(Yet Another) Good Headphones Question

8

88fingers

Member
I know this question gets thrown around a lot, but I have some specific needs which my google-fu isn't really finding answers for.

I'm currently in a situation (and will be for at least another year) where most of my mixing will need to be done with headphones. I know this isn't optimal, but that's not the discussion - it's something I have to deal with, and now I'm looking for some help.

I need some phones that are good quality, sound good, reasonably budgeted (if I can get something for less than $150, that'd be great - if not, I'm willing to get up to $200, but can't afford more than that right now), and possibly most importantly (at least, in terms of me finding good answers view Google) - I need them to be comfortable when being on my head for upwards of 2 hours at a time. I've gone through several sets in the last five years, and while they all tend to pass the first few tests, none of what I currently own is comfortable after more than 45 minutes or so. So, anyone here who has experience in wearing phones for multiple hours at a time, have some recommendations for me?

Thanks
 
Thought I'd give this a bump since it's been awhile. I still haven't found a set that meets my comfortability requirements.
 
well i did the same thing in 2016....I went all in (for a broke dude with credit card).
after reading I went with the 250ohm Beyer 880. there were a few others same kind of responses.
then I bought a headphone amp too for $400-$500...oldest Grace version 1. ( I have a theory companies often put the best into their first product).

I'll admit some lessons learned were 1) buying used was a mistake because I got the phones used and needed new pads which cost $$$. There was the worry of them being damaged., mine werent but I got lucky. Then I saw some Brand New on sale and it was such a small amount buying Brand New would be my recommended thing.

I got some Takstar 671 that are great sounding a lot cheaper and built cheaper so care needs to be taken, if you are careful and mindful of your gear then these are nice for $67? ish.
The soundfield is huge.

I dont know about the headphone amps, I feel I have one of the best and its a lot better than some of my comparisons but my interface headphone amp (Line6UX8 which recommends between 150-600ohm phones) is pretty close. The Grace has something though so I havent sold it. Its noticeable. Im not real picky and will sell stuff on a dime.
I dont have any other amps. IF you get something that sounds good its pretty obvious.

The phones big thing was the Open Backs for mixing and clarity.
The old closed backs for tracking.
 
ATH AD700 was around $100 years ago and can be on my head for hours. The bass isn't for bass heads and drops off around 100, but I was more interested in the muddy bass area being flat
 
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88fingers said:
I know this question gets thrown around a lot, but I have some specific needs which my google-fu isn't really finding answers for.

I'm currently in a situation (and will be for at least another year) where most of my mixing will need to be done with headphones. I know this isn't optimal, but that's not the discussion - it's something I have to deal with, and now I'm looking for some help.

I need some phones that are good quality, sound good, reasonably budgeted (if I can get something for less than $150, that'd be great - if not, I'm willing to get up to $200, but can't afford more than that right now), and possibly most importantly (at least, in terms of me finding good answers view Google) - I need them to be comfortable when being on my head for upwards of 2 hours at a time. I've gone through several sets in the last five years, and while they all tend to pass the first few tests, none of what I currently own is comfortable after more than 45 minutes or so. So, anyone here who has experience in wearing phones for multiple hours at a time, have some recommendations for me?

Thanks
Click to expand...

List some of the ones you've tried. If you're looking for comfort..........that's not always universal from person to person but in the price range you mentioned I'd consider the Sennheiser HD-598 (way comfortable)......the Philips SHP9500 (cheap and awesome comfort)........both open phones.........and if you need to go closed........check out the Status Audio CB-1.........also very comfortable. All of them have excellent sound. I have all of them and I'd recommend the Phillips SHP-9500's as your best possible mixing phones. Of course.......you KNOW I'm going to remind you that your mixing results on cans is not going to be perfect..........right?
 
I think both the Trackstar and Philips would be worth checking out. Try to find out if the headband can take a bend and hold it for getting best fit . Fones usually have wacky response curve and you might find a headroom, or, golden ear response graph to see what might be problematic.
The basic Sony 7506, but I don't thing anyone wants to wear them for a hour or two;
 

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mixing magic cant be any worse on headphones than a bad room, and we've all read the tiny auratones doing a job for massive records made in the golden radio days...and still used today. i think its a great bit of options today.

thats another thing i stumbled on is that term crossfeed and it makes logical sense. mixing in a EEtriangle, 3ft...our ears hear both speakers, so the odd headphone separation can be simulated with crossfeed, either in the headphone amp or a simple plugin on the master buss of the DAW.

in short its kind of a mono thing in truth. the headphone listening session was always a unintended separation right? almost all mixes and mastering was done on speakers that is stereo but also kind of Mono because our ears hear both speakers right?...or crossfed? crossfeeded? crossfedder? crossfeeding? crossfedderfect?
 
