Headphones advice

ellangus

My sons girlfriend has asked me for advice on headphones for a Christmas present for my son. She has a max budget of £200. 

They are for recording and mixing. 

Is there an Industry standard?

All advice is welcome. 

Thanks in advance

Musicwolf

For mixing, as opposed to tracking, you really want something open backed.  I have used a pair of AKG K702s for a couple of years now.

https://www.scan.co.uk/products/akg-k702-reference-studio-headphones-open-back-over-ear 

They leak like a sieve so not really much use when it comes to tracking vocals or acoustic guitar due to the spill so I also have a pair of closed back Beyerdynamic DT250s for that task (which must be 15 to 20 years old by now).

Blackdream

Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro / 80 ohm.  Sound great, comfortable to wear, built like a tank.

lysander

I would not recommend any beyerdynamics for serious mixing as they all have a highly pronounced high mids boost. This can also be an issue for guitar - not enough to sound bad but enough that you will have to dial in your tones differently.

Senheiser HD650 are the reference and can be had for that amount used, but also the AKG K240 mkii come very close and are cheap.
( I’ve got both and have also had several beyerdynamics until they broke ).

Whatever you do, do not get Sony 7506, they make everything sound shrill and are dreadful for guitar. 

Stuckfast

My favourite closed-back phones are the Oppo PM-3 but I think they are now discontinued. For open-backed I like the Shure SRH1840. The Sennheiser HD650 are popular for a reason. I'm less of a fan of the AKGs because they always sound a bit 'smile curve' to me but you can certainly do good work with them.

I agree the Sony 7506 are horrible on their own but they work well with the Sonarworks Reference correction software. Other Sony models like the 7520 are actually pretty nice.

blobb

audio technica ath-m50x

uncledick

I always think the AKGs are better for rockier stuff whereas the Sennheisers are relatively 'mellow'.  702s are usually especially cheap on Black Friday for some reason.

duotone

Stuckfast said:

My favourite closed-back phones are the Oppo PM-3 but I think they are now discontinued. For open-backed I like the Shure SRH1840. The Sennheiser HD650 are popular for a reason. I'm less of a fan of the AKGs because they always sound a bit 'smile curve' to me but you can certainly do good work with them.

I agree the Sony 7506 are horrible on their own but they work well with the Sonarworks Reference correction software. Other Sony models like the 7520 are actually pretty nice.

Always wanted to try a pair of those.  Not ridiculous money either.

Lodious

I have Bayer DT880's and Sennheiser HD650's. I much prefer the 650's, as the 880's are quite 'hifi' sounding. Sonarworks can help a lot, although not when tracking as it introduces latency. 

ellangus

Excellent, thanks all.
I think he needs something of an all-rounder so perhaps closed backs would be best? (to avoid spill).

I always see artists using Beyer Dynamic DT100s in the studio so assume that they were an industry standard some time ago - would this still be the case?

I've seen Beyer DT250s and DT770s - are these an improvement on DT100s? 

Something of  a minefield, particularly as my son's girlfriend wants them to be a surprise!

Thanks again all for your help.

Musicwolf

The DT100 were popular in the day as they were hard wearing and easy to repair plus there wasn’t as much choice.  They are, of course, closed backed which is essential when tracking with a mic.  The DT250s were a later model as far as I know and an improvement in both comfort and sound quality.  Mine are still going strong two decades on.

I would never use them to mix on.

For mixing there are a number of open backed choices from AKG, Sennheiser, Sony, Breyer etc.  Generally the more you pay the better they are but you also need to get used to them.  There are plug ins such as Sonarworks to ‘improve’ the response.  Some people swear by it, personally I can take it or leave it.

ellangus

Musicwolf said:

The DT100 were popular in the day as they were hard wearing and easy to repair plus there wasn’t as much choice.  They are, of course, closed backed which is essential when tracking with a mic.  The DT250s were a later model as far as I know and an improvement in both comfort and sound quality.  Mine are still going strong two decades on.

I would never use them to mix on.

For mixing there are a number of open backed choices from AKG, Sennheiser, Sony, Breyer etc.  Generally the more you pay the better they are but you also need to get used to them.  There are plug ins such as Sonarworks to ‘improve’ the response.  Some people swear by it, personally I can take it or leave it.

Thanks for that - I'm guessing that we'd be better off going with good open back phones then as He could use something cheaper for tracking?

Musicwolf

Yeah.  Quality not so important for tracking.

steven70

I'll also recommend Audio Technica ath-m50x - not industry standard or a purist choice, although I have seen them used in a studio. They will do a decent job and are also superb for listening to 'normal' music with, something you might not want to do with the Beyer.
 

ellangus

Anybody had any experience of AKG K712 Pro's?

steamabacus

Shure headphones are good value for money. I have a pair of SRH1440 open backed reference headphones and they are really good, both for mixing and general listening. Slightly over your budget at Andertons but you may be able to find some cheaper elsewhere (mine were £165 from Andertons a year or two back)

I also have a pair of closed-back Audio Technica ATH-M50X which are very good for a set of closed back headphones but nowhere near the sonic quality of the Shures.

Fretwired

First off what's being used to record? If a decent audio interface is being used you check if you can use 250 ohms impedance headphones for studio use (ideal for mixing, editing, mastering). They will sound much better than 'hi-fi' style headphones. The beyerdynamic  DT880 PRO Headset 250 OHM version is highly regarded - I have a pair of DT 990 Pro 250 omh along with a pair of DT770 Pros and some AKG 702's. Beware with the AKG 702's - they are no longer made in Germany and the build quality isn't great. Mine basically fell apart.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/beyerdynamic-DT-880-PRO-Headset/dp/B001B1QENY/ref=sr_1_13?keywords=beyerdynamic&qid=1572356748&sr=8-13

Form Sound on Sound magazine - industry magazine:

The now long‑established Sennheiser HD650, and the Beyerdynamic DT880s seemed to get the most plaudits as mixing phones, with the AKG K702s and other Sennheiser and Beyer models coming close behind — all of which are open‑backed or semi-open-backed models.

Read the full article here:

https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/studio-headphones-0

Ignore the prices.

JohnS37

Sennheiser, Beyer or AKG for me.

pintspiller

Wifey got me Shure ones a few years back. £150 or something. Very good.

Stuckfast

Fretwired said:

 If a decent audio interface is being used you check if you can use 250 ohms impedance headphones for studio use (ideal for mixing, editing, mastering). They will sound much better than 'hi-fi' style headphones.

Higher impedance doesn't mean that a pair of headphones sounds better or worse, it just enables some applications that are useful in recording studios, such as having multiple pairs connected in parallel to a single headphone amp. Unless you have a headphone amp that doesn't like low-impedance phones (and there are a few out there) there's no particular reason to avoid them, and they will go a lot louder than high-impedance models given the same input signal.