Need Help With Headphones Choice Options

[straydog]

Simple question:

Which pair of headphones do you think would be best for studio use with a budget of up to 300 euros?


(Resellers here refuse to order such "expensive" headphones just for me to hear them out myself. Life is hard for musicians in Greece)

Thanks in advance

[kaboombahchuck]

Bose

[straydog]

Quietcomfort 2, I presume?

Doesn't noise cancelling interfere with sound quality?

[Dr. Harmonica]

Depends on what they will be used for. One size does not fit all. If your recording, especially vocals then tight fitting sealed ones are the best because you don't want any sound to bleed thru from the headphone mix to the vocal mike. Sometimes the music in the phones get picked up by the vocal mike. That part might later be erased or changed but it will still be in the backround on the vocal track. Sound quality s not really the issue because mixing should never be done with phones. They are much too subjective. Even the best phones from different companies sound different so you don't get the real tonal picture. Better to go for ones with the best seal and worry about tones and frequencies later in the mix with good monitor speakers

[straydog]

Thanks Dr.

I know what you mean, having recently bought a vocal mic, noise bleeding is way too much with my old beyerdynamics, and it does make mixing much more painful. No, I don't mix with headphones, but sometimes I use them to get a second idea (trying to make it sound good on both monitors and phones). You are right about quality though, guess it's all a question of priority.

Bose it will be, I guess.

[Dr. Harmonica]

Phones are good to mix with when you need an exact sound picture for placement of instruments when panning or for ear games such as ping pong, chorus, delay, echo and the like.Then you get a better idea where everything is. Headphone mixes can be fun with sounds swirling aroud your brain but the generally only work when wearing phones because to get the entire effect the listener must be in the exact center which is not always possible when listening with speakers.

This post has been edited by Dr. Harmonica: Sun 5 Mar 2006, 12:52

[j_riv]

(first post, what's up)
I have Sennheiser 280s, using them w/ the iMic and get great sound. They're closed headphones, so I'm not sure that's what you want, but I enjoy it.

Check out www.epinions.com. The techies over there have EXTENSIVE reviews of Bose, Sennheisser, AT and other headphones of all price ranges. That's where I looked for a couple days b/f putting down $100.

[mortalengines]

I have some Sennheiser 280s as well & can testify to their comfort & Utilty. If you want noise cancelling headphones that are cheap (though not especially portable & a little heavy on your head) Vic Firth makes some for around 50 bucks US. I wouldn't recommend working with headphones too often or mixing with them, they will trash your hearing & your mixes will suck. My ears ring constantly & I would prefer that they wouldn't (I grew up with a walkman & loud guitars & have worked in construction for 10 years...so it goes). Think also about some cheap, portable monitors....m-audio makes some small Studio Pro 3 monitors that aren't too loud & translate pretty well when you listen to your mixes on other systems & they only cost 100 bucks US.

[straydog]

Thanks everybody. I finally bought the AKG-272 Studio, I was after the Bose Quietcomforts but the dealer made me an offer I couldn't refuse... haven't shipped yet, I hope tomorrow I'll be a happy not-hearing-anything-because-I-have-cans-in-my-ears guy.
Mortalengines I know what you mean about hearing loss, it sucks, I feel I'm hearing less and less, and the volume knob when I'm mixing (with monitors I mean) goes more to the right every month that passes by... I have passive monitors (Proac tablettes) paired with an audiolab amplifier, I know it's not exactly correct studiowise, but I can't afford anything else and I'm thinking that getting a pair of active cheapos would actually sound worse...

Anyway, my headphone recording problems are over, I guess. Next step? Probably a pair of microphones for recording acoustics, and, perhaps most importantly, some room work to get this lousy room reverb to stop....

[Erik821]

If it's not too late you may want to seriously consider returning the AK's for A PAIR OF THESE.

Pretty much the industry standard.