Rich44 Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 I'm looking for a cheapish (no more than £20-30) pair of headphones to use with my practice amp, because by the time I can hear myself, my flatmates will be complaining. I've tried a few pairs and there either really muddy sounding in the bass, have too short a cable or are too heavy. I'd like a reasonable sounding pair, but I'm clueless when it comes to specifications. In terms of sound, can someone explain what frequency responses are about? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GarethFlatlands Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 [quote name='Rich44' post='1092999' date='Jan 17 2011, 07:47 PM']In terms of sound, can someone explain what frequency responses are about?[/quote] Not really, I assume it's the same as speakers whereby the less db loss you get on low frequencies the better. Sounds like you need a pair of closed back 'phones. Have a look at Sennheiser HD201 or 202. Both are in your budget and look pretty good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich44 Posted January 18, 2011 Author Share Posted January 18, 2011 [quote name='GarethFlatlands' post='1093160' date='Jan 17 2011, 10:38 PM']Not really, I assume it's the same as speakers whereby the less db loss you get on low frequencies the better. Sounds like you need a pair of closed back 'phones. Have a look at Sennheiser HD201 or 202. Both are in your budget and look pretty good.[/quote] Got the 201s for under £14, absolutely brilliant, cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan670844 Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 [quote name='Rich44' post='1092999' date='Jan 17 2011, 07:47 PM']I'm looking for a cheapish (no more than £20-30) pair of headphones to use with my practice amp, because by the time I can hear myself, my flatmates will be complaining. I've tried a few pairs and there either really muddy sounding in the bass, have too short a cable or are too heavy. I'd like a reasonable sounding pair, but I'm clueless when it comes to specifications. In terms of sound, can someone explain what frequency responses are about?[/quote] Also have a look at AKG K44 and K77 they are cheap and pretty good for the money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GarethFlatlands Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 [quote name='Rich44' post='1093724' date='Jan 18 2011, 12:37 PM']Got the 201s for under £14, absolutely brilliant, cheers![/quote] Nice one, let us know how they are on bass. Just got back from recording today and they had them so they must be pretty decent. Didn't use them as I DI'd with my Sansamp (which the engineer loved) and stayed in the control room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldG Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 I got the 202's - very pleased with them all round including their bass... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lfalex v1.1 Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 [quote name='Rich44' post='1092999' date='Jan 17 2011, 07:47 PM']In terms of sound, can someone explain what frequency responses are about?[/quote] A qualified "yes"! As such, they are more or less "irrelevant" as long as the response is relatively well extended both up into the treble and down into the bass regions and is otherwise relatively flat/smooth. Bear in mind that the fundamental tone of open E is around 42Hz. Low B is around 31Hz. Treble-wise, harmonics go on well up into the teens of kHz. Probably further than some of us can hear! Now the good bit! Headphones as a breed are unencumbered by many of the disadvantages of any kind of cabinet, no matter how well engineered or voiced they may be. It's relatively easy for any headphone manufacturer worth their salt to engineer a headphone driver that has a frequency response which can comfortably exceed the best moving coil loudspeaker/cabinet. There's no crossover, as most headphone drivers cover the whole frequency range, and none of the time smear that these can cause. Sensitivity is seldom an issue, either, though impedance may be, as they used to vary quite a bit. These days they seem to be either 16 or 32 ohm, so relatively easy for even battery-powered devices (phones & MP3 players, plus Tascam/Korg devices and headphone amps) to drive without hammering battery life. Downsides I've encountered? The lack of obvious, floor-shaking bass can lead you to turn up the volume more than is sensible! It initially can sound a little lean in the bass compared to what we may experience from a cabinet, but you soon adjust. If you have a very clean/hifi-sounding instrument (think Status, for example) you will perceive a LOT more finger/string/fretnoise than you'd expect... BUT, that helps to train you to control or damp it better. When going back to an amp in a room environment, by comparison, it's apt to sounding a bit sluggish and reverby, simply because of the speed of headphones' delivery (look how much smaller the drivers are!) and the lack of interaction with the room that they exhibit. I've grown to like headphones (I use Sennheiser HD 415 mk1s or suffer Sennheiser CX300 II earbuds when I have to!), primarily due to the fact that I can still have a full-on practice at 3 AM if I so desire without disturbing anyone. In terms of source, I generally use an MP3 player or my phone into either a cheapo 4 track mixer (which is so good, I use it live as a pre amp for my QSC) or a Korg Pandora PX-4D- which'll merrily do guitars, too, along with a raft of FX and other features. I know that was lengthy, and that you've already purchased a pair of cans, but I hope it helps either yourself or anyone else interested in quieter ways of practising. