[Metabeard]

I've been using the Sennheiser HD-280 headphones for the past few years for both DJing and studio production, but would like to keep them strictly for DJing and get something nicer for the studio. I really can't complain about the HD-280 one bit. They've held up over the years and the sound quality is fantastic for the price. I'll admit, they can be a bit tight (and my head's a bit on the smaller side!), and if I'm wearing my glasses there's a lot of pressure on my temples.

I guess what I'm looking for is high audio quality for studio use of electronic music production, comfortable enough for prolonged wearing (4 hours or so) in an over ear cup design, and under $300. I've been looking at the Sennheiser HD-598; I'm very pleased with Sennheiser, they come highly rated, and are rather pretty to look at, but some reviews say their construction is prone to cracking. And also the Audio-Technica ATH-M50; which is much cheaper, also comes highly rated, but some reviews say it's way too bass heavy and is also prone to cracking. Anyone have any personal reviews or think of anything else I should be looking at? Thanks!

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

I've been using the Sennheiser HD-280 headphones for the past few years for both DJing and studio production, but would like to keep them strictly for DJing and get something nicer for the studio. I really can't complain about the HD-280 one bit. They've held up over the years and the sound quality is fantastic for the price. I'll admit, they can be a bit tight (and my head's a bit on the smaller side!), and if I'm wearing my glasses there's a lot of pressure on my temples.

I guess what I'm looking for is high audio quality for studio use of electronic music production, comfortable enough for prolonged wearing (4 hours or so) in an over ear cup design, and under $300. I've been looking at the Sennheiser HD-598; I'm very pleased with Sennheiser, they come highly rated, and are rather pretty to look at, but some reviews say their construction is prone to cracking. And also the Audio-Technica ATH-M50; which is much cheaper, also comes highly rated, but some reviews say it's way too bass heavy and is also prone to cracking. Anyone have any personal reviews or think of anything else I should be looking at? Thanks!

I believe the Sennheiser Cracking issue is old news.
One can assume HD598s bought over a year ago might just now be starting to show cracking issues.
I really doubt any HD598 made in the past 6 months (or year?) would have that issue.

 

[jupitreas]

Hi there!
 
The Sennheiser HD598 is not a headphone that is designed or meant for professional music production purposes, it is a consumer headphone that is meant to produce a pleasing sound. For around $300, you should be able to get a Sennheiser HD600, which will deliver exactly what you need, as it is a purpose-built studio monitor with an extremely flat frequency response. Alternatively, you could go for the slightly cheaper Beyerdynamic DT880 PRO, which is also designed to be a monitor and excels at this role.
 
As for the ATH-M50 - most of what you hear about these headphones is exaggerated. It is very common for these to be a budding audiophiles first foray into high quality sound and for this reason, there are many reviews of varying worth floating around the net that claim all sorts of weird things about this headphone. The truth is that while the bass is indeed a little emphasized on these headphones, this emphasis is really not that big and certainly not offensive in any serious way. The recessed mids are also not as recessed as some people would have you believe, the ATH-M50 generally speaking has a rather flat sound signature and comes with a very nice sense of clarity that many other headphones lack. There are also some opinions that the ATH-M50 actually has the ideal frequency response curve for a headphone to sound flat (due to the equal-loudness contour and the specifics of how a headphone needs to sound to sound realistic).
 
Quote:

I've been using the Sennheiser HD-280 headphones for the past few years for both DJing and studio production, but would like to keep them strictly for DJing and get something nicer for the studio. I really can't complain about the HD-280 one bit. They've held up over the years and the sound quality is fantastic for the price. I'll admit, they can be a bit tight (and my head's a bit on the smaller side!), and if I'm wearing my glasses there's a lot of pressure on my temples.

I guess what I'm looking for is high audio quality for studio use of electronic music production, comfortable enough for prolonged wearing (4 hours or so) in an over ear cup design, and under $300. I've been looking at the Sennheiser HD-598; I'm very pleased with Sennheiser, they come highly rated, and are rather pretty to look at, but some reviews say their construction is prone to cracking. And also the Audio-Technica ATH-M50; which is much cheaper, also comes highly rated, but some reviews say it's way too bass heavy and is also prone to cracking. Anyone have any personal reviews or think of anything else I should be looking at? Thanks!