MONO through Stereo speakers is Stereo, and Stereo through a MONO speaker is MONO. The Stereo headphone is basically, just managed separation of the stereo effect. I dunno how much of a deal the room effect is missed for everyone mixing up a storm on fones ? Not everyone is burdened with dome tweeters ! hahah
 
in a HR setup how "stereo" is 3ft going to be? its not a movie theatre we're talking about here.

i recall being Nashvilles Hall of Smithsonian or something, and they had the original RCA Elvis console and it was Mono. Those records sounded so good...beautiful really, mic placement was King.

If you cant get a good mix in Mono then theres a problem, is my belief. Freq masking etc. Geoff Emerick mentions this too, he would set all the gains and freq in Mono, the recording/tracking done in Mono usually.....then spread it to stereo not changing the eq, and little volume. But the MUD Masking of Frequencys engineering work is done in Mono....

I usually read in Mono.
 
One just has to be somewhat aware that two speakers is twice the single speaker. Listening to just one of our stereo monitors probably works better than sliding a ear cup back off the ear on headphones : )
 
yeah...and like the Vintage King super hi-end mic shootout, they swapped headphones and everything sounded different. ahahah
aaaaaaaahhaa...that was beyond classic, but yet powerful as hell. it was foundational, it was Warrens brutal honesty and hi-end lust gear all in one video.

ears. speakers. rooms. Headphones can make a huge opinion on if something is trebly or too bassy.

damn I need some coffee. HillsBros. Tried another can of some Houston TX brand noticeable but the HillsBros has the 260 cups for $5 thing going.
 
garww said:
I think both the Trackstar and Philips would be worth checking out. Try to find out if the headband can take a bend and hold it for getting best fit . Fones usually have wacky response curve and you might find a headroom, or, golden ear response graph to see what might be problematic.
The basic Sony 7506, but I don't thing anyone wants to wear them for a hour or two;
Click to expand...

My 2cents on the Takstar was to handle with care, the sound is fabulous but the build...well the $65 has to come from somewhere, theres nothing free. Hell my Sony 7506 flake ear pads all the time, the Beyrer880's sell new pads that are fairly expensive but they are built the best. ..they cost double too.

What about the old heavy KOSS?
 
Opened Folgers this morning. Still have one HB, but I need a change. Well, Bruce's old monitoring with the cubes and 12-inch, 3-way should work for anyone. Hate to imagine what fones he might have use, but I think the AKG Sextett goes back to '75, so there was good stuff to be had.
 
Ive got some Folgers I could send you. In a studio no one needs headphones to mix with do they? I mean if the engineers had headphones on the band couldnt yell and cuss at them very effectively, I suppose they could flip them off still. I suppose they could still break things and make a point to the engineers. Of course the engineer will do that feedback blast in their tracking phones as revenge.

If it sounds good on the crappy Auratones I bet its mind blowing in a $50,000 speaker, Id sure hope so.

Making Earbuds sound good is an amazing task really...or those .25" speakers in the laptops.
 
A stiff Affro can make a lot of fones more comfortable. Here, a Old Nose Michael;
 

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Thanks for the responses everyone.

@Mickster - Here's a list of my headphones I either own or have recently tried:
AKG K240 (Has always been my go-tos in the past before I needed to wear them for 2+ hours at a time)
Sennheiser HD 280 (Used to be my favs before I got the AKG's)
Sony MDRV6 (Friend loaned them, didn't like them)
Yamaha HPE170 (Friend loaned them, didn't like them)

@CoolCat - Not sure what you were offering w/ re: sending Folgers, are you looking to get rid of them?

So is there such a thing as trying out headphones before buying them? And I don't mean for just 5 minutes in a store. I think the guy at my local Guitar Center would let me sit and try some for 20+ minutes or so on a Wednesday morning or something, but that's only for what he has in stock, and only if he's not busy, so I don't think it will be super useful.

Here's my updated list of what I want to try out based mostly on recommendations in this thread:
AKG K701 (based on friend's recommendation, not in this thread, if anyone has experience with these please let me know)
Sen HD598
Philips SHP9500
Audio-Technica ATH-AD700 (if I can find decent deal - they appear to go from anywhere from $70 - $300 on eBay depending on the day)
Takstar TS671

My local GC carries the Sen's, that's it. Gonna be hard to test these out...
 
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you have 30days GC return policy right?

aha my bad..the folgers was for garrw. bad forum form... we get chatty some times and off on tangents.

you want comfort, BeyerDynamics are comfortable with the velour pads.
 
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