Which Studio Headphones Should I Get For Mixing & Mastering & Why?

[lfm]

Sennheiser HD 650s are still overwhelmingly the industry standard.

I have a pair and I've never had a problem with them being powered directly by my laptop (MacBook Pro) or any audio interface.

Where do you get that from? I think people usually preferred the hd 600.
I have the HD 650 but couldn't ever get them to translate very well.

Did you try a proper headphone preamp?
- not much is spent on standard phones out on equipment
- maybe Mac's standard interface are better targeting multimedia from start

Many seem to go by volume alone, but frequency curve will be seriously off unless enough voltage to drive outputs.
- would suggest something that do 18V at least internally for such high impedance phones
- remember impedance spec is at 1000 Hz and through spectrum it could be 10 times that

But seems you got a solution with other phones, but for anybody else to consider.

I find HD650 translate really well when properly driven.
- when moving to monitors I pretty much have to alter some panning and reverb sends
- this is in general going from phones to monitors, since channel bleed is not there on phones
- but doing hifi speaker which normally bass boost still good
- even in-ear devices often allow bass boost which many like for listening

[_leras]

Sennheiser HD 650s are still overwhelmingly the industry standard.

I have a pair and I've never had a problem with them being powered directly by my laptop (MacBook Pro) or any audio interface.

Where do you get that from? I think people usually preferred the hd 600.
I have the HD 650 but couldn't ever get them to translate very well.

Did you try a proper headphone preamp?
- not much is spent on standard phones out on equipment
- maybe Mac's standard interface are better targeting multimedia from start

Many seem to go by volume alone, but frequency curve will be seriously off unless enough voltage to drive outputs.
- would suggest something that do 18V at least internally for such high impedance phones
- remember impedance spec is at 1000 Hz and through spectrum it could be 10 times that

But seems you got a solution with other phones, but for anybody else to consider.

I find HD650 translate really well when properly driven.
- when moving to monitors I pretty much have to alter some panning and reverb sends
- this is in general going from phones to monitors, since channel bleed is not there on phones
- but doing hifi speaker which normally bass boost still good
- even in-ear devices often allow bass boost which many like for listening

Yeah I did try a headphone amp. Don't get me wrong, I think they are nice sounding headphones and nice for listening, I just couldn't get them to translate well.

I dial in an oratory headphone correction curve, fairly recently as the dt1990 do need this, and this did help the 650s too, but I got too used to the dt1990 to want to move back. The dt1990 also translate great to my monitors (though I'm also in a much better room than I was when trying to use the 650).

My process now if having to use headphones is senheiser amperior (basically hd-25s), these are very vibey and what I listen to a lot of music on and know very well, then I switch to the dt1990 to finalise and hone in on details.

[ugo]

However, I'm still considering between the Audio Technica ATH-M50X, Sony MDR7506, or keeping only the Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro 80ohm. Which ones do you guys use or recommend I keep, what is your setup, and which is best for trap music production?

I haven’t tried the others, but I am all too familiar with the ATH-M50x. They color the sound quite a bit, which is not optimal for mastering. If your other options have flatter responses then they’ll be better suited for the job.

That said, accuracy isn’t the only factor to consider. The faster headphones cause you hearing fatigue…or even physical pain from not fitting you well…the less time you’ll be able to work effectively. So if (for example) you plan to do long sessions every day without frequent breaks, then don’t underestimate the value of comfort. I learned the hard way that it isn’t worth trying to push past headphone pain. It just gets worse over time. Better to use something that will remain comfortable for the length of your longest sessions.

… and as a beginner/rookie in mixing and mastering, what exactly do I need to do in steps as far as using existing trap music tracks as a reference? Sure I could drag and drop the .mp3 into my tracks, but eq-wise, what exactly am I look at or which plugins would I use to analyze the tracks? Once I have good headphone setup (assuming my volume levels are nicely balanced) how exactly do I match the frequencies in the mixer and eq? How would you start? Thanks again!

Try asking in Production Techniques. You’ll likely receive more responses on this topic there.

[BlackOctopusSteve]

I use Audeze LCD-X's and use my Apollo interface as a headphone amp.

Works great.

[vitocorleone123]

Topping L50 for an amp is all most headphones need.

Headphone fit and comfort matters more than sound specs and measures. For example, Sennheisers are awfully uncomfortable for me, so there’s no point in buying any of those with glowing reviews. Everyone’s head is different.

I moved to Neumann NDH30s from Beyerdynamics. A little less comfortable, a lot more natural sounding.

[n9research]

I wouldn't ever recommend specific headphones to other people for critical applications.

Tiny differences in fit - seal, clamping force, driver suspension distance, etc - can cause gigantic variations in response.

Some phones work better on some heads than others - it's as simple as that. Audition as many as you can.

I use an absolutely ancient (30+ years old) pair of Sennheiser HD580, third-party pads and headband (all leather), a Topping DAC/amp and an EQ profile tuned by ear.

They are pretty much perfect for me. I've auditioned numerous phones up to 2K in cost (e.g. Senn HD820) - cash in hand, ready to buy - but none of them have worked remotely as well - for me.

The point of mentioning the above? Other people put my phones on and can't stand them!

[cryophonik]

Some phones work better on some heads than others - it's as simple as that. Audition as many as you can.

That's a very important and often overlooked point

[AstralExistence]

HD490 tried all the ones you are asking about tried Gradoes, Focals, etc. All rubbish. HD490 Pros or go home.

I agree. I feel like so many headphones are just influencer and shop advertised. I use them all day and no absolutely no pain or ear discomfort. Most comfortable, Most easy on ears. They sound so good that when I first bought them I had to turn my Adams T7V on and off because they sounded completely identical and could not tell where the sound was coming from. I had to actually get close ear to speaker to see when it was which louder the T7V OR 490S. Thats insane. Never had any other Studio headphones be able to sound that identical to an actual studio monitor. I have owned. Audio Technica M50 x M40, AKG 240, Yamaha HTH MT5, Tascam TH 200X headphones Awful and very uncomfortable, Sony MDR 7506, and demoed and returned all the all other big brands. In the 300 price range. Nope 490s best I ever used.

[legendCNCD]

New VSX Planars.

[cryophonik]

New VSX Planars.

Do you have yours already? Mine on on preorder, but the last thing I heard from Steven over on GS was that shipping was delayed while they made some last-minute design changes.

[legendCNCD]

New VSX Planars.

Do you have yours already? Mine on on preorder, but the last thing I heard from Steven over on GS was that shipping was delayed while they made some last-minute design changes.

No

[Uncle E]

Regular VSX's over here. They work so great, I see no reason to try the new ones.

[legendCNCD]

Regular VSX's over here. They work so great, I see no reason to try the new ones.

They do, they really do. I even composed a track on them in the Archon room on the 2nd speakers. Translated really nice even in the premix

[cryophonik]

Regular VSX's over here. They work so great, I see no reason to try the new ones.

I agree that the OG is great, but they’re very boxy sounding and not very comfortable for long mixing sessions IMO. Im expecting the new planars to feel and sound more like my trusty K701s.