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GarethFlatlands Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 [quote name='Lfalex v1.1' post='1099992' date='Jan 23 2011, 07:31 PM']I've grown to like headphones (I use Sennheiser HD 415 mk1s or suffer Sennheiser CX300 II earbuds when I have to!),[/quote] Just bought a pair of the Sennheisers for my MP3 player use so good to know that they give out good bass. I knew some basics of speaker response but not about headphones, your post was very informative and helpful. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
untune Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 It might be worth reading up on how the ear works, weighted curves etc... we don't hear all frequencies in a linear fashion, obviously we've evolved to be most sensitive at around 4kHz (speech), but bass frequencies need much more energy for us to perceive them as louder - so if you pump the volume up to hear more bass... the rest goes up and... yeah, you get the picture I bought a pair of Sennheisers that were great but felt thin bass wise. Plus the 'leather' stuff on the pads perished and started flaking off after a couple of years... I got a 'cheap' pair of Superlux headphones off ebay when they were half price at 15 quid (just to test them out) and was pleasantly surprised, after I while I chucked my Sennheisers in a box and haven't seen them since! Just seemed more pleasant for listening to and matched the sound of my monitors more accurately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kinder Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 I got a pair of Sennheiser HD 202s for Christmas. I jammed for nearly 3 hours last night with them on and they were brilliant - really comfortable and nice and bassy. £28 from Amazon! Plus the cable length is enormous - 3m. Only had them a month so I can't comment on durability but looking good so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gust0o Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 For those using headphones, if you're intending to play along to a backing-track (when practicing solo, I normally play along to a track of my band playing) how do you work that into the headphones? I like the look of the Sennheiser 201s, especially for the price - but how would I play the band into the mix? Just wear my iPhone headphones underneath? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kinder Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 [quote name='Gust0o' post='1106040' date='Jan 28 2011, 11:39 AM']For those using headphones, if you're intending to play along to a backing-track (when practicing solo, I normally play along to a track of my band playing) how do you work that into the headphones? I like the look of the Sennheiser 201s, especially for the price - but how would I play the band into the mix? Just wear my iPhone headphones underneath?[/quote] I've got a little Vox plug in amp. You can put a line in from your mp3 and your headphones out. Ok, the amp sound isn't great compared to whatever rig you normally use but it's pretty much noise-free playing (other than the string clanking if you're playing along to Maiden!). Works brilliantly for me cos I've got an I'll tempered wife and two young kids! It's around £40. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyfisher Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 Based on the previous suggestions, I've just bought some Sennheiser HD201s for £13.28 and AKG K77s for £22.77 from Dolphin Music and they seem pretty good for my purposes of basic monitoring whilst recording. It remains to be seen how durable they are but for £13.48 I'm not about to complain. I also bought a neat little Behringer Ha400 headphone amp/splitter (£20), which is a useful accessory for home recording. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybass 70 Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 I know these are not the best in the world but Sennheiser HD 407's for under a tenner , got to be worth a punt [url="http://www.play.com/Electronics/Electronics/4-/11912234/Sennheiser-HD-407-Open-Headphones/ProductReviews.html?cpage=2"]http://www.play.com/Electronics/Electronic...ws.html?cpage=2[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gafbass02 Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 The zoom b9.1 is very handy for this as it has a 3.5mm in for my iPhone, so I've set up my patches from banks A onwards again in banks 1 onwards but with amp/cab simulation on, and hey presto, perfect uncompromised practice solution, right down to pedal changes. I've had many headphones, I'm currently preferring a retro looking set of panasonic closed backs, the Sony mdrv700 were good but a bit over boomy, my number ones of all time were vivanco sr750's but sadly they fell apart after ten years. Gutted. The sennheisers are always good. I rate semi open designs although they are less common. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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