Headphones

g.wizz

Nabs
Joined
Apr 26, 2012
Messages
2,904
Location
Lebanon
Hello brothers
i need your advice for buying a pair of headphones for home use with my amp
that can give a decent representation without costing me an arm and a leg
i currently have a Blackstar HT5r head that has a headphone out and I also have a small 4 channel mixer
I'm planning to replace the Blackstar with the MB V mini soon so Hit me with your suggestions
I'm all ears
thanks in advance
 
What's an arm and a leg cost these days? I can make a lot of suggestions of cans to listen to, at different price points.
 
For price/performance, and my personal preference, it's the Sennheiser HD280 Pro, $99 on all the online music sites. But you don't state your price point.

Happy Hunting~!






 
Well Les to answer your question the cost is dependant on the country you are living in
And unfortunately in the Middle East right now human life is very cheap but i digress
As Wefixflats suggested a $100-150 would a good price point so more choices the merrier
Thanks again
 
Grados. Getting killer reviews. The SR60e and SR80e have gotten raves. $79 and $99, respectively.

http://www.gradolabs.com/index.php

Grados are great and have used them for many years, but they are open back phones, and that may or may not be what you want, as there is bleed from them while tracking.

Also, their low impedance doesn't work with some headphone output jacks. So you should check their impedance against the specs for your equipment just to make sure.

In that price range there are some nice AKG phones (at least in the US) like the AKG 240 MkII, and the AKG M80. If you can swing it, The Beyer Dynamic DT-770 series is a very good closed back studio phone. Audio Technica makes some very nice cans in that range, and so does Sennheiser. Shure SRH headphones sound very good and have gotten very good reviews.
 
Beyer Dynamic DT-770 Pro user here and find them not only exceptional in the audio sense but also very comfortable for long sessions. Never suffered ear fatigue from them which is always an important consideration when buying a set of cans. The DT-990's are the open back version of the same headphones I believe with the 770's being closed back.
 
Beyer Dynamic DT-770 Pro user here and find them not only exceptional in the audio sense but also very comfortable for long sessions. Never suffered ear fatigue from them which is always an important consideration when buying a set of cans. The DT-990's are the open back version of the same headphones I believe with the 770's being closed back.

The open back makes the 880s (the 990s aren't as good) a little more accurate in the low end; the 770s (which I have and do also recommend) are a little ripe in the bass. This can be great for tracking - it really helps one find the kick and the bass when playing a loud amp in a room, for example - but it's something you have to adjust for in mixing. So that makes it problematic.
 
I bought these last year in August after reading another headphone thread here.

Sony MDR7506 Professional Large Diaphragm Headphone

I have used them with my Mesa Mark Five 25 in the headphone jack on the back, and also with my iPad Air for the Jam Up Pro thingymabob.
I am very happy with them, and have also used them with my 24 track Zoom R24 recorder.

Read the reviews on them at Amazon for more info.
I also looked at the 280s, but choose these after reading the reviews on them.

413X7WBR7YL.jpg


This is just one of the many reviews on them, and one that sold me on them.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
956 of 992 people found the following review helpful
Tried them all--these are the best.
By Dick Oliver on November 16, 2005
Package Type: Standard Packaging
I run a digital arts studio and teach digital arts, and have tried more than a dozen different headphones in the $15 to $250 price range. Again and again, I go back to using the MDR-7506 for all applications from digital video shooting and editing to music recording and studio mastering. Most of the pros I know also use the MDR-7506 when they have a choice--and buy them for use at home too.

What makes these the best? First and foremost, excellent reproduction from bass into the high end, with unrivalled "punch" and clarity. They are much louder at a given input volume than most headphones, which is important if your are recording in the field and need to hear the headphone monitoring above the ambient sound and the live sound around you. They are comfortable, instantly adjust to different head sizes without any fussing, sturdy and easily repairable, and stowe quickly and easily in the included soft drawstring bag.

I do keep a couple of pairs of high-end ($300+) headphones to check as references when mastering music, but honestly I seldom find anything with them that isn't already clear with the 7506es.

The only problem I can report is that, even though they invariably outlast other headphones in terms of wear-and-tear, they do get STOLEN more often by my students. Once you get used to the 7506, its hard to go back to using any other headphones that cost less that twice their price.

