Hi!

I'm making music ofr 6 months now i would like to change my 20$ headphones to something that is actually usable for mixing. But what? I do not have any of what is good, and what is not.
I don't know if i need a soundcard or not, don't know if i need speakers or headphones. In short : I have no idea of what is good for a beginner like me.

I have around 200€ (so it's around 227$) but i don't know if expensive stuff is worth a but for my needs.

But anyway, i would be happy if you guys gives me some advice on what to but, i'm really tired of my headphones that dosen't go below 60 Hz...

Thank you in advance!

And sorry for bad english

 

For headphones you can have a look at AKG & Beyerdynamic, these two manufacture make really good headphones.
i've got DT990 PRO from beyerdynamics, it costs around 150 euro & for me it's :dancing:

 

@ The Young Noisemaker,

After your Comment, I can only guess that you don't still have a dedicated 'Sound Card' (or 'Audio Interface'), isn't ?
Then in this case, you certainly rely solely on the 'on-board' Sound Card included in the 'Motherboard' of your Computer...
Not to blame these 'on-board' Sound Cards, but compared to some dedicated Sound Cards ('PCI' or 'PCIe') or 'external' Audio Interfaces, it can be seen as the day and the night, and this not necessarily with the 'Top of the Line' Products ('High-End' gear).

Here also, most of the Audio Professionals (Audio and/or Sound Engineers) will tell you that dedicated 'Studio Monitors' are the best compromise, nevertheless some Producers, Sound Engineers, Musicians,... , use 'Headphones' for their stuff. Of course, these ones cost far more than your own $20 Headphones...
So, in some sense, and as I can easily understand that you're not able to afford dedicated 'Studio Monitors' that will cost you hundreds or thousands of $, you can however get satisfying results with good Headphones... The 'trick' here is to perfectly know and learn how your 'Headphones' sound compared to Professional 'Studio Monitors'. I mean, if your 'Headphones' tend to drastically reduce some Frequencies, or could lack of 'Low-End' Frequencies, sound too screaming in the 'High-End' of the Spectrum, for instance, you can make your stuff keeping in mind all these weaknesses, then try to reproduce, record, output,.. all your music stuff in accordance with all these weaknesses and try to compensate these same weaknesses with suitable adjustments...

!?! Below 60 KHz !!! I think that here you certainly confound 'kHz' and 'Hz'. I think rather that you want to talk about "...below 60 Hz'.

For Info : As a general 'Rule of Thumb', the vast majority of the Human Beings can perceive and hear a sonic Spectrum comprised between 20 Hz and 20 kHz.

Here, unfortunately I fear that your Budget is somewhat short to really 'put a foot' on the 'Professional Audio' Area... but it also depends of your ambitions. If you really want to push the door of the 'Professional Audio' Area, it could perhaps be wise that you use your Budget (around 200 Euros or 227 $) to buy a first more or less good product, then with the hope that your (financial) future may be brighter, buy a second product later, then a third,...

A very famous saying states that : "Rome was not built in a day", and in case that you want to build a good 'Home-Studio' for your pleasure, or even a more professional one, I think that's the best way to follow...


As a suggestion once you get good 'Headphones', but that unfortunately you still can't afford good (or your desired !) 'Studio Monitors' :


'Focusrite VRM Box' (Speaker-Modelling Headphone Amp & USB Audio Interface)



A Review can be found on 'Sound On Sound' :

'Focusrite VRM Box' (Review from 'Sound On Sound')

PROS :
A very handy tool for checking how well your mixes translate to other systems.
Provides a reasonably convincing 'speaker‑like' listening experience on headphones.
A nice option for portable laptop mixing.

CONS :
Integration with other interfaces is clumsy.
It can't be controlled from within your DAW.

SUMMARY :
The VRM Box is a small but surprisingly useful box that will be of real value to anyone who has to mix on headphones.

______________________________________________________________________​

*yes*

 

Have a look at PreSonus Eris E5 Frequency response: 53 Hz – 22 kHz, it fits your budget and worth the money or you can buy Sennheiser HD25 1-II @ £175 Frequency response: 16 Hz to 22 kHz.

 

i would buy some starting price monitors if i was you. Something like krk5s or M-audio. Maybe even consider used ones. Another option would be a pair of audio technica m50x with that Sonarworks Reference program. After that i would try really hard to get a soundcard.

