OT: Headphones for monitoring

[Sr_Velasco]

Hi all,

I would like somebody recommend me a good headphones for monitoring.

Thank you in advance to everyone.

[BarrieB]

Hi all,

I would like somebody recommend me a good headphones for monitoring.



Hi there,

do you mean monitoring or mixing? I'm sure I won't be the only one to say don't even think of mixing on headphones!

The Beyerdymanic DT100s are everywhere, and for a reason, comfortable clear focussed but untiring sound for track laying etc. I use them, they are a little more expensive than some, but they'll last a lifetime!

regards

Barrie

[Alexcremers]

Have you tried a search already? Not too long ago there was a pretty long thread about it. I doubt it will be repeated with the same enthusiasm.

[BarrieB]

THERE YA GO..

New member leading a member - bound to be a disaster!!

BB

[Sr_Velasco]

Ok. Thanks!

I have found that thread.

Sorry to be redundant.

Cheers!

[Tomdini]

THERE YA GO..

New member leading a member - bound to be a disaster!!

BB

I don't know why responding to this seems like such a good idea... 36 hours without sleep has likely affected my sense of priority, but this is a recurring issue in the community and it bugs me.

Man... "new member" doesn't mean squat as far as experience and expertise is concerned. It's just how much you post. Sheer post count.

Hell, I'm too busy to spend too much time posting around here. I have a lot of work to do! So I only post when something REALLY strikes my fancy or I have a question not covered by the search engine (or the info contained therein is too old to be entirely useful).

But every project I work on has something new for me to learn... my knowledge grows as I become more competent or at least more aware of my weaknesses, and this in turn gets me more jobs which allows me to learn even more, and thus does the cycle perpetuate... and six months or a year from now, I'll hardly be the same engineer that I am today. I work because I learn, and I learn because I work.

But because of this very phenomena, I don't get to post here very much. So I'm still a "new member" but it's not like I'm new to music and audio production. I'm, uh, like a journeyman or something. But not "green" - not brand-new, not totally ignorant.

Post count does not accurately reflect the legitimacy or accuracy of what someone has to say. It's moronic to discount an individual's advice based on their level of community participation. It is not here that knowledge is gleaned (well, there is much to gain from reading the writings of the myriad veterans who hang around this place) - it's out in the field, making music, doing the thing we all believe we're meant to do. You'll learn quicker and faster by working and taking on projects, whether you're a hobbyist, a pro, or somewhere in between.

For me, spending too much time here takes away from working, and I have to be very selective in when and what I read here and elsewhere (other forums, magazines, etc).

Post-count isn't some kind of universal ranking system for gauging someone's overall usefulness or contributional potential as a musician. Yeesh.

Anyway... I'm just exhausted. Ignore me. I have nothing to offer on the actual topic at hand except to sift through the other thread on the matter; it's rather extensive and helped me make some decisions.

-Tom

[pettinhouse]

hi,
check this site, it can help you to decide.

http://www.sennheiserusa.com/newsite/productdetail.asp?transid=004195

or

http://www.goodcans.com/HeadphoneReviews/stax2020.htm

I think that this two headphones are the greatest in the world.

Andrea Pettinao sound designer
www. sample libraries for your music

[Lunatique]

I would highly recommend that you listen to the cans in person. Buying from other people's reviews or magazine recommendations are a bad idea, as no two people have the same set of ears. I was going to get the Seinnheiser HD600, but when I listened to the HD555 and compared it to the HD600 side-by-side in an one-hour listening test of various materials, I decided the differences were so little that it would be a total waste of money for me to spring for the much more expensive HD600. Often with audio equipment, the diminishing return is just ridiculous. Most people spend an extra thousand dollars for a tiny improvement in sound--so tiny that you'd need another $10,000 worth of equipment to hear the difference (I'm talking about the audiophile guys, not musicians). :D

[jsp2]

I went through an exhaustive search on this topic as well as with Active monitors.

Trying out various headphones at the music store might be the only solution.. But be warned... each pair will sound dramatically different., and still, it will depend on the CD being played as well.

I had bought a pair of Sony MDR's and recorded a few pieces with them, but when it came time to listen through my speakers, it was so bottom heavy.. i had to re-record all over again.


On the Cubase forum i received numerous praises for the AKG 240's (studio), which i now own, and am very pleased with.. It's about as close as i'll get to an average home speaker, including my Actives.


Try some out!

Best of luck with your search...


~jeff

[Lunatique]

If you're going to bring your own material to listen to, it's a good idea to find out beforehand when the store's the slowest. When the store's empty, you get a lot less noise, and the staff doesn't have to constantly interrupt your listening session by leading customers in and out of listening rooms and blasting the speakers for demoing.

[Tom Crowning]

Hi all,

I would like somebody recommend me a good headphones for monitoring.

Thank you in advance to everyone.

I wouldn't mix with headphones, but if you need it for monitoring/tracking
and it doesn't need to be (accustically) closed I can recomment
the Beyerdynamic DT280.
Tom

[JonFairhurst]

For under $100 you can get the Sennheiser HD280-Pros. Very flat, and good rejection of ambient sounds. I like using them for a second opinion on my mixes, though I don't mix with them, per-se.

