Headphones recommendations please

DartmoorHedgehog · December 2019

My headphones I've been using for the last 30 or so years are dead so I need to get some more... Doesn't look like headphones have been discussed on here for a few years, so I'm making a new thread.

My old ones weren't expensive but sounded really good (some sort of JVC-branded ones, cost around £50 or £60 from what I remember, but it was a long time ago).

I use them mostly for editing and mixing, not so much for normal listening to music. I'd be happy with on- or over-ear and don't really need wireless or noise-cancelling features. Most important is that they are comfortable and sound good. I don't really have a budget, but let's say around £100 for now (but that's pretty arbitrary - if something a bit more expensive is fantastic, or equally if £50 is enough then cool).

So, what's good at the moment?

Macca_25387 · December 2019

I’ve been using Akg k701s for a couple of years now and i can’t speak highly enough about them for the price. I’m not a pro trained ear, but after a while i got to trust them and translate what i’ve done to different monitors really well. About bang in budget aswell

DartmoorHedgehog · December 2019

Thanks - they are indeed the type of thing I'm after, and the right sort of price. I'll look into those. They seem to have excellent reviews (and were £250 a few years ago when the reviews were written, which is far more than I want to spend, so good to know they've got considerably less dear).

Funkfingers · December 2019

The AKG K series self-styled "studio monitor" headphones were, indeed, £250 back in the day. I had the next model down the price range. I found them revealing and pretty faithful across their frequency range. Mind you, that was when I was still recording to analogue tape.

DartmoorHedgehog · December 2019

One thing that slightly concerns me is that I've never had a pair of completely open-backed headphones. Some people seem to reckon they're better for comfort for long periods, but will I be annoyed by background sounds if I'm used to using closed-back? My "home studio" room isn't noisy but it doubles as an office and my wife is a bit of an elephant-heavy typist...

Fretwired · December 2019

I have a few sets of headphones:

The Beyer Dynamic DT770 Pro's are quite good at £99 - match the impedance to your interface. These are used in studios. I like mine.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/beyerdynamic-770-PRO-Studio-Headphones/dp/B0016MNAAI/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=beyerdynamic+770+pro&qid=1575555808&sr=8-1

steamabacus · December 2019

DartmoorHedgehog said:

One thing that slightly concerns me is that I've never had a pair of completely open-backed headphones. Some people seem to reckon they're better for comfort for long periods, but will I be annoyed by background sounds if I'm used to using closed-back? My "home studio" room isn't noisy but it doubles as an office and my wife is a bit of an elephant-heavy typist...

With open-backed you will hear external sounds but, maybe more importantly, anyone around you will hear what's playing through the headphones quite clearly (all be it without much bass content) so it might annoy your elephant typing wife as much as you.

I'd recommend the Audio-Technica ATH-M50X - pretty much bang on your budget and a good sounding set of headphones with useful accessories (choice of cables, storage bag, etc.) They're often referred to as an 'industry standard' these days. There is a bit of bass lift in the response (but not as dramatic as many normal consumer headphones) and this can be quite flattering for general music listening. There's a slight midrange 'boxiness' compared to open-backed headphones but this is par for the course with enclosed earpieces.

I also have a set of Shure SRH1440 open-backed reference headphones - where they win over the Audio-Technicas is in the overall flatter frequency response and, especially, in the stereo imaging. But I don't think you'll get anything conparable in a closed-back format.

Fretwired · December 2019

steamabacus said:

I'd recommend the Audio-Technica ATH-M50X - pretty much bang on your budget and a good sounding set of headphones with useful accessories (choice of cables, storage bag, etc.)

These are very good and worth trying .. just over the OPs budget but not by much.

DartmoorHedgehog · December 2019

Thanks folks - good suggestions. Reviews seem to describe the ATH-M50x as anything from "warm" to "thick", but they may be being too critical. I think closed-back may be better for my use though (there are times when I need to avoid being annoying or annoyed), and the lower impedance would mean I could use them with other devices rather than being completely dedicated to my mixer (or needing a separate amp).

Regarding closed-back, I was looking to see if there was a similar closed-back version of the AKGs, and the K92 seem to get pretty good reviews. Slightly less frequency response than the others, but still probably better than my old pair and well within budget at around £50. Anybody had experience with those? I'm not doing professional music production here - mostly recording and editing demos and practice recordings.

I'm not sure if anybody local to me sells much of a range, so I may have to be cheeky and buy a couple of pairs when I've got a shortlist and return the ones I like least.

Musicwolf · December 2019

DartmoorHedgehog said:

One thing that slightly concerns me is that I've never had a pair of completely open-backed headphones. Some people seem to reckon they're better for comfort for long periods, but will I be annoyed by background sounds if I'm used to using closed-back? My "home studio" room isn't noisy but it doubles as an office and my wife is a bit of an elephant-heavy typist...

