[Bedroomdj]

Hi Community,  I'm looking to get a better pair of headphones around $300 but if the quality is truly significantly better i may be able to push it to ~$500.  I would prefer to listen on speakers for producing but my living arrangements do not allow for speakers.  I currently own the V-Moda LP and i love them (I listen to mainly house and edm so the fact that the bass takes the spotlight is not a problem but an advantage)  however they are not balanced in any respect so they would make terrible headphones for producing.  I was curious as to what some of the professionals were using so i went to equipboard and found these 2 models which look promising, the Pioneer HDJ-2000 Reference Professional Dj Headphones and the Sennheiser HD25-1 II Closed-Back Headphones.  Both are about $230-$250 and both have lots of good reviews on amazon but I came here to see if the head-fi community had any negative opinions about them and or if they had other and or better suggestions.  If anyone has any way of getting the Sennheiser HD800 for under $800 please let me know but otherwise I'm afraid that they are nowhere near affordable.  I have heard mixed reviews (although generally positive) about the Sennheiser HD650 but nothing particularly good about the bass. Also please include how I should burn in the headphones if necessary. I'm also interested in purchasing an amp if necessary, and I have not the slightest clue on what to get if I do in fact need one. And lastly whenever I buy headphones I get a warning about listening to certain db for too long how do I know what do my headphones are playing at.
Thank you for your time and your efforts,
Matt

 

[Bedroomdj]

Did I post this in the right place?

 

[OMGLadyGaga]

Did I post this in the right place?

Yes you did. I'd recommend the Focal Spirit Professional. Very balanced with very good bass response, better than my HD650. They are voiced like some Focal monitors that many use in their studio so it should translate well.

Also take a look in this thread and feel free to ask questions there, since many music producers hang out there:

http://www.head-fi.org/t/702924/best-studio-headphones

 

[Bedroomdj]

Thank you and does that pair need any amp or burnin and how do I know how loud my headphones are to avoid injury

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Thank you and does that pair need any amp or burnin and how do I know how loud my headphones are to avoid injury

 

1. Any decent recording interface with a low output impedance would not have any trouble with it. Too many interfaces have too high output impedance expecting studio headphones to have 300ohms to 600ohms; the Spirit Pro is around 32ohms. It's easily driven by a smartphone so as long as the interface won't have a high output impedance it shouldn't have issues with distortion and damping factor.

 

2. Breaking in headphones doesn't need to be taken that seriously. Let it run overnight at moderate volume with no distortion and that basically simulates a few days of on/off moderate use. The other part of "break-in" is softening the earpads, so if you want that done too set the headphones on some books or a mannequin head. I wouldn't advise using the mannequin head as a headphone stand though, as it will either put non-stop pressure on the earpads, or if you set them loose, they will hand and the pressure will be on the headband (or the headband padding).

 

3. Generally if your ears hurt that's too loud. Otherwise you can buy an SPL meter or an SPL meter app on your smartphone, then run a 1khz sine wave. If it registers at 87dB and below, you can listen at that output level for a few hours. 89dB I think is only recommended for roughly two hours. Note however that these are figures made from proper measuring equipment, not simply putting the SPL meter mic (let alone a smartphone) up to a headphone driver. At the level where I start to get some discomfort the smartphone only registers 80dB, even with the meter right up to the driver and my hands cupped around it.

 

[Armaegis]

Here's a very recent thread discussion similar options: http://www.head-fi.org/t/773905/sub-200-reference-headphones-for-a-bedroom-producer