[cskippy]

The OP asked for the best studio headphones.  This means a headphone with no excessive dips or peaks in the frequency response.  I spent over a week with the PM3 and they're kind of like the Elear in that they have a lower treble suckout which is in the critical 4kHz range.  This is a critical area for vocals, stringed instruments and percussion.  Basically every real instrument needs this area to be represented appropriately.  I'm not knocking them, cause they sounded great, their just not meant for mixing/mastering.  
 
PM3:

 
DT880: with extra black foam piece that your ear touches

 

[Me x3]

Really? You comparing an Ortho with an old dynamic semi-open Beyer? You own a PM?
Definitly wrong statement about the PM3.

Ortho is not necessarily better than voice-coil dynamic, and newer is not necessarily better.
DT880 has proven to be among the finest choices among neutralish headphones for years. It measures pretty much the same as HD800. Well, in fact it's the other way around: HD800 measures pretty much the same as DT880.
 
Won't talk for the PM, but the "old dynamic semi-open Beyer" is a very capable headphone that best many newer designs in terms of neutrality, extension at both ends, treble quality, soundstage and so on...

 

[Sinocelt]

inner|fidelity measurements:

1. Sennheiser HD 800
2. Beyerdynamic DT 880 (32 ohm)
3. Beyerdynamic DT 880 (250 ohm)
4. Beyerdynamidc DT 880 (600 ohm)

 

[Me x3]

  inner|fidelity measurements:

1. Sennheiser HD 800
2. Beyerdynamic DT 880 (32 ohm)
3. Beyerdynamic DT 880 (250 ohm)
4. Beyerdynamidc DT 880 (600 ohm)

I've always found some innerfidelity measurements misleading. Those are good examples.
Everybody knows the HD800 is clearly bright but it doesn't look that bright on IF measurements.
Similarly, it is well known that DT880 has a peak at 6kHz and then other peak at 8kHz (like on the graph @cskippy posted), but that's not what IF measurements show. HD650 is a mid-bassy headphone and it looks relatively flat on IF measurements.
 
I really appreciate all the hard work at Innerfidelity, don't get me wrong. But sometimes, I prefer other third party measurements, as they closer reflect my experience (listening and measuring)
 
Here you have for reference, the frequency response of my HD800 and my DT880 (overlapped)
 
Green trace is DT880 Pro - Pink Trace is HD800

 

[cskippy]

I couldn't have said it better. Innerfidelity measurements sometimes hid peaks and dips in the treble. My measurements are almost exactly the same as yours with my stock DT880. I added an additional black earside foam piece which squished the frequency response slightly making it more linear and smoothing out some of the peaks.

 

[Me x3]

I couldn't have said it better. Innerfidelity measurements sometimes hid peaks and dips in the treble. My measurements are almost exactly the same as yours with my stock DT880. I added an additional black earside foam piece which squished the frequency response slightly making it more linear and smoothing out some of the peaks.

Yes, our measurements look very much alike. 
Here they are, scaled and overalapped:
 
Brighter green is my DT880 Pro

 

[Sinocelt]

Marshall is releasing a Bluetooth version of its Monitor Headphone. I tried the latter, and I'm not sure they even qualify as monitor headphones, to be honest.

 

[Sinocelt]

The Status Audio CB-1 are currently on Massdrop.
 
There's a thread on those headphones here.

 

[MattKelly]

Would anyone here be able to offer a direct comparison between these three headphones:

- Audio Technica ATH-M70X
- Sony MDR-7520
- Oppo PM-3

I will be using them for professional gaming, actually. Now, before anyone questions my choice for a neutral closed back headphone for gaming - I can explain! Closed back because I will be using these at loud tournament venues, in a noisy NYC apartment, and also for close-up microphone monitoring. Neutral because I am looking to analyze the entire frequency range for positional queues in-game. I'm not worried about soundstage nearly as much as imaging and analytical detail. I will be using virtual surround, HRTF, and binaural processing to create the sense of spacial accuracy required.

Actually, I often find IEM's even better for the criteria above. However, I need to wear these for incredibly long hours and I just couldn't live with the discomfort of deep insertion IEM's all day (i.e. Etymotic). It's also a hassle taking them in and out so frequently.

So, that led me here. I narrowed down my interest to the three headphones above. From my extensive research, this is what I seem to understand (please correct me if I'm wrong!). The M70X seems to be just shy of neutral in the bass, with more focus towards the high end. The PM-3, with it's slightly rolled off treble, makes it a little less analytical towards the high end. Lastly, the 7520 puts more emphasis (by comparison) in both the low and high ends.

If anyone is able to offer a direct comparison and/or advice regarding my criteria, I'd really appreciate it! Thanks in advance.

 

[Sinocelt]

Sorry I can't answer your clear and precise question, but I wanted to mention that not all IEMs, even those that isolate well, are as uncomfortable as the Etys. Actually, even the Etys aren't as uncomfortable as the Etys, once you change the tips. The silicone Ety tips are stupidly uncomfortable, and the foam tips not all that great; you could try replacing them by tips from Future Sonics, Shure, or Westone. For easy in-out, I would recommend the Shure "black olive" tips, as they don't hurt when you pull them out of your ears and don't need time to expand when you shove them back in.
 
