Stick Neumann NDH-30 on your list, and also budget for some room emulation/correction software. I use Realphones for various things including casual listening.

 

What if I also considering purchasing a SUBPAC?

If SUBPAC will be combined with headphones which have lack of bass
like Sennheiser HD600 then those headphones will have enough bass?
What about headphones with bass like Audeze LCD-X?
If SUBPAC will be combined with LCD-X isn't there will be too much bass?

How does it will work with SUBPAC combination?

https://subpac.com/x1/

 

Hifiman He-6se V2

If you have capable headphone amp (dont buy if you dont it wont work properly), this will destroy sennheisers and audezes easily. Titan killer for the price 400€/400$
Amazing bass

Needs a bit of eq maybe to get it going, cant recommend enough

You only get this tip because i like that clown picture on your avatar

 

Last edited: Dec 21, 2023

I have the M50X Closed. And I use SoundID profile with them. I think they are great. They are a little tight in clamping force at first. But it only took a few days and that was solved.

 

I like my Beyer DT880's for checks, but then again I don't final mix with cans either. I have Sony and sennheisers also.

 

I have a pair that I use for tracking and they are good, until you get a taste for open-back headphones.

 

Haha. Thanks!

 

Personally I think the best bang for your buck open back headphones (I track on closed backs but can't mix with them), are the Hifiman Sundaras. Do I prefer the Audeze LCD-X's? Yes, but not by much, and not enough the justify the extra cost unless you have money to burn and/or are making good money from your music gig. Spend the extra cash on a decent headphone amp. Sundara + good headphone amp is better than LCD-X and crappy headphone amp.

 

https://store.hifiman.com/index.php/sundara.html. For $300. Can you find better.. sure, but $700+ better? At a certain point these improvements become diminishing returns. Who is going to hear the mythical flaw that can only be heard with the detail extraction of $1000 headphones? No-one. Your listeners are more likely to own a pair of the Dyson headphones than LCD-X.

 

Haha. Dyson headphones with built-in Hoover preset.

 

Recently had a chance to try the NDH-30's. They are very dull and lack a lot of detail in the treble.

 

Dyson cans, Dyson chicken chunks... Chicken cans?

 

I own and use daily my Audio Technica ATH-M50X (closed) and Beyerdynamic DT-990 Pro 250 Ohm (open) for everything. AT for music production and media consumption, and the Beyer for mixing and mastering as the open back nature gives more clarity and sense of space. All I've needed for several years and both still in perfect condition with daily use, bar replacement velour memory foam ear cup padding I put on the AT.

One tip for the AT, buy one of them headband covers for it as the leather gets dry and flakey after a while (or at least they do on my limited edition brown leather version). I bought a cotton knitted cover for about £5 off Amazon and works like a charm and actually makes them more comfy to wear for long periods.

 

I found the M-40x more neutral sounding than the M-50x which had hyped bass and scooped low-mids. Neither seemed very comfortable over time. LCD-1 also more neutral than LCD-X. Headphones that "sound better" aren't always the best for making mix decisions.

Having used room correction like IK ARC II, and basically every headphone compensation plugin from ones I can't remember from 15 years ago to TB Isone, Morphit, Sonarworks, Wave NX, Realphones etc. I found they helped to some degree, but it wasn't until getting VSX that I finally felt confident in my mixes translating.

Version 1 was a big improvement over what I'd previously used, but it's come a long way since then. Certain rooms would tend to sound phasey and off to me so I mostly stuck with Archon ATCs, but the issues were mostly fixed in newer versions.
The newest update with Kii Three's are my current favorite, and the Funktion One club far better than the original one I never found much use for. I also like checking on the NS-10s in Mike Dean's studio since they don't include a sub like NRG (IMO a sub mostly defeats the point of the 'classic' NS-10 sound.)

2 early pair broke which happened to a lot of people (replaced at no charge). I haven't had issues since they improved the build quality, but I think other headphones like the ATH or MDR-7506 could take more of a beating. I don't like the sound of the headphones without the software, so as a primary pair of headphones for on the go they wouldn't be more first choice.

Slate's marketing/hype was off-putting in the past and I was underwhelmed by his other plugins. I'm sure there's still a lot of hype involved and I'm not under the illusion that the software magically turns decent plugins into a perfect emulation of top studios, but I can't really argue with the results. YMMV, since there's enough difference in ear anatomy and perception that some don't jive with it.

 

HD650 for life baby

 

I use some cheap (under 50$) sony foldable headphones cause they're comfortable. i only use them when I don't want to disturb others or for tracking guitar.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NJ2M33I/ref=ewc_pr_img_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&th=1

currently 10$ on amazon. try em, if you don't like them, you're out 10$, a cup of coffee or 2 in the western world.

nigel has some good tips:

https://www.redsharknews.com/how-to-equip-a-professional-home-studio-part-1

his video is quite entertaining its 3 hours. I recommend downloading it and watchin in bits and pieces

Chapters: 00:00 – Introduction 14:23 – Computer & DAW 18:00 – Audio Interface 24:33 – Microphones 34:16 – Pop Filter 37:15 – Microphone Cover 38:00 – Near Field Monitors 47:13 – Midi Keyboard/Synth Controller 58:32 – Closed-Back Headphones 1:04:31 – Room Treatment 1:09:02 – Cables & Mic Stand 1:12:53 – Three Must Have Books 1:16:42 – Connecting Everything Up 1:26:59 – Plugins 1:30:07 – Celemony Melodyne 1:48:57 – Antares Auto-Tune 2:00:20 – Arturia Keylab MKII Midi Keyboard Controller/Synth Demo 2:28:15 – Laying Down The Song 2:52:41 – Getting Your Music On Spotify & iTunes 3:00:18 – Uploading A Song To Distrokid 3:08:18 – Your Music Video On YouTube 3:10:13 – Mixing Tips 3:15:07 – End Wrap

closed backed headphones are what he recommends...

 

Yeah, but many people say their mixes translate well across multiple playback systems. For listening pleasure I would recommend something else, as the Neumann NDH-30 headphones were designed for audio production.

 

Last edited: Dec 21, 2023

HD600 & HD650 are a safe bet. I use them for all of my casual listening with Realphones set to Big Fat Bottom > Normal > Correction/Environment @ 75%.

 

They are realy comfortabele, and sound realy good, 770

 

If compared with something like the ATH-M40x or M50x, it's very much true.

If compared with the Audeze LCD-series, less so.

If compared with the Sennheiser 600-series, not really.

Anyway, it all depends on the context. IMO, whatever the Neumanns may be lacking in the treble department, if anything at all, they more than compensate throughout the rest of the spectrum.

It seems to be a coherent design strategy too, as Neumann studio monitors at first listening also seem to lack the top octave compared to many competitors. There's no shortage of fundamentally flawed speaker and headphone designs with exceptionally detailed response in the treble.

PS: The drivers in the NDH-30 are angled around the vertical axis, and the cable is attached to the right can, which is not typical. If not worn properly - goodbye treble.

 

Last edited: Jan 2, 2024