[Bryford]

Hi everyone.  I'm needing some expertise to help me make a good decision.
 
I write electronic music. If I was to sub-categorise, I would say it's fairly aggressive dance music (not dub step though). I would invest in decent monitors, but as I have plans in travelling in the future, I would like to get some decent headphones. The main purpose for me wanting to get new headphones is to assist me with getting a good mix when putting my music together, thus aiding me in production. Therefore I'm wanting something that is very honest, neutral and more "flat" in it's frequency response (my main priorities). 
 
I have been mainly looking at the Sennheiser hd600's and the hd650's. Given my style of music and main purpose for the headphones, are these appropriate models? Will they drive electronic music well? Of the two models what would be better for my needs? Lastly, are there any other models that may be better for what I want/need? 

Note: I wouldn't like to go too far north of the price range of the hd600/hd650s.
 
Thanks a heap. Any advice would be really appreciated.

 

[FancyDan]

While I can see why you would want to get very neutral headphones to use as monitors, I think the Audio Technica ATH M-50s are the perfect monitors for electronic music. Now, before you shoot me down saying "why would you recommend the M-50 to someone who is in the market for HD600 prices" hear me out, because there are a variety of good reasons and that money could be better spent overall for what you're trying to do.
 
The ATH-M50 is the perfect headphone for mixing electronic music due to it's sound signature and strong, but not overwhelming bass response. It simply has that perfect balance between a slight bass emphasis, and a more flat signature that hits exactly the point you would want for what people are going to be hearing on the dancefloor at gigs, and have that solid immediacy and punch that you simply aren't going to get out of the HD600. They are simply the best mastering workhorse headphones you can get, and are just better for what you are trying to do than the Senns. 
 
With that extra money you could then go out (figuratively that is, does anyone actually leave their house to buy headphones anymore?) and buy one of a few pairs of headphones for DJing, which is really equally important to mastering and writing. The headphones that spring to mind in my experience would have to be the V-Moda Crossfade M-100, the Senn HD-25 DJ Headphones (a classic), the Beats Mixr (an HD-25 ripoff, but with slightly less boomy bass and some cool features), or the Pioneer HDJ-2000. All of these would be incredible DJ headphones, and now pair them with you M-50s! You have all you need in headphones to make all the awesome tracks you want, and then go show them off during your gigs! 
 
If, on the other hand, you want headphones that allow you to luxuriate in detailed sound, I would recommend the HD600, as well as the beyerdynamic DT880. These headphones have different advantages and disadvantages. The DT880s have such an immediacy that the HD600 don't compete with, but the HD600 have a bit better bass response (IMO) and more natural sound curve. Well there ya go! My overall opinion.

 

[Bryford]

Hi FancyDan.
 
Aww thanks so much for your insightful and in-depth answer. I have glanced over the ATM-M50 before, and heard them mentioned in many forums, so clearly they must be held up as pretty solid headphones. At this point I'm not quite at the stage to be doing DJ'ing yet, but I've writing music for years, and I really feel I've got to the point, where I want to start taking it quite seriously. It might sound like I'm getting you to repeat yourself, but you think for electronic dance music, the ATM-M50 would help getting better mixes than the HD 600's? Even though the frequency response isn't quite as neutral as the 600s they would still be "honest" and "flat-ish" enough for me to get intelligent and balanced mixes? For punchy music, would the 600's, um, like drag a bit? What exactly do you mean by immediacy? Someone told me the HD600s might not be "fast" enough for electronic music, someone else told me, he wouldn't think it would be much of a problem.

It's interesting the audio community seems to be a bit divided on the HD600s vs the HD650s (from what I've read). I actually listened to the HD600's the other day (in a store, I don't believe they were burned in, or anything) and personally I found the highs a little bit sparkly for me, but the sound really was clean, and clear and crisp. I know the 650s tilt a tiny bit darker, and I was wondering if the 650's might have a sound that I prefer. Then again I'm wondering if my initial reaction to the HD600 (which was positive for the most part) was because, in all honesty, I'm used to more consumer headphones. So at least for me, just can I start the process of elimination, you think the 600's over the 650s?

Also with this headphones is it really paramount that I run them through amps?

Once again, thanks for your time

 

[FancyDan]

I've been producing and DJing electronic music for years, and while I can't say I've used the HD650 to monitor dance music very much, the HD600 simply isn't what you want for it (again, IMO) due to the lack of immediacy it seems to have to my ears. You simply don't get that level of feeling in tune with the rhythm that some other headphones could give you. If you're not in the market for DJ headphones (although I have to say, if you're writing electronic music you should try your best to be djing your tracks out whenever possible, but that's a whole different topic) than maybe you could go for the HD600. However, despite my limited time with the HD650, I would think they would be much better headphones to monitor dance music with. They lack on bass for my personal taste, but they have so much drive and punch when listening to stuff like Justice or Fatboy Slim. They sounded pretty good on the hyper detailed tracks of The M Machine as well. 
 
To answer your second question: yes, you absolutely, positively, beyond a shadow of the doubt need a good amp to run any of the headphones we're talking about properly at all. If you didn't have an amp that could bring out the real potential of those headphones, you might as well now even buy either the HD600 or 650, because you'd just be wasting a lot of your money on quality that's not even being powered properly. I would recommend the Shiit Magni and Mogi, a super classy combo of a gorgeous solid state pre-amp and a usb DAC that's 100x better than whatever is in the computer you're producing on, that deliver jaw-dropping sound that's totally competitive with setups twice, and even triple the price (they go for about 100 each).
 
Well there you have it. Hope I answered your questions!

 

[Bryford]

Thanks so much Dan. I will definitely look into what you said and take it into account.

 

[jibzilla]

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