It may be more a case of you annoying her.

Open backed headphones 'leak' sound into the room, this is why they are unsuitable for tracking where a mic is involved. Unfortunately open backed is really what you want for mixing.

DartmoorHedgehog · December 2019

Musicwolf said:

DartmoorHedgehog said:

One thing that slightly concerns me is that I've never had a pair of completely open-backed headphones. Some people seem to reckon they're better for comfort for long periods, but will I be annoyed by background sounds if I'm used to using closed-back? My "home studio" room isn't noisy but it doubles as an office and my wife is a bit of an elephant-heavy typist...

It may be more a case of you annoying her.

Open backed headphones 'leak' sound into the room, this is why they are unsuitable for tracking where a mic is involved. Unfortunately open backed is really what you want for mixing.

I think you're probably right. I've always used the same 'phones for everything, so recording (including acoustic guitar and wind instruments) and mixing. For general purpose it does sound like I'm better off sticking with closed back. And as I said in my last post, this isn't professional-level production, so what I need is nice-sounding and comfortable headphones without too much colouration, rather than "the best professional mixing cans". It may be that I don't need to spend even £100 to get that - that figure was just pulled out of the air as a "I wouldn't mind if that's what I had to spend" really.

thegummy · December 2019

steamabacus said:

I'd recommend the Audio-Technica ATH-M50X - pretty much bang on your budget and a good sounding set of headphones with useful accessories (choice of cables, storage bag, etc.) They're often referred to as an 'industry standard' these days.

This times 100.

I think you'll be blown away if you get them. They rival much more expensive headphones.

The amount of studio photos I've seen in magazines etc. where those headphones are being used. And not just for tracking, I've heard quite a few people talk about using them to help with mixing, evaluate the low end etc.

JohnCordy · December 2019

Weirdly enough I got my first pair of open back headphones the other day...I can also recommend the Audio Technica ATHs mentioned above though!

DartmoorHedgehog · December 2019

Lots of votes for the ATH-M50X then. Looks like they're worth a look.

IMC1980 · December 2019

Add another one to the MX50X pile, love mine!

Stuckfast · December 2019

I'll be a dissenting voice and say I don't think the ATH-M50x are anything special really. They're comfortable but they also have quite a big artificial hump in the bass and another one somewhere around 10kHz, so not great for mixing on. The Yamaha and Sennheiser phones at around the same price are just as good and the Shures are probably better, so too the Sony MDR-7520. Don't get the Sony MDR-7506 though, those truly are horrible.

You could also look out for a pair of Oppo PM-3s, which are better in every respect and might be available within your price range now that they've been discontinued.

thegummy · December 2019

Stuckfast said:

I'll be a dissenting voice and say I don't think the ATH-M50x are anything special really. They're comfortable but they also have quite a big artificial hump in the bass and another one somewhere around 10kHz, so not great for mixing on.

George Massenburg (inventor of parametric EQ) and Ed Cherney (Grammy winning engineer) are just two who disagree and say they are good for mixing on.

DartmoorHedgehog · December 2019

OK thanks @Stuckfast - all opinions welcome

I haven't bought any yet, so any others added to the list to look at is cool.

DartmoorHedgehog · December 2019

Yikes - Oppo PM-3 are way more expensive than I can justify. Looks like they sell for £400 or so even used. I would probably stretch the budget to a bit more than £100 if necessary, but I'm not going to spend multiple hundreds - never worth the expense for my intended use.

Stuckfast · December 2019

Well, I don't think headphones in general are good for mixing on, but that's a different matter.

Liking or disliking the ATH-M50x is a matter of personal taste, I guess. One thing I would say is that they never seemed to me to be any better than the cheaper M40x model, so if you do go down that route, try both and maybe save yourself a few quid.

DartmoorHedgehog · December 2019

Stuckfast said:

Well, I don't think headphones in general are good for mixing on, but that's a different matter.

Liking or disliking the ATH-M50x is a matter of personal taste, I guess. One thing I would say is that they never seemed to me to be any better than the cheaper M40x model, so if you do go down that route, try both and maybe save yourself a few quid.

I generally prefer using speakers all the time, but sometimes I need to be quiet (or possibly block out some external noise) so I'll use headphones. I can't really justify having multiple pairs for different uses at the moment, so whatever I get is bound be a compromise in some areas, but any of the ones suggested on this thread will be better in all ways than my old headphones I'm replacing, so I think I'll probably be happy whatever I pick really for my usage.

Lots of people seem to like the M50x, so I'll certainly put them on my shortlist, but other opinions and suggestions are also appreciated

- I think the only thing I've definitely decided is that I'm better off sticking to closed-back designs. Now I need to try to find a fairly local stockist of some of the phones on the list if I can, otherwise I'll be doing the order online and send back thing, which I always feel a bit bad about.

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Headphones recommendations please

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