Advice on headphones

S Helge Alvar Hallberg

S Helge Alvar Hallberg

New member
Greetings,

I am looking for advice on headphones. I intend to spend maybe 200-300 USD (although I am open to suggestions) on new headphones for mixing/mastering. Naturally, I would like something as flat and transparant as possible. I understand that open-back headphones are more flat than closed-back ones. I use separate in-ear headphones when recording anyway, so sound leakage is not an issue.

My interface is an Mbox Studio. Apparantly those headphones outputs are 32 ohm, which may or may not be an issue. I suppose I should either go for a lower ohm set of headphones, or get a a headphone amp. What headphone amps are good I do not know either. I must admit this is a subject I know very little about.


I welcome any advice, comments or suggestions.
 
Hi
i have various high quality head phones & near field monitors but personally i prefer to mix with a cheap pair of AKG earbuds
i believe with practice & learning the characteristic's you can mix at a high quality
check out my songs on the song part of the forum all my songs are crystal clear & mixed on ear buds

success
subvibe
 
Use the Search function in the upper right corner of the page. Search (no quotes) "headphones" and tick the "Search titles only" box. Scroll down to "Best headphones for mixing?". Maybe check out some of the other threads while you're there.
 
Thank you, however, although I can find plenty of threads on headphones, plenty of threads on impedences, and plenty of threads on amps, I just can't seem to find any that really puts all the pieces together in a comprehensible way. Not that is comprehensible to me at least. I really don't know Ohm's law well enough to be able to make predictions on what would work acceptably well with what or not. Most studio headphones are 80+ ohms. If I can't run them from a 32 ohm interface, then I think my headphones options are very limited. On the other hand, I guess I could then just just buy an amp and go for any headphones. I do not know what would colour the sound more, a low impedence headphone or a high impedence headphone through an amp.
 
AKG K240 Studio headphones are 55 ohms, Sony MDR-7506 headphones are 63 ohms -Sennheiser IE 400 PRO earphones are 16 ohms, and Shure SE215 earphones are 20 ohms - high end headphones at 32 ohms? - Don’t think there are any.
 
Does it have to be exactly a 32 ohms pair of headphones if the output is 32 ohms? I get that 600 ohms and even 250 are way off, but what of like 80? There appears to be a DT770 version with 32 ohms.
 
I don't know if the MBox is 32 ohms. The spec just says the output power, which will vary with the headphone impedance.

Headphone outputs
› Dynamic Range: 102 dB
› Frequency Response: 20 Hz–20 kHz, ±0.2 dB
› Output Power: 120 mW > 32 Ohm

Something like the AKG 240MkII is spec'd at 104dB/V at 55 ohms and 200mW max (about 3 V), so you should be perfectly good with them. With the specs of 120mW at 32 ohm you should be around 2V which would be over 104dB which is LOUD!!!
 
I like the Beyerdynamic DT880 Pro headphones which are 250 ohms but they also do a DT880 Edition which come in 32, 250 and 600 ohms
 
You have to regard the headphone amplifiers in most interfaces as merely a convenience to allow you to hear what is going on in the absence of decent monitors (and of course when tracking with a live mic).

They are generally rather better than the amps found in laptops and phones but not much! Certainly cannot be regarded as of "mastering quality" in either output capability or distortion level.

The other downside to AI HP amps is that they often lack 'gain'. That is to say, although they will deliver plenty of level for tracks at -10 to -6dBFS they often cannot make those at normal tracking levels, ~-20dBFS loud enough for some situations and people.

Bottom line. Do consider an external headphone amplifier. The Behringer HA400 is e.g. not at all bad for $30 or so!

Dave.
 
Thank you for the replies.

Would an amp as cheap as $30 really provide a noticably better audio quality than the interface amp? If using a fairly cheap amp does not hurt the sound, but may in fact even improve it, I guess I could get an amp and just about any 250 ohms headphone. I had almost decided on simply getting a 32 ohms Beyerdynamic, but now I have turned undecisive once again.
 
I would say go with anything 80 ohm or less. You might be able to run 250 ohm headphones, but the level might be a bit on the low side.

To be honest I have NEVER worried about the impedance of the headphones. It's the tonal balance that I most pay attention to. It varies a bunch between models. I've got three set of headphones which are widely used, Sony 7506, Senn HD280 and AKG K240. They all have plenty of volume but the tonal balance is very different. Depending on what I need, I'll choose a different pair. I bought a pair of Tascam headphones that people were saying were really good for cheap. The sound was AWFUL. No mids or highs, all bass. I'll probably give them to Goodwill! I've listened to the Beyer DT770s and the AT M50x, both were good, but different.

