Headphones for mixing

[GuitarBilly]

I know mixing with headphones is not ideal but I may have to do it for now while I am in my mother-in-law's house. What is a good headphone to mix and master with? Not necessarily cheap but nothing ridiculous either.

[ajaxlepinski]

I was looking for a pair yesterday and I found these open back Sennheisers...
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail ... headphones

For $100 more, these come with a detachable cable...
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail ... headphones

[Loop Bizkit]

Right now, I own these. So I'll recommend based on that. The NDH20s are just awesome.

Focal Listen Pro: Really good, though the cups don't breathe as well as I'd like and they get warm on me.

Blue Sadie: Awesome for tracking. Isolate well. LOUD. Hyped lows though. I don't trust them to mix.

Neumann NDH20: The best headphones I've ever owned. They nail the spatialization you get with monitors, they're super flat, they isolate pretty well, and they're comfy.

AKG K240s: Fine-ish. Bleed is an issue.

Sennheiser HD280 Pro: Isolate super good. a touch of low end hype (not as much as the Sadies), tight fit, and hurt my ears after long sessions.

EDIT: Forgot about the Shure Aonic 50. Got these last week. They're Bluetooth/Noise Cancelling, but also come with a cable, and in flat mode they're pretty dang great, but there's still a curve on em for sure. Everything sounds nice.

[fretless]

I love my new 880's
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail ... headphones

and love my new amp Schiit audio
https://www.schiit.com/products/magnius

[Devin]

I have a set of Kali monitors arriving tomorrow; I'm big stoked

[newholland]

i have two. well.. three.

the first one is a the drop 6xx. its a sennheiser hd 650. its $220. you need some power to run it- but its flat as hell. youd be hard pressed to do better for the dough. you COULD go beyer 880, which is cheaper (mebbe 199?) and equally comfortable. brighter on top, lower down low.

another i really like is the beyer dt250. its the size of a sony mdr 7506, but sounds a LOT better. i use that one because its flattest at low volume (like 80-90db) and saves your ears!

[nightflameauto]

Audio Technica ATH-R70X. They're cheaper now than when I bought them and I've never heard flatter earphones. Very comfortable even in the long term. Though they are open back so they don't completely block other people from hearing them.

[GuitarBilly]

hmm... lots of choices. Looking at the Neumann and the ATH-R70X.
Seinnheiser could be a good option too....

[Ostinato Rubato]

More than you're willing to spend probably, but the last pair you will ever need. Slate released the best "modeling" technology for headphones to date which simulates many different listening environments.

I want these bad.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail ... ent=google

[GuitarBilly]

More than you're willing to spend probably, but the last pair you will ever need. Slate released the best "modeling" technology for headphones to date which simulates many different listening environments.

I want these bad.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail ... ent=google

I am actually fine with this price. I wonder how these are as a reference source. Modeling seems to be the opposite of what I am looking for, which is as flat/uncolored as possible.

[crankyrayhanky]

I've been using akg240 for years, definitely carried all my mixes since my first child arrived 11 years ago. My buddy (runs a studio that has amazing high level gear in it) recommended 240s to me back in the 90s and I've been on it ever since. I had the ii version at one time, but recently needed another set, went back to version i which is like $69 now with a detachable cable.

I'm sure some of the other ones in this thread are way cool, but for $69 you should have a set of these regardless.

If you're tracking acoustic or vocals, it does have a lot of bleeding sound out of it. They have closed back versions at all price levels, I have one of them I forget which one, I only bust it out when mics are hot (spend most of my time with guitar direct these days)

[Ostinato Rubato]

More than you're willing to spend probably, but the last pair you will ever need. Slate released the best "modeling" technology for headphones to date which simulates many different listening environments.

I want these bad.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail ... ent=google

I am actually fine with this price. I wonder how these are as a reference source. Modeling seems to be the opposite of what I am looking for, which is as flat/uncolored as possible.

Yeah I'm not sure in that application. They are designed to be flat af as a pair of standalone headphones in order to properly model all of the various listening environments, some of which will be flat environments.

