[Gwydi]

Hello all,

I'm looking for a pair of headphones for my home studio setup. I'm not a professional but a keen amateur - if my stuff sells at MP3.com then I'll be very happy .. that should give you an idea of my level.

My studio consists of various synths and sound modules which ultimately end up in a Roland VS-880 hard disk recorder, and it's this that the headphones would be connected to. I've used high-quality patch cables everywhere.

Due to not being able to make a lot of noise, getting monitor speakers is not an option, so I need monitor headphones instead. My understanding from the reading I've done is that I want headphones which don't color the sound so I can get a realistic idea of what my mix actually sounds like, right?

Obviously I'd like to strike a balance between price and performance - I don't mind paying for good products, but don't need to spend a fortune just to get the latest thing either. Not to mention that I don't have a fortune to spend!

If I had a budget of say $AU500 (I'm in Australia, don't know if anyone else here is) which is about $US250, what headphones should be on my shortlist?

If it's relevant, my music ranges anywhere from classical piano to rock to electronic (and by electronic, I mean Jean-Michel Jarre, etc)

Thanks for any help!

Take care,
Gwydion

 

[Gluegun]

Well, lessee here, if there's one studio monitoring set of headphones, it's the Sony MDR-V6. It's not COMPLETELY uncolored, but it's very revealing, and many say it's uncolored, but there's always a big argument about whether it is or not. Lets just say that it lets you hear stuff you aren't otherwise gonna hear, and a lot of the smart professional studios use it.

However, if you wanna spend all of your $250 us, and if one of your pieces of equipment ALREADY has a fairly strong professional headphone amplifier in it, you can get something that is both revealing and flat and uncolored, such as the Beyerdynamic DT831's. They're the headphones pictured under my name, and they are often used in high end recording and mixing. In fact, I have this wonderful anecdote to tell you...I was at a Bat Mitzvah party, and there was a live band, and, from sitting across the room, I looked at the person doing the audio mixing for the band, and thought to myself, "Is he wearing the same model headphones I have? I think he is!" Anyways, I met this dude, and it turns out that he is this famous professor who does mixing for, thousands of word-class bands and musicians, and he was doing the low-end Bat Mitzvah band mixing "to keep his feet firmly planted on the ground" (ie, to be realistic, because he can't ALWAYS expect access to the best equipment in the world, like usual--this was to put himself in a real world, realistic situation.)

So, if you don't have a relatively strong headphone amp (most professional equipment does have strong headphone amps though), and don't mind getting cheap, professional phones that have two out of three things that you might want, get the Sony MDR-V6's. If you want something that needs a wee bit of amplification (which I will bet money you already have), but has everything you want, get the Beyerdynamic DT-831's. Good luck. Also, you may want to call Headroom (www.headphone.com). They can find something that's right for you, I'm sure of it (such as the Beyerdynamic DT250-80's, for example, or the Sennheiser HD25's.)

 

[Gluegun]

Also! You would do well to listen to Mike Walter, a regular here, go off on one of his accuracy rants. He know's what he's talking about....

 

[Gwydi]

Thankyou to you both - now, how do I tell how strong the amplifier in my VS-880 is? I have consulted both the manuals I have but neither of them tell me.

If it helps, right now I'm using Sony MDR-CD270 headphones and I have to have the "headphone level" cranked fully up.

Take care,
Gwydion

 

[Gwydi]

I guess the other question I should have asked is, are either of these good to start with ... ?

* The Sony MDR-CD270 I mentioned before
* Sennheiser T-30 Cordless

If these are "good enough" for my needs, maybe I don't need new headphones at all ... I just want to make sure that what I hear is (close enough to) what everyone else hears when listening to my music!

G.

 

[Gluegun]

Actually, I'm the same person in both threads. No biggie, though.

Uh, no, those phones you have are NOT good enough for your needs. Neither will really show you as much as you need to hear.

Oh? I think the CD270's are fairly efficient, which means they should be easy to power. I THINK. So, you might want to go with the Sony MDR-V6's, or get a better amplifier than the VS-880. Don't get an audiophile headphone amplifier; those tend to change the sound, even the good ones.

However, I'm just a 17 year old kid. Don't take my advice as the law. Talk to Mike Walker. Here's the link to his user ID on the forums. From there, you can email him and send him a private message.

http://headphone2.superhost.com/foru...nfo&userid=296

 

[Gwydi]

Thanks for that - I've written to Mike as you recommended.

BTW, don't put yourself down just because you're 17 - in any technology-related field, a lot of 17 years olds already know a great deal - often more than people twice their age (like me)

Take care,
Gwydion

 

[Gluegun]

Naw, I was joking. I honestly DON'T know all much about amateur recording, and the equipment necessary to DO amateur recording. That's why I referred you to Mike. Anyways, if you are going to put your stuff on Mp3.com, make sure you send 'em well recorded Mp3's of your stuff.

Look at the info at www.r3mix.net for mostly lossless ways to convert .wavs to mp3's. Keyword "mostly". Also, don't listen to anything else on that website OTHER than the methods they use to create mp3's. That website is FULL of audio opinions that are, well, false.

 

[lini]

gwydi: The AKG K501 should be within your price range, have the right sound for your purpose and provide good comfort for longer sessions. If you need even flatter sound, you might also consider the K240DF - but to me it sounds too boring. Or you could try the beyerdynamic DT531. I haven't tried that myself, yet, but from what I gather, it should sound similar to the K501 and have a little more bass impact.

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini

 

[Gwydi]

I forgot to mention, the headphones must be closed - open or semi-open is no good for my circumstances.

That will probably cut the contenders down somewhat!

 

[Gluegun]

Yea, the 501's, while they are pretty flat, they are very open, and I don't quite think that they have particularly deep bass. Anyways, if you can figure out some kind of amplification (ask mike about this) you are probably going to want to go with the 831's.

Oh, recheck my first response, I added some information to it and reworded it.

 

[Deuce_Bigalow]

I think the MDR-V6 would probably be a good choice for you. It doesn't sound like your amp is very powerful so the DT831 probably wouldn't be a good choice. The V6's are durable, they're closed and they have deep bass. They'd probably do the job well.

 

[KR...]

Where's Mike when you need him?

 

[Holy Zoo]

Quote:

Originally posted by Gluegun Anyways, if you are going to put your stuff on Mp3.com, make sure you send 'em well recorded Mp3's of your stuff. Look at the info at www.r3mix.net for mostly lossless ways to convert .wavs to mp3's.

As an aside - mp3.com requires your songs to be 128bit mp3 encoding, so you don't have a whole lot of latitude there (can't encode at a higher bit rate). Also, be forewarned - mp3.com has screwed over many artists in the past (including us). Be wary.

 

[Gwydi]

Since you mention that, I've been wondering about who to go with. Seems like the three main contenders are mp3.com, ampcast.com and peoplesound.co.uk ... but for obvious reasons, mp3.com is by far the best known.

How did mp3.com "screw" you exactly?