Headphone recommendations.

[Linnovice]

Hi all, I've taken to using headphones for setting up recording levels and also the occasional serious listening. I find my existing pair leaving something to be desired so am looking for a pair of comfortable accurate phones. Are there any recommendations on the forum? They are intended for indoor use only.

[Dave Anderson]

Hi, what sort of price range are you thinking of? Do you want recommendations for open back headphones or closed back? And what sort of music do you listen to?

Dave.

[Top Cap]

I have both:
open back ones are Grado SR80
closed backs are Audio Technica ATH-M50x
The Audio Technica are ideal for mastering/mixing.

[Linnovice]

Hi Dave, good points. From past experience I prefer over ear, closed back style. My taste in music is very eclectic. Mozart, Beethoven, choral, classical guitar, folk, jazz probably a difficult mix. Hence my problem.

[Linnovice]

Sorry. price range to suit (without being ridiculous, I've seen a pair advertised at £22,000!)

[Dave Anderson]

Your taste in music is not the main difficulty. It's the fact you prefer to wear a closed back design. I think choosing a closed back model would disappoint you in terms of sound quality. Closed back designs are good if you want to prevent sound leakage. Say for example if you don't want to disturb other people in the same room while you listen to music. Or if you want to minimise extraneous sounds in your room intruding on your listening experience. However, they don't have the clarity, in my view, of open backed 'phones.

Ok well, I'll tell you what I've got. My main pair are Sennheiser HD600's. These are open back and sound really good. They used to be a favourite with classical recording engineers. Nowadays the HD800 seems to have taken on that role.

I also have a pair of Beyerdynamic DT990 PRO headphones. Again, these are open backed. They cost less than half the price of the HD600's but their sound quality is almost as good.

Finally I have a pair of Beyerdynamic DT250 headphones. These are, wait for it, closed back. Actually they are surprisingly informative. Less comfortable than the other two but not too bad.

The Grado range are jolly good but open-backed. The SR60i and SR80i both highly respected and not too expensive. Another closed back you might like to consider is the Beyerdynamic DT770. A favourite with many recording studios.

Some food for thought.

Dave.

[Diabolical Artificer]

I use Sennheiser HD280 Pro's for listening and fiddling with a mix before mastering using my big monitors, they have lot's of headroom having a low 64 ohm Z. They're closed back types.

I'm sure you can get better for more money, check out the recording forum's like Sound on Sound etc. BTW Sennheiser HD800's got the vote as best all round HP's at Sound on Sound.

Andy.

[Ted Kendall]

If you look hard enough you can pick up a pair of Stax SR-3s or SR-5s for under three figures - a bit like Quad electrostatics for the ears...but they do need driving from a speaker output.

[Jonster]

I am a big fan of the Beyer DT250s they have a very wide flat response. They are my headphone of choice for home and studio use. When I am out and about I use a pair of Sennheiser Urbanites with my Galaxy Note 4 phone to listen to internet radio and Spotify etc, these are also very good. They also have a built in mic and volume/pause controls to operate the player on the phone.

[Linnovice]

Thanks all for the advice, some interesting suggestions. Has anyone had any experience with NAD VISO HP50's. I went to a local hifi dealer today and tried a pair. They sounded very good IMO. They also had a pair of Bowers & Wilkins P7 at an extra £121.00. Personally I didn't think they sounded the extra.

[Dave Anderson]

Hi Linnovice, I haven't any experience of the NAD VISO HP50's but I've looked at a selection of online reviews and comments from owners. I'm sure you must have seen them as well. The NAD's seem to be very good. Of course all of this is very subjective. If you liked what you heard and they feel comfortable to wear the opinions of others shouldn't matter too much. I would only suggest making a few more comparisons. Some of the leading headphone manufacturers are Sennheiser, Stax, AKG, Beyerdynamic, Audio Technica and Grado. NAD don't usually come immediately to mind. But if you've considered the opposition and still prefer the NAD's I would follow your instinct. Get what sounds best and feels nicest to you.

Dave.

[Radio Wrangler]

Headphones are a very personal thing and what works for one person doesn't for another. Also, using them in different environments or for different material can rearrange pecking-orders.

Advice that 'xxxx is shoddily built and falls apart' while 'yyyy have very high pressure on your ears' can be useful, but I'm afraid you're on your own as far as choosing the sound is concerned.

David

[TIMTAPE]

Fidelity is independent of personal preference. We can always tailor for personal preference - or perhaps hearing loss - with EQ.

[Linnovice]

I've been using a pair of Sennheiser HD500A's for a while. Last summer one of the driver's packed up. To give them their due, Sennheiser did a good reconditioning job for their all in one price of £50 odd. But, I find the sound quite woolly and they get very warm to wear. The cups have a velour kind of material which, I find, quite uncomfortable to wear for any length of time. Hence the search for a replacement.

[Linnovice]

Hi all, I've 'pushed the boat out' and bought myself a pair of the NAD VISO HP50's and very good (and comfortable) they are too. There is on small problem. The lead they supply is only 3' long. Ok if you're listening to an iPod or iPhone. Pretty useless in my recording studio (small that it is). Quite disconcerting to get up from my mixing desk and move to my tape deck. The head gets yanked and the phones finish up on the floor! I've written to them enquiringly about a longer one, see what happens. That aside they do sound very good.

[dseymo1]

Surely there's no problem with using an extension lead?
For non-critical monitoring, I've started using Bluetooth; one of the little receivers intended for feeding amplified speakers drives a pair of cans at a decent level directly.

[Linnovice]

No problem at all but for a pair of phones costing well over £200 I think they could supply a bit longer cable?

[jmshumphrey]

Closed back KOSS pro 4AA, if they were good enough for the BBC studio use...
Mine are around 40 years old. Check ebay new £150+ second hand ones £30+

Open back Sennheiser HD430 are pretty good as well and lightweight.

[Linnovice]

Blimey, that takes me back! I think I've still got a pair of the Koss phones from the late 60's/early 70's knocking about in my loft. I seem to remember they felt like I was wearing a three piece suite on my head! Good sound though. The Sennheiser's I don't know. Thanks for the pointers though. As has been said previously, headphones are very subjective. I do like the NAD's but the short lead is a distinct disadvantage.

[Linnovice]

Hi all, I've got the iMac set up now and running. The specs on the sound card match my old PC M-Audio 2496 card and I'm quite impressed. It's a bit bright and top heavy but I can bring that down with my mixing desk. Question is, how much improvement would I notice by adding a UBS DAC unit. Any opinions?