 

[Metabeard]

PurpleAngel, that's good to hear. I was a little skeptical of that one considering how well my HD-280s have held up.
 
Jupitreas, realistic is relative though, right? I mean, if the headphones have a slight boost to bass, I'd end up producing my music with slightly less bass then if they were flatter. I guess what would be ideal is headphones that best reflect the medium the intended listener would be using, like ipod versus club speakers. So would headphones with a slight boost to bass be better then for electronic music intended for a club? haha, I dunno...

Any review on comfort? or do most of these high end headphones fit more or less the same?

 

[LithosZA]

I haven't heard the Sennheiser HD600, but I can tell from experience that Sennheiser HD650 also like the HD598 is not meant for music production.

 

[jupitreas]

Quote:

PurpleAngel, that's good to hear. I was a little skeptical of that one considering how well my HD-280s have held up.
 
Jupitreas, realistic is relative though, right? I mean, if the headphones have a slight boost to bass, I'd end up producing my music with slightly less bass then if they were flatter. I guess what would be ideal is headphones that best reflect the medium the intended listener would be using, like ipod versus club speakers. So would headphones with a slight boost to bass be better then for electronic music intended for a club? haha, I dunno...

Any review on comfort? or do most of these high end headphones fit more or less the same?

"Realistic" in this case means as similar as possible to actual studio monitors. How we perceive bass in headphones and in loudspeakers is fundamentally different as with headphones, we only hear the bass, while with speakers, we also feel it with out whole body. For this reason, in order for a headphone to sound like a loudspeaker studio monitor, it needs to have the bass slightly boosted. This is why the ATH-M50 sounds flat even with the boosted bass and it is also the reason for it being such a popular choice among music professionals.
 
As for comfort, all 3 headphones I mentioned are very comfortable. With this said, you should know that the ATH-M50 has pleather earpads that have a tendency to get quite warm and sweaty with extended use, while the Sennheiser and Beyerdynamic both come with very comfy velour earpads.

 

[Marximus]

I'd recommend the KRK KNS-8400s.  Fantastic headphones, very realistic sound, neutral and balanced to my ears.  $150.

 

[tdockweiler]

IMO the HD-600 is no more of a studio monitor than the 598. I wouldn't use either. Neither are very flat to me. Extremely flat? Are you only looking at graphs? Then so is the HD-598!
I actually think the HD-598 sounds more balanced than the HD-600, so why doesn't everyone use that in a studio?

Only kidding....
 
I really don't know if any perfectly flat headphones exist. I haven't heard one yet.
 
Strangely enough the most balanced headphone I ever heard was this bizzarre bass-light (compared to the other pairs) DT-770 600. How does that happens?
Nearly everyone in the world knows that a DT-770 600 shouldn't sound that way

 
Of course I can agree the HD-600 is more balancing sounding than the M50 or DDT-770 Pro 80 at least!
 
BTW I actually think the KRK KNS-6400 is flatter than the 8400, but the 8400 is the better headphone.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

I'd recommend the KRK KNS-8400s.  Fantastic headphones, very realistic sound, neutral and balanced to my ears.  $150.

KRK KNS 8400, nice sound.
Best part is you can get used KNS 8400 in good shape for under $100, on eBay.

 

[jupitreas]

The bass in the 8400 sounds like someone burping. It also disappears when a lot of stuff is happening in the lower mids.

 

[Hellbishop]

Quote:

I'd recommend the KRK KNS-8400s.  Fantastic headphones, very realistic sound, neutral and balanced to my ears.  $150.

 
Heres another vote for the KRK KNS-8400. Very clean sound with tons of detail especially when playing games like SKYRIM and FALLOUT 3 where all the background ambience is unveiled in a joyous chorus of surreal dreamlike realism.