Looking to find some kickass headphones

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bewildered

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but cant afford anything over $100. I want pro quality, something with tons of depth that i can use for years, preferably closed. What are all you music producers using?

i plan on this hooking up to my soundcard, so i dont really have any limits on power.
 
"Good Headphones"

You can either get one of these:

Audio-Technica ATH-M40fs - $69
AKG K271 Studio Headphones - $169

The K271 are good for mixing if you don't have monitors. But out of the two, the K271 are better.
 
i want them intially so i may listen to all the layers of radioheads music, but eventually i want to start creating electronic music and will need something that will allow me to hear details and layers clearly. When i say pro, i mean high quality, not necessarily top of the line, but definitely very nice headphones. I treasure the quality of music.
 
when i say electronic music, i dont mean mixing (if by mixing you mean turntables). i mean that all the music production i want to do will be computer based.

could anyone else give me some reccommendations?
 
bewildered said:
when i say electronic music, i dont mean mixing (if by mixing you mean turntables). i mean that all the music production i want to do will be computer based.
Click to expand...
I'm not talking about turntable mixing -- I'm talking about music production!


bewildered said:
could anyone else give me some reccommendations?
Click to expand...
Here's what I have in the studio -- primarily for use during tracking -- they're all excellent for their intended purposes:
- AKG K240 Studio
- Fostex T20
- Audio-Technica ATH-910 & ATH-M40fs
- Harvey Gerst MoreMe
- Beyer-Dynamic DT770 PRO
- Vic Firth Stereo Isolation SIH1
 
thanks. they all seem to avg around $99, so i guess ill make this easy and just get whatever looks good.

could you tell me by any chance why some impedances are listed at 80ohms and others at 600? i want to hook it into my computer.

also, why are these headphones semi open? is their a point having it this way rather than just full closed?
 
With the exception of the AKGs, the ones I listed are all closed-type... this is necessary for tracking purposes, where you want to avoid bleed from other instruments in the room, and as well, to avoid sound leaking into mics....

The impedance of each headphone can make it difficult for some headphone outputs to drive.... for use with a computer, I'd stick to the lower-impedance values...
 
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if i want to record an instrument im playing while listening to other prerecorded tracks, would closed or semi open be more appropriate? do semi open heat your ears up less than closed?
 
bewildered said:
if i want to record an instrument im playing while listening to other prerecorded tracks, would closed or semi open be more appropriate?
Click to expand...
My choice would be closed.... also, open-type designs are troublesome for something like vocals, where the headphone sound can leak into the mic....

bewildered said:
do semi open heat your ears up less than closed?
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The open-type designs are usually lighter, and therefore more comfortable, but they have the disadvantage of leaking sound into mics, so they're virtually never used for tracking.... it wouldn't matter if you're not using mics, though....
 
I also use the ATH-M40fs headphones, which I picked after doing an extensive listening comparison test with a lot of other headphones. In their price range they are very good.
 
I like the Sony 7506's as they sound very detailed to me but some call them hyped.
 
well, after reading some threads on here about how headphones tend to break or die out within a year, i guess i shouldnt look so far into the future as to assume i will be using this during tracking. i can always get some cheap tracking headphones (moreme's are apparently good for this purpose), if i ever need to record.

thanks for your help. any futher reccommendations are appreciated.
 
Sennheiser HD280 Pro. In your price range, comfortable, good bass response, excellent isolation, very durable.-Richie
 
It depends...

It all depends on what you're gonna use them for.

Tracking:

Any cheap closed phone that doesn't leak is gonna do it, because all that matters is isolation

Monitoring certain areas of the spectrum, using phones as microscopes:

- Sony 7506 is about the best "highlighter" I know. Doesn't sound balanced or good at all, but points out low-bass and digital noise very well. Most engineers I know check their mixes on these. They're the NS-10 of headphones.

- Sony 7509 isn't half bad either, flatter response than the 7506, but less highlighting effect.

- Senn HD280 needs a lot of burn-in time (more than 200 hours) to sound right. Bass is very deep, but it's really hard to judge the impact.

Mixing/Mastering:

If you plan on mixing/mastering with phones, I suggest high quality headphones that are relatively flat and diffuse-field equalized, which means open headphones in the vein of the Sennheiser HD600, AKG K240DF, AKG K501, Sennheiser HD595, Stax electrostatics, BeyerDynamic DT-880, etc. I use the HD600 and get very good results (to my taste at least).You need an headphone amp to get the most of those though.

Don't listen to anyone that tells you you can't mix with headphones. This is only true if you don't listen to music in headphones all the time. I never listen to speakers cause they all sound like shite to me compared to good open headphones. Since I only listen to music on headphones, mixing is easy. Headphones also take the room out of the equation (which means less $$$ spent) and they provide a much better sense of bass than nearfields/mid-fields. And don't even get me started about the hassle of having a room treated for a sub...LOL! Headphone are a low-cost excellent solution. The only speakers I can handle now are some B&W Nautilus in a treated room, everything else sounds muddy and fake.

TheDewd
 
I really like the Sony7506 headphones. Kinda bass heavy, but that's ok. For me, they work great and allow the details to show thru pretty nicely. First thing I did was "wire-tie" the cables to the head band, as once that is broken, looks like you can pitch the set. Admittedly, I have a couple pairs, and they all sound different...sooooo.... I have my favorite pair :)
 
btw, the "more me" headphones are pure garbage. Don't ever let a "client" put on a pair of something better if they use them for tracking, as they won't want to put the "more me" phones back on. But, they don't hardly cost anything either and can crank. Good for drummers... they can't tell good sound anyway!!!
 
headphone amp? wtf is that?

i might just end up going with the audio technia m40fs, it seems like all these headphones are pretty much identical. this one as a much lower range, 5hz, and figuratively speaking, im much more likely to listen to bassy music than something that would freak a tweeter out. plus its a straight $65 w/sh off of ebay.

this is how anally cautious i am with buying stuff (i removed the >$100 phones):
- AKG K240 Studio (semi-open)
price:$99 $89-ebay
Range: 15-25,000
Sen:91
impedance: 55
weight: 240
distortion: <1%

- Fostex T50RP (closed)
Price: $80 (ebay?)
range:15-35,000
Sen:96
impedance:50
weight:330
distort:?


- Audio-Technica ATH-M40fs (closed)
price:$80, $65w/s/h ebay
range:5-28,000
sen:100
imped:60
weight:250
dist:?

-Sennheiser HD280 Pro (closed)
price:$73
range:8-25,000
sen:102
imped:64
weight:285
dist:<.1%
 
a headphone amp is...well.....an amplifier for headphones.

as for the 5hz response, good luck in actually hearing a 5hz tone out of a pair of headphones haha. i'd say out of those, use the HD280 if you want closed. you'd be encouraged to get an amp if you want any kind of volume out of em.
 
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