MDR-7506 or ATH-M50x vs all the DT’s

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chrisinthewest
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MDR-7506 or ATH-M50x vs all the DT’s

Post by chrisinthewest » Thu Nov 05, 2020 9:36 am

Hi everyone,
It’s time for me to get some headphones for long hours editing, low end management, and general purpose.
I work with a reel to reel deck quite often so I really need to hear the noise floor. Sennheisers I like a lot but are not for me right now.

I used to have 7506’s, they walked away long ago. I don’t miss them, yet they were awesome for managing the noise floor and always hearing everything. I will probably get another pair.
They supposedly are ~ 63 ohms.

I’ve tried ATH-M50x, sound overall like how I want cans to sound, except the midrange and high end seemed kind of not detailed enough for me. I don’t really want them yet so many people online say they translate better than others.
They are somewhere 38~45 ohms

I know I want and love Beyerdynamics. I don’t know which model and impedence though. Every review I read is all over the map. I had the greatest headphone audio experience once, plugging iPhone 4 into a pair at a Guitar Center. It made me feel like working FOH on a nice Meyer PA, full, super deep, detailed, accurate.. smooth.
Unfortunately I didn’t realize there are so many models and impedences.... I’m guessing they were 32ohm? I’ve tried to go back and repeat the experience years later and all the models are are bright sounding. None were 32 ohm though.

Beyer says 32ohm is for mobile. 80 ohm for tracking. 250 ohm for how I work (console/tape).

A question is... why 250ohm when others are low impedance? Side question.. would a 600 ohm headphone be able to plug straight into a +4 output?

Thank you!!!
Chris

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digitaldrummer
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Re: MDR-7506 or ATH-M50x vs all the DT’s

Post by digitaldrummer » Thu Nov 05, 2020 11:28 am

I have a pair of the DT-770 250 ohm and never noticed any issues with my headphone amp. They are comfortable and sound way better than the MD-7506's ever did IMO. And they don't (static electrically) shock my ears like those damn things would. If you had them you probably understand...

I got them from ProAudiostar earlier this year and they were on sale or something for $119.
Mike
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www.doubledogrecording.com

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Re: MDR-7506 or ATH-M50x vs all the DT’s

Post by Recycled_Brains » Thu Nov 05, 2020 11:53 am

The Beyers are great. So clean and clear sounding. I miss the pair I had years ago and have no clue why I haven't gotten another.

I have and use a pair of the M50x's regularly. I like them a lot. I found that the low/low-mid took some time to adjust to, in terms of translation, but overall, they're nice to listen to.

I recently got a pair of AT ATH-R70x open-backed headphones and they sound very good. Not flattering at all. Just super flat, but high fidelity. I love them so far. I had to send them into AT for repair so I haven't had a ton of time with them, but they seem very promising. I foresee mixes translating pretty well with them.
Ryan Slowey
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http://maggotbrainny.bandcamp.com

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Re: MDR-7506 or ATH-M50x vs all the DT’s

Post by Scodiddly » Thu Nov 05, 2020 6:56 pm

I've got a pair of DT-250's in 80 ohm. They're great! Not hyped anywhere, I've been mixing on them and it seems to translate just fine to speakers.

When I put on a pair of 7506's now they sound ludicrously bright. Though mine really need new ear cushions; when they start coming apart all the lows seem to go away.

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Re: MDR-7506 or ATH-M50x vs all the DT’s

Post by winky dinglehoffer » Thu Nov 05, 2020 7:41 pm

Scodiddly wrote:
Thu Nov 05, 2020 6:56 pm
I've got a pair of DT-250's in 80 ohm.
How big is the earhole on these (ie, the space that lies within the earpads)? It looks smaller that what I have now, & there's little space to spare in my current headphones.

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Re: MDR-7506 or ATH-M50x vs all the DT’s

Post by Scodiddly » Fri Nov 06, 2020 5:26 am

winky dinglehoffer wrote:
Thu Nov 05, 2020 7:41 pm
Scodiddly wrote:
Thu Nov 05, 2020 6:56 pm
I've got a pair of DT-250's in 80 ohm.
How big is the earhole on these (ie, the space that lies within the earpads)? It looks smaller that what I have now, & there's little space to spare in my current headphones.
1.5" x 2.25". The usual oval.

