[Tyler Hawes]

Long time lurker, first-time poster!

Skippable Background Info: I'm a filmmaker who gets his hands dirty with some sound design and sound editing / premixing, and I noodle around with music for personal hobby / enjoyment (trying to compose some music as well as play guitar, piano, and vocals -- all of them badly . A couple years back, reading this forum helped me settle on my current setup of AKG K712 plugged into a Burson Conductor Virtuoso w/ESS Sabre 9018 DAC/amp. It was a nice step up from my Sony MDR-7506s plugged into a Sound Blaster. My focus at the time was mainly for listening, not pro use, although I had it in the back of mind to be able to mix on them in a pinch (I have JBL Pro 6328Ps as my studio monitors).

At Present: Now I want to to expand into doing some live recording of my vocals, as well as field recording of sound effects. I have a pair of the ubiquitous Sony MDR-7506s that pop up in so many recommendation threads, but I think surely there is something better for my purposes. Isolation will be top concern, with accuracy and detail my next concerns. Budget is <$1K. In studio, I can plug directly into my Burson amp I mentioned above. In the field, it'll be plugged into a Sound Devices field recorder headphone amp. What makes the short list for me to consider?

I realize there's some other threads with similar questions, but they seemed rather old. Thank you for your help!

 

[serman005]

You might check the MrSpeakers AEON and the ZMF Atticus out. It's possible one of those two could work. The ZMF are 300 ohms, so you will need to have a decent amp for when you are in the field.

 

[Malfunkt]

It's really going to be hard at getting something that excels for both studio and field recording.

For field recording, your 7506 is quite good, but I'd recommend a venerable Sennheiser HD25 as its isolation is excellent - sound quality is very good, good enough to hear any major issues in the field. Extremely durable and it's spilt headband allows it to stay on your head through any activity. Nice flat mid range too but a somewhat flat sound. It's classic though, for good reason.

Sony MDR-7520, IMO these are really a step above that the 7506, much more detail, flat midrange, with a tilted up low-end to allow you to hear bass detail and without cranking it. You need to get a simple cable replacement if using portable, plus on windy days it's ports will make some sound (they can be taped up). Scout the web and you'll find a number of engineers who favour the 7520, even going as far as to say that mixing on it translates well. This is the closest headphone I know of that is very rugged, is designed for studio, still full-sized but portable, that can work for both studio and field recording.

 

[Tyler Hawes]

Thanks for the recommends. How are the mentioned headphones on bleed, as that would be an issue during studio recording (though not field recording)?