 

Audio Technica ATH M50x and save the rest of money for some future investments.

Regarding speaker monitors, Presonus Eris are good. Avoid M-Audio (my 2c)



@Studio 555

Why u lyin' fam? I can hear not only above 120Khz... but i also can hear voices in my own head when i don't sleep for more than 25 hours.
Isn't that remarcable? (jokin')

 

I'll give you an interesting piece of info.

I was listening to a Rinse.fm N-type mix where Quest is the guest DJ / interviewee.

In his earlier days, all Quest had for monitors were those Technics DJ headphones... the ones that look like little turntables. He released those tracks too... some of which were on Deep Medi I believe...

nuff said

 

it's better to save and buy once than to buy cheap and buy multiple times.

 

@ Evorax,

Hey, hey... you are now unmasked ! *yes*

Well... this is not 'Insomnia' *no* , this is called 'Schizophrenia' !!! *yes*

____________________________________________________________​

Very, very wise advice ! *yes*

But don't worry, I also done some mistakes of this sort when I've started to want to make Music a bit more seriously...
It's said that we learn more from past mistakes... *yes*

 

I own Presonus Eris 5 and im very happy with them..
Don't use headphone for mixing they give a false prospective of dimension..

 

I would go for a good sound-card. Not only for the sound quality but also for a better latency,real-time metering is a time-saver.

I would not recommend buying an expensive headphone, I bought an akg 271k headphone and it was the worse money spent ever, it didn't survive for longer then a year. And mixing wasn't a success because of Short-term fatigue witch is more present on headphones then on monitors, I never mixed something on my headphones which was even close to mixing on monitors. not to speak of false prospective of dimension as anonymouse stated.

at this moment I have 7 headphone's laying around in the studio, 3 different types of senheisers. you can't go wrong with those in any price range even the cheap 20E ones are fine for the daily job, after all I didn't spend a couple thousand of euro's on monitoring and acoustic treatment to use headphone's. But hey thats my situation, If i was in yours I would first buy a interface (edirol ua on ebay always attract me) and hook up the first stereo/radio/amplifier with an aux in. then, find some speakers (preferably some old not to sci-fi looking, considering flat response)

 

This looks great for entry level. Headphones, monitors, soundcard, and LD condenser mic w/ xlr cable...........done.

It's $70 US away from your budget ($299), but it will allow you to decide if you want to just dabble, or eventually get serious and invest $$$ later down the road





M-Audio M-Track Audio Recording Interface and MXL V67G Microphone Kit

 

Or, just buy this set of headphones :

My link

....that deal will not last long either.

 

+1 on ATH-M50x

 

Thanks for all those replies! And sorry for the KHz mistake

Before looking any futher i have a question : What is exactely doing a soundcard? Right now i use the "on-board" card of my computer. If i buy an external sound card, what is it going to improve?
Also, i'm do want to turn my bedroom into a super professional studio, but i want to hear what i'm doing a minimum. And even if this equipment is too expensive for me, it does not matter . I will continue to save money

Again, Thanks

 

@ The Young Noisemaker,

At a first glance... a lot of things !

Firstly, certainly the 'Audio Quality', and this even if your 'on-board' Soundcard is of good quality.
The quality of the included 'Converters' within an 'Audio Interface' is of great importance. This is most relevant if you plan to 'input' ('record') some Audio/Source Material from the 'external world' to your Computer & DAWs. By 'external world', I mean in case that you also want to record some Vocals, Instruments, or any other 'external' source. And here, the Audio Quality of the provided 'Converters' can be crucial ! *yes* Hence sometimes the huge difference of price among some 'Audio Interfaces', that at a first glance, provide you the same Features (e.g. a certain number of 'Inputs' and 'Outputs', such specific Feature or another one,... ).
As an example, simply check the price (as new) of some 'RME' Audio Interfaces (even among their 'low-end' Products). Of course, 'RME' reputation as a highly Professional brand name is evident, but some of the 'Converters' that you can find within some of their Products is the 'Top-of-the-Line' in terms of Audio Quality. *yes*

If you rather plan to solely make all your 'Audio stuff' through 'internal' processes (e.g. only using 'Samples' & 'Loops' Libraries, some 'MIDI' stuff, using 'VSTi' Instruments & 'VST' Plugins', or even some 'Mixing' and/or 'Mastering' stuff, but always without 'injecting' any 'external' sources, the 'Converters' didn't certainly need to be the best ones... *no*

You can also have a look (and a reading !) at the following (excellent) Article :

'Choosing A PC Audio Interface : The SOS Guide'

Despite it's a long Article, I think that it could be very helpful for you at the same time that enlighten you... *yes* mainly due to all the great info and details that you can get.