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Re: MDR-7506 or ATH-M50x vs all the DT’s

Post by digitaldrummer » Fri Nov 06, 2020 6:29 am

Scodiddly wrote:
Thu Nov 05, 2020 6:56 pm
When I put on a pair of 7506's now they sound ludicrously bright. Though mine really need new ear cushions; when they start coming apart all the lows seem to go away.
I had replaced the flaky ear cushions with some Beyer cushions (there is a thread on TapeOp somewhere for that...) and they were much more comfortable, other then the static electricity shock still occurred..) but I also felt like a lot of the lows went away and as you said they just sounded super bright. Then one day one of the drivers just stopped working and that's when I bought the DT-770s. no looking back. :-)
Mike
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chrisinthewest
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Re: MDR-7506 or ATH-M50x vs all the DT’s

Post by chrisinthewest » Sat Nov 07, 2020 9:26 am

Thanks for the responses everyone! Very helpful! I found a good video on the Beyer website that explains the different impedances as simply bigger or smaller voice coil. The side question, they say the higher ohms were popular in broadcast to save eardrums in an accidental patch situation, low ohms would be max output where high ohms wouldn’t. Low ohms can be run on studio stuff, they just max out easily.

I now think a bigger coil 250ohm pair as main headphone, and a low ohm pair for fun and checking things. They make a 16ohm DT770... reviews range from, paraphrasing ‘incredible greatest listening experience ever‘ to ‘garbage, cash grab, and nowhere in the same league as 770 80ohm/220ohm’. LOL

Anyway.. the 990 were my original plan, since open back I thought less fatigue. Reviews say they are terrible at fatigue.

The DT 250 look very interesting too! Man... I feel like Beyer wants me to take home 5 pairs LOL.

chrisinthewest
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Re: MDR-7506 or ATH-M50x vs all the DT’s

Post by chrisinthewest » Fri Nov 20, 2020 7:13 pm

I picked up the 16ohm DT 770 since apparently Guitar Center offered them years ago for a bit, and I wanted to know if these are what I heard back then.

Ordered on sale from Focus Camera, the transaction was smooth, free 2 day shipping. They arrived and had a label on the box “Created exclusively for Focus Camera”. Interesting. They say DT 770 Pro 16ohm, all black velour pads, long straight cord, straight gold TRS. They look great in black.

I’ve had them a few days. They had to burn in a little, but not so much for the highs, more for the low mids. 200Hz was way too firm on the first day out of the box. They did not like the new Beatles remix Here Comes The Sun. Day 2 it was better and that mix sounded great. The highs on these are very present, but seem flat and natural compared to other models I remember. There isn’t the “bite” I remember. A 30 second Sine sweep sounds linear from 45Hz up to 8k. Betwen 8k-10k there’s a little dip/bump kind of sound, to be expected. Holding up to an LdC watching on a analyzer it looks pretty flat up there with just a dip, not the dip and spike like most FR graphs show DTs to have. I’m pretty happy about that.

16ohms with RA62 = High Performance! I can’t compare directly to 250ohms. I can say though technically that this is the closest to feeling like I’m at FOH in a long time. Lows are very punchy, extension is not as deep as a bank of subs, but it’s pretty close and with EQ it gets there.. stock it sounds balanced, as it should. For example U2’s Every Breaking Wave has the heavy sub kick, which only really reveals itself on full range speakers. It’s noticeable here. But these are not bass forward cans. They seem to be beautifully balanced. They get incredibly loud without distortion, have a wide soundstage, and do a good job isolating for tracking.

The more I listen the more I’m deciding I made the perfect choice. At minimum they will be great for thoroughly enjoying music on the iPhone and for overdubs, but currently they seem like they will be amazing for mixing. The only thing is the earpads need to be worn a while before they will get their super soft feeling. I now think the DT 250 are probably a great way to go as another set as well. Hmmm.

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