Headphones?

[stephentayler]

I did find these for the HD-25s

http://www.decks.co.uk/products/dj_spar ... pad_velour

they certainly feel more comfortable!!

Stephen

[monkey man]

Thank you Stephen - you got me all excited there for a minute.

Unfortunately, they appear to be for the "Sennheiser HD25 & HD25sp" according to the site.
I've the HD25-1.

Still, I'll make enquiries. If I am able to use them, it'd be the best £12.00 I've ever spent on music gear. Period.

[stephentayler]

Well, mine are the HD-25-13 version, which is the 600 ohm version of the 25-1 which is 70 ohm? - and these replacement pads fit perfectly. Do make inquiries, but I am sure the HD family all share the same earpiece size. They are still tight of course, but much more comfy.

Stephen

[monkey man]

Well, mine are the HD-25-13 version, which is the 600 ohm version of the 25-1 which is 70 ohm? - and these replacement pads fit perfectly. Do make inquiries, but I am sure the HD family all share the same earpiece size. They are still tight of course, but much more comfy.
Stephen

Yay! Thank you, Stephen. Yay!

You're right - mine is the 70 ohm version, which, according to your observation, is physically the same size.
I'll take your word for it. Yay!

Thank you a tonne, man.

Yay!

[audios]

After 35 years as an engineer I've seen cans come and go. All claiming this or that just like monitors in a studio. All the MFG's. pray on us because they know engineers/studio owners want the best and newest gear available. It's always been this way, and, will probably always be too.

Truth is, it's all subjective, DUH!

It's all in your ears not anyone elses, especially sales people or MFG rep's.

personally I'd never pay more than $100 for a decent set of cans. They're like sun glasses for me. If I would ever buy a set of cans for$3-500 (Ultrasone), they'd be broken in a matter of minutes into the first sesion I used them on. I have 3 pairs of SONY MDR-7506 cans I bought in 1987. Still use all of them. They work perfectly after abuse and they didn't cost me an arm and a leg. Decent Freq. response and they don't pile up on the 50-150HZ. I have mixed location gigs, film (Nagra DAT days), video and used them in the studio for reference cans in spotting cues, sub mixes and radio.

Works for me. But everybody's ears are different, subjective, right? ask friend to list to one of your reference tracks in their cans and see what you like before you buy..

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[mhschmieder]

I get such a kick out of posts saying that over $100 is too much for a pair of cans. That's great that you have gotten good work done for 35 years using the cheap low-end or mid-range models, but my point is just one of philosophy, as though cans don't deserve the same amount of respect as speakers. After all, how many of us say $300 is too much for a pair of speakers?

I hope you realise I am not criticising you; just making a point about how most of us tend to think when it comes to the relative budgeting priority of studio gear. Another case in point would be cables and acoustical tiling. It's so easy for us to convince ourselves that they're just not worth it .

[mhschmieder]

I'm not familiar with the history of Beyerdynamic headphones prior to the DT911 model, as I never saw them in stores before purchasing that model on liquidation/close-out at a pro audio store in San Rafael CA back in the late 80's (I think). I since upgraded to the DT770-PRO's (version I).

Is there a direct lineage from some of the ones mentioned here, or did they significantly change their design principles over the years?

I am partially curious because quality headphones seem so cheap to me compared to years past, when a good set of cans might cost upwards of $600 (late 1980's example).

As headphone technology is very similar to microphone technology, and as great leaps forward have occurred in that area much to our benefit over the past ten years, possibly the bang-for-buck has simply become far more beneficial over the years (unlike for mainstream electronics).

Or has quality gone steadily downhill instead, as it has with cassette decks ever since the apex of 1988-1989? Either due to a disappearing market or the market shifting towards high growth in the low-to-mid sector.

[audios]

I get such a kick out of posts saying that over $100 is too much for a pair of cans. That's great that you have gotten good work done for 35 years using the cheap low-end or mid-range models, but my point is just one of philosophy, as though cans don't deserve the same amount of respect as speakers. After all, how many of us say $300 is too much for a pair of speakers?

I hope you realise I am not criticising you; just making a point about how most of us tend to think when it comes to the relative budgeting priority of studio gear. Another case in point would be cables and acoustical tiling. It's so easy for us to convince ourselves that they're just not worth it :-).

Well, don't want to get into a forum spat here. But these "cheap low-end cans" do what they say they will do and at half the price of some heavy R&D companies out there vying for your dollars. The Sony MD7506 cans work just fine for these ears and this studio and after countless projects for broadcast and theatrical release, I'd say all who heard the results agree.

When it comes to studio monitors, wheeeew... that's an intirely new thread. I will say that no engineer should ever be looking to reproduce studio monitors in headphones. Never happen. It's a little thing called acoustics. So I think it really comes down to this....

Trust your ears...

That's the only watchword that should prevail in this discussion. Names, model #'s and above all reviews are gudlines, nothing more. reccomendations from all here or others that we work with are always good references, for sure.

