Headphone Recommendations

[How1]

I’m after a decent set of headphones for recording and also the ability to practice quietly late on when everyone’s asleep etc. Obviously something that’s good at handling bass but still sounds accurate for other stuff. At this moment I haven’t got a budget in mind, just curious about options so anything goes price wise at this stage.

[PaulThePlug]

£20 Budget... Sennhieser HD206

Long 3 mtr lead so great for practice...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/314368503651

[naxos10]

I find my AKG52's more than adequate for practice and peple do use them for mixing and recording. Not an expensive option either.

[bloke_zero]

When you say recording do you mean something to wear while you record to stop sound bleed, or something that you are using to monitor the recording on the way and using to tweak the sound before it goes in? If you need to get the sound right on the way in I'd reccomend paying more.

Obviously you want closed back!

I've had a lot of joy with Senheiser, AKG and Beyerdynamics - it might be worth checking the range?

I can reccommend Beyerdynamic DT 700 PRO X - there are some in the studio that work well and are pretty robust.

[Baloney Balderdash]

You would want a pair of decent studio grade (which basically just means FRFR, full range flat frequency response) headphones for that, as you would want an as authentic and neutral representation of your recordings when mixing as possible, and also wouldn't want bloated bass frequencies (which is often the case with regular cheap, and sometimes higher end too, headphones, made with regular common use in mind) when practicing bass, I assume already using some sort of bass amp and cab sim.

 

Also if you plan on recording anything with a microphone (vocals, acoustic guitar, drums/percussion e.t.c), and especially if you are using condenser michrophone(s), you would want the headphones to feature a closed-back design, to prevent, or at least minimize, the monitored played back, or click, track, to spillover/feedback into the whatever you are currently recording.

 

I am extremely satisfied with my Sennheiser HD-380 Pro, but unfortunately that model have been discontinued and the closest current production equivalent model would be the HD-300 Pro. 

 

Edited March 19, 2023 by Baloney Balderdash

[How1]

On 16/03/2023 at 14:10, PaulThePlug said:

£20 Budget... Sennhieser HD206

Long 3 mtr lead so great for practice...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/314368503651

That looks like a no brainer. I'll probably get a pair of those even if I get something else as well. 

[How1]

Thanks for the replies. I've been looking at the Beyer DT770 Pros. I like the fact that there are spares available for them (even though they're  a bit more expensive than some others mentioned).

 

Those AKG52s don't look bad either.

 

Sorry, when I say recording I mainly mean for monitoring & mixing, with the odd bit of mic recording - percussion at the moment. So yeah, closed back would obviously be good. For practicing I'll be plugging them into my Laney Digbeth preamp (when it arrives!).

Edited March 19, 2023 by How1

[naxos10]

Old Horse Murphy has a pair of AKG K72's for sale in the 'Accessories' section of the classifieds.

[PaulWarning]

there's a few threads on this subject, here's one

 

[Bolo]

On 19/03/2023 at 09:02, How1 said:

Thanks for the replies. I've been looking at the Beyer DT770 Pros. I like the fact that there are spares available for them (even though they're  a bit more expensive than some others mentioned).

 

Those AKG52s don't look bad either.

 

Sorry, when I say recording I mainly mean for monitoring & mixing, with the odd bit of mic recording - percussion at the moment. So yeah, closed back would obviously be good. For practicing I'll be plugging them into my Laney Digbeth preamp (when it arrives!).

The DT770 pros are excellent, widely used headphones.  Buy with confidence. The 250 Ohm are the standard unless you plan to use mainly portable devices, then get the 80 Ohm version that is a little easier to drive. The 250 sounds a bit better.

[How1]

19 minutes ago, Bolo said:

The DT770 pros are excellent, widely used headphones.  Buy with confidence. The 250 Ohm are the standard unless you plan to use mainly portable devices, then get the 80 Ohm version that is a little easier to drive. The 250 sounds a bit better.

That’s what I went for in the end (80 Ohm) 👍. Seem pretty decent across the board so far.

Edited April 28, 2023 by How1

[ped]

2 minutes ago, How1 said:

That’s what I went for in the end (80 Ohm) 👍. Seem pretty decent across the board so far.

 

I think the 80ohm are a nice balance between flattering the sound without going too far, and they have a really wide soundstage so they're excellent for playing bass along to a track. It never sounds crowded.

[How1]

2 hours ago, ped said:

 

I think the 80ohm are a nice balance between flattering the sound without going too far, and they have a really wide soundstage so they're excellent for playing bass along to a track. It never sounds crowded.

They also do a very good job of bringing out every pop, crackle and scratch on my old soul 7 inchers 😂. But yeah, they sound really well balanced for most uses including casual listening.

Edited April 28, 2023 by How1