[The KoNE]

Hey,
 
     I'm putting together a little home studio with some friends. We got some investment coming in and I need to select a pair of production headphones. I used to know what was what about five years ago, but a whole lot has changed since then.
 
     Here's the deal. We do mostly songwriting in a home studio and regularly track vocals for our song templates. As such, I'm looking to purchase two pairs of headphones, of closed design, circumaural or supraaural. They must not bleed, be durable and comfortable. Bonus points can be scored for serviceability, phone style cord and style. I have a very strong prejudice against buds. I know there's some good stuff out there, but I'll swear they'll be destroyed within two weeks. It's a studio, a workplace. We do music at least 6 hours a day every day. Money is no object... unless you go really stupid in the high end.
 
     Right now my guys have been using a pair of Dr. Dre Beats or whatever those $h##cans are called. Yeah they're stylish, but they sound like tin.
 
      I've had a pair of classic Sony 7509s for the longest time, actually I've been wearing them every day for six years now. I have my gripes you know : they fall off your head if you lean forward and... uhh... that's pretty much it. The Beyerdynamics DT-250 look very yummy to me. Pretty much what I'm expecting to pay.
 
     As I said, I'm looking for suggestions as I'll get my two guys to try them out and choose whatever they like the best.

     I know there's all the info I need on this forum somewhere, but I need to put this together pretty quickly. Pointing me to those threads if my questions have already been addressed by previous threads would be very much appreciated.
 
Thanks!
 
Alexis.
Just moved to LA! It's awesome!

 

[Crowe09]

Hello...
The Shure SRH 840's are a good choice for monitoring headphones. 
 
Check this thread....
 
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/492628/studio-headphones-any-recomendation
 
Enjoy!

 

[spartan123]

Look for some used DT48's

 

[joelpearce]

The Beyerdynamic DT150/250 should give you everything you need.  The fact that they both have all user-replaceable parts should help in your position as well.  

 

[Acix]

I use the K-702 for mixing and mastering, for vocal I can recommend you the K-240MKll, K-271MKll, or and the GMP 8.35.

 

[rusitnpiece]

Quote:

Hello...
The Shure SRH 840's are a good choice for monitoring headphones. 
 
Check this thread....
 
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/492628/studio-headphones-any-recomendation
 
Enjoy!

I wouldn't say the Shure SRH-840's are a viable choice for some people. They are not exactly comfortable. They are heavy and move around quite a bit on my head, i cant wear them for more than 30mins. For vocal production i would choose my Sony MDR-7506's any day of the week! 

 

[lejaz]

The DT250 will get you pretty close to the dt48 in sound quality and flatness with a more  realistic level of bass, IMO. Sound on Sound Mag did a review of studio headphones and gave them higher marks than the shure 840 and the m50. The 7509 came out on top for closed phones...the beyer second.

 

[TheWuss]

Quote:

 
 
     Right now my guys have been using a pair of Dr. Dre Beats or whatever those $h##cans are called. Yeah they're stylish, but they sound like tin.
 

you are forgiven. 

 

 

[priest]

OP, in addition to what Acix suggested, and since he's a studio pro you should probably listen to him over me, I would suggest you try to hear the MDR-7509HD. Maybe Acix can weigh in on these -- I'd be interested to hear his impressions. Here's a thread with some users comparing the 7509 vs the 7509HD:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/479159/sony-mdr-7509-hd-vs-7509
 
You might also find this interesting, pointed out by lejaz:
 
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jan10/articles/studioheadphones.htm

 

[Acix]

 
Quote:

OP, in addition to what Acix suggested, and since he's a studio pro you should probably listen to him over me, I would suggest you try to hear the MDR-7509HD. Maybe Acix can weigh in on these -- I'd be interested to hear his impressions. Here's a thread with some users comparing the 7509 vs the 7509HD:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/479159/sony-mdr-7509-hd-vs-7509
 
You might also find this interesting, pointed out by lejaz:
 
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jan10/articles/studioheadphones.htm

I think your suggestion is good and can work here. I just don't know the 7509, but I do have some experience with the previous model the 7506 and I'm not crazy about the Sony's but they can work good for vocals, I just prefer the mids of the AKG's and I think even the Fostex's will do a good job over the 7506's. But again just my personal preference here.

 

[lejaz]

Maybe k271 would work, since the OP wants closed. Unfortunately the reviewers at Sound on Sound left that one out of their test. I would have liked to see how it compared to the other closed ones they tested.
 
Quote:

 

I think your suggestion is good and can work here. I just don't know the 7509, but I do have some experience with the previous model the 7506 and I'm not crazy about the Sony's but they can work good for vocals, I just prefer the mids of the AKG's and I think even the Fostex's will do a good job over the 7506's. But again just my personal preference here.

 

[BlackSushi222]

I can suggest the RP-21 .

 

[kool bubba ice]

240DF/DT48e/German Meastro studio pro headphones/K141/K171

 

[The KoNE]

Thank you for your comments! The SoS article was great for sorting out through the crowd and picking up things that I knew would make cans slide out of my selection, especially comments about extended use.
 
I'm glad to see I was on the right track. I narrowed it down to the legacy 7509s, the DT-250, DT-770, AKG-271 MKII, and GMP 8.35 D. (I've had a huge crush for the DT-250 for the longest time. I really hope I get to buy at a pair!)
 
Unfortunately, I filtered out everything semi-open. Spillage is very important for me.
 
I love Head-Fi! (BTW, I bought my 7509s from a Head-Fi member in Montreal yeeears ago.)
 
Can't wait to burn in those new pairs!
 
Alexis.

 

[kool bubba ice]

Bass is very realistic with the right synergry & amping..
Quote:

The DT250 will get you pretty close to the dt48 in sound quality and flatness with a more  realistic level of bass, IMO. Sound on Sound Mag did a review of studio headphones and gave them higher marks than the shure 840 and the m50. The 7509 came out on top for closed phones...the beyer second.