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Frequent Contributor
zoobooboozoo
Posts: 126
Registered: ‎01-03-2007

In Need Of New Headphones.

Hi all. [Hope this is the right place for this thread]

I decided, because of the budget, to get good headphones instead of cheap monitors.

[b][u]Budget:[/b][/u] basically around 200$, but I can be flexible.

[b][u]Uses: [/b][/u]
I'm more of a musician(mainly guitar) than a producer,
 and I use my DAW/Extremely Humble "Home Studio" mainly to record my ideas and explore them
(with VSTs of stuff I can't play or instruments I can't afford), and to record my band or a small jam.
I don't usually sit down on a project and mix and master it (yeah, I know this is what most of this forum is about  :roll: )
although rarely a certain project comes along that demands it.

I record: Vocals, Electric Guitars(sometimes DI, sometimes with my SM57), Acoustic Guitars, Sometimes Bass,
and use my midi keyboard to "record" Pianos, Strings, Horns, etc. and e-drum kit for for drums midi input.

Genres: Mostly Jazz,Rock,Funk but also Electornic or Symphonic(both rarely) and other stuff.

[b][u]Needs:[/b][/u] A reliable product, I intend to use it for a good amount of time  :smileyvery-happy:

I know there different kinds of headphones(open, closed, etc.) and i Hope I've been specific enough about what I need
so you can direct me in the right way.

Thanks for all the upgrade-process help from ya'll.  :-bd

(new) PC:
CPU: i5 3470
PSU: Dunno Yet
M-Board: Gigabyte H77
RAM: 2X4GB DDR 3 1600
Graphics: Intel Graphics HD 2500
Hard Drives: Western Digital: 1TB Black(WD1002FAEX), 500GB Green(WD5000AACS), 160GB(WD1600ADFD)
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64 Bit

Audio Hardware:
External Audio Interface: PreSonus FireBox
Amplifier: InterM PA-2000a
Mics: Shure SM57 & KSM27
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Super Contributor
Posts: 344
Registered: ‎04-08-2009

Re: In Need Of New Headphones.

I have  a couple pairs of these:

http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Technica-ATH-M35-Closed-Back-Headphones/dp/B00242J0XU/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8...

The m30's are the same without the folding aspect.  For the money they are best cans I have EVER heard.

I plan on gettins some m50's.

 

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Contributor
willy-b
Posts: 28
Registered: ‎02-09-2013

Re: In Need Of New Headphones.

what are you running into them? (like do you have a headphone amp?)

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Moderator
Lee Knight
Posts: 20,342
Registered: ‎07-13-2005

Re: In Need Of New Headphones.

Being a long time user of Sony 7506s having owned maybe 8 pair over the course of 20 years, and really needing a change from them, I set out on a quest at the NAMM show to find my new standard.

 

Audio-Technica ATHM50S.

 

I loved them and I should receive them shortly. The bass is big yet tight, the mids have an almost Yamaha NS10 quality to it, or the standard Fostex phone's midrange quality, and the highs are there without being shrill. I think I'm going to like them a lot.

“The truth is the whole.”

- Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

"It is easier to discover a deficiency in individuals, in states, and in Providence (and in pop songs), than to see their real import and value."

- Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
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Frequent Contributor
zoobooboozoo
Posts: 126
Registered: ‎01-03-2007

Re: In Need Of New Headphones.

@Willi: I use FireBox interface
(new) PC:
CPU: i5 3470
PSU: Dunno Yet
M-Board: Gigabyte H77
RAM: 2X4GB DDR 3 1600
Graphics: Intel Graphics HD 2500
Hard Drives: Western Digital: 1TB Black(WD1002FAEX), 500GB Green(WD5000AACS), 160GB(WD1600ADFD)
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64 Bit

Audio Hardware:
External Audio Interface: PreSonus FireBox
Amplifier: InterM PA-2000a
Mics: Shure SM57 & KSM27
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Super Contributor
Posts: 344
Registered: ‎04-08-2009

Re: In Need Of New Headphones.

I run them through an Alesis headphone amp for band practice and a tascam USB box when I mix stuff.

if the firebox has enough oomph for headphones they should be fine.

 

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Super Contributor
gubu
Posts: 8,347
Registered: ‎11-26-2006

Re: In Need Of New Headphones.

Beyerdynamic DT100 are reference quality monitor headphones. The sound is not hyped, and great audio will sound like great audio on them, while poor sonics will be shown up for being poor.

If you're using headphones for tracking/monitoring/checking mixes, that's what I'd recommend. They're an invaluable tool.

tafka mintparasol............


'When we live in a culture that really admires money, when that's your primary criterion for who's a good person, who's powerful and who's interesting, you really belittle the human spirit and what it means to be alive. But we tend to do that.'
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Regular Contributor
Ultimate DJ
Posts: 157
Registered: ‎01-10-2009

Re: In Need Of New Headphones.

I've been through a decent amount of headphones and I am extremely sensative to sound quality and comfort. Also durablity, as many of my other pairs come apart. 

