So I'm in The Market For a new pair of headphones for producing, mixing and some light mastering work.. I currently own the audio technica ATH m50s and I've owned them for close to 10 years and they served me well.. but as I'm getting older my ears can't handle the top end as well as it used too I can't wear them for more then 20 minutes without my ears getting severely fatigued. I mainly do trap and hip hop and for some reason now when I'm producing everything sounds too full with just a minimal amount of instruments playing and I know it's the headphones because when I switch to my monitors I can add atleast a counter melody or 2 more where as in the headphones it sounds like everything is so over lapped.. I'm making horrible mixing decisions now .. like I said I'm almost 40 now so hearing isn't like it used to be.. anybody switch from that style of audio technicas to something else that they found that they loved? I'm really considering open back but I deal with alot of 808s and deep bass . Will I run into any issues with that.. I know nothing is perfect but I'm forced to work with headphones at night due to having a wife and baby.

 

An ear specialist / hearing aid acoustician can best determine which frequencies you can no longer hear.

beyerdynamic DT-990 Pro
- Studio headphones
- open minded
- Impedance: 250 ohms
- Sound pressure level 96 dB
- Transmission range: 5 Hz - 35 kHz

Audio-Technica ATH-M50 X
- Studio headphones
- closed
- Impedance: 38 ohms
- Sound pressure level: 99 dB
- Transmission range: 15 - 28,000 Hz

beyerdynamic DT-990 Pro -----> https://north-america.beyerdynamic.com/dt-990-pro.html
Audio-Technica ATH-M50 X -----> www.audio-technica.com/de-de/ath-m50x

 

Wouldn't working at Lower Volumes help with the perception of fullness/intensity??

M50s are indeed an Intense pair, but most Closed headphones will probably be..

Maybe you could try something like DT770,
as being Beyer they are very Detailed, but somewhat Lush/cottony,
with a nice extended FR in terms of highs/lows, and quite flat mids..

Or perhaps K371/361, I haven't tried these,
but AKG makes super comfortable headphones that sound quite organic/natural.


On Open headphones a little bit of the same story,
although for softness I would lean on the Senheiser or AKG side.

AKG K712, are super comfortable, warm and Organic/Natural sounding headphones, Delicate and nice..
you could wear them all day long without noticing.. they also give you a very interesting Soundstage.

But it's for that reason they're not the best for Mixing,
being so wide, it becomes harder to asses the volume levels,
but are great for Panning and perhaps a last step Mastering where you look at the entire picture..
a different experience on their own


Senns HD600, are also on the Soft side, considerably Less Detailed than the AKG or surely the Beyers,
with a mid sized soundstage, yet more distant presentation.
These have a very well Balanced FR, and work very good with vocals,
maybe not the most detailed, but again they're very Balanced and soft, and that's positive.


Beyer DT880 are great headphones too, but they are more of a middle term between softness/intensity..
they are much more Detailed than Senns, and even AKG, and just as the DT770 they have a very extended FR,
and a Lush/cottony type of sound. Being Open however they are more natural/better for Mixing than the 770's.


So yeah, IMO these 3 will be good candidates, as they're all less intense than the m50s..
For Mixing I'd surely get the DT880s.
But for Softness I'd probably go AKG or Senn.


If you're on a budget you could also consider:
Phillips SHP9500, very balanced FR and good soundstage,
perhaps a bit too neutral/bland for some, but technically speaking they are very very Correct.

Samson SR850, very cheap but better than one would imagine..
they're not too detailed/a bit dull, and the FR is not too extended.. but the mids are flat and they're Soft, not intense,
so I imagine one could use these for long periods, and then switch to a better pair for the actual adjusting/mixing..

 

Last edited: Nov 22, 2021

I have the SHP9500/S (s model is better 6hz-35,000hz) with a mogami 3.5mm cord routed into a vintage 1999 polk audio dongle (i can make better mixes with it plugged in i seem to be able to mix better bass lol)

 

Can you describe to us how they sound?

Would you say they are..
Detailed, or dull?
Bright, or muddy?
Warm/full, or hollow?
Bassy, or lacking?

What's the presentation, or Soundstage like?


-Btw, most if not all the data that manufacturers put on headphones boxes/webs is pretty much useless..
Saying for instance 6hz-35,000hz, with so much SPL and Ohms impedance.. means almost nothing

What, they should do is:
put a full FR plot, balanced to a standard Target like Harman Kardon curve or any other, but make that the standard..
put Imaging and Soundstage measurements
put THD measurements and a CSD plot..

This could be done with generic data for that model,
or even specific data of that Unit, that would be awesome..

If they included that, then we would be talking business.

But until manufacturers don't put any real information, they're all basically lying to us..
And that applies to pretty much every single model/manufacturer..


-That's why sites like RTINGS are so darn good/useful,
they measure every aspect of a headphone, and do objective technical analysis of their performance..

Here's the SHP9500 as an example..

As you can see in technical terms they really seem to deliver..

 

very interesting and very well said! this may sound rather strange but the mogami cable cost as much as the actual headphones itself (~100cad). In all honesty with the cable its 'perfectly' transparent sounding (i was using audioquest evergreen before, a lot of meh with that cable). i think the polk audio dongle i'm using kills a lot of hi end, might only be 18khz audible using the speaker cable extension dongle but I still prefer it to not using it. it sounds similar to monitors this way. sometimes too much hi end detail can be fatiguing in headphones I find. the headphones sound good to me overall but i'd like phillips to make a 100mm driver version. if the drivers/cans were bigger the soundstage would be perfect.

