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Wich headphone do you recomend?

lamerica80

lamerica80

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
May 22, 2008
694
533
Im looking for some headphones to use with my macbook making music. I need them to be:

- In the 100-250 USD prise range
- Good at shutting out exterior noice (eg girlfriend watching TV)

Any tips? Thanks!
 
I use the Sennheiser HD650s for listening to music and they are superb, but outside your budget. BUT, for monitoring when editing, the best phones I have ever used are the Sony MDR 7506 which sell for around $100. They are nice and sensitive, and are perfect for jobs like precise crossfading where one needs crystal clarity, and to hear the "grain" of the sound for precise editing.

The MDR 7506 is in use in many professional studios and I see no need to spend more for the kind of use I described. However, for pure listening pleasure, something less revealing is preferable (like the Sennheisers).

The MDR 7506 has over-the-ear pads, but is probably only average at excluding external noise. They are usually available from professional stores rather than hi-fi outlets. There is a consumer model that looks identical in every way (I forget the designation) but the MDR 7506 has a better frequency response to my ears (and other people's). A Google search will show plenty of dealers. I got mine from Sweetwater.
 
I have the older model of the Shure 3 series, they are in-ear "canalphones", and they are excellent for shutting out ambient noise.

They are often used by professional musicians on stage, as monitor earphones. (Not necessarily the 3 series, but this type of earphone.)

They take a little while to get used to wearing, as they go quite deep into your ear, but once you are used to them they are awesome.

Also you can find them for less than the price advertised on the product page.

http://www.shure.com/PersonalAudio/Products/Earphones/SEModels/us_pa_SE310_content
 
i just bought some bose on ear headphone today from best buy for 220. there amazing. and when you put them on you feel lie you have ear plugs on haha
i would deffinaly recomend them
 
Sennheiser HD-280's. Feel a lot better than the Sony's that were previously mentioned and have a better frequency response, from what I've experienced with them.

For most of my work though, I use Senneheiser HD-580's, which were just discontinued last year. The 650's sound great too.
 
cschreppel said:
Sennheiser HD-280's. Feel a lot better than the Sony's that were previously mentioned and have a better frequency response, from what I've experienced with them.
Click to expand...

Yep. These are really superb. I picked mine up for ~$80 on amazon.com last christmas. :cool:
 
The Sennheisers are the thing that's recommended most. Well priced, excellent isolation, more or less decent wearing comfort, crisp, flat sound that gives the impression of a reference.

However, some people I know who have attempted to mix with them don't like them and say that they'd take the MDR-7506 as a better mixing phone.

But as someone said above, the 7506 doesn't shut out a lot of noise because it perches half-on and half-off your ears.

Of the HD280 dislikers, at least one guy said he'd found better results with the Ultrasones. I think he uses the Pro 650. http://www.ultrasoneusa.com/proline650.html

I would also consider the AKG K271 http://www.akg.com/site/products/powerslave,id,1064,pid,1064,nodeid,2,_language,EN.html
The earcups are a little shallow for my liking leading to a lack of isolation, but it does isolate more than the 7506 and is noticeably better sounding than the HD280.

For me working off a DAW at home or editing video by myself at work, isolation isn't an issue - so for headphone monitoring I use the Sennheiser HD650 which is my 'do-everything-computer-phone'.
 
Steer clear of Shure unless you're happy with plenty of downtime. They are having terrible quality control with their cables cracking with a few months wear. Although they have acknowledged the fault they haven't seem to have fixed the situation yet. Other than that they make wonderful sounding headphones.

There's a thread here with hundreds of posts about the problem.
 
maybe i'm just old school but the AKG240's are still my fav...they're a studio standard.

they're not totally sealed but offer good outside noise rejection, excellent frequency response and they're inexpensive($100.00).

i found the 7506's just a bit harsh in the upper mids...fatigued my ears like ns10's...just my opinion.



i'm lucky, my girlfriend doesn't make any noise while watching tv...;)
 
3rdpath said:
i found the 7506's just a bit harsh in the upper mids...fatigued my ears like ns10's...just my opinion.
Click to expand...

I'm not alone then. I get the impression that maybe quite a lot of studio types equate 'quite accurate, but mildly unpleasant' to 'monitoring grade'. A lot of people like the DT770's for example, and not just for drum monitoring - I find them beyond 7506 levels of grate. As many AKG's and some Sennheisers show, you can reveal a lot without artificial grain clouding the sound.
 
Sesshi said:
I get the impression that maybe quite a lot of studio types equate 'quite accurate, but mildly unpleasant' to 'monitoring grade'.
Click to expand...

I think that's actually true in my case. If I'm trying to correct an audible glitch, I want it to come through loud and crisp for editing. But if I was just listening for enjoyment, I'd obviously like it less accentuated. That's why I use the smooth and rich-sounding Sennheiser HD650 for listening pleasure, and the "more contrasty", colder Sony MDR 7506 for editing. While they're both great for those different uses, neither would suit my needs if I reversed their roles.
 
I love the Westone UM2's. This coming from a few generations of Shure. As posted they Shure did have cable problems :(
 
Sir Cecil said:
I think that's actually true in my case. If I'm trying to correct an audible glitch, I want it to come through loud and crisp for editing. But if I was just listening for enjoyment, I'd obviously like it less accentuated. That's why I use the smooth and rich-sounding Sennheiser HD650 for listening pleasure, and the "more contrasty", colder Sony MDR 7506 for editing. While they're both great for those different uses, neither would suit my needs if I reversed their roles.
Click to expand...

The concept in what you say makes sense, but the reality doesn't seem to for me. The 7506 isn't that revealing - it's just harsh in the upper midrange. There are a lot of very mild-sounding yet revealing phones which don't need the 'vocal range' hump to make sonic issues in that range felt. A good example is the Stax SR-001 Mk II earphones - Extremely incisive in the midrange, but very nice to listen to. The same to a lesser extent goes for the Beyer DT250-80, although that has a slight midrange spike as well.
 
Sesshi said:
The concept in what you say makes sense, but the reality doesn't seem to for me. The 7506 isn't that revealing - it's just harsh in the upper midrange. There are a lot of very mild-sounding yet revealing phones which don't need the 'vocal range' hump to make sonic issues in that range felt.
Click to expand...

Often, I might be working with the low level white noise between tracks. The 7506 allows one to hear all the texture of such sounds, while the Sennheisers do a good job of minimizing them. To really get into the grain of the quietest sounds with the Sennheisers, the gain has to be increased way too much, causing louder, adjoining music to be relatively deafening to work with. With the 7506, I find I can clearly hear everything I need at more consistently moderate levels, saving my ears.
 
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