Headphones

I’m having a great experience with the AKG K240 Studio. One of my favorites so far. It was pretty cheap when i got it, one year ago (about £40, I think). Of course the sound is not flat in comparison to good monitors in a nice acoustic environment, but for £40 it’s absolutely more than I could ask for. I don’t like headphones with too much bass so it’s being perfect for me so far, since it’ semi-open. The only thing I don’t like about it are the mid-lows, which can feel rather muddy even in tracks with good mixing. It’s not too bad, just lacks precision (again, you can’t ask for more in £40 headphones).

However, I let it fall on the ground only 2 or 3 times and it was enough to screw the left ear a bit :confused: It’s too fragile, I think (not that you should be throwing them around). Now I get this small distortion in specific frequencies (somewhere between the lows and mids). It’s not very noticeable but kinda annoying (specially when mixing kicks, toms and bass with short attack). I hope to fix it asap.

PS: Just noticed this is a post from 2005. Well, I… hah, who cares?

dt770 80ohm for several years, i’m getting sick of these a bit, looking for a change, or at least to get semi-open or open ones, 880 perhaps :slight_smile:

What do you not like about them?

I read so many complaints about AKG sets are poorly constructed and breaks too easy, not sure if it’s just because so many more units are being sold or that AKG customers expect more as it’s one of the most renowned companies in this business?
AKG used to make things that will never break, maybe they still do it on the high end products, but definately not as much so on their cheaper products.

Distortion on the lower mid end sounds unusable for studio purposes, how do you know then if the distortion is in the mix or if it’s just the headphones?

it’s not that i do not like them for some specific reason, it’s that i love changes while perceiving the sound in general. And i really appreciate different perspective on listening as well. :slight_smile:

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Because the distortion wasn’t noticeable before it was damaged. And I’m talking about tracks I listen to frequently (not just my own projects). It’s like loose piece moving when these frequencies happen, resulting in this annoying distortion. I’ll probably just disassemble it eventually and take a look. Just don’t have the time for it now.

I got my dt770pro for £60 at a pawn shop in the u.k. So pleased with the quality to price ratio.
It would be cool if they had a detachable lead but its not a big deal at that great price.

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Sennheiser HD600 with a headphone amp, especially with acoustic music. Those give a pretty neutral overall sound and good imaging, well suited for mixing.

Like many others here, I also use DT770 pro 80 ohm with electronic music and when recording as those are closed-back design. Bass response feels good and accurate and I check bass heavy music with them when mixing as HD600 sub-bass is pretty weak and my Genelec monitors don’t go too low either. Really good value for money and doesn’t necessarily require a separate amp.

The DT880 are considered to be much more neutral compared to the DT990 and DT770 and comparable to the HD600, which sounds warmer. I´m also looking for a better headphone to use with Sonarworks and I think I´m going to get the DT880 Pro 250 Ohm (because of the cable, beside of that it is identical with the DT 880 Edition).

Here´s a good side with lots of technical infos:

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I have the dt880 pro 250 ohm version ; they are qreat but make sure your audio interface provides enough juce to drive them , it is of the utmost importance !
I am contemplating about picking up a second pair of headphones , sony mdr7506 to accompany the dt’s

I bought the Roland RH-5 for 23 pounds after my beyerdynamics broke and they are amazing for the price!

Well, different people like different headphones - depending on their subjective listening experience and preferences.
So let´s find out what makes a good pair of headphones based on objective and subjective factors.

Objectively, the main characteristics of good headphones for composing and mixing are :

  • Open Back

  • Frequency Response is as flat/neutral possible

  • Impulse Response is as short as possible

  • Harmonic Distortion is as low as possible

  • least-fatiguing as possible

  • comfortable to wear for hours

  • reasonably priced

But Subjectively, neutral sounding headphones may not always be what you want/need :

Since most headphones out there tend to be pronounced at the high-end and low-end of the frequency spectrum, and people got used to it so much -
for many it will take some time to get used to listening to a more neutral sound.
One might even be disapointed when trying a neutral sounding headphone for the first time.
But from my experience it is worth it and pays off in the long term.

Also, depending on the noise level in your working environment Closed Back headphones or In-Ear Monitors (IEMs) might work better for you.

At home i work in an open room with my wife and child around me.
I primarily use monitor speakers and the Sennheiser HD650 coupled with an headphone amp and eq.
For when it is getting noisy i use the Sennheiser IE 400 PRO in-ear monitors.
At my workplace i can only use closed back headphones which is not optimal.

In the last 20 years i used/tested quite a few pairs in the price range 120€ - 600€ with mixed results.
Like others i also started with beyerdynamic but later on started to prefer the more neutral sounding models/brands, and it is difficult for me now to still work with the DT 990 PRO for more than one hour.

