I see

 

can someone confirm this for me? are the black ear pad materials different from the grey?

 

Would femininely recommend the Beyers, have the 770’s for tracking and 990’s for mixing (with Sonarworks). Very comfy.

 

They are comfortable, but I sold mine and upgraded to Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pro 250 Ohm Over-ear. So soft and comfortable that you nearly forget that you're using a headset. Using them for mixing. Also using Sonarworks with the headphones to reduce the highs

 

These are great headphones and Austrian Audio stuff is generally very highly regarded, but these are open-back headphones and you mentioned only closed back ones. Are you planning on recording vocals and instruments with these? Then DT-770 Pro are best choice because they're closed-back and very comfortable. Another good and less expensive choice for closed-back HPs would be Sennheiser HD380, but they don't make them any more. I haven't tried anything newer from Sennheiser, but HD300 Pro seem to be a replacement for HD380 and they look as comfy as HD380. Another good choice are BeyerDynamic DT-150 for flat sound [flatter than DT-770]. Sennheiser's aren't that flat sounding, if that matters to you. I'm looking for one more closed-back HPs and thinking of either HD380 or DT-150. The latter are still available new and I like to be the first owner of headphones.

Cheers!

 

yeah, grey and black are different materials. black one is leather and grey one is uh... like cushion. i dont know the word for it, but trust me it's great! i recommend grey over black because it's more comfortable and doesnt make you sweat in hot weather.

If you are to buy black pads, you might aswell go with ATH. ATH has much better build quality and has detachable cables. the grey pads were the selling point for beyerdynamics for me.

 

If you are after comfort and expect to wear them for long stretches of time and leakage is not a problem you should always go for the best open back headphones you can afford.

What's best is up to you, there are plenty of good contenders already listed but closed cup are just asking for a hurting if you are going for hours at a time, IDC if they come from a factory run by unicorns and narwhals.

 

I have those and they are definitely comfortable, regarding sound I actually don't find them that much different from the Audio Technica M50, in fact with post EQ I can make them sound very close. I'm not sure if I like the extra treble harshness of the 990 Pros. But that said, the Audio Technicas are not very comfortable and I ended up hating working with them for prolongued hours as my ears begin to hurt. Beyerdynamics doesn't have this problem. I've read that there are comfortable pads for replacing the ones that come with the M50.

 

Last edited: Feb 25, 2022

If they have to be neutral out of the box, I'd recommend AKGs or Sennheisers but after fixing the somewhat bass-heavy sound of the DT770, they're definitely a keeper. They're also a closed design which is important for me. And I have to agree 100% that comfort does matter when wearing them for hours.

Sound can be fixed by EQ (I'm using the EQ from Audio Hijack on MacOS audio system level, similar solutions exist for Windows too).
There's a Github page with EQ settings for many tested headphones.

 

Having owned both, I decided to keep the m50x. Very comfortable. The 770 soundwise is imho a piece of crap. But both aren't very neutral to begin with. The hd650 is a great "boring" headphone, try getting one secondhand if money is tight. You'd also need a amp like the JDS Atom to be able to drive them.

 

Last edited: Feb 25, 2022

I bought these a few years ago and have no complaints. Very good sound quality and very comfortable.

https://www.status.co/products/cb1

 

I have a pair of DT 990 Pro and a Sennheiser HD600 and these are far superior both in comfort and in sound quality.

 

Yes, the Hi-x65 are open-back. exactly the same but closed back are the Hi-x60 at same price!
https://austrian.audio/headphones/hi-x60/

 

Beyerdynamic headphones are indeed comfortable,
and might seem the most comfortable.. until you try AKG K702/712 type headphones

Beyers have soft/nice Earpads, have a god fit and feel very Solid.
But after a while the metallic headband will start nailing/digging in your skull, (specially if you shave head)
and can become very uncomfortable/hard to deal with.

What I did is cover the headband with a fluffy winter scarf kinda-thing,
and that fixes it for the most part.