 

Ok thanks *yes*

 

Guys guys guys, lets not rule out the possibility that The Young Noisemaker is in fact a bat.

 

Maybe it will be helpful if you say what you plan to do? For example, do you want to record only guitar and your voice? Or you prefer electronic instrumental music? Or maybe some hip-hop or maybe you intend to record and mix some symphonic craziness?
These questions are just some ideas that might influence your final decision.

But, to be more specific, Audio-Technica M50x is mentioned here more than once and indeed those seems to be realy nice headphones but for your own benefits, consider also ATH M40x. The difference between those two is not small if you measure prices and your budget. And if you compare their features, the question arise - is it worthy to spent around 50 euros more just to receive frequency range that you can't even hear?

Let's be even more specific. Let's compare those two headphones sets:
ATH-M40x features:
Innovative technology in a robust design
40 mm drivers with neodymium magnet systems and CCAW voice coils
Exceptional detailed illustration about the entire extended frequency range with
precise Bass reproduction
Closed circumaural design for excellent isolation in noisy environments
90 degree swivel ear cups for easy one-ear
Extremely durable and comfortable headband and ear pads
Detachable cable (2 Various included)
Driver : 40mm
Magnet: Neodymium
Voice coil: CCAW (copper -coated aluminum wire)
Frequency range: 15-24000 Hz
Maximum Input Power: 1,600 mW at 1 kHz
Sensitivity: 97dB
Impedance: 35 ohms
Weight: 240g (without cable)
1.2 m - 3.0 m coiled cable + 3m straight cable
Price: 94 EUR

and

ATH-M50x features:
Outstanding sound quality
Exceptionally detailed illustration about the entire extended frequency range
Extremely precise bass reproduction
Closed circumaural design for excellent isolation in noisy environments
90 degree swivel ear cups for easy one-ear listening
Extremely durable and comfortable headband and ear pads
Detachable cable (3 different types included)
Driver : 45mm
Magnet: Neodymium
Voice coil: CCAW (copper -coated aluminum wire )
Frequency range: 15-28000 Hz
Max. input power: 1,600 mW at 1 kHz
Sensitivity: 99dB
Impedance: 38 ohms
Weight: 285g (without cable)
Incl. 1.2 m - 3.0 m coiled cable + 3m straight cable + 1.2 m straight cable
Price: 149 EUR

so

if you look at frequency (for example) you have to ask yourself: Can I realy hear above 24000 Hz? And is it worthy 50+ Euros? (these info is taken from musicstore.de)

You can also look at thomann.de - they have better prices for some gear (I don't know where are you buying from but you can use those two sites just for references).

Also, don't forget to check bundle offers no matter which store you visit. Take this offer for example.

You have very limited budget so I think it would be wise for you to invest in time (searching for the best posible solution).

Again, think about your plans and goals - they will help you to decide what to buy. If you plan to do only podcast, maybe this option is enough for your needs. Those monitors have an "integrated audiointerface" - so you don't have to buy a separate one.
Now, I'm not saying that this is the best solution for you - I'm just showing you what I have run into during my researches in hope that this will help you to find what you need for the money you have.

There are hundreds of options even for the given budget.

Anyway, I wish you good luck in your quest for the new gear - let us know what have you picked (if you feel ok with that

 

First, thanks for this very (very) complete answer These Audio Technica headphones looks really great. Since my first day on this forum i see them everywhere.
Now my very last problem is the audio interface. I have no idea on how much i should spend onto it and what to buy. Do you guys have some suggestions about that? Is there an audio interface that stands out ? (Like the Audio Technica does)

Thank you guys! You're the best
The Bat

EDIT : Oh! Sorry. I didn't realize that the VRM Box IS an actual audio interface, not just a simulator. But is it a proper audio interface? Like, can i have this and a pair of Audio Technica and i'm good to go?