You won't find many headphones, even closed-back headphones, that isolate really well in noisy surroundings. The exception would be headphones I've seen (not tried) made from noise-blocking earmuffs, but the sound quality probably isn't high enough for your gaming needs. I'm talking about models such as this one (Howard Leight is well-known for its noise-blocking earmuffs -- not for its headphones).
 
From personal experience, the MDR-7509HD isolates better than the ATH-M50. I know, those aren't the models you mentioned, but that's all I have to offer. /

 

[MattKelly]

  Sorry I can't answer your clear and precise question, but I wanted to mention that not all IEMs, even those that isolate well, are as uncomfortable as the Etys. Actually, even the Etys aren't as uncomfortable as the Etys, once you change the tips. The silicone Ety tips are stupidly uncomfortable, and the foam tips not all that great; you could try replacing them by tips from Future Sonics, Shure, or Westone. For easy in-out, I would recommend the Shure "black olive" tips, as they don't hurt when you pull them out of your ears and don't need time to expand when you shove them back in.
 
You won't find many headphones, even closed-back headphones, that isolate really well in noisy surroundings. The exception would be headphones I've seen (not tried) made from noise-blocking earmuffs, but the sound quality probably isn't high enough for your gaming needs. I'm talking about models such as this one (Howard Leight is well-known for its noise-blocking earmuffs -- not for its headphones).
 
From personal experience, the MDR-7509HD isolates better than the ATH-M50. I know, those aren't the models you mentioned, but that's all I have to offer. /

Thank you for the nice response! I've experimented with a ton of different tips for my Etymotic IEM's. The problem was less to do with my tip selection, and more to do with my ear canals. It is very difficult for me to (comfortably) get the driver up to the second bend. Sure, I could go the route of custom tips, but then the driver does not sit deep enough within the ear canal. For me, I feel like the only way that I'd want to stick with IEM's completely, would be if I used shallow insertion only. I'm not talking earbud shallow, but just something that doesn't require me to venture second-bend-deep through my twisty ear canals! For example, I looked at the RE-00 as being neutral and shallow insertion, but I question how much isolation those will offer versus a closed headphone. I eventually got fed up and just decided to look at closed studio monitors.

Although you may not be able to offer a first person user perspective, do you happen to know which of these headphones (M70X, 7520, PM-3) would offer the best detail, imaging, and positional accuracy (soundstage aside)? Thanks again!

 

[Sinocelt]

  Thank you for the nice response! I've experimented with a ton of different tips for my Etymotic IEM's. The problem was less to do with my tip selection, and more to do with my ear canals. It is very difficult for me to (comfortably) get the driver up to the second bend. Sure, I could go the route of custom tips, but then the driver does not sit deep enough within the ear canal. For me, I feel like the only way that I'd want to stick with IEM's completely, would be if I used shallow insertion only.

 
Or custom IEMs?
 
 

Although you may not be able to offer a first person user perspective, do you happen to know which of these headphones (M70X, 7520, PM-3) would offer the best detail, imaging, and positional accuracy (soundstage aside)? Thanks again!

 
No, sorry. If no one in this thread can answer this question, maybe you could ask it also in the big 7520 or PM-3 threads.

 

[cskippy]

I really liked the ergonomics and mostly the sound of my 64 Audio U8.  With JVC Spiral dots the fit was amazing and the sound, although a little to dark for my taste was very good.  
 
I think maybe the U5 or U6 might be a good choice.  Also, maybe something from Spartan Ears as they have now adopted the ADEL tech which I am a fan of.  

 

[Sinocelt]

The GermanMAESTRO GMP 8.35 are on Massdrop for $170. A good deal if you live in the States, where they sell for $250, but not if you live in Europe, where they sell for less than €160.

 

[PaganDL]

MattKelly,

In response to your question regarding comparison of the M70X, 7520, PM-3 for your needs, subjective but personal preference & maybe bias but the PM 3 would be a good choice.

I own the PM 3 but have tried the other two extensively in a similiar situation to what you require (mine is sound monitoring).

By the way, have you tried any of the three headphones you're interested in as close to a realistic demo situation as you would have in your apartment as just studying the specs doesn't tell you much in the real world.

Compared to the Sony & AT, PM 3 uses a Planar Magnetic Driver hence PM which technically is a more vibrationally stable driver where sound is concerned as it requires less air to move compared to the standard dynamic driver which the other two use. In a real world sense, this means there is a sense of more accuracy and detail, not to mention if you have a good source, especially in gaming, you can respond to your surroundings more quickly and accurately. For example, say your response time in a FPS to react to someone behind you may be a certain amount of time and you might not know where they coming at you from once you turn around but with a good headphone like the PM 3, you would know before you turn around & maybe react even before they shoot.

Also, as I didn't see anything post wise before this page, another headphone for you to consider & hopefully not confuse things for you would be the Shure 940 as in terms of your current three choices, remember subjective, it sits between the 7520 & PM 3 sound wise and will more than serve your needs for imagining & analytical detail, remember source dependant as always...

Also, good fit with IEMs are tricky, personally & this is subjective again but I use comply's in medium size for my AT E70 which I wear all day long when I'm out with no discomfort or faitgue.

Hope this helps...