Headphones for mixing.

[Hugh971]

I have AKG K550s which are great for mixing, they're designed to be reference headphones so have a flat response.

They're also really comfortable which is nice.

They currently cost £133.20 on amazon - I spent £150 on mine and I'm very happy with them.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/AKG-Closed-Back-Reference-Class-Headphones/dp/B005CNR7B0/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1375125174&sr=1-1&keywords=akg+k550

[6v6]

I think whatever headphones you get the trick is to listen to a *lot* of familiar music before attempting to mix on them - then even if they are a bit coloured, you'll get used to what sounds "right" on them.

I had really good results over the years mixing on some old Senheiser HD270s, which get *terrible* reviews, but I could mix consistently on them because I was very used to them, I'm not recommending you get terrible headphones, but hopefully you get the point

Since those broke I've tried mixing on AKG K550s, AKG K702s, HiFi Man HE400's, Beyerdynamic dtx 101iem's, and tbh I've not had great results on any of them - the best (most transferrable to other systems) results have actually been with the IEM's, but that's again because I've done hundreds of hours listening to them while working whereas the others not so much.

That said, for full size closed-back cans, the K550's sound pretty good for the money IMO.

[Junkyard Rocket]

I use Beyer DT-150s. Stuff I mix on them & then listen to on other systems always comes out well - perhaps because I'm so used to them. More importantly they are ridiculously comfy and don't make my ears glow bright red after a few hours of use.

[PhilAllGaps1]

Hi All,
I have used a lot of different headphones in 30 years as a working pro, some say 'professional' on them, steer clear of these! Beyer DT150s are great as they have an enhanced low and high end compared to DT100s but are for monitoring not mixing. I carry DT150s for tracking session as most cans I find (usually DT100s) on sessions can't handle the amount of bass I want to hear. A lot of Theatre Shows spec Sony 7506s and I bought a pair home to evaluate them. They don't take much stick on the bass end to make them pop and they have a sucked out mid. I used these in a Show for monitoring as they were provided but I cannot recommend them for mixing.
Grado cans are a good hifi choice but unlike Sennheisers and Beyers you can't get any spares. They are nice to listen to but make everything sound 'pretty' and are not built for 'Pro' use. Audio Technica cans come up time and time again but as with all these thing you need to be able to listen to each pair with some music you are familiar with. They are good value though and well engineered. I have an old 600 ohm pair of AKG K240 DFs. They take a lot of driving but are very 'open' sounding and very revealing for placement of sound, reverb/fx amounts but are bass light. A new pair of these with a more suitable ohmage would be good although they are fairly open (not well insulated) and any background noise could be distracting.
A friend of mine uses and swears by the Focusrite VRM box. Some of the work on these tracks for Mothership;
http://www.mothershipofficial.com/Mothership_Official/Music.html were done using a VRM box, although probably not the final mixes..

Summing up you won't find headphones that will tick all the boxes. Get yourself a decent pair and learn by listening to your mixes on lots of different systems. I have some Soundmagic E10 bud type headphones to check/listen to stuff on after mixing via my iPod. They have a relatively decent even response, although no speakers or headphones are 'flat' in response.

A couple of good websites to look at are iHeadphones.com or Studiospares.

Good luck studio!

Phil.