Hey guys, today I just wanted to share with y'all the fact that I bought a new headphone. I used to use a Beats by Dre headphone (yes, I was an idiot falling for the marketing hype), but now I went and got myself a Sennheiser HD 650 and WOW... this is some of the best money I ever spend. Everything is so defined, you can hear effects in a mix more properly and everthing sounds way more balanced. I make music on a whole different level now, I hear so much more. With the Beats for example, every kick drum library used to seem the same, I remember having downloaded some high quality drumkits from AudioZ only to be thinking in myself "damn, how can every one-shot sound the same", not realising it was the headphone f*cking up my stuff. Now I realize how important it is to have proper monitoring. If I make music now that sucks, it'll be completely my fault, no more excuses.

So now I look at my Beats as a toy and hereby I will say again what many people have been saying, don't fall for it, don't use a toy for music production y'all, stay away from that shit!

Also I'm wondering what y'all think of the choice I made. I have done extensive research before and there were also some other brands/models competing for my purchase, but I really think I made the right choice, what do you think, what kinda headphone do you use?

Also I use an Apogee Duet 2 on my MBP and it drives my headphones pretty good, but I've been told by people it would be better to buy a proper headphone amp.
Does anyone of you have experience with headphone amp's and have some suggestions for me. Also what is the difference between a headphone amp and my Duet 2? Isn't that a 'good quality' device itself? Please share your thoughts on this...

I was thinking of buying the soon to be released Sennheiser HDVD800 Headphone amp. What do you think? I'm not yet a prof, but a very ambitious amateur, so some people will say "why buy a €2000 headphone amp?" but I think it's never wrong to invest in GOOD QUALITY stuff, I'm rapidly developing my skill set so why not buy future proof things, right? I've never liked to buy lesser quality stuff just because I'm an amateur and it's cheaper. If your really (going to be) making steps, you'll eventually buy that top notch shit anyway, so why not do it now and be properly equipped, that way I can focus purely on making 'dope' music without being hold back by 'not so high quality stuff'.

Hope I spark a little discussion, don't be shy to share your thoughts...

 

Lake People G103 is one of the best amps for your headphone, which doesn't cost a car...

 

.....add Focusrite VRM Box to your next shopping list!!!

 

Hard to go wrong with any Sennheiser product. Open design headphones are nice for listening, but you are going to get less isolation if you are using to monitor recording vocals. These are wonderful headphones, but they are designed for listening rather than studio monitoring. Not that there is anything wrong with that if it works for you.

 

Got myself this one for 20 euro's. Works just fine with my KRK's 8400 headphones. Not gonna spend more on a headphone amp. And remember a more expensive one doesnt always have to be a better one.

Behringer HA400

 

Beats by Dre headphones are great for listening to music, but not to mix with. Too much bass in it. For mixing i'd stick with KRK 8400(closed), Beyerdynamics 770pro(closed) and 990pro(open) or if you can afford it the more expensive Denon's. Never tried Sennheiser, not a real fan of Sennheiser and AKG's. You should get both an open and closed headphone for different purposes

 

hey, pirate,

grace design m903 headphone amplifier (ebay)
akg d240df (the old, diffuse field equalised version)
akg k702
ultrasone pro900
sennheiser hd650
beyerdynamic dt990 pro

now using all these, needed couple of decades to decide and stick with them (through loads of iterations)... *yes*

have used the amplifier from the apogee duet 2 too, very likable, really good choice... *yes*

glad if this can be some help, keep up the good work...

 

I also own the Sennheiser HD 650 headphones! The come out the Edirol FA-101 and run through my PreSonus HP4 Headphone Amplifier. I think they've suffered some 'sonic wear' from using the headphone amplifier; never the less, as of late -- I've been mixing with my massive 103x-series Genelecs that connect into my PreSonus Monitor Station. Great headphones, I mainly use them for listening and/or kick drum design. I also reference and 'check' mixes on them, however I no longer use them for actual production, unless for some reason, I can't use the Genelecs.

 

Hi Pirate, i have been using the beyer dynamic dt150's for years. I have not tried loads of others but i love these as they go down to 20hz. Found i could get a mix to translate really well on a rig using these and also good for hearing clicks and other dodgy stuff. Tbh i think my mixing has become much more random since i stopped using them all the time. I noticed someone mentioned the beyerdynamic dt990 pro, whats the main difference? Best of luck with your new ones, its a very interesting topic.

