Need to find a good set of Monitoring Cans

Is $100 pushing it too far? If it's not, I have just the headphone for you!

 

If that is within your budget, then I highly recommend you the Audio Technica M50.

 

Those are definitely superior to the HD280, and will serve you well if you decide to buy them.

I was going to say the M50 also, but you mentioned you don't want anything too bassy. The M50 would not be something you'd like because of this I think. Otherwise I could suggest them. Maybe they're still worth checking into. For monitoring i'd never want that much bass though, but that's just me.

 

 

I was trying to come up with some ideas for you, but there's few I can suggest.

 

You mentioned you have the Koss Pro-4aat. One idea is to try the Koss DJ PRo 100. They would be perfect based on your requirements. It meets every one of them. They seem to be one of the most detailed Koss headphones out of the four i've tried.

Don't let the DJ label fool you. They have bass, but not a ton of it like I once thought. I guess it depends on the music. They're also more detailed then the M50 by far. I'd also say they're some of the most accurate headphones i've tried, just like my HD-600.

 

They're also closed and only $50-$80 at any Best Buy. I think BB still has them on sale for $50.

 

Maybe the Sony MDR-V6 might be worth trying. I find they do have too much bass for me, but maybe not as much as the M50. The V6's have a ton of detail like the DJ Pro 100.

The DT48 junkies haven't shown up yet? That's the pair you want - transparent, dead neutral and very accurate. Now, they're over $300 new, but used ones turn up around $100. They've been in production forever (since the early 1950s, I think) and Beyerdynamic still sells any replacement part you'd want. They're also specifically designed for monitoring and used as such by Nagra and other companies. I don't monitor, but the DT48 is a real favorite for acoustic, vocal and unamplified instrumental music I listen to.

Another to consider is the AKG K-240DF. They're out of production, but turn up regularly. The Sennheiser HD-600 is also great, but a used DT48 should be half the cost and will sound better for what you need.

For your requirements, I would definitely look into the AKG K 271 MK II (personal experience) or Sony MDR-V6/7506 (from reading around).

CD900ST :D

Not a big sony v6 fan here. The AKG's sound more neutral to my ears....especially the 240DF but you need some sort of amp. I think there's two sets on the for sale forum at the moment. An old k240M is also a good option. You can find them on ebay every day of the week...but they also need an amp. I would recommend the dt250 over the v6, but it may be out of your price range...the 80ohm version should be fine without a dedicated amp.

People on this forum seem to love the M-50's.

I have also looked at the equation RP-21.

I have not been able to listen to either can.

I am leaning toward the M-50.

Just my 2 cents.

Beware the M50 it is not that good, just FOTM. For monitoring the SHR-440 are better.

Another solid option that we've been recommending lately is the Fostex T50RP, which gives you everything you are looking for at a reasonable price.  They are quite detailed, especially if you pop 'em open and dampen the back a bit.

 

As with some of the others that have been recommended, you will need a reasonable level of amping to drive them, but hopefully you have a solid source for monitoring and mixing.

I don't agree with you on them being FOTM, but that's just my opinion. Can a headphone be FOTM for what seems like a year?! Have you even tried them to call them not that good? Just wondering. I'm not a huge fan of the M50s, but they're still good.

Why are people even suggesting the M50s? He said he wanted something not too bass heavy. The M50s are definitely bass heavy.

 

I totally forgot about the SRH-440s. Those may be perfect. If you can find the SRH-840 for under $150 I'd get those instead. They're hard to find for $150, so they never really fell into the category of being something not too expensive.

maybe the SRH840?

its about 170-180US$

and definitely not bass heavy like the M50..

DT48 also.

Save time and go for the K-702. I use them with my Apogee mini DAC for mixing and mastering.

DT48, if you have the dough.

My beef with using the dt48 for monitoring is the roll off on both ends. some cymbal crashes for instance, that are very audible with the k240Df are barely audible at all with the dt48. The low bass roll off is another issue, but for monitoring the mid range they are excellent. RP21 is quite bass heavy, but pretty neutral otherwise. An extensive review of studio headphones in Sound on Sound magazine rated the shure 440 very highly...higher than the m50, FWIW.