Don't get hung up on a spec that might make a minor, even imperceptible difference. You really need to LISTEN to the headphones.

As for a headphone amp, I've got an ART Headamp V which had 5 outputs. It puts out more than double the power of my Tascam interface. It's rated 10 ohms vs 55 on the Tascam. In terms of "quality", I hear NO difference. The ART can drive it a louder, but I don't listen to any of them near full blast. Usually it's about 1/2 or less.
 
S Helge Alvar Hallberg said:
Thank you for the replies.

Would an amp as cheap as $30 really provide a noticably better audio quality than the interface amp? If using a fairly cheap amp does not hurt the sound, but may in fact even improve it, I guess I could get an amp and just about any 250 ohms headphone. I had almost decided on simply getting a 32 ohms Beyerdynamic, but now I have turned undecisive once again.
Click to expand...
Yes, it very well might. The HA400 uses the same high current op amp as is used in a high end £250 HP amplifier. The HA uses a 15V supply whereas an AI is likely 5V and the amplifier a cheap "class D" device. The Behringer is at least a linear class AB design.

Anyhoosesss Mine is very quiet, very loud and and AFAICT does not distort.

Dave.
 
S Helge Alvar Hallberg said:
Greetings,

I am looking for advice on headphones. I intend to spend maybe 200-300 USD (although I am open to suggestions) on new headphones for mixing/mastering. Naturally, I would like something as flat and transparant as possible. I understand that open-back headphones are more flat than closed-back ones. I use separate in-ear headphones when recording anyway, so sound leakage is not an issue.

My interface is an Mbox Studio. Apparantly those headphones outputs are 32 ohm, which may or may not be an issue. I suppose I should either go for a lower ohm set of headphones, or get a a headphone amp. What headphone amps are good I do not know either. I must admit this is a subject I know very little about.


I welcome any advice, comments or suggestions.
Click to expand...
I like these.

https://www.amazon.com/Audio-Techni...echnica+headphones&qid=1726796319&sr=8-3&th=1
 
Thanks a lot for you input, everyone. I feel that I can now make a much more informed decision on what to buy. I may still not have made up my mind on what specific headphones to buy, but now all my worries about technical compatability issues have been put to ease.
 
Tallisman rich mentioned he's never worried about impedance - and I'm the same. Very often I'd plug in some unknown headphones and think they were a bit quiet, and that's when I'd read the label and realise the impedance was too high and I ran out of level. I can't actually think of any headphone issues I have ever had with 'quality' related to impedance, really just level. The headphones I liked best were Koss from the 70s, with oil filled ear seals. The open back Sennheisers came second. One of those things where there seems to be so much 'anti-physics' - when just listening is the best test.
 
rob aylestone said:
Tallisman rich mentioned he's never worried about impedance - and I'm the same. Very often I'd plug in some unknown headphones and think they were a bit quiet, and that's when I'd read the label and realise the impedance was too high and I ran out of level. I can't actually think of any headphone issues I have ever had with 'quality' related to impedance, really just level. The headphones I liked best were Koss from the 70s, with oil filled ear seals. The open back Sennheisers came second. One of those things where there seems to be so much 'anti-physics' - when just listening is the best test.
Click to expand...
I totally agree Rob, at least in the case of headphones.
Obviously we want them to have the lowest distortion the makers can manage and as level a frequency response as it practicable but since everyone has a different ear "cavity" that last can never be perfect.

The very best, most expensive monitors can produce a very convincing sound field and that field is the same for everyone. Cans cannot do that and must therefore always be regarded IMHO as a good but second best "check".
I think the best you can do is find something loud enough that you like!

Dave.
 
ecc83 said:
Bottom line. Do consider an external headphone amplifier. The Behringer HA400 is e.g. not at all bad for $30 or so!

Dave.
Click to expand...
Its nothing bad intended but I agree, I went into the rabbit hole and the Grace Design 901 then 902 are "pro" and when I compared to the Behinrger multi headphone amp it was kind of a let down that the cheap unit had so much punch and volume, and sounded very close.

Another headphone amp I mention a lot is in the Line6 UX8, which is designed better , intentionally for better headphones.....but again the Behringer HA were fine and impressive considering the price. (the GD902 has much more I/O and bells and whistles adding to cost...and the L6 UX8 is a 8channel interface etc.)

...but just talking sound, and my 2cent opinion...those outboard Behr HAmps were great, loud and a big improvement to a lot of USB powered Interfaces Ive had here. And you get a bunch of Amps...if one blows out, there's back up.
One of the best $30-$40 dollars used, Ive spent.
 
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