Recommend good Studio headphones.

Zerberus

Zerberus

Baron Von Shred
My 35 year old Pioneer SE-50 2 way phones died, RIP :crying:

But, no time to mourn the losses, need a new set of ´phones. Gotta keep recording....

Criteria:

Closed
Stereo (DUH!)
under 150$ US
flattest possible frequency response.
Cordless is a no no

I´m already looking at 2 AKG models, and one each from BeyerDynamic and Sennheiser, but I´d like to get some other opinions first.

These will be used primarily for monitoring and tracking.

Got Ideas? Then take a toss :)
 
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Re: Recommend good Studio headphones.

you should look into the sennheiser HD280's. they're sealed well, provide something like 35dB attenuation of outside noise, they're comfy, and they have a pretty flat response.

i think they normally got for about $100, but you can find them for cheaper if you hunt around.
 
Re: Recommend good Studio headphones.

muttonchopsrule said:
you should look into the sennheiser HD280's. they're sealed well, provide something like 35dB attenuation of outside noise, they're comfy, and they have a pretty flat response.

i think they normally got for about $100, but you can find them for cheaper if you hunt around.
Click to expand...
Dunno if they're great monitoring cans but the 280s rock for tracking.
 
Re: Recommend good Studio headphones.

D-EJ915 said:
You do know that all of Sony's head-mounted listening devices are MDR right? lol

Their V6/7506 is pretty nice though.
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MDR 7506 . . . those are the ones that one the headphone shootout that I did a couple of years ago. I just couldn't remember the number. . .
 
Re: Recommend good Studio headphones.

another +1 to the HD280's

on my purchase list at the moment
 
Re: Recommend good Studio headphones.

Sorry guys, but the HD280's don't have a flat response. Barely any bass response in the sub 80hz frequency, too. Everything down there sounds more like a pulse than anything.

That said, I do LOVE mine for tracking. Awesome isolation, no harsh frequencies, clear as hell.

That said, headphones really shouldn't be used for mixing, aside from checking small details.
 
Re: Recommend good Studio headphones.

Virtual Kevorkian said:
That said, I do LOVE mine for tracking. Awesome isolation, no harsh frequencies, clear as hell.
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main reason i am getting mine. everybody is raving about their isolation

That said, headphones really shouldn't be used for mixing, aside from checking small details.
Click to expand...

i got the monitors for mixing =)
 
Re: Recommend good Studio headphones.

Virtual Kevorkian said:
Sorry guys, but the HD280's don't have a flat response. Barely any bass response in the sub 80hz frequency, too. Everything down there sounds more like a pulse than anything.
Click to expand...

And IYO a better alternative would be.....?

Virtual Kevorkian said:
.....
That said, headphones really shouldn't be used for mixing, aside from checking small details.
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If you´d like to explain to my neighbors (and when I say neighbors, it´s more like "the rest of the Dorm") why it´s loud as **** at 3 AM then please be my guest... I can live without that for the time being.

That said I´ll probably do the final mixes during the day anyway. Again, it´s for tracking and monitoring for the most part ;)
 
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Re: Recommend good Studio headphones.

Zerberus said:
And IYO a better alternative would be.....?

If you´d like to explain to my neighbors (and when I say neighbors, it´s more like "the rest of the Dorm") why it´s loud as **** at 3 AM then please be my guest... I can live without that for the time being.

That said I´ll probably do the final mixes during the day anyway. Again, it´s for tracking and monitoring for the most part ;)
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TBH, I never tried to find headphones with the flattest response, so I couldn't recommend, first hand at least, a flatter pair. These worked for what I needed them to do and were cheap, so I snagged 'em. I have, however, heard wonderful things about the Beyerdynamic DT100's.

I fully understand the need to mix with headphones sometimes, but as you understand, it's best to do final mixes on a set of monitors.




KS - No headphones will ever be perfectly flat, of course, and there are a lot worse than the HD-280's, but I hear that bass roll-off and midhump full well - enough for me that I can't use them alone to find a final tone.
 
Re: Recommend good Studio headphones.

+1 for the HD-280s on tracking.

Audiophiles should look elsewhere.
 
Re: Recommend good Studio headphones.

Somehow I knew Jeff would chime in.

I like my HD 280s. But my ears aren't as discriminating.

I'm beginning to think that's not a bad thing...:chairfall
 
Re: Recommend good Studio headphones.

Not to hijack but if these are examples of good headphones for music studio purposes, would they qualify as the things to go for to use on my amp, for late night playing?
 
Re: Recommend good Studio headphones.

The HD-280 Pros aren't the greatest headphones I've ever tried, but I can't think of anything better that has the same level of isolation. Besides, we're talking about headphones here: the things most audio snobs have against the HD-280's could be said of headphones in general (bad lows, too much mids, etc).
 
Re: Recommend good Studio headphones.

I own a pair of Sennheiser HD580s. They are the best phones I've ever listened to and I guess they have a pretty flat frequency response. They retail at ~$250 but you can easily get them off of amazon for ~$130.

If you plan on looking into headphones (instead of just buying), I would definitely encourage you to look into these. They are also very comfortable, if that matters to you.

*EDIT

Here's one review that supports my claim of a flat frequency response.

http://www.stereophile.com/headphones/1294senn/
 
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Re: Recommend good Studio headphones.

firebirdV said:
I own a pair of Sennheiser HD580s. They are the best phones I've ever listened to and I guess they have a pretty flat frequency response. They retail at ~$250 but you can easily get them off of amazon for ~$130.

If you plan on looking into headphones (instead of just buying), I would definitely encourage you to look into these. They are also very comfortable, if that matters to you.

*EDIT

Here's one review that supports my claim of a flat frequency response.

http://www.stereophile.com/headphones/1294senn/
Click to expand...

Another thing that may be important is that these headphones need a lot of power. I am currently using a headphone amp which provides plenty of drive, but if you are considering these, you may want to look into that aspect as well.
 
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