I still dream of someday discovering a comparable headphone set for half or a quarter the price of the MDR7506. Every year, I buy a few $25 or $50 models just out of hope. So far, however, nothing out there qualifies as "acceptable" to me--including the many competing $99 headphone models from other companies and even from Sony.

Bottom line: Don't hesitate. You absolutely cannot go wrong with the MDR7506. This is the headphone of choice, the industry standard. The only reason they're so cheap is MARKET VOLUME--Sony sells a lot of these to audio and video pros!!
 
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The open back makes the 880s (the 990s aren't as good) a little more accurate in the low end; the 770s (which I have and do also recommend) are a little ripe in the bass. This can be great for tracking - it really helps one find the kick and the bass when playing a loud amp in a room, for example - but it's something you have to adjust for in mixing. So that makes it problematic.

Couldn't agree more, I use my 770's purely for tracking and late night practice. I use my studio monitors for mixing.
 
Couldn't agree more, I use my 770's purely for tracking and late night practice. I use my studio monitors for mixing.

These days when so many people listen on headphones, it's important to reference mixes with headphones as well as monitors.
 
The more options you have to listen to a mix through the better. I've even seen myself tweaking mixes in my car. Sounds a bit odd, but thats where I listen to music more than anywhere, so my ears are well used to listening to music in that environment. Also worth seeing how your mixes sound in mono.
 
These days when so many people listen on headphones, it's important to reference mixes with headphones as well as monitors.

The more options you have to listen to a mix through the better. I've even seen myself tweaking mixes in my car. Sounds a bit odd, but thats where I listen to music more than anywhere, so my ears are well used to listening to music in that environment. Also worth seeing how your mixes sound in mono.

...And on your phone and through laptop speakers too!
 
I've got Grado 325's and AKG K272HD's.

Both are awesome, but yes, please note the impedance issue and open back of the Grado's. I'd give it the nod over the AKG's in terms of pure sound but the AKG's get the nod for comfort, and also sound great.

The 272 is notably less expensive than the 325 though.
 
These days when so many people listen on headphones, it's important to reference mixes with headphones as well as monitors.

Or worse, the crappy little earbuds.. Although they have their uses.

Always liked Sennheiser. Had a nice pair. Few years back but I managed to break them. I need to get a set of new phones as I have a kid on the way any day and I'll be using them a lot for playing and recording, so I'm interested in what the rest of you are suggesting.
 
Let's face it, whether we're talking about speakers or headphones, or microphones, or phono cartridges, or other electro-mechanical transducers, we're talking about relatively compromised, primitive devices. Cones, horns, electrostatic transducers...all of them...are pretty slapdash kind of things compared to real-life sound.

A guy just drove past my open window with a Harley. I could make a great recording of that sound, and run it through my very fine studio system, and while it will do a lot of what that Harley sound does, it won't do all of it. And you won't think there's a Harley in the room.

Loudspeakers are 1920s technology. Sure, today's speakers sound a lot better than the radio sets of the 20s that they were an innovation for, but the technology is still a bunch of tweaks on the original.

Microphone design was pretty mature by the 1930s-50s. Headphones are just more tweaks built upon other tweaks. Until the fundamental designs of sound reproduction undergo a revolution, the little details we talk about with this stuff are tiny in comparison to the bigger issue of how to actually make sound reproduction truly faithful to the original sound.

There isn't a headphone that's a world-beater, and frankly, there are very few true dogs out there in the pro audio marketplace. It's always a matter of picking your poison, what you can live with, and what you prefer in the way of comfort and tonal balance.
 
I like the Sony MDR-V6/-7506 because its errors are of the non-egregious variety. I think that's what people should look for -- minimal errors. If it's missing high end or low end, there's no replacing that. If it has high end and low end and a big suckout in the middle, it's hard to compensate for with predictable results. If there's a big bass hump that makes it hard to hear the treble, then that's bad. The Sony has a mild mid suckout and plenty of highs and lows, so all you have to do is become familiar with it.
 
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Glad you like the Sonys, very pleased with mine.
Have even used them plugged into the Mark of my Mark Five 25.
 
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