# Headphones for Mixing



## Altered (Mar 23, 2020)

Hey All,

I'm a composer, and need a pair of headphones for writing and mixing. I have a pair of Genelec 1031a I'll also be referencing, but the bulk of my time will be on headphones and would like them to be as neutral as possible. Budget is roughly $500.

Any recommendations? I've spent countless hours reading articles, threads, watching youtube reviews, and keep coming out with different answers. Thefour I see mentioned alot are:

Sennheiser HD 6 series (600, 650, 6xx, 660s, feels like everyone has a different favorite)
Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro (although some say high end is too harsh?)
HiFiMan Sundara (sounds like QC issues though, and it seems they aren't a reputable brand)
Audeze LCD-1 (just don't see this get praised as much as the others)

Any advice you can give is appreciated. I feel like I'm making no progress narrowing it down.


----------



## BassClef (Mar 23, 2020)

I’m very pleased with the Sennheiser 650s.


----------



## labornvain (Mar 23, 2020)

The Sennheiser HD 650 s are probably in more Studios than any other open back to headphone. For a reason. They are great headphones. And you can get them for $200 if you get the Massdrop version which is identical in every way except, I think, the cable.

As I said, however, the hd650s are open back. This means they're really loud in the room you're in and they offer little to no isolation.

Four strictly mixing, this is what you want. But they're not very good for tracking vocals, or not annoying other people in the same room.


----------



## Sean J (Mar 23, 2020)

1. Mix on someone else's monitors if you have to.
2. Get AKG's or something very comfy for long term use.

We enjoy good music / mixing, plus it sells. May as well get both right.


----------



## SupremeFist (Mar 24, 2020)

Ollo Audio S4.


----------



## Robert Kooijman (Mar 24, 2020)

Still using my beloved Sennheiser HD580 precision for over 20 years now...
Soundwise they're pretty close to the HD6xx range. Soldered and sealed the cable directly to the elements, bypassing the contacts that got cracky over the years. Amazon has nice replacement earpads that are better and cheaper compared to the originals.


----------



## GingerMaestro (Mar 24, 2020)

I have Beyer DT770 Closed & DT990 Open, They are essentially the same headphone, but one closed and the other open. I love the Open Ones and use 100% of my time when composing/mixing as I don't have speakers when I'm traveling. The closed version are good also, but sound, well, closed as you would expect. Useful when listening back to stuff in public or when recording using a mic etc...They are both the most comfortable headphones I've ever worn and I wear them for hours on end.. I've also just ordered a pair of iloud micro monitors as I'm worried about my hearing, listening on headphones at high levels. interested to see how they compare. They get great reviews...


----------



## PaulieDC (Mar 24, 2020)

I've used the closed-back Audio Technica ATH-M50X's for tracking, mixing and now for quite a while, but a couple weeks ago I kept seeing articles about mixing with open-back, how much more natural, etc etc. They were saying it also applies to tracking your VI work since headphone bleed is not an issue. So I decided to give this a go, and after much research I also went for the Sennheiser 650s. I cued up a jazz/rock album in iTunes and let it play on repeat overnight to give the 650s a good workout for almost 24 hours, then I started using them. WOW, what a different experience, it's this bigger more natural sound, kind of hard to explain. I have no other open-back cans to compare these to but if you told me these are all I would ever be able to mix or compose with, NO problem there! My only complaint: for that price a case or even drawstring bag would have been nice, but honestly they sit on a hanger on my desk, so no biggie. Also I have a pretty big noggin and these 650s are still comfortable, if that's any help.


----------



## BassClef (Mar 24, 2020)

labornvain said:


> The Sennheiser HD 650 s are probably in more Studios than any other open back to headphone. For a reason. They are great headphones. And you can get them for $200 if you get the Massdrop version which is identical in every way except, I think, the cable.
> 
> As I said, however, the hd650s are open back. This means they're really loud in the room you're in and they offer little to no isolation.
> 
> Four strictly mixing, this is what you want. But they're not very good for tracking vocals, or not annoying other people in the same room.



Yes... I got the MassDrop version of the HD650, and on the rare occasion that I need closed back for isolation, I use HD280PROs.


----------



## sostenuto (Mar 24, 2020)

What about HiRes for this need ? Went to check Senn 650 and saw 660s. Home studio here, me only, dead-quiet, no worries about bleed affecting others. Senn Sales Support talked through 600, 650, 660s. 
Senior (seasoned) ears and notable hig-end fall-off. Comfort is a factor, but not driven by commercial, long-hour requirements. 

Senn confused me here: emphasized 'decent' headphone amp .... e.g Schiit Magni-3 Heresy. I thought RME or other quality Audio I/F would drive the Senn(s) properly. Was told otherwise ...... ???? HELP !!


----------



## BassClef (Mar 24, 2020)

sostenuto said:


> What about HiRes for this need ? Went to check Senn 650 and saw 660s. Home studio here, me only, dead-quiet, no worries about bleed affecting others. Senn Sales Support talked through 600, 650, 660s.
> Senior (seasoned) ears and notable hig-end fall-off. Comfort is a factor, but not driven by commercial, long-hour requirements. Help !



I'm with you brother... hobbiest... former music educator... home studio... 68 with tinnitus and frequencies above 8000 gone... mixing with relatively inexpensive Focal Alpha 65 monitors (rated down to 40HZ) and the Sennheiser HD650s... have a decent subwoofer but too boomy in my untreated 13 X 13 room, the the headphones help me test accuracy, especially the deep lows.


