Headphone recommendation

liftyrfists · Post by **liftyrfists** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 12:35 pm

What is a good pair of affordable monitoring headphones? Vague, I know, but it seems to be my theme.

I just do home recording but have been using some crappy koalas that make my stuff sound entirely different than when I play it through my actual speakers (lots of lowends that I couldn't hear on the headphones, colors the mixing and such).

Any in particular?

fremitus · Post by **fremitus** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 1:17 pm

AKG K240's

affordable? vague word. i say they ARE affordable because they sound damned good and cost less than $100.

asmara · Post by **asmara** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 1:42 pm

I second that recommendation. From my experience prtty much any higher end AKG will be great investment. If you do tracking with headphones on you will really like the akg k 171s. They have very little bleed - however I warn you after 4 hours of non-stop overdubbing your head will be bleeding from these as they are on the tight end. For routine monitoring (esp. if you have any small children that are sleeping soundly) go for the 240 or 141s.
One final note it is generally recommended not to doyour final mixes from headphones if at all possible. With that in mind the most important feature should be comfort and AKGs are among the best, save the 171s.
Good luck

3db@1K · Post by **3db@1K** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 3:44 pm

Just got hooked up with Audio Technica ATH-M30's. And they are pretty great. Seemed to have the sony hype but not as bright which I perfer. I believe they go for 59 bucks a set.

eeldip · Post by **eeldip** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 4:54 pm

i always say grado's.

rhythm ranch · Post by **rhythm ranch** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 6:13 pm

Another vote for the AKG 240's.

9000 · Post by **9000** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 6:16 pm

For what it's worth, I can tell you what headphones that I tried and have NOT liked when I was looking for something comfortable and good sounding. (Obviously comfort, and sound, is a thing of preference, so I don't know if this will help.) And keep in mind, I'm wearing headphones for hours at a time--5hrs sometimes. Also keep in mind. I'm 6'7" and have kind of big ears...but not too big)

Don't Like:
-Sony MDR 7506's (unaccurate tone emphasis, cavity not deep enough)
-AT 40f or something (uncomfortable after 15 min. - inner ring pushes too much on ears)
-Sennheiser HD280 Pro (vice grip on my head--jaw hurts)
-Fostex T40 RP & T50 RP -- I ACTUALLY LIKE THE SOUND OF THESE, but they start to feel heavy and cavity not deep enough.

I'm about to order a pair of the AKG 240's because of the good things I've heard about the 1) sound quality and 2) comfort and light weight.

Mark Alan Miller · Post by **Mark Alan Miller** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 9:41 pm

No offence to everyone who likes 'em, but 240s sound f*ed up to me in the mids, duffy in the highs, and relaxed (not in a good way) in the low end.
Never got 'em. Dunno why. Maybe every pair I've ever worn had something wrong with them...?

7506's work great for me, and my clients respond well generally to them too. The only complain I get about them is they're a little bright, perhaps...

eh91311 · Post by **eh91311** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 10:20 pm

I had a pair of K240's. The ear cups gradually seperated and fell apart. Mine were the old version, high impedance and wouldn't play loud enough.

Grado's sound good, bass is hyped on the less-expensive models, but my 2 pair (SR60 and SR80) both developed the dreaded "buzz" on low notes and the open back design wreaked havoc when used on a vocalist and played loudly.

Sony 7506's aren't accurate at all, but work well as tracking headphones, albeit expensive ones. I once bought 4 pairs of Sony 7502's for use when tracking, they were terribly inaccurate sounding on the low and high end and self-destructed in minimal use.

I've had a pair of A-T M40fs' for a long time, sent them to A-T for repair more than a few times. Sent them back one more time and got a trade-in allowance for a new pair from A-T. They're good phones, the M30's are as well. I like the way they sound but I could never trust the low end from the 40fs'. A-T's customer service is unmatched.

Sennheiser HD280 pro's are uncomfortable but very accurate sounding. Even though they feel like vice grips on the head, they sound even and neutral. I have some inexpensive Senn HD202's that I intend to use in my studio for musicians to track with, I think that they'll work well for that purpose, especially when I change out the 1/8" connectors for 1/4" ones.

vsr600 · Post by **vsr600** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 8:09 am

I also recommend the AKG 240's. I actually got a pair for free when I bought a presonus central station. They sound pretty good and have lasted about two years of pretty regular use so far.

Cellotron · Post by **Cellotron** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 8:32 am

My experience with Sony MDR750x's is that they have pretty overhyped, "plasticky" kind of high end and not that great of isolation if you also ever use them for tracking.
A lot of people love the K240's but to me the mids just sound wrong on them, they are hard to drive, and seem to fall apart a lot quicker than other headphones too.
The Beyer Dynamic DT770 Pro's and DT990's haven't been mentioned but I think these are nicer than the others that have been suggested.
and
I picked up a pair of Ultrasone ProLine 650's recently - and while they are not the most comfortable phones I've ever used - they are pretty unhyped and accurate sounding to me, translation has been pretty darn good with them.

Best regards,
Steve Berson

sparky · Post by **sparky** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 8:34 am

Two things about the AKG k240 series:

1) They are very high impedance. It takes a lot to drive these. They won't work with the headphone outputs on most consumer or pro-sumer equipment.

2) They are not durable. I've had a bunch of pairs of them, they don't hold up very well.

Personally, I think they are uncomfortable for extended periods too, but that's going to vary from person to person. Also, I think they sound 'OK'-- better than your average giant 'hi-fi' headphones you are used to hearing, but not great. IIRC there are a number of different models, like AKG-240, 240m, 240d, etc. I'm talking about the plain 240 and the 240m here, I've never tried any of the others.

ctmsound · Post by **ctmsound** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 8:36 am

Everytime I see a headphone thread, I post these. I've used the AKGs, Sony, Audio Technica, Sennheiser and I keep coming back to these:

http://www.equationaudio.com/index.php? ... 8&Itemid=1

Ethan Holdtrue · Post by **Ethan Holdtrue** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 2:20 pm

Personaly I think the Beyer Dynamic 770's are the conversation enders.

brianb · Post by **brianb** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 3:20 pm

eh91311 wrote:
Sennheiser HD280 pro's are uncomfortable but very accurate sounding. Even though they feel like vice grips on the head, they sound even and neutral. I have some inexpensive Senn HD202's that I intend to use in my studio for musicians to track with, I think that they'll work well for that purpose, especially when I change out the 1/8" connectors for 1/4" ones.

I also would recommend the HD280's. After reading a bunch of threads on headphones I recently got a set and just love them.

They seem very accurate to me.

Of course I'm lucky. The vise like grip they have on doesn't apply to me since my head is roughly the size of a smallish grapefruit.

Brian

Message Board

Headphone recommendation

Headphone recommendation

one more vote for AKG

headphones i don't like...

grados

Who is online