[DeBateMusic]

Hi There,
 
I create music and also am really into my mixing and mastering and do it for other artists as well. Obviously I do my main mixing through speakers but I really like to compare and check back to headphones as well. I use an Apogee Duet 2 as my audio interface and am currently using B&W P5s which are very nice (generally) but in terms of clarity when volume is turned up through the Duet they can distort ever so slightly so I am wanting to use these just for iPod and mobile use (what they are designed for).
 
Anyway, enough of my life story. I was wondering what peoples experiences and opinions are on which monitor headphones are best to use between Open & Closed back designs.
 
Sound leakage is not an issue for me but I read about the apparent low end differences (open having less & closed having more). I am basically looking for the flattest most realistic to life sounding headphones. I create all different genres so want every frequency range to be handled as equally and as clearly as possible.
 
So any opinions & personal experiences that you may have please post as I really want to do my research before spending out a lot of money!!
 
Thanks very much in advance.

 

[stv014]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeBateMusic /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
Sound leakage is not an issue for me but I read about the apparent low end differences (open having less & closed having more). I am basically looking for the flattest most realistic to life sounding headphones. I create all different genres so want every frequency range to be handled as equally and as clearly as possible.

It is indeed easier to get more sub-bass with a closed design, however, open tends to have the advantage of a more even frequency response with less dips and peaks (for example, many closed headphones have an audible dip somewhere in the 3-6 kHz range). Obviously, higher end implementations of both designs reduce their respective disadvantages to reasonable levels, but open tends to become more common as the price increases.
 

 

[DeBateMusic]

Thank you very much for your input!
 
It seems from reading around that open may be the ones to go for and as you mentioned they are probably more common. And the thought of the closed back design possibly (even if very slightly) over emphasising on the bass puts me off a bit. Especially if a lot of them tend to have an audible dip like you say as well.
 
Do you have any recommendations on particular makes? I'm currently looking at reviews on AKG Q701 and there are not many bad comments but a bit worried if they might a bit "gimmicky" with them being the "Quincy Jones" range. I realise though that they would be higher quality then something like Dre Beats or Beiber or something. Also seen good reviews on Beyerdynamic DT990 PRO.
 
P.S if you happen to be from the UK do you have any idea where there are shops I can actually try out a wide range of headphones? (that question goes to anyone else in the UK who happens to read this)

 

[maverickronin]

The Q701 is just a K701 with extra bling added by the marketing department and the K701 has been around for a while with lots of fans (and a few detractors) around here.  Whatever faults one might ascribe to it it was designed as an audiophile headphone first.
 
The K702 is the "professional" version and the same thing as the Q701 but with without the crazy colors.

 

[ssrock64]

Richer Sounds has plenty of locations and carries Grado, Sennheiser, and Klipsch, but they'll try to sell you on Beats while you're there and they don't provide an amp if you ask to audition a headphone.

 

[Taowolf51]

It varies wildly depending on the headphone. Open cans are usually flatter, but that all depends, there are some very nicely balanced closed cans too.