Some models i used / still use and some experiences with them :

beyerdynamic DT 770 PRO 250 Ohm - ok for recording but not for composing, lack of clarity (especially in the low-end), muddy, fatiguing
beyerdynamic DT 990 PRO 250 Ohm - ok for composing, partially ok for mixing, too much high-end, fatiguing

Shure SRH1840 - ok for composing and mixing, pretty neutral and good response time, great overall sound and comfortable, unfortunately too much harmonic distortion in the low-end

Sennheiser HD 650 - ok for composing and mixing, one of the most neutral sounding headphones with good response time, great overall sound and comfortable, acceptable harmonic distortion
Sennheiser IE 400 PRO - ok for composing and mixing, very good response time, great overall sound, a bit too much low-end and high-end but much better clarity than many open back headphones

Eventually one should use monitors for mixing anyways but if you know your equipment and use reference material (like one of your own songs for example) for mixing, you can get pretty decent mixes with headphones.

Cheers !

I’ve got the dt770 32 ohm headphones and I love them. 5 hz on the bass and very comfortable. Super well built. There are better cans out there but for the bang to buck ratio I’m quite satisfied. I do my final mixing on monitors so it’s more for music production on the fly. It also makes a difference if you do any live tracking. The isolation on the dt770s are extremely good so you don’t get much bleed from the headphones while recording vocals. Not everyone will need that but it’s a must for me. Cheers!

I love mine AKG K141 MKII headphones. I use them for studio mixing and mastering (for the details in high frequencies after basic speakers mix). They sound ‘intelligent and fine’, i tweak overdrive/distortion levels with them on my head :wink:

I also use Sennheiser HD25, but they are more for performance to isolate from surroundings. They have a bit more aggressive and compact sound. They have a hyped bass - works well in this case though…

Just bought a pair of Beyerdynamic DT 1990’s and the initial impressions are really positive. Good cans for any genre, paired with a decent headphone amp. Bass goes low for being an open-back headphone and is accurate. Imaging is top-notch and every mistake can be heard from the recordings. There is good width to the soundstage but doesn’t feel too wide for the mixing purposes. After changing the “balanced” earpads for the “analytical” ones, everything feels being in balance to my ears and the usual Beyer treble spike at around 8Khz doesn’t seem to disturb my ears, although some people cannot take it with these headphones. Comfortable to wear for a long time and clearly built to last.

Need to do some more testing but so far these feel like a keeper. Good pairing for the DT 770’s that can be used for monitoring and 1990’s for mixing/mastering. Also a very different sound signature from Sennheiser HD 600 which are very nice for enjoying music and excels at mid frequencies but 1990’s are more analytical in my opinion.

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i got the Dekoni Elite Velour Pads for my DT1990 two days ago as they measured nicely according to this review: DT 1990 Pro | DIY-Audio-Heaven, so i got curious…

I have been swapping them back and forth between the OG balanced pads probably more than two dozen times.

Bass response seems identical to me and unfortuntely, that also accounts for the treble, which i was hoping to see the acclaimed tame with. As imaging seems to be a bit worse with the Dekonis, i am back to the balanced pads for good.

Afterall, i find the sound of the DT1990 very enjoyable out of the box, as long as the music is mixed and mastered well. They actually do what they’re supposed to do with bad mixes: expose them while making them feel painful (sibilant) to listen to.
Well mixed songs are such a pleasure to listen to with these. They also seem to translate well to my monitors (HEDD Type 07), as with my own mixes, only minor adjmustments have to be made after working with the cans during a long session.

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DT 1990 Pro

Frequency response: 5 - 40,000 Hz

I didn’t know that was even possible, that’s nuts
:astonished:

Just have a little patience about the harshness. My 880 Pro were peaky in the beginning as well, but with time the sound got softer, and the background got more deep and detailed. Now I have no more peakiness, only recordings that have too much treble will sound a little unpleasant. Which is a good sign that there is too much in your own, if it tickles. But the bass also got softer and less focused than in the beginning. Well, you can’t have everything.

I also own a pair 880 and 770. Both headphones have changed their sound over time because the pads got worn out and compressed, so that your ears get closer to the driver. You can restore the original sound by applying new pads.

DT990 Pro 600Ω are my go-to for everything now. Paired with a Mayflower O2 DAC/amp. Eyewear is used, and so far these are the only cans I can wear both for music, gaming and comfort without being fatigued 4 hours later. Originally had silver cans, but never really wore them as much (got black ones now) as I read about the cups yellowing from ears.

I will likely sell them off at some point when the coof situation settles down here, and let the silver cans maintenance be someone else’s problem.

While I have custom made studio monitors, room treatment isn’t afforded in my case (though there are workarpunds), so headphones are the way to go.

Next upgrade will be planar or electrostats, likely the latter.