Been reel.......

[wheever]

Well, no one has yet mentioned my current Fave Cans: AKG-271.

I find them to be "punchier" than the 240s (which I've used for nearly 30 years,) yet similar-sounding. They're both better sealing *and* more comfortable. Plus, they have the replaceable straight cord and a neat switch that turns them off when you remove them from your head--I've blown more headphone drivers than I care to count not realizing they're live as I monitor through speakers. ("what's that crunching farting sound...?")

If you have a chance, check 'em out!

[splatterbass]

what do you guys think of the fostex T40 head phones?
i like them better than my AKG.

[mhschmieder]

I decided not to be lazy after all, and searched for the more relevant thread for discussing the problem with the Beyerdynamic DT770-PRO mod/rev of a few years back.

My cans say 80 ohms, underneath the "left" and "right" labels on the attachments. This is the good/old version.

The new version is 250 ohms, and is known to be hyped in the bass and even the highs as well -- probably at least partially as a result of the impedance switch.

Now this brings up an interesting point: last month, I bought a Symetrix 304 Headp[hone Amplifier, which is a half-rack module that was being liquidated for $200 (but is still probably still in stock for closer to $300 elsewhere).

This headphone amp is far and away the best one available for under $1000, and only has one flaw: there is no power switch. So you might want to hook it up to one of those rack-mount power outlets (ones without filtering or surge protection, as you'll usually hook it up in turn to one of those), that has individual switches on the front for each plug in the back (American DJ makes such a model, and they're around $30 as I recall).

The unique thing about this amp is that it detects impedance of the headphone and adjusts accordingly, thus changing the character of the phones. Just like those variable impedance mic pre-amps that Summit, Avalon, and others make.

I bought this headphone amp just in time for some recording sessions, as the single outlet on my FF800 isn't enough, and as that headphone amp, while way better than those on most other interfaces, is still not what I would call pro quality.

The Symetrix is excellent, but isn't quite as convenient in pass-through mode as I had hoped (that is, connecting main outs from FF800 to its inputs, using it as the headphone monitor, and using its pass-through outs to the active monitors), as the gain control only affects the headphones and doesn't trim the pass-through signal.

This means I have to modify the gain in the Fireface Mixer for best results, using some variable trim for the main outputs when monitoring through loudspeakers, and pulling thoat level up to 0 dB when using headphones (this maximises the gain structure with the pre-amp section of the headphone amplifier from Symetrix).

Anyway, as there is nothing else on the market that comes close, except in table-top form factor, I highly recommend this unit, as it serves several purposes:

1. Better quality headphone amp than whatever you are probably currently using
2. Four separately controllable outputs for when you have several people in the studio for overdubs and/or after hours
3. Impedance detection to (indirectly) correct skewed frequency response in non-ideally-matched headphones

Well, impedance-matching doesn't filter the signal, but has a similar effect, as it affects the pre-amp stage and thus the ratio of how different signals are boosted. Someone who's more expert on this than I am, may in fact end up refuting this simplified explanation, however.

As for my earlier rankings of best headphones on the market for pro studio (vs. hi-fi) use, and the characterisations thereof, I have recently reviewed that material and nothing has changed in the past two years, except for maybe AKG I think replacing the 701 with the 702 (I haven't double-checked this yet).

[Phil O]

Well, getting back to James' original post... I don't know if this is true or not, but I heard once that bass response for cans is different for different users. The shape of your ear and how the cans sit on your head affect the response. If this is true, then the only way to know if a particular model will work well for you is to try them. I have some old Sennheisers (don't know the model off the top of my head), some AKG K240s, some Sony 7506s, and a few oddball headphones. For tracking, the Sony's are my first choice. That would be my suggestion for cans at the $100 price point. James, these are a popular model. There must be some place near you where you can try them out. Give 'em a try.

Phil

[mhschmieder]

I'm not sure how my post was O.T., since I was addressing why his particular copy of DT-770-PRO's may be bass-heavy, and how an impedance-matching headphone amp may correct for this.

[gseibert]

+1 for the Ultrasone's. Brad doesn't even sell them. I have a pair of the HFI 650's, and they are definitely a step up from the comparable Sony and Beyer's. I thought the Sony's were 'phasey' and the Beyer's were distorted compared to the Ultrasone's. I have both and don't use them anymore, Just my opinion, if course.

[mhschmieder]

I keep seeing the Ultrasones pumped up by Gearslutz as well, but had never heard of them until a few months ago, and am not sure how widely available they are (nor have I seen them reviewed at any of the headphone websites I linked to when this post was still new).

I remain curious, however.

Back in the day, Stax was the standard, but were wicked expensive and also somewhat more known for the home market vs. studio market (at least by the mid to late 80's -- they were probably bigger in studios in the '50's?).

I thought they had gone away, as I never see them anymore and they weren't listed at the headphone websites whereas Grado was (and Grado cans aren't really ergonomic for studio use as they are build for stationery objects, which doesn't cover a performing musician).