Please recommend headphones for me!
Jul 3, 2001 at 3:58 AM Post #16 of 33
Quote:

Originally posted by 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?


It's a long story
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Send me mail if you'd like the full scoop: jeff@holyzoo.com

Anyways, javamusic.com and besonic.com are pretty well respected by the artist community. My general recommendation is: put a couple of songs up at every site, and then redirect them all to a "home base" where you have more songs.

After 2 frustrating years with mp3.com, we finally decided to put our music on our own website, where there are no restrictions. We still have a couple songs on mp3.com just to "tease" people over to our home page.

One last thing: don't assume that because your music is on mp3.com that it'll get heard by very many people. It recently it came out that that most (all?) the high paid artists there were gaming mp3.com by setting up bots to download their own songs.

[mods - I apologize for going seriously off topic here]
 
Jul 5, 2001 at 2:58 AM Post #17 of 33
Although the MDR-V6 (also sold through pro audio dealers as the MDR-7506) isn't the most uncolored headphone around, it IS probably the most uncolored headphone for under 200 dollars. And where it does deviate from neutrality (the midrange and highs, which in absolute terms are a little too "hot"), it does so in a way which makes it quite "analytical"...i.e. it's VERY revealing of minute details in a mix. Make a tiny change to level, panning, eq, reverb level, etc. and you'll hear the difference VERY CLEARLY and without straining through the MDR-V6. Although I prefer more expensive 'phones such as the Sennheiser HD-580, and HD-600 for serious music LISTENING, I would NEVER use them for mixing. Their slightly recessed midrange makes everything seem more "distant", and slight details in the mix more difficult to hear than with the V6/7506.

Mixing with the V6 and then switching to the HD-580 or HD-600 is a good illustration of why the most accurate phones/speakers aren't necessarily the best for mixing. You should always try your mixes on a variety of systems (high end stereos, boom-boxes, car stereos, clock radios, whatever), but I have found that mixes which sound "right" to me through my V6 hold up well just about everywhere!
 
Jul 5, 2001 at 4:52 AM Post #18 of 33
Actually, the MDR-V6 is not a repackaged MDR-7506 (I have both), the MDR-7506 is a more "honest" sound, whereas the MDR-V6 is bass-heavy.

The amp in the VS-880 is not a very powerful one, from what I know, so you shuld look for very efficient phones. But the problem with closed phones is that they are usually less efficient than open ones, so you may, indeed, want to look for an external headphone amp...but, if you can find it, that is what you want -- efficient, accurate, closed phones. The Sony's however, are partially open. I don't know why you would want open vs. closed -- I do understand monitors causing too much noise, but headphone bleed? That shouldn't be so bad, I don't think, but then again, I don't know your situation...

The different ratings on www.headphone.com do take efficiency into account when rating them, so you might want to look around over there.

BTW, I'd be interested in hearing your music, so let us know when you get it posted to wherever!
 
Jul 5, 2001 at 4:59 AM Post #19 of 33
ARRGH! I have the MDR-V6, AND the MDR-7506, and they ARE EXACTLY THE SAME THING! Don't believe it? Ask Sony. The parts are INTERCHANGABLE! They're made side by side in the same factory. In fact, some 'phones occasionally slip out with "MDR-V6" on one earcup and "MDR-7506" on the other.

So your V6 and 7506 don't sound exactly the same? Understand that in headphone manufacture it's FAR more important that the left and right drivers match each other, then some reference "model". So that is what's happened...the drivers were matched TO EACH OTHER. As in all things mechanical. sample variations are very much a reality. But trust me...your MDR-V6 and MDR-7506 are no more different than a random pair of MDR-V6s, or 7506s would (likely) be from each other. In other words, a random V6 is as much like a random 7506 in sound as it is another random V6. They match drivers TO EACH OTHER!

The ONLY difference between the models is the model number on the earcup, and the gold plated (vs. Nickel on the V6) plug on the 7506! Please ASK SONY! They are THE SAME THING!! Ignore ANYONE who tells you differently, for they don't know their orifice from a hole in the ground!
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Jul 5, 2001 at 5:02 AM Post #20 of 33
dusty my man, you are in for a big lecture! I sure hope you have both the V6 and the 7506 or you're in some serious trouble. Because just about everyone (including Jude and Mike, the biggest V6 pushers on the planet) believe them to be the same headphone, as do I.

LOL! It seems I was right, but Mike beat me to it. You can always count on him. He probably has that saved somewhere on his computer and he just copies and pastes it anywhere it's needed
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Anyway, Gwydi, I too would reccomend the V6. it's a great headphone and you won't miss a thing that's going into your recording. It will also work with whatever headphone output you have to power them with. Apart from that, be absolutely sure not to get cordless headphones as there is no cordless even remotely capable of monitoring.
 
Jul 5, 2001 at 5:22 AM Post #21 of 33
I also have both, and they're the same. I also now believe in headphone mechanical break-in even more, by the way, because there were slight differences at first (doing direct comparisons with both the 7506's and the V6's plugged into my Max simultaneously) and now I can't tell the two apart after using pretty much only the 7506's the last week or so to break 'em in.

Sony just gold-plates the plug on the 7506's (and anodizes the aluminum plug handle black) and then sells and markets them as a professional model. They do the same thing with the MDR-V900's -- the professional version is called the MDR-7509.

