For me the best translation happens with 650+sonarworks.

 

According to these frequency responses, for me right now it's between the Sennheiser hd650 and the Shure SRH1840. Actually I think the Shure has a much flatter response.

 

Last edited: May 10, 2022

I own 2 pair of Beyerdynamic DT1990 Pro no regrets at all

 

Shure SRH1840 vs. Sennheiser HD 660s Comparison
https://majorhifi.com/shure-srh1840-vs-sennheiser-hd-660s-comparison/

 

You've forgotten THD.

Just to mention maybe: Headphones are never better than monitoring in a room. You very likely get worse frequency response, bad translated stereo image and if people think "oh, there is no room", they're wrong here as well. There is room between your headphone and your ear. And it's a VERY small one.

 

Last edited: May 31, 2022

I know it´s not in the list but anyway.....

I have the AKG K702 and they are great for mixing & mastering.... and pretty cheap compaired to the headphones in your list.

 

A guy i trust swears on those new Slate headphones, probably no bad decision to check them out. I‘m happy with my Ultrasone Pro 750 i tho.And btw, before i switched incorrected my DT-880 with Sonarworks, the Ultrasone sounds similar like a „corrected“ Dt-880 ,so i dont even correct any more, i try to get to know the hp, which is very important i think. Would never try to make music with headphones without crossfeed correction, use Goodhertz Canopener steady (despite mixdown obviously). Hopefully helpful for some1

(i wonder if preferred genre would make differences with hp. The guy that recommended the 750s would choose it in front of the hd-800 (!), for electronic music.)

plus a big insight with translation happened when i started working with brown noise targets & 4,5 slope in span (also build in from scratch with pro q 3 as zero line!)

 

Last edited: May 10, 2022

I've been using the Shure 1840 for a few months and I consider them FAR better than any other HP I've tried/owned. And I've had many, from Sennheiser 600/650/6xx, Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro, AKG K701/K712, Audio-Technica R70x, various HIFIMAN and Stax (although not the very high end ones).. The Shure is pretty much completely uncolored - there's virtually no difference between Sonarworks on/off, only a wee bit in the sub and a little reduction in harshness around 8-10K. If you don't have or want to pay for Sonarworks or Morphit you're fine. And the most natural soundstage I've ever heard, neither small and congested nor artificially widened. Very dynamic, great detail retrieval, and also very musical and enjoyable. These are not "sterile" or boring by any means. I'm good now until I can afford the Focal Utopia

I hated the DT1990. They're really just semi-open and there's a lot of resonances bouncing around in the earcup, a very strange experience. I don't care for any of the Senns - very closed in and muffled, as if you're listening to speakers playing music in another room with the door in between closed. (Others disagree and that's fine, it's all personal.) Planar/electrostatics are truly amazing but the dynamic punch isn't really there and tuning can be really wonky.

One thing no one really emphasizes enough is fit and comfort. Make sure to try them on first in store! Everyone has a different sized and shaped head. For me, big, heavy circular cups (like the DT 1990, Audeze) are not comfortable at all, other may prefer that. The R70x are smaller and quite light. The Shure 1840 has sort of an oval shape, very similar to the Sennheiser, but without so much clamping force. Good for long sessions without discomfort or pressing on the top of head. HIFIMAN just slide down off my head and end up on my shoulders.

The Shure get a bad rap because of some graphs showing distortion, which is really unfair, since these are outstanding HPs - almost perfectly flat FR, natural soundstage, dynamics, the fit.. The R70x is also a solid choice. I really like them too.

Also, whatever you decide on, get a balanced cable. I have a fully balanced setup with the DROP + THX 789 headphone amp and it does make a difference. With some HPs like the Sennheiser 6xx (which I'm not the biggest fan of anyway) it makes a HUGE difference. Many HPs are underrated/misunderstood simply because they're not being driven hard enough.

 

Last edited: May 10, 2022

Just buy any pair of quality studio headphones because it really won't make a significant difference. No headphones are suitable for mixing or mastering, there are hundreds of reasons why not from resonance occurring in the canal at 500Hz upwards through to any air gaps between the headphones and you will result in massive losses of low end.

I'd also recommend against sonar works or any of these headphone/room correction plugins. A good mix and master comes from auditory memory. The ability to recall, from memory, the ambience and overall spectral balance of the music. When you listen to music on the radio, in the car, on TV, on AirPods, on headphones - none of them are treated to a perfectly flat audio spectrum as sonar works will. You end up over correcting and the music suffers.

 

Generally you want as flat as you can get. All those cans except the Shure are typical in that they emphasize bass. They are made for listening pleasure which is different than your stated goal. The wild card here is calibration software. I don't really know how effective they can to be. That's something to keep in mind. Also, detail retrieval is something that you would want. IME, you need a technical tool, not something made for pleasure listening. The bottom line is whatever tool you choose, you need to be able to make work for you, iow, get the consistent results that you want. Lastly look at return policy. You may need to go through a few cans to find out what you really want/need.

 

HD600+dSONIQ

 

HD650 (and HD600) are relatively neutral, and they EQ very well.

MM-500 are the latest new thing for mixing, but most people can't afford them.

 

Last edited: Oct 12, 2022

You might want to consider getting the below. It's on sale lately for $397 at Sweetwater and other places. Some folks swear by them for making their mixes so much better.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/de...-back-studio-headphones-with-modeling-plug-in

 

im also looking for some good cans. From what I gather its either gonna be the Austrian Audio or Shures. A big thing for me is comfort, the Sony's I have can only be used maybe an hour or 2 before the outter ears begin to really feel the pressure. Anyone have or had both of the latest Austrian Audio and Shures care to comment? The main styles of music are electronic stuff, house, breaks, drum and bass etc

 

no one added yet

Neumann NDH 30

Etymotic

 

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Last edited: Dec 22, 2022

Personally, many years ago I found perfection: the Sennheiser HD 800 open-back model. It is now replaced by the HD 800 S, and also by the mega-overpriced (useless) HD820.

The difference being that with HD 800 S (the second edition), Sennheiser is supposed to have removed the 6Khz resonance that (could) affect the HD 800. Personally I didn't found anything that compromises the neutrality and the perfection of the old model, so I've never replaced it.

Read the reviews here, here and here.

 

Last edited: Dec 22, 2022

The latest hype - Neumann NDH-30

https://gearspace.com/board/product...-new-neumann-ndh-30-open-back-headphones.html

 

Last edited: Dec 22, 2022

Bought them 2 months ago as another pair next to the Audio Technica ATH-M70X, and I have no single complaint. You should hear the sub bass. I accidentally hit it once, didn't even realize - first thought was: "Fuck, not Earthquake again!"

 

How do they translate?