 

True the person next to a live HD650 can pretty much say if the snare is to ringy.
But you can master on it even, don't know any other headphone I would use in that environment except for general reference.

True, the duet 2 has real nice amps and converters.
I get where you're coming from, you have a top grade headphone now, props, and don't want no bad spots in your signal chain.

I would advise to sketch out where you want to go with producing to know which kind of system you want to end up working behind.
If the duet might go you might want to have the preamp, but if you want a high grade summing device or someting like that, you'll allready have proper preamps. If you know what you want you can start prioritizing your shopping and that can save you a lot of thinking.
It will probably change because of technological improvements and such but it sure helped me to put my ultimate setup on paper. Now I know I have a long way to save up

 

So which model is intended for studio monitoring, that super expensive HD800? Please fill me in, I was told in the store these would be fine for xomposing, mixing and mastering. Ofcourse I know these aren't quite good for recording since the leakage is enormous, but please answer my questionm this is quite worrying for me, that store never falsely adviced me so I'm real curious! *yes*

Also, do you guys believe in 'burning-in' your headphone? This has been discussed so many times I don't know what to believe anymore LOL!
I gave it a try and I found the headphone became more smooth,, high frequencies were a little bit tamer overtime but there was also a period I thought the bass was less defined. Anyway, this might all be placebo, whaddayathink?!

Thanks for all the replies!!

 

Heard a lot of good stuff about Denon, that was also a brand competing for my purchase, could you tell me which models you advice for studio duties, like mixing and mastering? Thanks for the suggestions!

 

1. What is the general duty of a headphone amp? What will be the difference between my Duet 2 and that HDVD800 headphone amp? Will it be like a (huge) noticeable difference in sound quality?

2. I see what you mean with that low end, but these versions are different than some older HD650's, the manual says something about them adjusting their headphones to new listening habits that people have nowadays, and they made the bass a little bit more.. punchy? I don't recall what exactly, but they are said to have 'better' low end than earlier HD650's... thanks for the heads up tho!

 

Well in any case human ears won't be a good reference.
I never did but maybe it could be tested by a db meter and a frequenty meter.
The results probably will be very marginal at best.
Just a check?

A headphone amp makes a line signal into a headphone level signal basically.
It's all about the impedances. The line level has to be scaled again to fit the different output impedance.
Here is a basic read about it.

Sound quality won't be much greater with the HDVD800 then with the Duet 2 I believe.
Maybe if you compare it with an onboard cheapo thing you might hear a tiny difference but it's about what you want to spend on

 

Do not worry. You have some wonderful headphones. Just what I said about open vs. closed. The HD600 would have worked for less money. Denon makes nice stuff too. I don't know how Revolution can knock Sennheiser and AKG without experiencing their products. But I have a lot of experience with and respect for both companies. I think Sennheiser dynamic mics are some of the best out there. AKG headphones and mics are used in studios everywhere.

 

investing in good headphones is always a good thing,i m happy with my akg k271,but i think the actual goal is having a system that sounds as similar as possible thru every device.i mean,i love the sound coming out of my pphones but it s so different from the one coming out of my monitors,so i use a monitor simulator on a separate channel when i use the phones,trying to calibrate it the best i can to make it sound like my cheap monitors,since it s not probable that someone usues only the phones or oly the speakers throughout the recording/mixing/mastering process,my point of view is that something first of all has to sound good on a shitty system since that s the final place of all the work(most people listen to music through the computer speakers or in their cars).everything can sound good on an expensive system ,it doesn t mean it won t suck during the average listening thu normal speakers

 

Denon AH D2000, AH D5000, and AH D7000. Here's a nice forum on headphones head-fi.org. If you're on a budget i'd get the d2000, if you can afford it i'd skip the d5000 and get the d7000.

Here some nice reviews Denon review
Denon review 2

 

+1 with Duskwings for LOVING my AKG K271`s.

Great thread btw Amsterdam Pirate, I have also wondered whether buying a separate headphone amp would be worthwhile.

I think from the general consensus I would be better spending money on an upgraded interface.

Juboh suggested the Focusrite VRM system, which is available built into some of the Focusrite Interfaces, anyone got anything to report regarding VRM?

 

i don't know if i want to go back to closed cans for composing, mixing and mastering, maybe only for recording vocals.. i like open cans more since i've tried them

 

Man, I gotta check out AKG, have read so much good about them. Matter of fact, I think Sennheiser and AKG have been the most common brands heard in discussions... so it's on my to do list :D thanks!