INDUSTRY STANDARD HEADPHONES

ozols man · Post by **ozols man** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 12:40 pm

ok people, im looking to upgrade my headphones for playing out. what are the industry standards? like the technics 1210's of the headphone world? although bare in my mind i dont wanna kill my bank balance TOO much!

cheers

forensix (mcr) · Post by **forensix (mcr)** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 12:46 pm

Sennheiser HD-25

auan · Post by **auan** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 1:18 pm

The industry standard is the ones you prefer. Walk into any studio and you'll see Beyers, Shures, Sennheisers, AKGs...

I was at college doing music tech, and all the students had bought these fuckin BEASTS of headphones, bit of showing off going on. Anyway we finished a bit of work and the lecturer came round to listen. His headphones were these shitty in-ear ones that had come with his MD player (no ipods in them days). He just knew the sound of them better than this guy's noise-cancelling Sennheisers or that guy's 100 quid Beyers.

After you get past the shite ones in Maplin, there are no bad headphones, they just have different character.

ozols man · Post by **ozols man** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 1:24 pm

Auan wrote:The industry standard is the ones you prefer. Walk into any studio and you'll see Beyers, Shures, Sennheisers, AKGs...

I was at college doing music tech, and all the students had bought these fuckin BEASTS of headphones, bit of showing off going on. Anyway we finished a bit of work and the lecturer came round to listen. His headphones were these shitty in-ear ones that had come with his MD player (no ipods in them days). He just knew the sound of them better than this guy's noise-cancelling Sennheisers or that guy's 100 quid Beyers.

After you get past the shite ones in Maplin, there are no bad headphones, they just have different character.

ok its just last time i was playing out and i had the traumatic experience of not being able to here what i was cueing... so i wanna avoid that at all costs

osk · Post by **osk** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 1:30 pm

Reckon those Sennheiser ones are the best man cos you don't get too much bass. And for this kind of music where you mix off the highs and snares, that's ideal.

I've used things like Sony MDRV700s or whatever - 120 quid - and they aren't as good; better for listening, but not for DJing.

red shrapnel · Post by **red shrapnel** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 3:05 pm

AKG 240's right? round 100 bucks good monitoring phones, dj cans throw off precision production

forensix (mcr) · Post by **forensix (mcr)** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 3:07 pm

he was asking about headphones for djing

(I have the AKG's and they are awesome for the studio)

skavoovie_blind9 · Post by **skavoovie_blind9** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 3:20 pm

forensix (mcr) wrote:Sennheiser HD-25

Defo for playing out

Nice little size and light aswell

I've got the sony mdr v700's I bought a while back what alot of people were using at the time and think still do, but I find them way too big!

two oh one · Post by **two oh one** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 4:05 pm

Yeah, as Red Shrapnel says - AKG K-240s are the closest thing you'll find to a music industry 'standard' headphone. A bunch of studios use them. I find that their bass response is good enough for rock music, but don't give you enough pressure or depth for dance music, probably because they're open. There are some closed versions of these which might be better, but I haven't tried them.

The Sennheiser HD 280s seem like a popular choice amongst electronic producers, but I find them too tight, too hot, too hyped sounding. I used to use them as a final check to make sure things were OK, but they're just not comfortable enough and I have to crank them way loud. Goodbye hearing. I give them to the vocalists these days. The seal on them is quite something.

I've settled on Ultrasone Proline 750s these days. I can get nice bass response without having to crank them (One of their selling points), so my ears should last a little longer. And they're really comfortable. And they sound more like you're listening to really good monitors, rather than headphones. 3D, innit?

slim · Post by **slim** » Fri Sep 07, 2007 4:39 pm

Are any headphones good enough to use instead of nearfield monitors? I would love this to be true, as i am about to move into either uni halls or rented accomodation, neither of which i am convinced would be too keen on me treating their walls / blasting sound from monitors at all kind of hours.

I suspect though, having read many a "wtf did you mix this with headphones or something" comment in the dubs section, or the equivalent elsewhere that this isn't the case.

two oh one · Post by **two oh one** » Fri Sep 07, 2007 4:58 pm

Slim wrote:Are any headphones good enough to use instead of nearfield monitors? I would love this to be true, as i am about to move into either uni halls or rented accomodation, neither of which i am convinced would be too keen on me treating their walls / blasting sound from monitors at all kind of hours.

I suspect though, having read many a "wtf did you mix this with headphones or something" comment in the dubs section, or the equivalent elsewhere that this isn't the case.

I'm telling you, The Ultrasones sound like a pair of monitors. The sound isn't IN YOUR HEAD like with a lot of other headphones. It's outside of it.

Sometimes I think that I've accidentally left my monitors on and then realise that it's the headphones.

slim · Post by **slim** » Fri Sep 07, 2007 5:42 pm

two oh one wrote: I'm telling you, The Ultrasones sound like a pair of monitors. The sound isn't IN YOUR HEAD like with a lot of other headphones. It's outside of it.

Hmm... sounds good, were the tracks on your myspace mixed with these? (Ghost Train is fucking BIG by the way) I've heard with a lot of headphones it's impossible to get the levels right, does the 3D-ness of the sound fix this?

Will see if i can try a pair out somewhere.

two oh one · Post by **two oh one** » Fri Sep 07, 2007 5:59 pm

Slim wrote:
two oh one wrote: I'm telling you, The Ultrasones sound like a pair of monitors. The sound isn't IN YOUR HEAD like with a lot of other headphones. It's outside of it.
Hmm... sounds good, were the tracks on your myspace mixed with these? (Ghost Train is fucking BIG by the way) I've heard with a lot of headphones it's impossible to get the levels right, does the 3D-ness of the sound fix this?