 

@FrankWhite23 I own and highly recommend to you the Yamaha HPH-MT8 professional studio headphones. They have a naturally flat frequency response curve and sound simply amazing so crystal clear, superb bass, middle and high end. I guarantee you'll not be disappointed by their sound quality or comfort. They aren't cheap I bought mine before pandemic hit for £169 from the jungle. Here's a link to check them out and their specifications:- I thought about the Beyerdynamic DT-990 Pro though because I also own the Yamaha HS8 studio monitors they make great combination together. The only negative is the fake leather deteriorates over time on the inside upper headband and ear pads, I prefer soft fluffy ear pads, though replacement pads are available.
https://uk.yamaha.com/en/products/proaudio/headphones/hph-mt8/specs.html#product-tabs

 

Last edited: Dec 1, 2021

yeah, don't forget sonarworks. begin with a good sound base though. most of the ones you'll see mentioned here are good for that. I'd recommmend the Hd650's as well but NEVER without using something like sonarworks to compensate for the lack of bass or if you go for the sony's 7506 they'll compensate for the highs. Or else, get used to their sound signature. The sony's 7520 are also a good workhorse.

 

+1 on ATH-M50 X as I've been using this myself and can't get enough of it

 

I'm using HD-600 with Acustica Sienna Spitfire, no complaints here!

ATH-M50x are bass heavy, and make my ears sweat with prolonged use, so I mostly use them for tracking my P-bass

My next cans will be LCD-X ...

 

What's your budget? I went from AT M50x, which I consider fairly clear though bottom-heavy, to Neumann NDH-20. The difference is incredible, but of course way more expensive.

Consider having your ears cleaned by a doctor. Sometimes wax builds up and gets impacted and impossible to remove on your own. A lot of thos high frequencies you think are gone because of age pop right back in, at least for me.

 

I love my Sennheiser HD 280 Pro and had Sennheiser HD 265 before that until I sat on them and can no longer buy parts... I tried some Sony MDR-7506/1 and were awful, felt flimsy and when you took them off one of the cups just swung whilst the other stayed in place and had to send them back and opted to purchase some more HD 280 Pro which are well built, comfy and great sound with great bass even though I'm partially deaf they still sound great. I went for regular hearing tests when working in a noisy factory for 13 years with Nest1e who also did regular check-ups, we even had our own Dentist and Doctors at Nest1e and always got told my top end high frequency hearing wasn't good and listening back to some of my old songs they sound awful in the top end and probably what damaged them even more haha...around 6 years later (2012 ish) I got told at another factory I had the hearing of a 70+ year old (then around 38 years old, now 47). I would like to try those Beyerdynamic models mentioned above (closed back) as I've read many positive reviews about them but have since written songs that sound more pleasing on the ears and wear the HD 280 Pro a lot throughout the day

 

I use HD650s. I find they're a lot more accurate (and boring sounding) than the Audio Technica headphones I used to have which made everything sound bright and detailed.

 

Try HD-650 with Acustica Sienna

 

You use them while tracking bass because they make your ears sweat? I had no idea, as more a guitarist that that was a thing bassists like. I learn something new every day!

I swapped out the sweat enticing stock pleather ear pads of my ATH-M50x for velour. Now it is much nicer to wear for extended hours and I don't need to drink as many liquids to replace all that lost bodily fluid.

I'm going to keep these for tracking vocals, but I'll also be buying something else in the open back style for casual listening and mixing late at night when I can't turn on the monitors. Maybe a pair of those AKG K712 cans.

 

i have the krk kns 8400
they sound pretty good they fit well on the head they are only made of cheap parts such as the cable but anyway i prefer not to use headphones when you make kicks or basslines the low frequencies are horrible I've tried to make kicks or bass on headphones before well i can tell you that sucks

 

I've heard some good things about AKG K712, and they EQ well.

 

I tried some KRK's 8 years ago, and really disliked them..

I don't recall them being overly Bright nor Bassy,
but the Dynamics were completely Crazy, or at least very different than what I expected/wanted..

It's like it was way too Impactful and Dynamic with the Drums & Bass,
so the drums will Jump at you like mad... very 3D effect tho.

But yeah, I don't think these are the best headphones for mixing,
yet they could be great for monitoring/adjusting Drums/Percs, who knows..


-AKG K712 are wonderful headphones,
I already told my opinion, but really these are an experience on their own..

It's just like being in a Warm/Cozy Cinema, with a Stradivarius filter ON.. lol

Very Natural/Organic sounding, Delicate, just like an ear-massage.. Great Soundstage.
Certainly Softer, less Bright and detailed than Beyer 880's, as they're more Mid/Bass centered,
but still detailed enough to make out most details..

As delicate as they are tho, they also perform very well with Rock and Electronic music,
less Technical or impactful than the Beyers, but boy they sound good..

Again for Mixing, get the 880's..
K712 are not for mixing, maybe good for last step Mastering, and ofc for Panning and assessing the overall image,
as you can kinda perceive the Space as much as the instruments themselves..

But for using them for long periods,
and just listening to the Natural sound they produce they are great..

Surely a Different point of reference, and experience

 

AKG K702