Suggestions for open-air headphones for critical listening?

J

jeffree

New member
Folks, I know we've had too many posts about headphones since I've read most of them. But most have focused on closed cans for use when tracking, and I've been happily using some Senn 280s for this purpose. Now, though, I need some better sounding phones for playback and even for roughing out some early mixes late at night while my family sleeps. (No lectures, please, since I do all serious mixing using monitors. I fully understand how phones change the sound compared to monitors.)

Question...
Is anyone using any cans that seem particularly effective for critical listening? I'm assuming that an open- or semi-open design would produce better sound, but I'm flexible. Cheaper is good, but I'll spend what it takes to get a well balanced sound that includes some deeper bass response.

Thanks for any suggestions,

J.
 
Bump.

No one here with a good phones suggestion for critical listening after tracking? (Not for final mixing.) Am I the only one with a family sleeping while having some late-night fun in the studio?

Best,
J.
 
Thanks, Garry. I'll check out the 990s, and I'll spend whatever it takes to get superior can-sound.

J.
 
jeffree said:
Am I the only one with a family sleeping while having some late-night fun in the studio?
Click to expand...

No, your not. When my son is sleeping I throw on a pair of SONY MDR-V600s. However I do realize these are not the quality you are looking for. Good luck finding some. :)
 
Thanks for the support, Thane. I'm glad I'm not alone. Actually, the lack of feedback here inspired me to spend a couple of hours last night (yeah, very late as usual) searching the web for "pro" reviews rather than user reviews for cans in the $100-200 range. Again, I was looking for critical-listening cans rather than closed tracking cans.

Lots of contrasting opinions, as always, but I found one open-air model that had consistent thumbs up from half a dozen sources: Sennheiser 555s. They retail for about $150 although I found them for about $110 (shipped) after poking around. I think I'll check them out--I can always return them. For anyone nterested, I'll post a quick review after I sample them for a few days.

http://www.dansdata.com/hd555.htm

Best,

J.
 
Sennheiser's HD650 are the best I've heard, very comfy too. Expensive though. Heard great things about some of the open-backed Ultrasone cans as well.

Nathan
 
Yeah, the reviewers mentioned that the 555s were the first in the Senn line with a similar sound to the popular and expensive audiophile 580s, 600s, 650s, etc. Reviewers mentioned that the 555s still fall a bit short of these top models, but not much considering the price difference.
Because of their open design, though, reviewers found the sound more expansive in the extreme lo/hi freqs than the 280s that I already use. I'm looking forward to testing them in the wee hours.

I'll let anyone interested know more when I can.

J.
 
I have been using the 590's for about a year and really like the sound. They, like most, don't dig down as low as a good speaker but he sound is excellent.
 
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