Recommendations for headphones for mixing, £200 budget

steamabacus

I need to get a decent set of headphones - a pair with a reasonably flat response that I can mix on.

I have problems with fairly low level bass frequencies travelling from my flat to other parts of the property and causing annoyance to others. I'm really not playing loud but it's an old victorian property that seems to act as one big resonator!

So I'm looking at getting a set of phones that will be good enough to mix on if needed but, most importantly, I need something without an 'enhanced' bass response - as flat response as possible would be good.

I have a budget of up to around £200 (less would be good) and I'm thinking open-back rather than closed-back (I have a copuple of pairs of cheapy closed-back if needed for tracking).

I really have no experience with decent headphones so can any of you recommend a pair that would do the job?

pintspiller

wifey got me some shure headphones a few years back. they seem pretty good, but i don't know if the eq is flat. i live in a semi and play through a blackstar ht1 plugged via m-audio fasttrack into my pc and play along with mp3. does what i want it to. no complaints

sweepy

Shure 840's, I recommend them highly

steamabacus

I've just had a quick browse and I've come up with a few possibles - anyone with any experience of these?

Shure SRH940  for £153 from Andertons

Shure SRH1440 for £167.40 on offer at Andertons

AKG K702 for £149 on offer at Studiospares.

lasermonkey

Beyer DT880.

dudu

ATH-M50.

Heartfeltdawn

I have two sets,  Sony MDR-V6 and ATH-M50X. The AT's are a bit hyped in the mids and uppers so make for a good compromise between casual listening and mixing. The Sonys are flatter, not hyped at all, and are always connected to my audio interface. Using the pair to review material gives me the best of both worlds. 

The ATH-M50X are £90 from Inta Audio. The MDR-V6 I think were discontinued earlier this year but might still be available for not much cash. I paid less than £50 for mine three years-ish ago. 

Deijavoo

I got a pair of AKG K550 headphones this year and I've been really impressed with them. No real comparison to work off but definitely worth checking out mate.

steamabacus

Thanks for all the suggestions - I am checking them all out. It's a bit of a bloody minefield, though. Shure are a new one to me (as far as headphones goes) - they seem to be developing a good reputation it seems.

As always happens, having set myself a budget of £200 I find myself looking at £300 Sennheiser HD600s!  #-o

Danny1969

I wouldn't spend to much if it's for mixing as you can't properly mix anything on headphones. They are great for editing though and enjoying music. 

If you got a problem with bass troubling your neighbours then a small set of near field speakers decoupled from the desk with some pads will do a better job at mixing then headphones 

steamabacus

Danny1969 said:

If you got a problem with bass troubling your neighbours then a small set of near field speakers decoupled from the desk with some pads will do a better job at mixing then headphones 

That's exactly what I've got. It really is quite low levels causing the problem - especially when, for example, I'm working on a bass groove that is cycling around for quite a while. I'm looking at using 'phones for the bulk of the donkey work and using the monitors in shorter bursts.

Danny1969

Yeah that's probably the best option, plus you can check the mix in the car etc

steamabacus

Gone for the Shure 1440s in the end. I fancied the Sennheiser HD650s but couldn't stretch the budget.

markv

I'd been looking for headphones too and also just plumped for the Shure 1440s - they got good reviews and it seemed like a good deal at Andertons too. Got to say I'm pretty impressed.

What are you making of them @steamabacus?

Sporky

I have the 1540s for just general listening and love them - very comfy and lovely sound.I imagine the 1440s are prettty darned good too.

steamabacus

@markv

I'm enjoying them - by far the best headphones I've ever used. I'm still in the process of adjusting to the 'headphone listening environment' (I've never enjoyed tracking on headhones, only really using them when recording acoustic instruments or vocals in front of a mic) but these sound acceptable for guitar. I can certainly hear plenty of mix detail that is normally obscured - I think I've always used 'instinct' a lot when mixing in the past. I'm hoping my mixes will improve a bit now I can hear them.

I'm just trying to do lots of listening on them for the moment. I've recorded a quick guitar track entirely monitored on the cans and that went ok. The Shure's seem pretty comfy to wear, too.

Amusingly, I took them around a friend's house last night and we were listening to some stuff on both the 1440s and his two Sennheiser sets - some 200-and-somethings and a second cableless pair - and the Shure's were in a totally different league. The cableless pair are already damaged and held together by tape and he managed to sit on the unbroken pair - which are now broken. I think he's now going to by a pair of 1440s as well.

markv

Yeah, my previous headphones (AKG451s) are good for general purpose but they are a) on ear, b) closed back and c) bass heavy. The Shures are much more neutral. It's good but I have to recondition my ears to the sound I think, plus I think they sound a touch brittle at the top end which received wisdom says might be helped by playing them in. Both of these things mean listening to lots of music on them first - not a hardship :-)

pickerg

This is an old, but good article from SOS, with various options for mixing in.  DT 880 pro were very well though of by a few of the reviewers in the original magazine article, and can be purchased for below £200 now.  I'm thinking of getting myself a pair.

https://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jan10/articles/studioheadphones.htm

steamabacus

@pickerg ; SOS was the first place I looked for information - you can't beat SOS.

markv said:

 It's good but I have to recondition my ears to the sound I think, plus I think they sound a touch brittle at the top end which received wisdom says might be helped by playing them in.

 I can't honestly say whether it's because I'm becoming familiar with the sound or whether they have 'played in' but the top end on my 1440s does sound warmer and less harsh now. Guitar speakers can sound a little brittle out of the box so it's entirely feasible headphone speakers may.

I've done a little bit of mixing on the Shure's now and I'm really appreciating the added detail - mixing is much easier when you can hear what you're doing!

Nerine

I'm really surprised Sennheiser HD series haven't been mentioned yet.

If you could score a pair of HD600's or 650's, they usually get plaudits across the range. They're an almost industry standard mixing headphone.

If I needed cans to mix, they would be where I'd explore first.

randomhandclaps

Buy a decent pair but don't pay too much and use the leftover cash for other stuff. Ultimately mixing on headphones is never good or satisfactory so do get confused thinking you can bypass this by spending more. I have several pairs of headphones in the studio for different things from tracking to rough silent mixing. Personally I like the AKG K121s because they are good quality and light so comfy to wear for a few hours. They (or current equivalent) can be had for under £100 if you shop around.