can you recommend me some closed headphones?

[ashjamben]

i want some decent headphones for monitoring whilst recording and also whilst mixing some midi tracks within logic, as i don't have any monitor speakers.

anything under £100, and no more, thats a maximum.

i've read the sticky buyers guide and had a look around at some stuff by Sennheiser, AKG and beyerdynamic but not exactly sure what to get

i know people might straight away say 'you shouldn't mix down with headphones', but the truth is a pair of decent headphones will sound better than my macbook's speakers and i can't afford headphones and monitors. i need some headphones for university soon and i will be buying some monitors hopefully some time in the future anyway.

thanks for readings

just to add i'll be recording and composing quite a variety of style of music, from rock, acoustic, electro, etc if this makes any difference to your recommendations.

 

[le masseur aveugle]

i dont know if it still exist, but the koss pro4aat sounds awesome to me. dont need a powerfull amp. sounds vivid and quite good for every taste.

 

[Almoxil]

I guess AKG K271S are in your price range... They're isolate very well, and should be interesting for monitoring.

Edit: oh, sorry, they need to be amped to be fully enjoyed... if you have an amp (even a portable one), then I keep my suggestion.

 

[ashjamben]

ye i suppose i should mention i need some 'phones that don't need an amp

i've been reading up on the sennheiser HD280 pros and they seem pretty good, yeah?

 

[stevieo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ashjamben /img/forum/go_quote.gif ye i suppose i should mention i need some 'phones that don't need an amp i've been reading up on the sennheiser HD280 pros and they seem pretty good, yeah?

they are better than good!

without an amp they are very good and an excellent value.

if you intend on using an amp, then things change.

 

[lweijs]

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevieo /img/forum/go_quote.gif they are better than good! without an amp they are very good and an excellent value. if you intend on using an amp, then things change.

Hmm I've read quite a few that said they weren't really comfortable and the headband apparantly breaks 'easy'?
If you're planning to not use an amp the HD280's are a better choice then the AKG K271's (on a pc with something like the Creative X-fi's)?

 

[stevieo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lweijs /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hmm I've read quite a few that said they weren't really comfortable and the headband apparantly breaks 'easy'? If you're planning to not use an amp the HD280's are a better choice then the AKG K271's (on a pc with something like the Creative X-fi's)?

i have listened to the hd-280 pro & like them much better than the akg 271s. the 271s sounds like a hollow tunnel to me. i tried lining the inside of the shells with a thin layer blu-tack to deaden the tunnel effect but was not happy with the result. i find the hd-280 pro very comfortable. however, i do not know about their durability because i have never owned a pair long enough. but i have given away a few pair as gifts & have recommended them to people who do not use amps & they seem to like them. i have owned the 271s for a fair period of time & they are also very comfortable and very durable to be sure but my ears got really hot after about 20 minutes. i guess they would be good for me as ear muffs on a cold winter day. i do miss not having them only for that purpose.

 

[lweijs]

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevieo /img/forum/go_quote.gif i have listened to the hd-280 pro & like them much better than the akg 271s. the 271s sounds like a hollow tunnel to me. i tried lining the inside of the shells with a thin layer blu-tack to deaden the tunnel effect but was not happy with the result. i find the hd-280 pro very comfortable. however, i do not know about their durability because i have never owned a pair long enough. but i have given away a few pair as gifts & have recommended them to people who do not use amps & they seem to like them. i have owned the 271s for a fair period of time & they are also very comfortable and very durable to be sure but my ears got really hot after about 20 minutes. i guess they would be good for me as ear muffs on a cold winter day. i do miss not having them only for that purpose.

Ok, thanks for your opinion

 

[moogoob]

I like the 280s- but beware when using them to mix - they are FLAT, frequency-response-wise. I mixed a track to sound good in Garageband, and when I played it on my PC speaker setup (Altec Lansing sattelites/sub circa 2002 - overly warm sounding) the bass was so strong it was clipping. Just keep this in mind, that what you hear in the 280s is the flat audio, and as most equipment has more bass than the 280s you might end up inadvertently making some overly bassy tracks when played back on average equipment.

Or this might be a good thing, no clue.

 

[stevieo]

sorry. missed the part about mixing.

i agree with moogoob that the 271s would probably be more suitable for mixing since they are way more neutral and are studio cans. the hd-280 pro seems more suited to just listening to & enjoying already well mixed music.

 

[Philco]

I wouldn't say the K271S are more neutral. They really sound like an "hollow tunnel" to me. There is hardly any bass and the mids are very phasey. The K271S is a very unpleasant set of cans.

The HD280 sound much better IMO. While their mids are weird and a bit nasally and peaky, the bass response is good while the treble extends nicely.

One should never mix with headphones without using some kind of crossfeed, otherwise the bass will be screwed up. Even if you have mega resolving headphones, it's a fact that the bass response is heard differently through phones than through speakers. This is why the bass doesn't translate well to speakers. You can't blame it on the HD280 or any headphones for that matter. Use some kind of crossfeed or speaker simulator and hear how the bass translates better.

 

[Almoxil]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Philco /img/forum/go_quote.gif I wouldn't say the K271S are more neutral. They really sound like an "hollow tunnel" to me. There is hardly any bass and the mids are very phasey. The K271S is a very unpleasant set of cans. (...)

If you're talking about unamped you may be right, but add an amp to the chain (even a portable, like my Corda Move) and it's another story. I'm using a Zero desktop amp with rolled opamps (2 OPA627APs on BrownDog on the DAC section and 2 LME49720 on the amp section) to drive my K271S, and my experience is completely different: well balanced sound, great mids and quite some bass slam. These cans really need to be amped.

 

[Philco]

I used a quite popular headphone distribution amp that is known to drive pretty much anything besides maybe super hard to drive 600 ohms monsters.

The phasey character is due to the closed design. It seems AKG just can't make a closed design that sounds good/very good.

Maybe using my own amp would yield some deeper bass, but I don't think it will solve the weirdness in the mids. And even then, the bass would still be pretty anemic by my standards (a DT770 has just enough bass for me).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Almoxil /img/forum/go_quote.gif If you're talking about unamped you may be right, but add an amp to the chain (even a portable, like my Corda Move) and it's another story. I'm using a Zero desktop amp with rolled opamps (2 OPA627APs on BrownDog on the DAC section and 2 LME49720 on the amp section) to drive my K271S, and my experience is completely different: well balanced sound, great mids and quite some bass slam. These cans really need to be amped.

 

[Almoxil]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Philco /img/forum/go_quote.gif I used a quite popular headphone distribution amp that is known to drive pretty much anything besides maybe super hard to drive 600 ohms monsters. The phasey character is due to the closed design. It seems AKG just can't make a closed design that sounds good/very good. Maybe using my own amp would yield some deeper bass, but I don't think it will solve the weirdness in the mids. And even then, the bass would still be pretty anemic by my standards (a DT770 has just enough bass for me).

To each their own. Maybe it's a matter of taste: you don't like AKGs, I don't like Senns, others don't like Grados and so on...

 

[Philco]

Well, maybe...but I like my K240S a lot

It's true that I intesely hate Grados though.
I'm a Beyer guy !

Quote:

Originally Posted by Almoxil /img/forum/go_quote.gif To each their own. Maybe it's a matter of taste: you don't like AKGs, I don't like Senns, others don't like Grados and so on...