Help me choose on these headphones or suggest another

[Chelonian]

I have cheap ($7) headphones and want to buy a "starter" pair for recording (I do not have monitor speakers). From the suggestions in a previous thread, it seems two contenders, and they both turn out to be $30 with free shipping right now:

• Tascam TH-200x
• Sennheiser HD-206

Is there a clear winner here?

 

[RFR]

I have a pair of the senheiser 202s. Not bad for cheap headphones. I’d imagine the 206 to be little better.
They’re closed back so they work great for tracking.
A bit bass heavy so I wouldn’t trust them for any mixing chores. But then again if one learned the characteristics of the phones by listening to a lot of commercially recorded music on them you could compensate for that.

 

[ecc83]

No, no clear winner there IMHO friend. Tascam makes some very nice gear but are not known for 'transducers'. Those cans MIGHT be very good but could also be a generic far eastern product.
Sennheiser are well known for mics and headphones, my only slight worry is their very low impedance at 24 Ohms? That might cause distortion on a budget interface*.

An alternative, in the middle of that price range is the AKG K 92. I have a pair and am very happy with them. 32 Ohms and high sensitivity of 113dB for 1 volt. Just what is needed with lower cost gear (I assume? Tell us!)

*The audio industry have pretty much standardized on 32 Ohms for headphones in the mass market and thus AIs, mixers etc are built to accommodate them WHY TF do some H/P makers still go lower? I have asked several times on forums for an explanation for the wide range of headphone impedance...never got an answer.

Dave.

 

[Slouching Raymond]

Never seen 206's, but my HD 205's had fake leather on the earpads and under the headband.
Eventually, it all wears off, and you end up with naked foam everywhere. I don't mind that,
but it could be unhygenic if you were sharing them with others. They are cheap enough, and OK.
Next time I buy, I'll look at what studiospares.com has. Maybe I'll try Beyer phones.

 

[TalismanRich]

Wait until Friday or Saturday and I'll give you my opinion on the Tascams. For the price of a dinner, I couldn't pass them up. I've got my AKGs 240s, Sony 7506s and Senn HD280s. I've only heard the 206s when I was playing at a friends house, and I was paying more attention to playing and singing than how clean the headphones were.

BTW, the Tascams are normally $80. I think TH-200x is probably a Musicians Friend "exclusive" model, much like many MXL mics were. They aren't listed in Tascam's lineup, either active or discontinued. That doesn't mean they're bad, just not part of the normal product line.

 

[spantini]

The only negative I have with my TH-200x phones is the PU leather used on the headband - after several years of not-heavy-use the PU leather virtually disintegrated, turning to dust. Thanks to a helpful suggestion from @rob aylestone, I simply wrapped the band with some spare material and tied it off with several lines of twine.

https://homerecording.com/bbs/threads/do-headphones-go-to-heaven.412262/

 

[TalismanRich]

My Tascam TH200x phones came in today. I fired up a recording, put on my Sony 7506s, then put on the Tascams. The verdict.... where's the freaking highs? All boom, no mids, NO air at all. This pair is WAY more bassy than the Senn HD280s. If I were to use them for a mix, it would be so shrill as to be unlistenable. I don't know what others are hearing with these, so either they are totally inconsistent in quality, or somebody is deaf!

Thankfully, it was only $30, so I'm not going to bother sending them back. I might try using them for watching TV, or maybe when tracking bass guitar or something.

Had I spent the $79 retail price, they would have gone back in the mail in a second.

At this point, my advice would be to bite the bullet and spend $70 for a pair of AKG K240s.

 

[Hmrc]

....... At this point, my advice would be to bite the bullet and spend $70 for a pair of AKG K240s.

+ 1

and as well : remember that you have to ear the source as much as possible , not the monitor / headphones .

 

[Mickster]

The AKG K240's are fairly bass light but pretty mid accurate. I've had them. They're also open so any mic work with cans might be an issue.

I'd advise the Sennheiser HD-206. I've had those as well. For $30.....you can't really go wrong IMO.

Mick

 

[TalismanRich]

The AKG K240's are fairly bass light but pretty mid accurate. I've had them. They're also open so any mic work with cans might be an issue.

I'd advise the Sennheiser HD-206. I've had those as well. For $30.....you can't really go wrong IMO.

Mick

Agreed that using the 240s for tracking may be an issue (although I have done it without a problem). The OP has said that they have a cheap pair of headphones which could be used for tracking, and the 240s would work better for mixing and judging the tonal balance.

I don't know the 206s, so I'll trust your judgement on those for the tonal balance.

 

[LazerBeakShiek]

Never seen 206's, but my HD 205's had fake leather on the earpads and under the headband.
Eventually, it all wears off, and you end up with naked foam everywhere. I don't mind that,
but it could be unhygenic if you were sharing them with others. They are cheap enough, and OK.
Next time I buy, I'll look at what studiospares.com has. Maybe I'll try Beyer phones.

Dude repair kits is like 5 bucks, and ....brand new again. Snaps together. easy as pussy.

 

[LazerBeakShiek]

like 205's are soooooooooooooooo different

2 bucks...you know they press on , right? You like broken things.?..or those black flakes in your ears.?

 

[Slouching Raymond]

Wow!
It is probably easier to just buy new phones.
I've been using them worn out for years.

 

[spantini]

When my TH-200X fell apart a couple weeks ago, I picked up some Sennheiser HD-280 Pro's. I was shocked when I played a previous .mp3 mix through them and the lead guitar nearly shattered my ears. The rhythm guitars and drums sounded pretty much the same as the TH-200X and the bass guitar was just a bit weaker, but that lead guitar break sounded like someone snuck in and did a massive boost to the mids on the parametric EQ. That left a bad taste in my mouth for these new phones.

Then I went to a different .mp3 render of the same mix, essentially just a direct copy of the earlier version, and the lead guitar was back to normal. A little brighter than the TH-200X, but the the phones sounded way better for some reason. The weird thing is I went back to the first .mp3 I listened to and it too was normal with the lead guitar behaving as expected.

I have no idea what caused all that, but it hasn't happened again and I'm really getting into these new HD280 Pro's.