Well I did my last listening sessions this week. I was in a loud music store earlier in the week where I could test how the headphones would work for isolation and how they would sound when one can barely hear them (which qualities come through when fighting with other outside music). And I also listened in a perfect headphone store (high-end CD players, amps, quiet). But I also payed a lot more attention to how the headphone sits on my head, isolate, and feel. I really noticed that my previous top pick Technics RH1200 really does not isolate well at all and sits on my head quite strange. So I decided to remove it from my final picks.
So the final 5 are: Sennheiser HD280, Sony MDR-7506, Audio Technica ATH-M50, Denon DN-HP700, and Pioneer HDJ2000. I already own the HD280 and it is in this comparison because if I pick it then I don't need to buy a new headphone.
So I listened to 3 monitor headphones (HD280, MDR-7506, ATH-M50) and two DJ headphones (HP700, HDJ-2000). I will say this again, but this whole quest has really made me respect the Sennheiser HD280 a lot more. I finally understand them (or how they interact with my ears) since I was able to listen to them with a frequency sweep (Abelton Live tool). At least for my ears they have a dip around the 50-70hz range. The 30-40hz range actually sounds stronger (and tighter) than the 60hz range. And most produced/radio tracks tend to not mix in 30hz and 40hz sounds (very few speakers can drive that low, so many produced tracks start to roll off at 50hz). At least this is how I am understanding the HD280 headphone now and why it has this strange zero-bass-no-wait-WOW-killer-bass schizophrenia.
MDR-7506/V6 and ATH-M50 both sound great. Actually all three monitor headphones are really good, but slightly different balances and different strengths. I think for really serious studio work one should have all three (or a collection of monitors). In this session it was the ATH-M50 that stood out a bit more, but it really has a more bass emphasis and recessed highs compared to the HD280 and 7506. Mid-bass and lower midrange sound great on the ATH-M50 but trying to dig into a mix or check for high-frequency issues would be more difficult on the M50 while it would be really easy with either the 7506 or HD280. But the M50 would be a better contrast to the HD280 than the 7506. Another thing I noticed was that the HD280 and M50 sounded much more refined in the mid and upper-mid range than the 7506 (fine texture of sounds, micro-dynamics...). The 7506 has a fantastic frequency response and deep deep bass is strong and detailed though. I can really see all three having value and use in a studio monitoring situation. But the M50 is slightly DJ biased (slight bass emphasis, slight recessed high range). If it was marketed as a DJ headphone I would believe it, if it was marketed as a monitor headphone I would believe it.
I also realized in this whole comparison that in general that DJ headphones are really quite far from the studio monitor character. Except the Pioneer HDJ2000. Of all the DJ headphones, the HDJ-2000 really captured more of the monitor nature than all the others. Also the ATH-M50 (it also falls in between) which is the most DJ-like of the monitor headphones.
The Pioneer HDJ-2000 is a really good DJ headphone. It sounds good in a loud environment letting more of the sound details come through. Most DJ headphones only sound like bass-bass-bass when fighting in a loud environment. The HDJ2000 actually was still able to let some detail through. In quiet listening, the HDJ2000 was actually similar in character to the ATH-M50. It made me wonder if the ATH-M50 might actually work as a DJ headphone in a loud environment. It really might.
In the end I was really close to deciding that my HD280 might actually be good enough and that I do not need another headphone in the monitor/DJ category. I was also close to deciding on ALL OF THEM and trying to work out a plan to buy all 4 headphones I liked over the next 6 months
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The HP700 is a really interesting headphone. Sometimes is less then average, and other times it really seemed to have great punchy bass (7506 like) or with really clear upper midrange and highs (HD280 like) or with the ability to hear details and subtleties. Almost Sennheiser HD25 like. I almost want to buy one just so I can live with one for awhile to figure it out.
My final decision was really based on the fact that I really like the HD280 now and I was thinking that I need/want something to be a good counter point to the HD280. The HP700 is a little too much DJ-only and the HDJ-2000 worked better as a DJ headphone in a loud environment. If I owned the HDJ-2000 I would have little need for the HP700 (except out of curiosity to try to figure it out). The MDR-7506 is really very close to the HD280 (7506 is slightly better in the bass region, and the HD280 is slightly better in the midrange and high end) and seemed too close to make sense. The M50 and HDJ-2000 offered the best counter-point to the HD280.
In the end I decided to buy the Pioneer HDJ-2000.
But I can see myself slowly acquiring the others (M50, 7506, HP700) over the next year or two....