Pharmaceutical companies do this all the time. They'll market the same drug agent used for humans to the veterinary care market under a different name and with totally different pricing. Not the greatest analogy, but I think it gets the idea across.
 
Jul 5, 2001 at 2:59 PM Post #22 of 33
Quote:

Originally posted by jude
Sony just gold-plates the plug on the 7506's (and anodizes the aluminum plug handle black) and then sells and markets them as a professional model. They do the same thing with the MDR-V900's -- the professional version is called the MDR-7509.


LOL! And I once bought an MDR-V900 from Guitar Center for $170, (I have since returned them) - but Sam Ash retail stores sell the MDR-7509's for a whopping $220! That's a huge $50 difference for essentially the same pair of headphones (which I have now judged to be mediocre overall, but especially crappy for their over-inflated price).
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Jul 5, 2001 at 7:59 PM Post #23 of 33
Mike already mentioned this, but I'm going to reiterate: mass-market products always have some degree of production variability. Sony is notorious for this -- that's why there are people who think Sony product X is the best ever, while some people think it's a piece of junk. They BOTH could be right LOL. So while DustyChalk may indeed have a pair of V6s that sound quite different from a pair of 7506s, it's just as likely that if he went out and bought another pari of V6's they would sound quite different from BOTH of the two pairs he already has.

Of course, I also believe in "break in" so that could be a difference, as well.
 
Jul 6, 2001 at 2:20 AM Post #24 of 33
Quote:

Pharmaceutical companies do this all the time. They'll market the same drug agent used for humans to the veterinary care market under a different name and with totally different pricing. Not the greatest analogy, but I think it gets the idea across.


Just to save you guys a few bucks >>> Advil is EXACTLY the same as Ibuprofen, without the signatured thin 'candy coating' on the Advil tablets.
Off topic I know, but hey, if it will get you a few bucks closer to those nice new expensive cans, then it's worth it!
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Jul 6, 2001 at 3:38 AM Post #26 of 33
Spoken like someone who's never produced or engineered a recording session, SumB. Accuracy is almost beside the point. Turning out a mix which will translate well to a variety of listening devices (high end stereos, boom boxes, walkman portables, mono table radios) is what it's all about. The MDR-V6 will allow you to hear defects in your tracks, and the overall mix WAY before what technically are more "accurate" headphones. The MDR-V6 IS NOT the "most accurate headphone" around. But I don't think there's anything as accurate at anywhere near the price range. That too is beside the point, however, for this thread is about MONITORING and MIXING. My MDR-V6/7506 (I own both) is INDISPENSIBLE for these tasks. And my work is heard by tens of thousands of people a day. I TRUST the MDR-V6/7506 in a way I trust NOTHING else (headphones or speakers) for tracking and mixing. And I'm certainly not alone!
 
Jul 6, 2001 at 9:14 AM Post #27 of 33
It's my opinion that in order to create a well balanced recording that sounds good on a wide variety of sources, accurate playback equipment is required. I'd go out of my way to avoid anything that blatantly emphasized or de-emphasized a certain frequency.
 
Jul 6, 2001 at 6:48 PM Post #29 of 33
Your opinion BASED UPON WHAT EXPERIENCE, SumB?

First of all, the MDR-V6 IS FAR flatter than the vast majority of headphones at all price levels. But where it errs from flatness, it does so on the "analytical" side of neutrality, which is EXACTLY what's called for when it comes to tracking and mixing.

If you'd ever actually done some tracking and mixing, you'd understand the importance of that. TINY details such as a microphone preamp that clips for a tiny fraction of a second because it's overloaded with the burst of high frequencies from a sibilant, a "popped p" from speaking the plosive too close, and too directly into the microphone diaphram, paper rattles from sheet music and/or copy, two instruments or voices competing for the same "sonic real estate" (of similar timbre, and occupying the same slice of frequency spectrum), and other problems which can spoil an otherwise great recording are evident IMMEDIATELY with the MDR-V6/7506, and can be corrected on the spot, rather than suddenly discovering them once the mix is done. This is INVALUABLE!

Another thing...one of the worst sins of today's recordings (in my opinion) of pop, rock, and country music is mixes which are TOO DAMN BRIGHT! SIZZLY highs can make for pretty uncomfortable listening on revealing systems. I guarantee you will be about 500 times less likely to record/mix too "sizzly" with the MDR-V6 than with a strictly more accurate 'phone like the HD-580/600.

Another thing you'll just have to trust me on, or hear for yourself...the EXACT impact of reverb settings, slight changes to eq, panning changes, and other tiny adjustments are heard INSTANTLY with the MDR-V6. These subtle changes would have to be quite a bit more "gross" to be as audible on the HD-600/HD-580. Being able to instantly hear subtle changes in a mix helps keep things in perspective, so that an engineer/producer doesn't "overdo it" with effects/eq/etc.

I'm sorry SumB, but the actual experience of recording and mixing is quite different from what one may assume from the outside, and necessitates the use of specialized tools. "Analytical" rather than "recessed" midrange and highs is a definite plus in this environment, no matter how it may seem it SHOULD be to you!
 
Jul 6, 2001 at 9:55 PM Post #30 of 33
Great post!

Something to add: For recording analytical headphones are surely better, but for mixing you should choose, out of the most neutral headphones, the ones which have the flaws you like worst, because your mixes will have the inverse flaws of your monitoring equipment.
 

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