which headphones?

[Tunch]

Hi everyone,

I'm writing from Istanbul and i've got a tiny inquiry which i believe you may help with..

I've just started home-recording and got a M-Audio Fast Track II. I wanna purchase a condenser microphone and of course i'll need a headphone now. It should be an isolated one i guess. So which type of headphones i should look for? A referance one? A monitor one? A sennheiser HD202 or a Behringer HPM1000 or anything you may recommend in these price range?
I'd appreciate if you can give me an idea..Thanks

 

[John Willett]

Personally I would never buy anything Behringer, whatever it is and whatever the price.

That leaves the HD 202 (though, personally I would go up the range if you can afford it - the 215 is a good little tracking headphone).

 

[grimtraveller]

Personally I would never buy anything Behringer, whatever it is and whatever the price.

"Never never never say never
Ne dis jamais, jamais......"

Some Behringer stuff is OK. I use a pair of their phones {HPS 5000 } for tracking and they're cool. That said, I'm of the Jeff D school on this one, in that I reckon any phones can be used for tracking......

 

[Atom Bomb]

From my own experience. . . .

Headphones are more for a refrence. I wouldn't use them soley for mixing and monitoring.

But if headphones are your ONLY option. I personally wouldn't go with closed backs. . Semi closed would be good. I found when i had my closed back and got my project soundeing as sweet as i could, when i referenced else where it was REALLY lacking some of the lows low mid.

I am guessing the closed backs kinda trapped in some freq's that kinda messed with my perception of the mix.

Also with headphones you get an altered state of left and right panning. Which really sucks.

Most people will tell you that mixing down with headphones as your main monitoring system is a big no no. And they are right. As a newb you should really try to stay away from the headhpones for mixing.

I would spend time monitoring on something open. Even if it is just a 90 dollar set of PC speakers. I do understand not everyone can go out and drop 200 - 600 bucks on 'good' monitors. But at least with speakers placed correctly is a step above montioring with a set of 'decent' headphones.

Once your ear is trianed you could be one of a small group of people that can mix with headphones. But until then ....

Not sure if this helped. But good luck.

 

[John Willett]

"Never never never say never
Ne dis jamais, jamais......"

Some Behringer stuff is OK. I use a pair of their phones {HPS 5000 } for tracking and they're cool. That said, I'm of the Jeff D school on this one, in that I reckon any phones can be used for tracking......

If I found something Behringer that was good, I would find the original and get that.

 

[Tunch]

Thanks for your replies. Actually i'm planning to use headphones just for making vocals on guitars i will record. (in Nuendo) So that's why i thought i should be after those closed ones but since there are different categories such as referance or monitors, it's been hard to focus on a model. Referance headphones with reasonable prices or some Sennheiser models..I don't think i'll do mixing with headphones but especially at night i can use headphones while playing guitar in order not to get bad reactions from neighbours
By the way do you think i should go for condenser mics such as SamsonC01 or i should choose a dynamic one? Think about a small room, an ordinary electric guitar and somebody who's planning to make some amateur records

Thanks in advance..

 

[John Willett]

Thanks for your replies. Actually i'm planning to use headphones just for making vocals on guitars i will record. (in Nuendo)

OK - Nuendo is not a cheap program, so you obviously want quality if you spend this amount of money on a software program.

So this cuts out the cheap stuff (if you wanted cheap you would not have bought Nuendo).

If it's just tracking the Sennheiser HD215 are good - the HD 25 are much better and are also good for monitoring and recording on location.

Regarding the mic., the Samson is a bit down-market for someone with Nuendo. You really should be looking at something better.

Audio Technica are good quality at an affordable price. Sontronics and SE are also affordable and good quality.

The new Neumann TLM 102 is a nice little mic. It's the cheapest Neumann LDC but still a very nice mic. for the sort of things you want to do.

I hope this helps.