Pinky
and The Brain...
HD600 v Focal Spirit Pro v DT770 v Blue Mo-Fi v ATH-M50 - "mixing headphone" review
I recently went shopping for new quasi-monitor grade headphones. The Audio Technica ATH-M50 are my current tracking headphones but I still rely on my studio monitors for the final mixing. I don't want or expect to replace my monitors, I am hoping to reduce my reliance on them during the bulk of the mixing process.
For testing I used a couple baseline tracks, in particular Big Wreck's "I Digress" [engineer won a Juno award for their work on this album], which features heavy bass, well recorded vocals, snappy snare, and a variety of well layered guitars. This is a style of music I produce for my own project so thought it would be fitting as a baseline.
It should be noted that having a headphone preamp helps push these larger drivers, especially at louder volume. I use a cheaper Rolls brand 4 output headphone amplifier, but have also tested on a LG G3 cell phone, and/or using the headphone output on my Tascam US-1800 digital interface.
I am not a professional reviewer and will try my best to describe the perceived differences between these headphones. Feel free to chime in with your thoughts!
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Sennheiser HD600 $500 list, $288 Amazon http://www.soundstage.com/revequip/pics/sennheiser_hd600.jpg
These are the headphones I ended up going with in the end. The price online can't be beat, and they have a overall flat and delicate sound. They lack in artificially boomy bass that a few of the other options here suffer. The HD650 model supposedly colors the playback, and for sake of mixing I felt the cheaper and 'lower end' HD600 would be the better fit. These are open back headphones, so I will still be using my ATH-M50 for tracking. The HD600 also sounded phenomenal out of the box [no break-in required].
Focal Spirit Professional $400 list, $350 Amazon, Sweetwater http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41rkWe8KCTL.jpg
The Focals were my first pick, and overall sound great. A little harsh until I broken them in overnight looping some progressive rock. Flat and detailed sound. The Focals are closed back so could be used for mixing and tracking, eliminating the need for the ATH-M50. Sadly the issue I couldn't get around was the fit. The ear cushions and overall size of the headphone was too small, and they were immediately uncomfortable. I had seen this mentioned in other online reviews. Since I never had issue with headphones fitting before I assumed that didn't apply to me. These are definitely a try before you buy. Good luck finding someone locally who has them on the shelf.
Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro $299 list, $199 Amazon http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/71yAY4QEjJL._SL1500_.jpg
The DT770 are very comfortable and had solid bass, a little too much to be considered true mixing headphones. For the price they were very tempting at the time (Guitar Center $229), but glad I held out for the HD600. I realize these are not a direct apples to apples competitor [see the DT880 $399 list, $349 Amazon] for the HD600 or Focal Spirit, and for less money they are certainly worthy of contention. Spend a little more though and get much more with the other options. Closed back.
Blue Microphones Mo-Fi $349 list http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61ifH3zLL6L._SL1151_.jpg
Slightly weird design and boomy low end (even with the boost turned completely off) prevented me from falling in love with these. They are good sounding and very comfortable. For casual listening and tracking I’d be very happy with these, for mixing definitely not. Out of the headphones I tried, I’d put these at the top for most enjoyable casual playback and fit/comfort. Nearer to the bottom for mixing. Closed back.
Audio-Technica ATH-M50 Pro $199 list, $139 Amazon http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41JFc3ohbNL.jpg
I’ve been using the ATH-M50 for a couple years and think they’re great for the price. However they are very bass heavy and lack clarity in the midrange. Definition in the high frequencies also suffers a bit. For tracking they’re more than adequate and the cushions seal out the sound very well for that purpose. As casual music listening headphones they also excel, especially if you like your music playback bass heavy. In terms of mixing though, these would rank at the very bottom of this lineup. Closed back.
I recently went shopping for new quasi-monitor grade headphones. The Audio Technica ATH-M50 are my current tracking headphones but I still rely on my studio monitors for the final mixing. I don't want or expect to replace my monitors, I am hoping to reduce my reliance on them during the bulk of the mixing process.
For testing I used a couple baseline tracks, in particular Big Wreck's "I Digress" [engineer won a Juno award for their work on this album], which features heavy bass, well recorded vocals, snappy snare, and a variety of well layered guitars. This is a style of music I produce for my own project so thought it would be fitting as a baseline.
It should be noted that having a headphone preamp helps push these larger drivers, especially at louder volume. I use a cheaper Rolls brand 4 output headphone amplifier, but have also tested on a LG G3 cell phone, and/or using the headphone output on my Tascam US-1800 digital interface.
I am not a professional reviewer and will try my best to describe the perceived differences between these headphones. Feel free to chime in with your thoughts!
_________________________________
Sennheiser HD600 $500 list, $288 Amazon http://www.soundstage.com/revequip/pics/sennheiser_hd600.jpg
These are the headphones I ended up going with in the end. The price online can't be beat, and they have a overall flat and delicate sound. They lack in artificially boomy bass that a few of the other options here suffer. The HD650 model supposedly colors the playback, and for sake of mixing I felt the cheaper and 'lower end' HD600 would be the better fit. These are open back headphones, so I will still be using my ATH-M50 for tracking. The HD600 also sounded phenomenal out of the box [no break-in required].
Focal Spirit Professional $400 list, $350 Amazon, Sweetwater http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41rkWe8KCTL.jpg
The Focals were my first pick, and overall sound great. A little harsh until I broken them in overnight looping some progressive rock. Flat and detailed sound. The Focals are closed back so could be used for mixing and tracking, eliminating the need for the ATH-M50. Sadly the issue I couldn't get around was the fit. The ear cushions and overall size of the headphone was too small, and they were immediately uncomfortable. I had seen this mentioned in other online reviews. Since I never had issue with headphones fitting before I assumed that didn't apply to me. These are definitely a try before you buy. Good luck finding someone locally who has them on the shelf.
Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro $299 list, $199 Amazon http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/71yAY4QEjJL._SL1500_.jpg
The DT770 are very comfortable and had solid bass, a little too much to be considered true mixing headphones. For the price they were very tempting at the time (Guitar Center $229), but glad I held out for the HD600. I realize these are not a direct apples to apples competitor [see the DT880 $399 list, $349 Amazon] for the HD600 or Focal Spirit, and for less money they are certainly worthy of contention. Spend a little more though and get much more with the other options. Closed back.
Blue Microphones Mo-Fi $349 list http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61ifH3zLL6L._SL1151_.jpg
Slightly weird design and boomy low end (even with the boost turned completely off) prevented me from falling in love with these. They are good sounding and very comfortable. For casual listening and tracking I’d be very happy with these, for mixing definitely not. Out of the headphones I tried, I’d put these at the top for most enjoyable casual playback and fit/comfort. Nearer to the bottom for mixing. Closed back.
Audio-Technica ATH-M50 Pro $199 list, $139 Amazon http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41JFc3ohbNL.jpg
I’ve been using the ATH-M50 for a couple years and think they’re great for the price. However they are very bass heavy and lack clarity in the midrange. Definition in the high frequencies also suffers a bit. For tracking they’re more than adequate and the cushions seal out the sound very well for that purpose. As casual music listening headphones they also excel, especially if you like your music playback bass heavy. In terms of mixing though, these would rank at the very bottom of this lineup. Closed back.
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