A nice little find . . .

[chessrock]

Good, cheap headphones for tracking / monitoring.

- A review by Chessrock, the Wannabe Gear Pimp


So I got a spam email a few weeks ago from 8th Street music. Behringer Headphones $20. Two different models. I figure since I've got a 12-person aca pela group coming by next month -- I could probably use a few extra pairs.

So I take the big dive and order 1 of each model, being the big-time spender that I am.

The two models are as follows: 1) HPS 3000, which is touted as their "high-performance studio headphone," and 2) HPX2000, which is actually billed more as a DJ headphone from what I can gather.

So anyway, the UPS guy shows up and rings the doorbell. I'm in the shower but you know how it goes when you hear that buzzer, my fellow gear fiends. Yup. You know the sound of that whistle signifies that all else must take a backseat to your new Behringer gear, awaiting your anxious signature. So out comes chessrock, dripping wet with towel adorning my now-raging loins as I offer up my electronic signature with plastic pen-like object.

I don't know why I just went off on that tangent by the way. I just thought it might build some suspense. Anyway, so I unpack and plug in each model one by one, and my response is as follows:

1) HPS 3000 -- Now this is not what I have come to expect from a $20 set of headphones. Maybe a $10 set, but certainly not a $20 set. The sound is actually pretty warm. Kinda' like a warm pile of turds filling each of your ear canals with an extra layer of cotton on top of that.

The sound is vaguely reminiscent to listening to a band playing way too loud at a club with wet toilet paper stuffed in your ears because it's all you could find.

2) HPX2000 -- Folks, we have a winner, here. In what Behringer is touting as a studio / DJ headphone, we have indeed stumbled upon a whole new era of cheap quality headphone.

The mighty B ship has landed again, and the name of this little marvel is the HPX2000. Not only are these $20 set of cans good-sounding and sturdily-built, but they also kick out plenty of volume, and are very cool looking.

Don't get me wrong here . . . these are not going to be replacing my ksm240's or Sony whatevers I like to pull out for the pickier musicians. But as an extra set of cans for the keyboard player, the tamborine shaker, the scratch vocalist, etc. . . . the puppies will do the trick and get the job done without a hitch and without a lot of hooplah (whatever hooplah is).

And I forgot to mention it's best feature. It's easily the most comfortable set of headphones I own, hands-down. They fit even my big head perfectly, and as some of you know, that's a pretty lofty feat. They're light . . . they soft . . . they kinda' feel like Heather Graham's big, jiggling lappies curled around either ear.

And that's quite a nice, cheap $20 thrill if you ask me. I've been (casually) listening to tunes all morning on them at moderately high volumes, and my ears still aren't tired or uncomfortable. Order like 100 pairs of them. These things rock.

[Gidge]

Mr. Cheapskate here appreciates this very much.....

[dafduc]

I thank you for the headsup, chess. So does my size 7 3/4 noodle.

Closed or open back?

Daf (waiting 'til May to don his open-back pumps )

[tmix]

I had a big group in the studio this Saturday and was hit by the fact ALL my headphones were flat wore out (and leaving deposits on peoples faces).
If these are closed backs I'm definitely in the market for 4-5 pair!

[chessrock]

Well, they're not exactly a fully-closed back. I'd call them semi-closed or mostly closed? Either way, I tried them out on a session the other day, and the bleed wasn't particularly bad that I remember.

Here's what they look like:

http://www.8thstreet.com/product.asp...ory=Monitoring

[Kelly5150]

Tamborine shaker's need headphones?... hehe....

[littledog]

well, occasionally it's nice if they actually play WITH the beat...

[Danelectron]

ALL my headphones were flat wore out (and leaving deposits on peoples faces).

HAHHAHAhaahahaaHHaHa That is hilarius!!! It's definately time to shop.

[regebro]

Originally posted by chessrock
Good, cheap headphones for tracking / monitoring.

1) HPS 3000 -- Now this is not what I have come to expect from a $20 set of headphones. Maybe a $10 set, but certainly not a $20 set. The sound is actually pretty warm. Kinda' like a warm pile of turds filling each of your ear canals with an extra layer of cotton on top of that.

The sound is vaguely reminiscent to listening to a band playing way too loud at a club with wet toilet paper stuffed in your ears because it's all you could find.

Sounds exactly like what I want. I find most headphones have way to much high-end, and they give me tinnitus just by thinking about using them. I'd like some super-mega-fucking-loads-of-bass-and-no-high-whatsoever-headphones.