What headphones are people using?

[RussUK]

Hi Guys
I've been using DT100's for ever and now need to get some more cans for the studio. Does anybody use other types; DT770, Sennheisser etc.? If so which do people prefer and why?

[wangell]

Westone ES3's.

[JFreak]

Just recently on a road trip I did a mix with Shure E5 headphones alone; that is, no other monitoring was used but only the Shure earpieces. I had to rely on them from recording through mixing and all the way to the master that was due two days later than the single was recorded on the first place.

I was amazed to hear the result via my main monitors (Genelec 8050) afterwards -- in fact, it blew me away: the bottom end was perfect and the stereo image was wider than I usually mix. The only downside that I noticed immediately was that the E5 mix was noticeably crisper on the top end than usually, so the top end response of those little wonder pieces must be somewhat lacking. But then again, those earpieces cost 650 euros a pair and 8050's are double that a piece.

But anyway, please, try in-ears!

[Jem1570]

Hi, I've got a couple of sets of sennheiser hd280's and a pair of beyer dt770's.
The 280's block out a LOT more noise which helps a lot when you're tracking something like vocals. The dt770's sound much nicer but to me they dont seem anywhere near as accurate as the sennheisers. The beyers seem to scoop the mids and boost the lows (their low end representation is really good) while the sennheisers have less bass but much clearer mids. Ive heard some ppl describe the highs of the 280's as being a little bit fake sounding so thats something you may want to listen out for, I havent found it to be much of an issue personally...
These are just my personal experiences with the two types of headphones that i own but i hope it helped you out a little bit
like im sure you've heard a million times though, you really do need to try them all out before u buy anything.

good luck,
Jem

[bassntreble]

Just got a pair of ultrasone HFI-700's for X-mas from my better half (no socks this year...YAY!) and I'm VERY impressed with their performance. I'm not sure about their durability but they sound better than anything i've used so far....they don't isolate really well but they sound grrrreeat!!

[cherrypicker]

I second the plug for Ultrasones. I picked up a pair of Proline 750's earlier this year, and have been blown away by their accuracy/tightness. I think phones suitability depends on the genre of music you work with - a great pair for game soundtrack development might not work as well with mastering classical recordings etc. Best is to find a large retailer where you can try them out and make up your own mind. (RMCAudio.com had great prices on Ultrasones when I bought mine - far lower then Sweetwater etc)

[globaleric]

Beyer DT770 or - for the ultimate details when mixing - my trusty old Stax Lambda pair

[RussUK]

Thanks so far I knew that there were other things out there that may be an alternative to the trusty DT100's, which IMHO are like NS10's in as much as they may not sound the best but we are all used to them.

Any more ideas?

[McBoob]

Just bought a pair of Audio Technica M40fs. They are the best bang for the buck when it comes to flat, accurate, closed back cans.

My studiomate has the Sony 7506, which are built well, but the sound is pretty shrill as compared to other quality headphones. I didn't want to buy myself a pair because I don't want to give Sony any of my money. They have been behaving extremely greedy as a company lately (A-hem! Cough - cough! Sorry, something caught in my throat.)

Anyways, I bought a pair of the Sennheiser HD25 and ended up bringing them back. They are amazing headphones, super closed, extremely detailed, but also extremely tight on the head. I felt like I was wearing a head-clamp torture device. I'd have a headache after 40 minutes of wearing them.

So I brought them back and got the M40fs instead. The M40fs were $125 cheaper than the HD25! You can get a new pair for $75 if you shop right. The only draw back of the M40fs is that the connector is a big 1/4" without an 1/8" adaptor. So I bought an 1/8" adaptor, but when I stick that on it turns the entire connector into a long barrel, and it's a bit dangerous to have that big baseball bat sticking out of the side of my Powerbook. But I'm going to make it a project to rewire it myself so it has a 1/8" connector that I can stick a 1/4" adaptor on if I need it.

I labored over this decision for a long long time. I made my choice and I'm happy. I'm glad I didn't spend the big bucks because the M40fs are just as professional as the big boys. If you want to spend the big bucks, I would say you should check out the AKG 171. Those things are sweet.

[whitecat]

I switch between Beyer DT770s and AKG K171s ... both are great, but slightly different. The 770's have a slightly wider frequency response, and I can hear it, but as a second reference pair the 171s are terrific.