Will see if i can try a pair out somewhere.

No, most of those mixes were not done on phones. The things on Myspace really need fixing. The bass just isn't right at all. Cheers for the Ghost Train compliment.

My very latest stuff is mixed on a combination of monitors and 'phones, but I haven't put any of those out yet. I think my sound has improved 200% since using the Ultrasones. I'd NEVER have attempted a headphone mix before these.

Getting levels right is all about mixing quietly. Mix quietly and feel the peaks and textures pushing through. You can never judge levels properly when things are loud, unless you're God, or something.

The Ultrasones give you a nice solid bass even at low levels. They're very even, even when quiet. The 3Dness allows you to place elements in the mix. I'm finding that I can even pan things.

The translation I'm getting off the Ultrasones matches up to what I hear everywhere else. I'm very pleased and will ahve to buy another pair.

I'll PM you a snippet of track that was mixed on phones alone. See what you think.

FSTZ · Post by **FSTZ** » Fri Sep 07, 2007 6:03 pm

I have beyer dynamic dt770's

I'm not that impressed

getting some AKG's next

flashness · Post by **flashness** » Fri Sep 07, 2007 9:48 pm

Auan wrote:The industry standard is the ones you prefer. Walk into any studio and you'll see Beyers, Shures, Sennheisers, AKGs...

I was at college doing music tech, and all the students had bought these fuckin BEASTS of headphones, bit of showing off going on. Anyway we finished a bit of work and the lecturer came round to listen. His headphones were these shitty in-ear ones that had come with his MD player (no ipods in them days). He just knew the sound of them better than this guy's noise-cancelling Sennheisers or that guy's 100 quid Beyers.

After you get past the shite ones in Maplin, there are no bad headphones, they just have different character.

Yea I agree it definitely depends how well you know the sound of your headphones in comparison to other speakers or whatever.
I used to be able to do really nice mixes with my I pod headphones, but to be honest I prefer my AKG K-271 STUDIO.

They are not so harmful to my ears lol....and great for mixin....

I love that they automatically switch off when you dont wear them so your ears dont get hot

they are really worth the money i think it was 127euros that should be about 80 quid.

Peace

Oh by the way the sounds on my ms are not mixed at all so dont think its the headphone's fault lol...i just did a little session in the Fl demo.

MARCHMELLOW · Post by **MARCHMELLOW** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 12:59 pm

two oh one wrote:
Slim wrote:
two oh one wrote: I'm telling you, The Ultrasones sound like a pair of monitors. The sound isn't IN YOUR HEAD like with a lot of other headphones. It's outside of it.
Hmm... sounds good, were the tracks on your myspace mixed with these? (Ghost Train is fucking BIG by the way) I've heard with a lot of headphones it's impossible to get the levels right, does the 3D-ness of the sound fix this?

Will see if i can try a pair out somewhere.
No, most of those mixes were not done on phones. The things on Myspace really need fixing. The bass just isn't right at all. Cheers for the Ghost Train compliment.

My very latest stuff is mixed on a combination of monitors and 'phones, but I haven't put any of those out yet. I think my sound has improved 200% since using the Ultrasones. I'd NEVER have attempted a headphone mix before these.

Getting levels right is all about mixing quietly. Mix quietly and feel the peaks and textures pushing through. You can never judge levels properly when things are loud, unless you're God, or something. The Ultrasones give you a nice solid bass even at low levels. They're very even, even when quiet. The 3Dness allows you to place elements in the mix. I'm finding that I can even pan things.

The translation I'm getting off the Ultrasones matches up to what I hear everywhere else. I'm very pleased and will ahve to buy another pair.

I'll PM you a snippet of track that was mixed on phones alone. See what you think.

which Ultrasone model have you got? i can't seem to find some that are specified for monitoring rather then just listening?

two oh one · Post by **two oh one** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 4:41 pm

http://www.ultrasone.com/htdocs/08_fram ... _index.php

I have the Proline 750s.

slim · Post by **slim** » Tue Oct 16, 2007 11:31 pm

Just thought i would bring this back to say i got the ultrasones, haven't actually taken them off since. You are right about the speaker effect, countless times i have gone to turn my speakers off when i stop only to realise they are off and it's my phones.

And probably a good thing for anything being used as monitors, they tend to make anything i make sound terrible and most of my music collection sound awesome. Big up Two Oh One on the recommendation

two oh one · Post by **two oh one** » Tue Oct 16, 2007 11:44 pm

Slim wrote:Just thought i would bring this back to say i got the ultrasones, haven't actually taken them off since. You are right about the speaker effect, countless times i have gone to turn my speakers off when i stop only to realise they are off and it's my phones.

And probably a good thing for anything being used as monitors, they tend to make anything i make sound terrible and most of my music collection sound awesome. Big up Two Oh One on the recommendation

Oh mate, glad you're liking them! Yeah, the speaker effect is weird. Happens every now and again when conditions are just right. The way the bass sounds like it's coming 'through air' has something to do with the effect, compared to other 'phones that make bass sound like a big ball between the ears.

I just got a second pair as a backup/listening pair a while back. I don't know what I'd do without them now.

barryhercules · Post by **barryhercules** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 7:17 pm

forensix (mcr) wrote:Sennheiser HD-25

i played a party with them at the weekend and they are by far the best headphones i've ever used... gettin some as soon as i can afford em

INDUSTRY STANDARD HEADPHONES

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