Looking for Studio Headphone Monitors

[punkgod94]

Basic question. Like everyone I'm working on a budget, but what is the best bang for the buck as far as studio monitor headphones are concerned? Right now I've been using a pair of Sony Dyanmic Stereo Headphones MDR-V600 that I bought a few years ago for my mp3 player (great headphones for that by the way). But I'm sure they're not optimal for monitoring music. I dont want my budget to go sky high, but I figured I'd ask the "best bang for your buck" type situation. Let's try to keep it at $300 max, but I'd rather not spend that much if I can get better for cheaper. Anybody have any suggestions? Also check out my preamp question in the outboard gear forum - I have some questions on that too! Thanks

-Ed

[jpleong]

Ed,
This is going to sound funny but you should know the MDR-V600s are considered a "professional" level piece of kit. When they were first released, they were so popular with the professional studio crowd that Sony tweaked them and released a "pro" version, the MDR-7506. The V600 was considered one of the original "bang for your buck" headphones.

Stick with 'em since you're familiar with how they sound and save up your money for something else (maybe a monitor controller with a good headphone amp?).

Cheers,
JP

[punkgod94]

Haha, that's crazy Who would've known that I already had a great piece of gear. I would've just assumed that since I bought them at Best Buy for casual audio listening that they wouldn't be good for monitoring. I'm pretty sure that when I bought them a few years back (way before I got into music recording) that they couldn't have been more than $150, probably more in the $100-125 range. Anyway thanks for the advice! It's nice to know that I won't have to go out and spend the money on new headphones when (like you said) I could spend it on something else much better used.

[Rad]

I also think these are good. Price is not always a good indication of how good gear is, and for 130$ you can certainly get studio-grade pair. I got my K240's for about 100-120.

It is another issue if I'd recommend mixing/mastering on headphones. Regardless of how good, on most headphones in general it is harder to fix and identify bass problems, so I don't recommend mixing on headphones. I've heard all kinds of stories of "great mastering engineers working just with an Mbox and a pair of headphones" and "earning decent money", but as Joseph Hanna will undoubedly (and correctly!) say, these are all wives' tales. If there's one processing stage where you really can't cut it with headphones, this is exactly mastering, regardless of the amount of arguing I've seen in this forum. There may be people who think they do good mastering with headphones, but I will not comment on the quality of their work. Rather, I'll just say that there's a reason why mastering studios invest 1000's of cash in equipment and that if they could do the same job with an Mbox, they would probably have chosen to save their bucks.

So, punchline - use those for monitoring/recording, but if you have to master, it is best to outsouce this to a studio with quality equipment, it really pays off.

[aitikin]

Never presume that price is the deciding factor. I've heard a lot of consumer "hi-fi" stuff that sounds about the same as prosumer stuff at double the cost. I've also heard a lot of prosumer stuff at the same price that's a lot better. It's kind of hit or miss.

[mbanstendig]

I've always liked AKG headphones....their models in the $140-$180 region.

They are comfortable, and they have a natural sound one stops noticing as soon as one starts listening.

Years ago, SONY was great for electronics but made, to me and my friends, dead speakers and headphones. So I have avoided them. Maybe now they are better. But AKG does good stuff for the money.

Mark

[JeffBarnett]

I second the recommendation for the AKG cans. I have a pair of K171's that I swear my. My other favorites are the Ultrasone HFI580's and the higher-end Sennheiser models, but they are outside your stated price range.

Unlike some of the others, I'm not a big fan of the V600 / MDR7506 headphones. They are certainly built ruggedly, are pretty loud, and isolate well. For utility headphones, that's often all that matters. But for critical listening you can do better, i think.

[mbanstendig]

I'll never forget a big preview of some newest SONY technologies, to which I was invited at Eber Electronics in SF.

We arrived and a big wig from a popular sound mag arrived to give the demonstration. They chose an awful recording of the Dukas Sorceror's Apprentice as the music, which was diffuse, didn't know the "trips" of the piece, and payed in an unfocused way tonally, and was really insufferable. And the speakers were awful. Everyone was looking at each other trying to find a good moment to leave.

But also, Len Feldman, the name of the mag host, as I remember it, stood in front of us, tapping his hand and feet to the music while it played and being a general slob and distraction.

It was a monument to what has been going on in audio circles for decades, now.

SONY seems to get their electronics and theooreticals right. But they didn't have good, discriminating ears. And they were better than many.

One large firm bought an Austrian Imperial grand piano, which was the best of that decade, and proceeded to make a recording of it in a pretty magnificently designed sound room, with total wall treatment, etc. And they did succeed in getting the recording to sound pretty exactly like the piano.....

And they used a second-rate pianist, playing a well-known Beethoven Sonata so badly, that the sonic qualities didn't matter.

So they had no musical discrimination, whatsoever.

The legacy of those years is what one is up against in seeking to find better equipment, these days.

Good luck,

Mark

[gigdog]

Just wanted throw in my 2 cents. I have had the same Sennheiser HD250's since 1988 (dang - 20 yrs). I used them on the bandstand for monitors and in the studio. They are extremely accurate and are a closed cup type. Have had to replace a driver a couple of times, the cups a couple of times, the headband once, and the actual cable probably 3-4 times through many years of abuse. They have a website where you can easily order the replacement parts very inexpensive and convenient. Back in the early 90's, we had a new sound dude that was very experienced that tried them and liked them instantly. He ordered them for his own and had them next week at the gig. I paid $250 for them in 1988. I think the going price today is $200.

Once recently in an airport, they had a demo for the new Bose headphones where the girl was anxious for me to try them. You know the barker type ... "step right up and try your luck". Anyway, as soon as I put them on the word was "junk".

One other note: I have 2 Sennheiser mikes and a Beyer mike that retailed for around $300. The Beyer mike actually blows away the more expensive sennheiser mikes. Anyway, I am real curious to try the Beyer closed headphones that run around $250. I just bet you those are also excellent.

gigdog

[jpleong]

I didn't mention them because they're out of the OP's price-range but my favorite headphones to use professionally are the Beyerdynamic DT-990s. Not good for tracking in a room, but for listening to a mix and critical editing, I've not found a better pair.

JP

[aitikin]

Beyer's are vastly overpriced, not because they're not worth it, but markup. If you are a good haggler and know a store that will let you, go in there and haggle your ass off. A buddy of mine picked up a pair of $200 Beyer headphones for $80 at GC cause he knew a manager.

[mbanstendig]

IMO, for headphone evaluating, nothing beats using great old classical recordings by one or another of the greatest conductors, like Klemperer, Reiner, Szell, Bohm, Barbirolli, Boult, etc., from the 60s and 70s, when recordings were already pretty good.

The reason is because everything in the way the orchestra is playing (the way the sounds are produced by the players themselves) is right in those recordings.

I have my favorites for evaluating sound systems, etc. Using pop stuff is undependable, IMO, for things like headphone/speaker evaluation. The music is the way they want it, and may be superb. But one can seldom know exactly what the sound sounded like, originally, or how the artists really wanted it to sound.

Of course, what a classically played instrument should sound like is not all that well known these days, either. But one can depend upon the sound produced by orchestras conducted by those I mentioned above (by no means all, of course).

Mark