[thisissomebs]

Please tell me.
 
Honestly I'm in the search of a powerful pair of headphones for the purpose of audio production.
 
And through my search I have found some headphones that are not so expensive like the $130 Audio Technica ATH-M50's which are labeled as "studio monitors" while I see headphones like the "Beyer Dynamic DT 990 Premium 600 OHM Headphones" which are not labeled as studio headphones but are still considered more powerful?
 
People say the Audio Technica's are only 38 OHM's while the Beyer's are 600 OHM's?
 
So what's the difference?
 
I know there is a price difference but in terms of sound people always say the Beyer's would sound so much better but I don't understand what the difference is?
 
Is this just a fault of the company?
 
Advice please lol because I will be making a purchase soon.

 

[manbear]

"Studio" is an empty marketing term. For audio production, you just need a neutral headphones. The Beyerdynamic DT-880 would be a good choice if you have something in the way of amplification. It is the more neutral model. For all Beyerdynamics, the pro version is the cheapest. DT-990 pro isn't much more than the M50s and would be a much better choice. Same for DT--770 pro if you want a closed headphone. All benefit from an amp but it's not strictly necessary.

 

[thisissomebs]

"Studio" is an empty marketing term. For audio production, you just need a neutral headphones. The Beyerdynamic DT-880 would be a good choice if you have something in the way of amplification. It is the more neutral model. For all Beyerdynamics, the pro version is the cheapest. DT-990 pro isn't much more than the M50s and would be a much better choice. Same for DT--770 pro if you want a closed headphone. All benefit from an amp but it's not strictly necessary.

 
I understand better now.
 
One more question though what is the difference between headphones that don't have a lot of OHM's between others that have a lot somewhere in the range of 300-600 like the HD650's versus the MDR-XB1000's from Sony?

 

[manbear]

   
I understand better now.
 
One more question though what is the difference between headphones that don't have a lot of OHM's between others that have a lot somewhere in the range of 300-600 like the HD650's versus the MDR-XB1000's from Sony?

Generally, higher impedance (ohms) means that you need a more powerful amplifier. Some headphones with low impedance can be hard to drive as well though. It depends on the headphone. What will you be plugging the headphones into?

 

[thisissomebs]

  Generally, higher impedance (ohms) means that you need a more powerful amplifier. Some headphones with low impedance can be hard to drive as well though. It depends on the headphone. What will you be plugging the headphones into?

 
My laptop lol. 
 
I've been reading in to amps and dacs like the V-CAN's and the V-DAC's from Music Fidelity and one guy on Amazon is saying that if you intend to plug these 2 in to a computer that you are going to need an "effective volume control" or they will be "too loud."
 
There is so much to learn when you start diving deep it's overwhelming but I'm focused haha.
 
What does he mean by effective volume control?

 

[manbear]

For the high impedance headphones like Beyerdynamics, you should get some kind of headphone amp for them to sound their best. Without enough power, they will sound a bit lifeless. A DAC is necessary to use with an amp, as it gives an output to the amp. If you plugged the headphone jack into the amp on the other hand, you wouldn't be bypassing the cheap circuitry in the headphone amp. Check out the Fiio E17 for a cheaper option. 

Almost every amp has some kind of volume knob, so you should be able to control the volume. If you plugged in headphones that don't need an amp though, they will be loud at low volume settings. That's probably what that person means.

 

[thisissomebs]

  For the high impedance headphones like Beyerdynamics, you should get some kind of headphone amp for them to sound their best. Without enough power, they will sound a bit lifeless. A DAC is necessary to use with an amp, as it gives an output to the amp. If you plugged the headphone jack into the amp on the other hand, you wouldn't be bypassing the cheap circuitry in the headphone amp. Check out the Fiio E17 for a cheaper option. 

Almost every amp has some kind of volume knob, so you should be able to control the volume. If you plugged in headphones that don't need an amp though, they will be loud at low volume settings. That's probably what that person means.

 
Just to make it 100% this is what he said,
 
"Important: If you use the V-Dac and V-Can in a computer set up where you intend to use individually powered speakers, then you need to ensure that you have a good, convenient, and effective volume control. These powered NHT speakers are going to be deafeningly loud without an effective volume control. You probably cannot use the volume control on tray in the bottom right hand corner of the computer monitor because when you use the V-Dac, you are circumventing the computer sound card and all of the controls that you are otherwise used to using."

 

[manbear]

I see. Powered speakers have an internal amp, so this guy was plugging a headphone amp into a speaker amp. This could be extremely loud. He would have had better volume control if he just plugged the DAC straight into the powered speakers. It's not a good practice to plug one amp into another amp. 

Also, many DACs can be controlled with software volume. 

 

[thisissomebs]

  I see. Powered speakers have an internal amp, so this guy was plugging a headphone amp into a speaker amp. This could be extremely loud. He would have had better volume control if he just plugged the DAC straight into the powered speakers. It's not a good practice to plug one amp into another amp. 

Also, many DACs can be controlled with software volume. 

 
Thank you so much. All you guys are so helpful on this forum it's awesome. Now on to more research haha.