Headphones

I’m looking for some good headphones with accurate sound.
I want to order it, so I won’t be able to test it before I buy it.

When I look online its unclear whats good and what not, and the price range is also huge.
The Pioneer HDJ 1000 did look good to me, and it has a high frequency range, but its also expensive and there might be something cheaper and better out there :) .

So, does anybody have any suggestions about good headphones?

I use a pair of AKG 271S pro headphones, and I love them. They have a very clean and honest sound, closed which I prefer, and comfy to wear!

There are many different kinds of headphones for different purposes:

  • Mixing/Mastering Reference Headphones
  • Studio monitor headphones for recording
  • Stage monitor headphones
  • DJ headphones
  • HiFi headphones

And I can assure you, there is no headphones good for all those purposes. There are many design differences. Between those.

I assume you want reference headphones. For mixing. Those have flat frequency response, and many people are likely to discard them when listen testing at the music store, because they don’t have that cool bass. They are crucial for getting a good mix, as they don’t offer any colour to the sound. They usually have open design, which gives more natural sound.

If you want to record vocals or some mic’d instrument you may need studio monitor headphones, they have closed design and thus less bleed, and often emphasized lows to make the beat clearer.

Well, I am no pro in headphones, you are better off asking help from the salesman. There are many things to count with. How much bleed you can allow, how much noise is in your room, etc.

Thanks for the quick reply,
I’m looking for a headphone to use when making something in renoise, I currently have a creative hn-700 but I bought that for my mp3 player.

So I guess that would be a reference headphone.

So is there such thing as a headphone with a built in eq for multiple purposes?
(or is that impossible without multiple speakers?)

I’m not looking for something too expensive, just something to start with but a good first buy.

+1

Well, as said. AKG 271S is something you might want. It has closed design. Pretty good sound, and not too expensive (I think it’s around $200).

Thanks for the advice :)
I’ll think about buying this one.

AKG is definitly one of the best headphones for composing!

I use a Sennheiser HD-595, I made the decision whether I would enjoy music with it or produce music. I do a lot of both actually but enjoying good music with it gave me a good reference for composing.

Sennheiser HD 595 seems to be a lot easier to find.
The AKG 271 Studio is discontinued.

So is the Sennheiser HD 595 good when composing something in renoise?

I’m only gonna use it for composing/mixing/mastering.

I’m having a hard time getting the beats and bass to sound right with my current setup.
So as long as it doesn’t change the sound too much, and has a big enough frequency range for human hearing I’m ok with it.
And would wireless be an option?

I’ve been reading some reviews, and I seem to be pointed to k271 lots of times.
The HD-595 seems to break very quickly, so I’m not sure about that one.

But these 2 headphones are probably what I’m looking for.
271 looks best to me, so if you think I should go for something else, please convince me :)

Edit: And is that E.A.R. technology worth going for the 595?

And the AKG 271 is almost unbreakable. I’ve dropped mine countless times, no problems still.
My headphones survived the lifespan of 2 desktops, 2 laptops and a MiniMac actually, longest
running piece of gear I own to date.

I a few pair of Pioneer HDJ 1000. And I love them at the clubs. But In the studio THEY SUCK. They add alot of colour and there is to much bass in them.

I use them in the studio, but when it comes to mixing, I use monitors… And there are a huge difference in sound between the HDJ 1000 and reality. Dont buy them for studio. Buy them for Dj.

I would recommend a pair of AKG (over 150€ )

Yes HDJ are made for DJ’s they have emphasized lows, so it makes it easier to beatmatch on stage inside that noise. They are pretty useless in studio though.

I’m not going to use it for dj,
I don’t want something which might break quickly.
So I’m gonna look for a good webshop for akg k 271 (I’ve seen them for around 160 euro)

i’ve had a pair of HDJ-1000 - even two pairs.
they’re certainly one of the best headphones i ever had, sound-wise. i loved the bassy sound, the punch and the fact that you could virtually not overdrive them.
so i really can’t share the opinion that these cans are only good at dj’ing… it’s the same as it is with every sound monitoring device: you just have to know it really good.
if you heard hours and hours of well-mixed and mastered professional audio on these cans, you also know how it’s supposed to sound with your own stuff.

but of course there was a catch:
the first one broke after 3 weeks and i got an gurantee exchange.
the 2nd pair lasted for 2.5 years until it broke at the same place again.
i didn’t even do any serious DJ’ing - i ONLY used them for home-listening and composing… so i used them as studio cans actually.

so half a year ago, i was looking for something more robust, but with an equally good sound and strength in the lower frequencies.

after weeks of reading numerous tests, reviews and user opinions, i ended up ordering three headphones:
Sennheiser HD-25 C II
Sennheiser HD-650
Denon AH-D2000

the HD25 is more a less a counterpart to the pioneer, as they’re poth advertised as dj-cans.
however, the hd25 stands no chance against the pioneer… the sennheiser way metallic, untransparent and flat sounding.

next was the totally praised HD-650, which admitably, was way better than the HD-25, but it failed to convince in the bass region and also started to distort quite early.
besides that, it had a very “distanced” sound… it was way less direct than what i was used to from the pioneers.

so as you might already assume, i ended up keeping the Denons. it’s probably the most pleasant thing i’ve ever heard through a headphone. highly detailed, transparent yet lush and deep sound and a comfy fit on the head with hours and hours of listening pleasure.
they need a bit of “burn-in” until they finally settle to their actual sound, but once they did, you don’t wanna look back.
i also have a pair of Beyerdynamic DT-880 of which i always loved the mid and treble, which made them great for classic stuff, but they unfortunately failed at displaying bass-rich music like dnb, house or techno.
the DENONs seem to combine every positive aspect from the beyerdynamics and the pioneers.
they got the bass and the directness of the pioneers and the high resolution of the beyerdynamics.

if you have the money, you can’t go wrong with’em.
even though i’ve never owned / listened to any grado phones (which are regarded to be the creme-dela-creme), i heard about a lot of users, which sold their grados in favour of the D2000 or D5000 denons.

I’ve got Sennheiser HD-590’s and had them for about 8 years, they are nowhere near breaking. Don’t know if you can still get them anymore but I’m sure they’re pretty similar to the 595’s.

They are amazingly comfortable. The sound is good, although I have noticed I tend to exxagerate the high end in my mixes when using them. But I have learned to compensate for it, as everyone will have to do as they get to know their speakers/headphones

It’s still buyable at Thomann, the AKG k271 MKII even :)

http://www.thomann.de/nl/akg_k271_mkii.htm

Thanks for the info, is there a big difference between S and MKII?

Not that I know off… it looks like a pimped up S :)