-JF

[Sr_Velasco]

Thank you all for your opinions. I really do appreciate your support.

I finally purchased a Sennheiser HD 280 Pro. The idea is using them for monitoring and when I have to mix very late at night without having problems with the neighbourhood. :D

Cheers!

[JonFairhurst]

I hope you enjoy your new cans!

I have a pair at home and later got another at work. When I started wearing the ones at work I found them to be too tight and uncomfortable, compared to my home units. After a couple of hours of use they loosened up and feel just like they should.

They get better with age! (Though I didn't notice any difference in sound quality between the two. So much for the audio break-in period...)

-JF

[JonFairhurst]

BTW, here's a tip:

Get one of those small black paper clasps and put the cable in it, just where it starts to spiral. Then clip it to your shirt. Now when you move around, you won't hear the cable scrape across things.

http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:WgNnLKuEvm0rxM:www.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/226350/2/istockphoto_226350_preaching_paper.jpg

-JF

[buzzripper]

Anyone know of any top-quality cordless headphones? I'm talking in the ~$200 range or so. I'd love to be able to lose the annoying cord when recording guitar or vocals, etc.


buzz

[JBacal]

Why exactly is it a bad idea to mix with headphones-- especially mp3's that will largely be listened to by people sitting at their computers wearing headphones?

Thanks,
Jay

[JonFairhurst]

The main problem mixing with headphones is that the sound from the two speakers never blends, so it's hard to get an accurate soundstage.

The extreme example is if the L & R channels are out of phase. With speakers you will hear any center sounds cancel one another. With headphones you'll think everything is peachy.

-JF

[Steve_Karl]

I'm using AKG K240 DF ( difuse field )
I also have a set of Mackie HR824s.

I usually work in the phones until the final few hours of the mix and rarely find that anything is too far off on the mackies after working in these phones.

[JonFairhurst]

Yeah, I think the rule of thumb is that one should never mix ONLY on headphones, since you can miss problems with the soundstage as well as simple phase issues. Unfortunately, some have taken this to mean that you should NEVER mix with headphones, but I think that's a misinterpretation of the rule.

One thing to be careful of is mixing (or just listening) too loudly with headphones, for obvious reasons.

Personally, I find that I catch some subtleties with cans that I don't hear from my monitors in my room with reflections and ambient noise. They're good for hearing problems that you want to eliminate. On the other hand, when you go back to monitors the subtle thing that was cool might end up lost in the noise.

So the other rule of thumb might be to use headphones when mixing bad things down, and monitors when mixing good things up.

-JF

[AbhorrencE]

Grado.
http://www.gradolabs.com/

[Laurent]

I use 3 headphones :

- HD280Pro for tracking / recording when outside sound attenuation is a issue. Good value, but a bit coloured and thick highs

- AKG 240 DF : for mixing. Very flat / uncoloured. Great value for money (especially is you bought it direct in germany). Could be hard to drive due to it's high impedance.

- HD600 for my pleasure. Rafined HiFi sound. Great highs with lot of air. Not really "flat" though, with a flatering low medium.

[newmewzikboy]

Dudes and Dudettes:

I originally asked this same question about 1 month ago.

Please see this thread:

http://www.northernsounds.com/forum/showthread.php?t=42564&highlight=headphones

Thanks again for your advice.

NMB

[JonFairhurst]

Grado.
http://www.gradolabs.com/I've borrowed my friend's Grados on occasion. They sound great, but are open, so they have no isolation, and they're far from flat, so they don't work for mixing. But for personal listening? They're very nice.

-JF

[JonFairhurst]

I use 3 headphones :

- HD280Pro for tracking / recording when outside sound attenuation is a issue. Good value, but a bit coloured and thick highs

- AKG 240 DF : for mixing. Very flat / uncoloured. Great value for money (especially is you bought it direct in germany). Could be hard to drive due to it's high impedance.

- HD600 for my pleasure. Rafined HiFi sound. Great highs with lot of air. Not really "flat" though, with a flatering low medium.Interesting. I found the AKGs to sound dead, rather than flat. The HD-280 Pros sound flat to me and the Sony MDR-7506s have hyped highs and a bit of a scoop when on my head.

But that's why we need to try them out in person, if possible. I don't know if it's the shape of our ears, sensitivity at different frequencies or just a salt/pepper thing, but perception of headphones definitely varies from person to person.

In any case it's cool that you own three different models and that you've found a valuable application for each one.

-JF

[hywyn]

Hi there,

do you mean monitoring or mixing? I'm sure I won't be the only one to say don't even think of mixing on headphones!

The Beyerdymanic DT100s are everywhere, and for a reason, comfortable clear focussed but untiring sound for track laying etc. I use them, they are a little more expensive than some, but they'll last a lifetime!

regards

Barrie
The DT100's are not good headphones. The reason they are called "industry standard" is because of their build they can be kicked ad nauseum and still work.

Sony MDR7509 closed back headphones for location recording and Sennheiser HD600 open backed headphones for everything else.