm also interested in the classic DT-100, I've never tried them but I guess there must be a reason for their popularity. All tips are welcome!

 

[martyfireball]

I spent months looking into this and ended up buying DT100's. The way I figured it, if you end up not liking them, you'll always get decent resale value for them on Ebay or wherever.

 

[tgs]

Are you satisfied with them? Do they work for your clients?

Someone suggested that I should get inear monitor plugs but I don't think that my clients would be very hot for that (although I've thought about getting that for myself for live work).

 

[Brett - K A L I S I A]

Sennheiser HD212Pro : not expensive and very good for isolation (both ways)

 

[martyfireball]

well, off course i got them AFTER i tracked the drums on my last session.....pah...but i tried them in the house and they sound OK, and I had them on while trying to get rid of any phase on a loudish guitar cab and could hear enough to move the mics into better positions. I'll be doing vocals with them this weekend (all being well), so might have better feedback from them.

 

[Nitronium Blood]

Optimus Pro 25 Titanium.

The headphone of legends.

 

[Fabbio]

I record and mix a lot with Sony Fontopia. Please don't laugh at me, I did some good mixing with them. Of course I always check the recording on every system avalaible to me after the first mix (home stereo, car stereo, friends' stereos... ...etc...)

 

[metalkingdom]

Optimus Pro 25 Titanium.

The headphone of legends.

LOL.

AKG K240's are the "classic" studio headphones. I love 'em, but most (all) artists would rather have those Sony MDR-7506's. They have lots of bass and offer pretty good isolation.

 

[mxlinus]

I record and mix a lot with Sony Fontopia. Please don't laugh at me, I did some good mixing with them. Of course I always check the recording on every system avalaible to me after the first mix (home stereo, car stereo, friends' stereos... ...etc...)

althought this is a little of the topic, I have to say, if somebody is thinking about buying headphones for mixing purposes, BeyerDynamic DT250 Headphones are THE ones. Don't even try to urgy about this one. I'm right

 

[black sugar]

http://www.extremeheadphones.com/

Extreme Isolations are great for um... extreme isolation. I've noticed that they can't take as much juice as even cheapo headphones like More Me's without farting out on peaks -- but you shouldn't have to drive them too hard because they offer way more isolation than the norm.

Too much, in fact for some people. Some like them, some don't. They're not very hi-fi as well.

It's been totally mixed in my experience, and I've had at least a dozen people try them over various sessions. People get really particular about headphone mixes for odd reasons and making the "performer" comfortable can be quite a challenge, but it's totally crucial. Shut up and sing, Pavarotti, I say. But I digress.

I love them. Being that I record in a one room rehearsal space setup, I can get surprisingly precise mic positioning right off the bat, even on snare drums and blasting guitar cabs. You just have to learn the sonic tencencies of the Extreme Iso's (they're kind of dull and bass heavy) and how to angle your head a little out of the blast zone and you'll be fine.

I prefer them for tracking my own guitars and vocals too. I would never, ever, under any circumstances use them to make mix decisions or anything, but for tracking they're quite the shizz.


edit: metalkingdom and mxlinus,

I use AKG 240DF's pretty heavily for mixing in combination with my monitors and I think they're very good for that. I've heard that the Beyerdynamic DT880's are really nice, too. I just can't afford another expensive or even semi-expensive set of cans at the moment, or I would definitely go for some Beyers.

 

[Impy]

My bands drummer uses a set of Vic Firth headphones, can't remember the model name, he's pretty happy with em, they provide pretty good isolation and at last he can hear something... he never did before, so we're happy.

 

[tgs]

I have AKG240 right now, but I don't think they offer enough isolation. I also don't think they are sturdy enough - I've had to fix them 2-3 times because people don't seem to put much attention to where they place them when they take them off and I think they're too expensive to be tossed around. I don't like that construction, I want a pair that will withstand some rough handling! So most of the time, I just let people use my 25 euro cans, hehe! If they start complaining, I let them try the 240's.

I have looked at ExtremeHeadphones but they are just a BIT too expensive for my taste. I also checked out VicFirth just the other day. I asked the guy at the store if he'd tried them in a session but he had only used them as ear protection (strangely enough). I might look into that a bit more, but the Koss cans I tried seemed to offer better isolation actually.

 

[Mendel]

sneap has this headphone from sony ( at least, 1 of the 120398098 headphones hehave ) i saw it on the video of the studio recording of kreator .when the singer ( forgot his name ) had this sony headphone on his head (duh) when singin in the vocals for enemy of god.

 

[_RiseInside_]

i love my sony mdr 7506. I like them better than the sennheiser hd 280 pro

 

[Mulder]

Senny HD650 is my fav skullmonitor

Lowest THD of all.

And I can works hours with it, sits cozy on the brain.

Also have some Sony MD earplugs, but these are so small they distort & compress like hell and have a freq spectrum with (resonating) peaks & dips. Good for the iPod & blasting demons, not for work.

But you wanna have closed ones, look at these.

You can actually pull the band that holds the cans together in two parts, grab them down so they sit tight around your skull allowing you to do some serious brainclutching while playing with these, they don't fall off.

Made for drummers I believe, or ADDpeople in general.