My favorite and current pair, I actually have two pairs are the Audio Technica's ATH M50.

Can't go wrong with these.

 

Cheers

I am a Mercenary And Music Is My Weapon.

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Trusted Contributor
Rudolf von Hagenwil
Posts: 27,646
Registered: ‎08-09-2005

Re: In Need Of New Headphones.

the headset we use is suprem as well biological

 

 

Hoergarten_8.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

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Trusted Contributor
Rudolf von Hagenwil
Posts: 27,646
Registered: ‎08-09-2005

Re: In Need Of New Headphones.

[ Edited ]

oh, almost forgot...

 there is also a model for male audio editors,

you can hear a hi-hat in the mix recorded 250 yards away, and celemonize it

 

foto_mit_birger_kollmeier.jpg

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Super Contributor
Posts: 13,277
Registered: ‎08-21-2006

Re: In Need Of New Headphones.

[ Edited ]

The only major requirements for good headphones recording is #1 contort and #2 a reasonably flat frequency response with a strong enough signal to be heard under live conditions. Closed back is also needed for live vocals so the mic doesn't pick up bleedover from the headphones. Even then with a studio mic setup at maybe 9~12" away with a pop screen and open backed phones at lower volumes may not produce much output to be noticeable.

Contort is the most important. I have about 20 sets of headphones and find a tight fitting C Clamp on my head can become very uncomfortable in a short time. I also wear glasses which adds to the discomfort so I may choose bones that may not sound as good in place of something else just so I can stand wearing them. 

Sound quality isn't as important as many think. It doesn't matter is you have the best quality headphones made, Its impossible to mix properly with them. Having the speaker elements directly on your ears can only result in mixing a two dimensional audio image. Because sound moves through the air at different speeds you have to use actual monitors to compensate for those differences. You may luck out and just happen to hit upon a decent mix using headphones but the success rate may only be 10% if you are really really good at mixing.

My advice here is backed by a solid 10 years of using headphones recording when I was piss poor and had young kids in an apartment where it was impossible to record with monitors. When I went to using decent monitors my mixing success rate skyrocketed to were it is today. I may get 10% failure instead of 10% success and even then its more likely a tracking issue or fatigue issue.

When it comes down to it you can dial up better results playing directly through studio monitors at low volume than you can tracking with headphones. The exception would be vocals of course where you can't have bleedover from the monitors. Even then there's a technique that works where you can reverse phase one of the speakers and place the mic in the null between the two speakers and very little sound gets captured by the mic. Room reflection and proper mic positioning are critical factors but its worth investigating if you want to experiment.

Bass guitar played through small monitors can be an issue too. Its easy to flap the woofers in small speakers with a bass signal so having quality gear is a plus. In my case I supplement my near fields with additional amps and speakers. I can flip on extra sets of amps and monitors that can handle the bass and track like I'm playing live. Tracking through a good compressor or limiter takes care of the rest. Even if you only have small monitors, you can dial up levels and tone that minimizes speaker flap. Once you get familiar with the method, you'll find you track with the exact frequencies you need for the mix and additional EQing mixing isn't even needed. That's the goal of a good recording anyway. The less plugins you have to use EQing the mix the less phase issues you have that degrade the sound quality and make the tracks sound more distant from each other.

If you are in a situation where monitors are an annoyance to others than you do what you must to obtain privacy. Otherwise, If you want to get a good three dimensional soundscape mixing there is only one way of doing that and its by using monitors.

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Trusted Contributor
Rudolf von Hagenwil
Posts: 27,646
Registered: ‎08-09-2005

Re: In Need Of New Headphones.

 

For mixing loudspeaker stereophony use loudspeaker.

For head related recording use headphones.

 

 

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Frequent Contributor
zoobooboozoo
Posts: 126
Registered: ‎01-03-2007

Re: In Need Of New Headphones.

Can' someone help me understand what ohm of headphones will fit my firebox?
from the firebox sepcs:

 Headphone Output
      Type     TRS Active Stereo
      Maximum Output     150 mW/CH @ 60 Ohm Load
      Frequency Response (±1.0 dB)     20 Hz - 20kHz

(new) PC:
CPU: i5 3470
PSU: Dunno Yet
M-Board: Gigabyte H77
RAM: 2X4GB DDR 3 1600
Graphics: Intel Graphics HD 2500
Hard Drives: Western Digital: 1TB Black(WD1002FAEX), 500GB Green(WD5000AACS), 160GB(WD1600ADFD)
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64 Bit

Audio Hardware:
External Audio Interface: PreSonus FireBox
Amplifier: InterM PA-2000a
Mics: Shure SM57 & KSM27
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Trusted Contributor
Rudolf von Hagenwil
Posts: 27,646
Registered: ‎08-09-2005

Re: In Need Of New Headphones.