----------



## Instrugramm (Mar 24, 2020)

I'd advise you to get Sennheiser HD600s for mixing, I own the Sennheiser 6XXs, the 58X Jubilees and the 600s and the only really neutral ones are the 600s.

The 650s (6XX) are too warm and bassy for mixing (they're great for playing on a digital piano though) and while the 58X Jubilees are the nicest of the bunch to listen to music to (if you do the felt mod!) they've got too much of a v-shaped frequency curve for professional work.


----------



## sostenuto (Mar 24, 2020)

Instrugramm said:


> I'd advise you to get Sennheiser HD600s for mixing, I own the Sennheiser 6XXs, the 58X Jubilees and the 600s and the only really neutral ones are the 600s.
> 
> The 650s (6XX) are too warm and bassy for mixing (they're great for playing on a digital piano though) and while the 58X Jubilees are the nicest of the bunch to listen to music to (if you do the felt mod!) they've got too much of a v-shaped frequency curve for professional work.



Cool update !! Have heard these comments some time ago, and consistency gets my attention. Since these are 300-ohms, any thoughts on concern about specific headphone amp versus driving from Audio I/F ?? Currently older Saffire Pro 14, but moving to newer USB I/F shortly. Could be Clarett 2Pre USB or big stretch to RME Babyface, but how to know if better to drive 600 with Schitt ?? How to sort ??


----------



## PaulieDC (Mar 24, 2020)

Instrugramm said:


> I'd advise you to get Sennheiser HD600s for mixing...
> 
> The 650s (6XX) are too warm and bassy for mixing (they're great for playing on a digital piano though)...


Good to know. I'm only using my 650's at my composing station and they sound really good, the boost in warmth and bottom end would give you that. I'm even happier with my choice now, thanks!


----------



## Instrugramm (Mar 24, 2020)

sostenuto said:


> Cool update !! Have heard these comments some time ago, and consistency gets my attention. Since these are 300-ohms, any thoughts on concern about specific headphone amp versus driving from Audio I/F ?? Currently older Saffire Pro 14, but moving to newer USB I/F shortly. Could be Clarett 2Pre USB or big stretch to RME Babyface, but how to know if better to drive 600 with Schitt ?? How to sort ??


I'd advise you to get an amp in any case. I usually travel between two countries a lot, so I needed something portable. In the end I went for the Komplete Audio 2 that I hooked up to a Shiit Heresy, the combo is plenty powerful and affordable at the same time.


----------



## Sharon14 (Mar 26, 2020)

I'd recommend the ATH-M50x, these are within your budget, actually way below the top price you're willing to pay, so you'll save a pretty large sum of cash. https://popular.reviews/best-dj-headphones/#2_Audio-Technica_ATH-M50x_Professional_Studio Here you'll find other options to compare it to as well. Other models I recommend are the Bose 25 (QuietComfort series) and the OneOdio (not a renowned brand, but a deal worth checking out, have a few buddies who use them and they're ok apparently). Best of luck!


----------



## Nate Johnson (Mar 26, 2020)

I love my AKG k702's. I work for hours in these things and don't even realize they're on my head.


----------



## Uncle Ox (Mar 26, 2020)

The Neumann NDH 20 has good reviews ( May 2019 Sound on Sound)
$500,- but it is a closed version.
Top for analytical listening in studio


----------



## Beat Kaufmann (Mar 28, 2020)

Hi Altered

"Which headphones should I buy?"... Everyone here will recommend their own. And - most of the headphones mentioned here do their job very well. So this question doesn't help.
But: There are a few basic things your future headphones should fulfill if you want to work longer hours a day with them.

*Assumptions:* You're a composer, and you don't need your headphones to completely shield sounds from the outside and the inside (this would be necessary if you were singing into a microphone with your headphones and the playback was playing in the headphones).
If the assumptions are correct, then your headphones should meet the following requirements

Buy an open or half-open headphone. These are often more comfortable to wear and offer an open and airy sound (closer to speakers than the closed versions).
Buy a headphone that does not press too hard on the head (left and right).
Buy a headphone that is not too heavy and does not press on the top of the skull.
Buy a pair of headphones where you can change the cable (cable should be long enough).
Don't spend the whole budget on the headphones and buy for example Reference 4 from Sonarworks as well. It offers a certain linearization for your headphones. By the way, you can infinitely adjust how much of the correction you want.
In order to be able to make good sound decisions, one should rather consider headphones that do not have a specifically "good sound" such as Bose, Beats & Co., but those that may sound rather unspectacular at first, such as Beyer, Sennheiser, AKG & Co.
A combination would be e.g. AKG 712 + Reference 4 or hundreds of others...


*Important:* Don't just rely on recommendations, but wear and listen to headphones - maybe quite loud at times but also very quiet and compare. As mentioned above: Besides the sound, wearing comfort is also *very* important.

*One last thing:* Your headphone amplifier is also crucial. Some bus-powered USB audio interfaces have rather weak headphone amplifiers built in. Low impedance headphones (low-ohm-impedance) put a heavy load on such amplifiers. They distort quickly when you want to listen a little louder. On the other hand: If headphones have a too high impedance, they sound often too quiet...
So pay attention to the impedance of your desired headphones as well. Some headphone models are available with different impedances. So if the headphone amplifier is an issue as well use your budget for a good combination: Headphones - Reference 4 - Headphone amplifier

Beat


----------

