Studio headphones

[shonky]

Recently bought a pair of Focal Spirit Professional phones - out of all those I tried, those were the only ones that gave me that Eureka! moment.

What I would advise is to find a store where you can actually try out a fair range of different headphones and talk to the staff about the sort of music you're making and see if you can have them demonstrated with music similar to that/those styles - while the overall response should be flat and detailed, in practice different headphones will have slightly different frequency and dynamic response curves that may work well on certain styles but not others and your preferences to what sounds "right" to you will obviously differ from those of other people.

[Shalotta]

Let me add a budget version with pro results:

an open Superlux clone at the bay for some bucks (got the Presonus HD7 for $15)
and the key thing: Sonarworks Reference (on sale was somewhere at $39) on the master.

One can monitor and listen 24/7 without ear fatigue
and the frequencies are well balanced to obtain the bigger picture of a production.

I`d say 60%-70% can be done up to the stage of final mix decisions on room montors.

Reference can also simulate various headphones and room monitors
to back check the overall direction of a mix.

The downside I see atm is of having a plugin permanently running
and may cause cpu problems on older systems or mobile devices.
(Just a guess).

[Hooj]

If you want a headphone for monitoring/comparing purposes instead of one specifically for recording, you may decide to not go for an open-back model. In that case, there are various AKG models I would recommend: K240 Mk II, K 701, and K 702

I have K240's and 701's as well as ATH-M50s and the DT990s. The DT's are way superior to them all imo.

Really? I've never auditioned the 990's but I did purchase a pair of DT 770's a while back and I ended up returning them because they sounded so inferior to my other HP's. How do the 990's sound compared to the 770's??? Does anybody know?

[BertKoor]

How do the 990's sound compared to the 770's??? Does anybody know?

Headphone.com can draw a measurement graph for comparison.
But that won't tell the full story of how they sound. The DT990 freq response lacks some of the obvious dents present in the DT770's freq response.

[llDNLll]

I use Sennheiser 650 and I love them. They are comfy, they sound very nice, I can work with them for hours. I had DT770's for a while, but they was kinda heavy and for quite short time my head and ears was hurting

[pljones]

How do the 990's sound compared to the 770's??? Does anybody know?

Headphone.com can draw a measurement graph for comparison.
But that won't tell the full story of how they sound. The DT990 freq response lacks some of the obvious dents present in the DT770's freq response.

Interesting site - though I've no idea how to interpret many of the graphs. Isolation, for example - does that mean the DT990's have little isolation below 600Hz and a varying amount less than the DT770s above that?

[fluffy_little_something]

How much money are you going to spend on your new phones?
What size and shape are your head and ears?
Just asking because some cups are rather small so they don't fully surround bigger ears. I remember my AT M50s, they sounded good, but the cups gave my ears claustrophobia.
Other phones exert a lot of pressure on your head, especially a problem if you wear glasses.

I still use my old Sennheiser 280s, not the most neutral ones (they deliberately stress certain frequencies in an analytic way), but they are light and not too expensive. I read somewhere that they are the most widely used studio headphones. Not sure if it is true, but I have seen several musicians wearing them in videos...
When they break I will buy the same model again, judging from the photos on their site they have slightly updated them meanwhile, which is cool as they have been on the market for ages.

They are rather low-impedance, so they can be used on any device including mobile gadgets

They are all plastic, but it seems to be quality plastic, robust stuff. The ear and head pads are still flawless after 5 or 6 years while the M50s' started to disintegrate after just a year or so.

[zenophilix]

I use the Sony MDR-V6s, and I love them. I used a pair of ATH-M40xs previously, but they broke after a 2ft drop onto a rug. The V6s sound great, and are built like tanks.

[VELLISLAV]

Do not follow false advertisement - find your best headphones if you can listening them in a shop ...i don't have chance for that cause in my country nothing is available and bought Beyerdynamic DT-990 Pro from Thomann and after 2 days return them...139eu studio headphones on paper SUPPOSED TO BE great but in real world total shhhhhh ...a ancient SONY MDR has better sound picture ...i am in the same boat like you by the way for new home studio headphones but have hesitation even if i spend 250 eu probably will be the same result so think to try cheap alternative...have anybody try this 'Samson SR850' only 28 eu 50mm driver semi open - some say they can compare expensive ones ...from my experience prefer good cheap instead of bad expensive :):)

[garryknight]

"Better sound picture"? "Prefer good cheap"? That sounds exactly like my AKG 550s.

http://www.trustedreviews.com/akg-k550-review

[VELLISLAV]

i've got akg some k model years ago but sound pressure on my ears was too much - open or semi open seems best choice now ...how is AKG 550 after 2 hours of listening?

[Max el Belga]

Open headphones ! You don´t feel you´re wearing them ! I´ve always been using Sennheiser HD 435 & HD 433... .. .

[ATN69]

I have some cheap AKG K99 right now and I bought them in desperation because I needed something quickly. Soon I will replace them with K701. The K701 is a bit expensive but worth it as they are super comfortable and with a nice and true sound. I hate leather ear cushions here in the sub tropical heat (>30C and with 95% humidity).

[tehlord]

bought Beyerdynamic DT-990 Pro from Thomann and after 2 days return them...139eu studio headphones on paper SUPPOSED TO BE great but in real world total shhhhhh

By what absurb measurement do you define DT990s as shit?

[VELLISLAV]

i didn't say shit,u say it :)Super comfort and nice bass but when it comes to monitoring or references it's just not studio pro..why u will possibly describe headphones good for listening a favorite tv show as 'superb' for studio needs ...i am sound designer and last thing will be to rely on them to give me right sound picture when work ...even worst situation when mixing - My explanation is this:Treble is wrong ...it hurts u ears and in this so called 'diffuse field' ...there is something even more wrong with it ...it suppose to imitate studio monitors,but it doesn't - no right middle section ,nice bass but that's all ....i did a evaluation on Thomann u can read it but why to discuss my opinion ...nothing against the brand or the model,probably will be perfect for some needs,but they are not studio monitoring headphones,it was my mistake to buy these for studio work ...maybe if u are just fan it's ok nice bass ,weird treble,soft middle but for me they are not good for studio work and i guess that is what the author is looking for.It's like good idea for song and a great record - probably they have this idea but the result is shhhh.Cheerz :):)