[ Edited ]

Headphones come in 600 ohm, 250 ohm and 32 ohm. The impedance does not relate to sonic quality. The difference is that higher impedance phones will not be as loud for a given amplifier voltage, and lower impedances will be harder to amplify since they draw more current. For phones in the 32-100 Ohm range, there is not much difference. 600 ohms are a little quiet on some devices. Depends on the sensitivity of the headphones, how loud the phones are per mW of power delivered. In general, most audio interfaces do not amplify headphones enough. You may want a headphone amp, or plug the phone into a hi-fi amp and mute the speakers.

 

 

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Frequent Contributor
zoobooboozoo
Posts: 126
Registered: ‎01-03-2007

Re: In Need Of New Headphones.

And if I want to use them for casual listening on the road also(e.g. iPhone), It's best to get lower ohm right?

(new) PC:
CPU: i5 3470
PSU: Dunno Yet
M-Board: Gigabyte H77
RAM: 2X4GB DDR 3 1600
Graphics: Intel Graphics HD 2500
Hard Drives: Western Digital: 1TB Black(WD1002FAEX), 500GB Green(WD5000AACS), 160GB(WD1600ADFD)
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64 Bit

Audio Hardware:
External Audio Interface: PreSonus FireBox
Amplifier: InterM PA-2000a
Mics: Shure SM57 & KSM27
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Trusted Contributor
Rudolf von Hagenwil
Posts: 27,646
Registered: ‎08-09-2005

Re: In Need Of New Headphones.


zoobooboozoo wrote:

And if I want to use them for casual listening on the road also(e.g. iPhone), It's best to get lower ohm right?


 

yes, low Ώ, below 30 Ώ

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New Contributor
garrett001
Posts: 2
Registered: ‎02-26-2013

Re: In Need Of New Headphones.

I recently bought these on Amazon. The price is pretty reasonable and the sound quality is good.

http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Technica-ATH-M50-Professional-Monitor-Headphones/dp/B000ULAP4U/ref=sr_1_...

Proud Voices - http://proudvoices.com
Online voice over production for web video, business phones, and commercials.
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Occasional Contributor
JTMusicVA
Posts: 10
Registered: ‎03-03-2013

Re: In Need Of New Headphones.

the M50 is vastly superior to the M30 or M35.....

Stuff: Sonar X2a Producer, multitudes of plug-ins (favoring Pianoteq and the classic Analogs), Sound Forge, Adobe Audition, Izotope stuff... PC - Windows 7 64bit Ultimate, AMD 4-core CPU 3.7GHz, 16G RAM; Korg microKey, M-Audio Radium & Oxygen, Novation RemoteZERO SL, Novation X-Synth, Alesis QS6 & QSR (w/Vintage Synths card), BOSS DR-660; Lexicon Omega, ART DI/O (w/upgrades), Behringer MiniMON & MX-602A, Mackie 16x4x2 mixer, Focusrite VRM Box, Audio Technica M50 headphones, Mackie MR5 monitors; high-end cabling by simplyphysics! (www.simphys.com)
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Occasional Contributor
JTMusicVA
Posts: 10
Registered: ‎03-03-2013

Re: In Need Of New Headphones.

I agree - the M50 RULES!!!

Stuff: Sonar X2a Producer, multitudes of plug-ins (favoring Pianoteq and the classic Analogs), Sound Forge, Adobe Audition, Izotope stuff... PC - Windows 7 64bit Ultimate, AMD 4-core CPU 3.7GHz, 16G RAM; Korg microKey, M-Audio Radium & Oxygen, Novation RemoteZERO SL, Novation X-Synth, Alesis QS6 & QSR (w/Vintage Synths card), BOSS DR-660; Lexicon Omega, ART DI/O (w/upgrades), Behringer MiniMON & MX-602A, Mackie 16x4x2 mixer, Focusrite VRM Box, Audio Technica M50 headphones, Mackie MR5 monitors; high-end cabling by simplyphysics! (www.simphys.com)
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Occasional Contributor
JTMusicVA
Posts: 10
Registered: ‎03-03-2013

Re: In Need Of New Headphones.

pretty much any wattage output over 100 mW is going to be loud enough...

BUT that Frequency Response spec is quite bad. For serious monitoring, you want a variance no more than ±0.2 dB 

What I highly suggest is getting the Focusrite VRM Box for your headphone use.

AND for headphones, you can't go wrong with the Audio Technica M50, as several have suggested here.

Stuff: Sonar X2a Producer, multitudes of plug-ins (favoring Pianoteq and the classic Analogs), Sound Forge, Adobe Audition, Izotope stuff... PC - Windows 7 64bit Ultimate, AMD 4-core CPU 3.7GHz, 16G RAM; Korg microKey, M-Audio Radium & Oxygen, Novation RemoteZERO SL, Novation X-Synth, Alesis QS6 & QSR (w/Vintage Synths card), BOSS DR-660; Lexicon Omega, ART DI/O (w/upgrades), Behringer MiniMON & MX-602A, Mackie 16x4x2 mixer, Focusrite VRM Box, Audio Technica M50 headphones, Mackie MR5 monitors; high-end cabling by simplyphysics! (www.simphys.com)
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