Head Phones - talk to me

sgosden

My current 'silent' rig for home is a pocket POD through some cheap old headphones I borrowed from my dad 11 years ago... it does the job of giving me a bit of an OD sound to play with, but generally sounds weak and tinny.

Chances are I'll soon be using some sort of Two notes/ Fractal/ Helix arrangement for silent practice and FOH requirements. so before I delve into the expensive world of studio monitors, I figured getting a decent but affordable set of studio headphones would be a better way of hearing what is actually coming out the impending units. meaning I can set up patches and sounds at home to a decent ballpark, and then tweak them at the studio through the PA when we practice.

I know nothing of headphone specs / decent brands / price ranges / open vs closed back.

What sort of units do the people of TFB use?

sweepy

I always recommend the Shure 840's, very neutral and comfy headphones 

Teetonetal

I used audio technica  MH50x for a long time. Till I got a helix. No idea why, put helix sounds garbage through them. now using cheaper M30s which are better. Digital Igloo recommended high impedance <200 ohm cans as helix phones out is powerful.

steamabacus

I have a set of Shure SR1440s that are very nice. I've only used cheapo headphones for tracking before buying these and the difference is quite incredible. I do use them for quiet guitar noodling with my setup - not a digital modeller but an analogue setup DI'd into my mixing desk - and they sound good for that purpose.

A word of warning though - a really good set of headphones may show up deficiencies in the sound of the Pod. Better headphones may not necessarily sound 'better' for use with the Pod.

In terms of open vs closed back, open will sound more natural (closed tend to be more 'mid-rangey') but will allow some sound to bleed out into the room and also room noise to bleed through into what you're hearing, so bear that in mind.

You might want to have a look through this thread from when I looking at what to buy last year.

Rocker

Superlux from Thomann. Ridiculously cheap but good sounding. You will get a better/bigger sound if you use a headphone am.