For me though this is where I want to land for mixing headphones, sometime soonish. It's maddening for me hearing that my mix sounds significantly different across different speaker systems. It slows me down and makes me second guess the fuck out of myself.

I've somewhat learned to cope with this but that comes more from defeat and understanding I'm not a pro so my mix will be garbage regardless of how many more listens on different systems and mix adjustments I make

[GuitarBilly]

I've been using akg240 for years, definitely carried all my mixes since my first child arrived 11 years ago. My buddy (runs a studio that has amazing high level gear in it) recommended 240s to me back in the 90s and I've been on it ever since. I had the ii version at one time, but recently needed another set, went back to version i which is like $69 now with a detachable cable.

I'm sure some of the other ones in this thread are way cool, but for $69 you should have a set of these regardless.

If you're tracking acoustic or vocals, it does have a lot of bleeding sound out of it. They have closed back versions at all price levels, I have one of them I forget which one, I only bust it out when mics are hot (spend most of my time with guitar direct these days)

yeah why not? at this price , I will give these a shot first Thanks for the tip!

[lester]

I found those k240s bland as fuck, needs an amp.

These look kinda interesting -

https://www.bluemic.com/en-us/products/mix-fi/

Built in amp.

[Ry Manchu]

I love my new 880's
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail ... headphones

and love my new amp Schiit audio
https://www.schiit.com/products/magnius

I've been trying not to buy the Schitt amp. You just made it really tough.

[fretless]

Its like night and day. Shine the light on and enjoy.

[colejustesen]

If you have something that can drive them, I have found the Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro to be very good. I have them and a set of DT 1770 Pro headphones; I use the 1990s for mixing, and the 1770s for monitoring. They aren't cheap (close to the Neumann set), and they are 250 Ohms, but they sound excellent to my ears. I have never tried the Neumann, but the name carries prestige, obviously due to their consistent quality.

Cole

[newholland]

k240s are cool cans.. old standbys! i gotta agree on the amp thing- lotta akgs seem to need some serious power to make em sing- even with low impedance at not super loud volume. k240s are a lil lean in the bass though.

you might look at the k553 for the kinda updated version without breaking the bank.

[GuitarBilly]

Got the K240 today. First impression is good, I think it will do what I need. It's very flat/truthful to the mix.

[crankyrayhanky]

Awesome!
Note that you may dial in a mix and think it sounds great, take it to the car and realize the bass guitar is just on top of everything. I have it down now where I get it where I like it in the headphones then back off the bass guitar level a few dbs until it sounds just a smidge too quiet. It usually comes out balanced that way

[newholland]

thats awesome- i know a buncha guys who really love that can- ALL of them use amps- so if ya have a burly one- even something like schiit magni- they'll definitely shine more. they really seem to love some volts pushing em! ive been thinking about adding the 240 mkiis to my collection a while!

[GuitarBilly]

Awesome!
Note that you may dial in a mix and think it sounds great, take it to the car and realize the bass guitar is just on top of everything. I have it down now where I get it where I like it in the headphones then back off the bass guitar level a few dbs until it sounds just a smidge too quiet. It usually comes out balanced that way

yeah I double check all my mixes in the car. Best way to "real world" test them.

[TurboPablo]

I am thinking about grabbing something like these Yammie's....

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail ... headphones

[colejustesen]

Those Yamaha headphones sound nice, but I definitely prefer mine for listening to music more than I do for mixing. I much prefer my Beyerdynamic cans for mixing in comparison to these Yamaha headphones. I will emphasize that I think they sound excellent for listening to music, and they are my go to for that reason.

Cole

[ajaxlepinski]

One of the reasons I started looking for headphones was that, the earpads on my cheap-o PC headphones started crumbling.
And true to Murphy's Law... just this week, I noticed that the earpads on my recording headphones started crumbling too.


It looks like the pair, that Fretless recommended, has cloth earpads instead of vinyl/plastic.
I think I may take Fretless's suggestion...
Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pro 250 ohm Semi-open Reference Studio Headphones
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail ... swAdlQwA_g