But yeah, for comfort I'd say AKG are much better,
they are more lightweight, practically invisible,
and the leather headband in K712 is nice/comfortable even with a shaved head..

So yeah, for Comfort = AKG
(also Soundstage)

For Timbre selection, Mixing and Mastering tho = DT880

-Besides, I agree with 990's being a bit Harsh/Piercing on the Highs,
so I will Always recommend 880's instead.

They sound Very Similar indeed, both are Airy/Bright and very Detailed/Precise..
990s can have a little bit more Bass, and just a hair more Opennes/soundstage.
(like 2% more Bass, 2% better soundstage, but nothing to call home)

However the 880s have a more Lush/liquid presentation of the Highs, never harsh/piercing,
and more correct Mids, being more flat/less V shaped than the 990's.

(Or at least that's my impression..
Every person is different tho, has different ears/skull/hair/brain, and personal taste..
And also every Unit of every headphone is gonna be different,
so it's possible some unit variation is more/less correct than the other..
But this 990's harshness has been reported by many users before.)


-As for DT770 vs ATHM50x..
In technical terms they are pretty much on par, being two of the Best Closed headphones that exist.

So it would be a matter of preference,
try them out and see which one is more comfortable to you, and which one has a sound signature more of your liking..

Apparently Beyers should have a slight advantage on the Lows, while ATH will be more correct on the Highs,
but yeah Technically speaking they're both on the very Top, so it' shard to come to a conclusion..

(As Detailed/Tight as they are tho,
Beyers tend to have a lush/cottony quality to the sound..
So it's possible the ATH may have a more intense presentation, I don't know.)

-Other great Closed back headphones could be:
Steelseries Arctis Pro, Astro A50, Logitech G535..

But yeah those are different type headphones, with different features/usages in mind..

 

Last edited: Feb 25, 2022

If open back headphones are what he's after, then Beyerdynamic DT-880 have a great reputation for mixing, as well as DT-770, but 880 are flatter and more expensive. Open-back headphones are always much better choice for mixing.

But that means you will be able to hear the sounds around you, so you have to work in a quiet environment, and you won't be able to use them for recording because they leak sound into the mic. That's why people always have several closed-back headphones in the studio, and usually just 1-2 open or semi-open back ones [like AKG 240]. Former for recording and latter for mixing.

Closed-back HPs are also preferable to be 250-600 ohms, because they have different impedance and flatter sound, whilst low ohmage HPs have more bassy sound and they're easier to drive and thus louder with the same preamp.

Recording HPs are usualy not that important regarding sound for as long as they're comfortable to wear, and deaf drummers usually prefer to listen loud, so better have closed-back 32 ohms HPs for them and a strong preamp.

Cheers!

 

Last edited: Feb 25, 2022

I've been using the ATH50X since they were released and which replaced the ATH50 that I had been using before that. I immediately replaced the stock pleather cushions for the maroon velvet version and it makes a world of difference. I can track with them for hours without discomfort or sweating like I did before I swapped out the stock pads (which dry out, crack with the interior foam breaking down and becoming worthless-in my experience). I know them really well and grok how they translat to my KRK V6 ver2 monitors if I need to mix in the quiet of the night, only needing minor tweeks to the work once I can listen with the speakers in the light of day.

On a side note, given time and effort one can use just about any monitor or headphones to mix with once you get to know them and internalize reference tracks that you use. You'll not be surprised by how your mix translates to different speakers after a while once your monitors and headphones become an extension, an essential tool to your work.

The last thing is, mixing for hours with headphones will help you loose your hearing prematurely. It's just not natural to have speakers invading your ears so closely without even an inch of an air buffer. Buy monitors when you can.

 

I got DT770 250 ohm : best bang for the buck i got for years (i use headphones everyday)
And even my iphone and MP3 can drive it (whatever ppl say).

Of course, they are good for CLOSED design (i use for tracking / isolation too).
Comparing them to OPEN design in pure non sense.

Like comparing 4x4 vs Porsche

 

The Porsche Cayenne is a 4x4 (but I know what you mean...though, it's all in the details)